My 2019 Update Thread - My final system I think.

[Gazjam]

System looking great Gary and like the plants! Think they had reflection rather than absorption?

Dispertion I reckon?

Less forward facing conflicting sound waves anyway

[Macca]

'Diffusion' with a bit of HF absorption too I think. A big pot full of soil might absorb some lower frequencies maybe.

[AJSki2fly]

Yup,
The big Meridian just sits there quietly, doing its thing Adrian.
Hardly even gets warm at picture rattling volumes, mega redundancy, it’s a good power amp.

I biwire with it, and a recent swap out to Duelund 10 gauge cable for the bass, from 16 gauge helped it step up a notch, impedance down I guess with beefier cable.
Sounds more “fruity” and less dry as a pal recently said.

(The Science bit plays this out)

Sounds good to me

[Gazjam]

Incoming...

i2s CD Transport/Streamer

Shanling ET3
https://en.shanling.com/article-IntroET3.html












Darko likes it
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=96JFEBc0xjY


Currently using my modded Oppo 203 as CD Transport and streamer, the comparison with this should be interesting.

The Oppo is a great digital audio "Swiss army knife", and ticks a lot of boxes really, REALLY well, but I've always prefered the idea of dedicated tools for a particular task?
Right tool for the right job.
Bluray player for movies, CD player for music.

The Oppo's laser for instance, has to play CD, DVD, Blu ray DVD Audio, SACD, Kodak Picture CD, Video CD, whereas the Shanling is optimised for Redbook CD playback only.
Turns out the Sanyo HD850 laser mechanism in the Shanling is used in Macintosh, Unison Research, Simaudio and Lyngdorf CD players, as well as the Project RS2T which was my previous go-to, even at 2K+

Also,
it's Philips SAA7824 Transport was good enough for this valve based Luxman CD player,
https://www.hifinews.com/content/lux...38u-%C2%A32395

so...



... more than "good enough" on both fronts I reckon.

As always though, all about the implementation.
Happily the reviews of this thing are good, up there (and bettering) Jays Audio transports.


Aside playing CDs, most of my digital audio nowadays is done over my AppleTV, (Apple Music, YouTube, Netflix and the like) and handily the Shanling has Airplay (and it’s Airplay1 not 2, which is native lossless audio) so all things streaming are now no longer limited to what AppleTVs hardware limitation over HDMI puts out.

Potentially better Redbook CD output too into my Dac over i2s, at native resolution, or 16/44 CD upscaled to DSD 512 into my Dac.
Also,
an i2s Roon endpoint once they get Certification for it, theres currently a "hack" using iFi Audio’s app iFi Bridge for Roon, so will explore that.

Will compare Roon sound quality from the Oppo vs the Shanling.

Digitals still developing, and this bit of gear got my attention.
Early adopter of forward looking digital (First Squeezebox enjoyer!) and just like that first Squeezebox, this half width black box gives me the Fizz.

Shanling actively update the firmware for this, and have an active presence on Hifi forums offering support.
They stand by this product, and this, along with seeing the smart design decisions done behind the scenes helped in my buying decision.
Sounds daft, but to me it has an old school Naim half width box vibe too, which I really like.

Top loading Transport as well,
so no rattly plastic tray or scratchy slot loader to deal with.

Suspect a dedicated i2s CD Transport will better the Oppo 203 for playing CDs, can upscale too, so looking forward to seeing what that brings to the table.

Im enjoying playing CDs again, had the audiolab 6000 and which was bettered by further mods on my Oppo 203, but hoping this is better again.
Ticks all the digital spec boxes, into my dac over i2s, hoping CDs should sound good.

The top loading "hands on" approach to it appeals to me too, a "digital turntable" sort of thing?
The black glass lid reminds me of the Rega Planar platters so another nod there.

Always fancied a top loading CD player since seeing the original Rega Planet back in the day?
Funny how this stuff all works.

Something else that's cool is it's USB input, which can read SACD ISO images, and play them back at full res DSD over its i2s output.
Have 100ish SACD rips in *.ISO format (disc image) - my Oppo lost the ability to play those a few firmware updates back.
So great to be able to enjoy my favourite SACD albums again, will pick up a 1TB USB stick and put my SACD ISOs on it.

Much more than just a CD Transport, and from researching it over on American forums, even just as a Transport folks have preferred it over the Jay's Audio and Shitt transports at substantially higer cost.
So great bang for buck.

Will it better my modded Oppo for playing CDs?
Shall see.

[Macca]

Having the controls on top is a good idea.

[brian2957]

That looks like a nice bit of kit mate. Hope it fits the bill. Hopefully I'll get over soon to give it a listen

[Ali Tait]

Looks nice mate, hopefully does the business. I like the top loading thing too on my Lector, wee magnetic puck for holding the disc in place.

[Jimbo]

These get good reviews so will be interested in your assessment of it Gary.

[Gazjam]

Posties been







Reads CDs quickly and is completely silent, feels really well built.
Packaging great, came double boxed and wrapped in a cloth bag with great documentation, reminded me of the Oppo.
Small details taken care of always an encouraging sign.

Feels solid weighty and high end, I'm happy with this.
No idea about sound yet, playing a few CDs to let it warm up, sound quality comes later.

Have a really good Morrow digital AES cable, compare that to i2s connection in a wee bit.

[Macca]

Exciting!