caiman vs dac magic vs v dac

apoligies if this has been posted before, but has anybody compared the caimen to the dac magic, and v dac. i've seen the review in hifi world which surprise surprise picked a £1000 dac as the winner, not really fair i thought, after all you wouldn't expect a mini to compare with a ferrari would you. afterall ones 'school run' and the others a red blooded chick magnet, i know what i'd choose!!!!!

so in an attempt to inject a bit of realism, has anyone heard used compared, the caimen to the cambridge dac magic and the v dac. as you can probably guess i'm in the market for a new dac. at the moment the beresford caimen is out of stock so i can wait a while, is there any real quality differential or is it a case of 'brown' or 'red' sauce? if you get me.
cheers
steve

from the range of reviews available i would say its personal taste.. there was a review including some expensive kit and a 7520 where the vdac came out on top. i personally would touch musical fidelity with a barge pole... but thats just me. i have a caimen and 7520 and am happy with them both!
in terms of value for money i think the caiman wins as i recon if it was availabe through shops it would be more like £500.. thats the advantage of buying of the guy who makes the things!

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has anyone heard used compared, the caimen to the cambridge dac magic and the v dac

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I did compare these, but not simultaneously.
In short : Caiman (without the PSU)>DacMagic>V-dac.
The Beresford dac is very neutral while the v-dac is more "soft and forgiving". The DacMagic is between the two.

Which was the £1000 dac that was preferred to the Caiman by this review ?

As a side note, I'm not sure the ferrari/mini analogy is acurate. These high end dacs, in my view, are more expesive because of a numer of reasons that aren't extra sound quality!
Stan doesn't pay for advertising, nor does he have the large overheads of the larger companies. That should also be taken into account!
(hope you don't mind me fighting your corner stan)
I have a linn majik ds (£1800) .. Ok it streams the music too, but in terms of sound quality it's no better than the caiman! Slightly different (only very slightly) but no better!

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Originally Posted by hamish

Stan doesn't pay for advertising, nor does he have the large overheads of the larger companies. That should also be taken into account!

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And that is actually a disadvantage. Because I am able to make cost cutting measures that I pass on to customers, my lowish price is in fact a turn off for most. A more realistic price for he Caiman might have been £399, based on the fact that it is largely hand made and hand assembled compared to the TC-7520. We can only make three to five a day, which is why it it frequently out of stock.

I am not too bothered if anyone prefers to buy a more readily available DAC from a different company. I won't ramp up my production speed just to make more sales. Quality is paramount. But my price will continue to be a fair reflection of true manufacturing cost plus a small profit. Other companies have at least 20 times my overhead, so they are forced to make their products cheaper and sell in larger quantities just so they can make the same net margins as me.

so the caimen compares favorably with a linn, no brainer then really is it??
the £1000 dac was the benchmark, and that really brings me to my dilemma, can a £200 dac be a match for a £1000 dac, well if it can be the equal of a linn then maybe so.
thanks for the reply's i'm now assured i'm heading in the right direction when i buy a caimen, nothing personal stan, just asking as you know i already have a 7510 so i know a little about what people are saying, i probably just needed the reassurance.
cheers
steve

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Originally Posted by steve dixon

the £1000 dac was the benchmark, and that really brings me to my dilemma, can a £200 dac be a match for a £1000 dac,

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I believe as Hamish says, the price difference is not a quality difference here. It's something else.
If it had been something like the NorthstarMK2 or a high-end Lavry, I wouldn't argue, but a Benchmark... no way.

what exactly are you saying the benchmark is not match for the caimen or have i mis-understood?

and are the lavry and northstar a cut above?
thanks
steve

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Originally Posted by steve dixon

what exactly are you saying the benchmark is not match for the caimen or have i mis-understood?

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You didn't misunderstand : when I'm in a good mood (and full of generosity), I find that they are -grossly- of the same quality. ;)
But their price doesn't depend on my mood. :eyebrows:

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Originally Posted by steve dixon

and are the lavry and northstar a cut above?
thanks
steve

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Do you know the price of a DA-2002 ? :lol:

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Originally Posted by steve dixon

..... after all you wouldn't expect a mini to compare with a ferrari would you. afterall ones 'school run' and the others a red blooded chick magnet, i know what i'd choose!!!!!


steve

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I assume you refer to the Ferrari as the 'chick magnet', may one ascertain the last time you had occasion to talk to any 'chicks' regarding their motoring preferences? Most of the 'chicks' in my acquaintance would look at a Ferrari owner and the first thing that would spring to their mind would be 'big wallet/little prick'.
However, if one were to choose to drive say something like a Cooper S, all black with privacy glass, large alloys, anthracite interior, etc., then one might find one's self the object of many an admiring glance at the lights and so on from 'chicks', 'hot babes', 'milfs', the list goes on and on.

Cheers:smoking: