Squeezebox Classic compared to TC-7520

[Labarum]

This long thread from another place

http://www.avforums.com/forums/hi-fi...tc-7510-a.html

considers the SB3 by itself and with a Standac (7510) or a Dacmagic

[nb2]

This long thread from another place

http://www.avforums.com/forums/hi-fi...tc-7510-a.html

considers the SB3 by itself and with a Standac (7510) or a Dacmagic

Another one here, with discussions about Beresford, Benchmark, Lavry and Transporter
http://forums.naim-audio.com/eve/for...7/m/4962985027

[Labarum]

Thanks for that input, NB2

The consensus of the thread seems to be here:

I have a pretty entry level system by this board's standard:

202/200/HiCap/NAPSC/Powerline/Hi-line Din-RCA driving Harbeth Monitor 30.

Source is now Slim Devices Transporter. But before that I used a combination of a Squeezebox 2 and Pioneer Universal Player fed into different DACs - DAC1 then Beresford DAC then Lavry DA10, finally settling on the Transporter. I also had the Ariva speakers before the Harbeths.

The Monitor 30s are very resolving and sensitive to changes in the system. Nobody murdered anyone, except maybe the Beresford who died a natural death... But my order of preference is: (Sorry for the lack of proper audio description, I am no reviewer, and I never bothered to make A/B comparisons. I am a strong believer in long term listening).

1. Transporter - Basically stopped my upgrade spiel. Very smooth and non fatiguing, lots of details. Gives me the most goose bumps amongst the 4 DACs.

2. Lavry DA10 - Warmer sounding then the Benchmark DAC1, gave me goose bumps once in a while but not often enough.

3. Benchmark DAC1 - Improved detail on the Squeezebox 2, but stark and sterile sounding. I do not recall getting any goose bump moments at all.

4. Beresford DAC - Different sounding but not much better than the stock DAC in the Squeezebox 2. But then the cost kind of reflected that.

I went for an audition of the Linn Klimax last weekend, I'd say it beat the Transporter but not by much. (I brought along my Transporter to humour my friend.) It has an extremely black background, but in terms of enjoyment I could live with the Transporter and save tens of thousands of US dollars worth.

I can't comment much, except to re-iterate, to my ears the Beresford betters the stand alone Squeezebox by a significant margin.

I cannot say how it would stand up against the Transporter and the expensive DACs.

I would have to find the difference quiet amazing to justify spending £1000, and if I was contemplating that expenditure I would have to consider the AVI option.

http://www.avihifi.co.uk/

And yet my Quad 405 + Quart Towers might take some beating for different reasons.

[leo]

I'm curious to know how 7520 stacks up against some of the diy dacs, I tried out a modded TC-7510 I repaired recently for somebody

I've now heard a Cambridge DM , still trying to work out why that has had so much hype

[Labarum]

My son has a Denon AV amp - I forget the model number - in "Pure Direct" mode there is not much to tell between it and the Beresford. Listening blind I wouldn't know which I was listening to. The digital source was his Macbook playing FLACs of CDs, and in each case using an optical link.

That was using 4 of the 100w power amps in the AV amp to drive his B and W 684's bi-amped.

How it would sound with my Quarts, I cannot say. They have more bass and probably more resolution than the B and Ws, which are remarkable for the price. Nor would it be fair, because my Quarts cannot be bi-amped so I would be pitting Denon's 100w against the very sophisticated grunt of the upgraded Quad 405.