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View Full Version : (Yet) another satifsfied Beresford customer :-)



Chippy_boy
23-08-2009, 17:09
I got my Caiman on Friday after very friendly emails and instant shipping from Stanley.

I plugged it in straight away and I have to say it sounded pretty damned fine straight out of the box. But I thought it only fair to leave it running for a couple of days before posting here about it. So I have done just that - it's been on since Friday morning, random playing from some 4,000 odd tracks in "shuffle mode". (Incidently some really good stuff came up that I wouldn't have dreamt of playing again!)

All I can say is I am totally delighted with the Caiman. I am no hifi expert nor connoisseur, but to my untrained ear, it sounds bloody marvellous :-)

I have it feeding a Tag 100x5R power-amp, with four monoblock channels bi-amped into a pair of Wilson Benesch Curve's. The fact that this little £200 unit more than holds its own is quite remarkable, I think. It is clearly superior to my Tag AV32R's dac (which itself is no slouch with Burr Brown 24/192 dacs and high quality op amps and sophisticated jitter reduction ciruitry.)

The bass is tighter and better defined and less "plumby". Yet it has more "slam" - my wife noticed the bass notes hit you in the chest much more with the Caiman. There's also is a much greater sense of space too.

No doubt it will get even better with more playing, so I am completely chuffed. I don't know how much money I would have to spend to better this wonderful dac, but short of buying a £2,000 Bel Canto Dac3 (and even then, who knows) is there a better dac around? I doubt it.

Oh, and by the way, I tried my Sennheiser HD580's through it as well. I don't really listen to music through cans much so it didn't matter to me whether the headphone amp was any good or not. But anyway, it's a belter! I don't think I have ever heard the Sennheisers sound so good.

Stan seems such a damned nice bloke too! Thanks again Stan

Cheers all

Mark

Werner Berghofer
23-08-2009, 17:38
Mark,
All I can say is I am totally delighted with the Caiman.welcome to the club! I own two Beresford TC-7520 and one Caiman, and I share your experience and impression.

I can’t remember any other piece of audio gear which has improved the overall music playback quality for such a low price.

Chippy_boy
23-08-2009, 18:02
The only thing is, I really can't plug it straight into the power amps for day to day use because I *need* a remote control. So I use the Caiman as a pure dac with fixed level output into my preamp. I have tried the variable outputs driving the power amps directly though, and it sounds even better.

So I have told Stan - if he ever decides to make a Caiman with a remote volume control (with a motorised potentiometer or maybe a Cirrus Logic analogue volume control IC) then I would buy one in a heartbeat.

StanleyB
23-08-2009, 18:26
Both the PCM1716 and the WM8716 have a digital volume control facility built in. I have set it to MAX. But I am not good in writing micro code, otherwise I would have added a digital volume control with remote control facility.

Maybe something for the Drawing Board?

Stan

Crimson
23-08-2009, 21:11
I got my Caiman Saturday, and I totally agree with chippy boy. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed listening to music as I have today, and the Caiman is still improving!

I have had a a TC 7520 for a few months and have been quite happy with it so far. The 7520 is an excellent DAC, even more so with new opamps. However, the Caiman is a lot closer to real (expensive) highend DACs. It is very dynamic and revealing, the bass is punchy and controlled, the mids and highs are sweet with lots and lots of detail, and the soundstage is huge. It is simply an amazing piece of equipment!

Congrats Stan!

Dag

Alex_UK
23-08-2009, 22:24
Both the PCM1716 and the WM8716 have a digital volume control facility built in. I have set it to MAX. But I am not good in writing micro code, otherwise I would have added a digital volume control with remote control facility.

Maybe something for the Drawing Board?

Stan

I've said before I would easily pay £100 more for a full-width case and remote control - add a machined aluminium front panel, a couple of line inputs - a combined pre-amp/DAC - charge £350 a pop - would still be a bargain, and still a giant killer...

StanleyB
24-08-2009, 04:40
I've said before I would easily pay £100 more for a full-width case and remote control - add a machined aluminium front panel, a couple of line inputs - a combined pre-amp/DAC - charge £350 a pop - would still be a bargain, and still a giant killer...
So would I if it was possible to do it that cheap to implement.

Alex_UK
24-08-2009, 14:05
So would I if it was possible to do it that cheap to implement.

You can't blame me for trying! ;)

Alexxus
24-08-2009, 15:40
Damn, can't wait for my Wolfson chipset to get here so's to 'Caimanise' my 7520. It's not that I'm unhappy with it, far from it, quite the opposite in fact, but since I know how good these changes can sound... it's kind of mouthwatering, you know... :eyebrows:

Chippy_boy
24-08-2009, 18:31
I've said before I would easily pay £100 more for a full-width case and remote control

And just to add some balance (sorry!) can I say I positively do not want a full width case!

Everyone to his own, but I like the small footprint - it makes it easier for me to fit it in with my other kit and I see no benefit in making it needlessly wider.

Sorry mate, but that's my view. But the remote - yes I would like that. And to be honest, I wouldn't mind if it didn't actually include the remote. Just an IR receiver and a bit of software would do nicely. Nearly everyone has some kind of learning remote don't they. And if they don't, they could buy one. Personally I don't need yet another remote.