What electronic audio products you want tested most

[Zvu]

Harman Kardon Citation AMP

Sonos Amp

Both streaming amps for under 800 euros.

 

[amirm]

I'd love to see a new category of equipment for testing: Equalizers. There are many, many opinions in the audiophile community about equalizers adding distortion and coloration, and it would be very helpful to have some objective measurements of their performance.

I got one in today for testing. Look for it soon...

 

[amirm]

Harman Kardon Citation AMP

I don't see this for sale in US. B&H says it is no longer available.

 

[Zvu]

^What a shame. It looks interesting on paper.

 

[EJ3]

I got one in today for testing. Look for it soon...

According to Vince Naeve: there are design differences in the circuits that affect the sound, such as: the units of ADC, Sony, Radio Shack EQ, because of "cap and coil" design does effect vintage thickness (also because of single ended class A transistor design is like a tube character thing). If you need the best tube EQ, quality of controls, headroom etc., it's the: ART Pro Channel. 90db noise floor and it is really capable of wide or super sharp filters. It uses full size parts and pieces like old Yamaha and Tascam products. I (Vince Naeve) can do a mod on this which allows honest variable tube harmonic level and phase. You can truly dial it in. See our ART Pro MPA Mic Preamp (has similar features).
Here's a lower model than the ART Pro Channel that might be interesting. (Available from Vince Naeve [AudioProz.com under AP Classic on the Home Page: equalizers])

57765

ART EQ341

Dual channel 15 band graphic EQ. *Single rack space. Balanced XLR Ins/Outs, unbalanced RCA Ins/Outs +/-6db or +/-12db levels. Level and bypass per channel. 3 year warranty New in Box Call for better pricing

$ 148 Contact Us​

 

[deniall83]

A lot of Audiophile forums talk about CD Transports all sounding different. This seems unlikely to me since all they are doing is reading the disk and outputting the digital data.

I'd love to see a comparison with measurements of two dedicated transports. Not sure how you'd do it though.

 

[LuminousMoth]

I would like to see reviews of audio interfaces, but I don't see the option there.

 

[Drengur]

A lot of Audiophile forums talk about CD Transports all sounding different. This seems unlikely to me since all they are doing is reading the disk and outputting the digital data.

I'd love to see a comparison with measurements of two dedicated transports. Not sure how you'd do it though.

I think we know what the results would be. But it would be interesting/funny to test one of those ridiculous "high-end" transports against an old refuse-pile laptop with a working CD-drive.

 

[somebodyelse]

A lot of Audiophile forums talk about CD Transports all sounding different. This seems unlikely to me since all they are doing is reading the disk and outputting the digital data.

I'd love to see a comparison with measurements of two dedicated transports. Not sure how you'd do it though.

You'd probably want to do this with both a modern DAC, and one from way back, as their immunity to jitter may be significantly different and potentially audibly different. The few vintage DAC measurements here have shown it to some degree. The Benchmark DAC1 was an early example of a well engineered digital input, and reviews at the time noted it was unusually insensitive to what transport was feeding it. This would be an example of a belief that once had a grain of truth persisting long after the facts have changed.

Another reason there could be a difference is how well the transport handles less than perfect CDs. In this case you could see a difference in the data being sent.

 

[oryan_dunn]

You'd probably want to do this with both a modern DAC, and one from way back, as their immunity to jitter may be significantly different and potentially audibly different. The few vintage DAC measurements here have shown it to some degree. The Benchmark DAC1 was an early example of a well engineered digital input, and reviews at the time noted it was unusually insensitive to what transport was feeding it. This would be an example of a belief that once had a grain of truth persisting long after the facts have changed.

Another reason there could be a difference is how well the transport handles less than perfect CDs. In this case you could see a difference in the data being sent.

I also wonder if it'd be possible to capture some portion of the output with a logic analyzer and do a comparison diff between them. Or capture the full stream into a digital file and do a diff between the files. I'm thinking the logic analyzer could show any timing differences, while the file diff could show any bit differences over the full disc.

 

[tom_tom]

SMSL A300 or Sabaj a20a would be great.

 

[behappybevegan]

Hypex Fusionamp FA503.

 

[Palladium]

FiiO BTA30 Pro.

 

[barfly]

I like to get a gauge of what categories of products I should be testing more (electronics only). So please vote.

As usual, I won't necessarily listen to you all. But like to have the data anyway.

If you are a visitor and not a member, this is your opportunity to join and have your voice heard.

You can vote for more than one product but please be selective.

Have you ever considered testing record players?

 

[fpitas]

I'd like to see some testing of popular 1U loudspeaker management systems. The DCX2496 comes to mind, and it's dirt cheap; but technology has progressed a lot since that was designed. They are real handy if you're making active speakers, especially if your whole setup is wired XLR balanced. I'm using an RCF DX-2006 these days.

 

[Sukram]

I would be interested in the new Purifi 1ET7040SA power amplifier (rouge audio, VTV, Apollon etc.)

 

[NYfan2]

I'd like to see USB-C to jack 3.5 converters tested, because it's getting harder and harder to get a phone with 3.5mm audio headphone connector.
Maybe when more people are interested we can raise some funds so Armir can buy and test the most sold models (Apple, Samsung, Oneplus, etc.).

 

[Sukram]

There are enough components tested and available. Room correction is influencing the sound big time.
Focussing on the end of the chain: Room correction and speakers and their correlation.
Not an easy topic.

 

[Open Mind Audio]

I would like to see reviews of audio interfaces, but I don't see the option there.

+1 for this idea. Specifically, I'd like to see if there are measurable differences among the major player interfaces (JRiver, Roon, BeeMusic, etc., including Sonos) in the output of different files and formats. Individuals can judge for themselves the relative usability of different interfaces, but are there measurable or audible differences in how they deliver music?

 

[Open Mind Audio]

+1 for this idea. Specifically, I'd like to see if there are measurable differences among the major player interfaces (JRiver, Roon, BeeMusic, etc., including Sonos) in the output of different files and formats. Individuals can judge for themselves the relative usability of different interfaces, but are there measurable or audible differences in how they deliver music?

Different but related: Are there measurable differences in the delivery of high-res files from the major streaming services: Qobuz, Tidal, Amazon Music, iTunes? There are plenty of highly subjective reviews on this. What can be measured?