Hey everybody,
Just submitted my review on the III SE for Stereo Times website. I'll let you all know when it will be published. It was a fun review to do because its a great product! |
Hey Everybody,
My review on the Stereo Times website just went up this morning. It shares all the details why I gave it a very big "thumbs up" and what it did in my system to earn this praise from me.
Hope you enjoy reading it. |
Hey facten,
As I mentioned in the review I have had many DACs that cost at least double the amount of the Audio Mirror piece in my system for review and the SE III out performed them in two key areas. 1) Spatial qualities like image palpability, air around each player, and a sense of space in the soundstage was superior compared to the other DACs. 2) Beautiful tonality, timbres, and colors that were more intense and real sounding to my ear then the other DACs.
The Tubadour III SE presents a relaxing/flowing experience of the music compared to some of the other DACs that sounded very detailed, yet never let me connect with the music. |
Hey everybody,
Vlad will be sending me the SE version of this DAC shortly for a review for the website Stereo Times. It will be very interesting to compare this DAC to the Mhdlab Orchid and Lab 12 which also use NOS DAC chips and tube based analog conversation sections, that I have reviewed in the past and currently use in my systems.
Looking forward to hearing this DAC that has brought great pleasure at a reasonable cost to many of the listeners on this thread. |
Vlad just informed he shipped out the DAC for review today. I'll have some cursory/tentative information to share with all of you, hopefully by the end of next week. I'm looking forward to this experience to my able to give feedback and write the review for Stereo Times in the near future. |
Hello Gentlemen,
Well, I have spent around 30 hours listening to the SE Tubadour in the last three days. Even not fully burn-in, it's a sonic "gem" across the board.
Here's the answers to some of the questions that have been asked on this thread or sent to me by readers of my reviews:
1) Is it on a higher level of performance then the Mhdlab Orchid DAC.
Yes, it does everything with more finesse and performs on a higher qualitative then the Orchid DAC. Do remember, its retail price is almost $1,500 more then the Mhdlab DAC, it "should" be better. However, if you can afford it, with out a doubt it's worth the expense. Also, I cannot answer which is better, the basic Audio Mirror Tubadour or the Mhdlab Orchid because I have never heard the basic Tubadour Dac. The Orchid is still a great DAC and very reasonably priced, I'm sure the basic Tubadour is very good too, but someone else will have to make the actual comparison who has both pieces.
2) Is the build quality and performance were it should be for this price range.
With out a doubt YES. This DAC competes with far more expensive Dacs, both in internal parts, and it's performance is superlative. I'll get into all the sonic details when I write the review for Stereo Times.
3) Can you clearly hear differences by doing tube rolling in the SE version of this DAC.
Yes, I have already tried some very highly regarded NOS 6922's and 396's in the DAC. The Tubadour is so transparent that each tube changes the overall flavor of it's presentation. However, credit to Vlad, the 5977 tube set that he ships with is "spot on" and is my favorite for my tastes and system synergy. Never had heard this tube before, these little suckers sound terrific in this DAC, I would like to try Vlad's 5977 tube set in some of my other pieces that use 6922's to see what would happen.
So, if you own the SE version of this DAC, congrats to you, you have a great piece, indeed.
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Hey gentlemen,
I have been receiving scores of Emails asking for more specific/precise details regarding the performance of the SE DAC. Guy's what I posted already is as far as I'm going to go, because I want to keep the details and nuances for my full length review that I'll write sometime at the end of next month. This will also allow me to get over 200 hours on the DAC and see if it improves in the ways that other owners have stated takes it to even a higher level of sublime performance. We shall see! I'm finding it hard to go about my business instead of listening to my system, because of the beauty and emotional connection with the music that the SE is creating in the context of rig. |
Hey Vassils,
Don't lose sleep, and you sound very sane-so you won't, regarding your mix-up between the the two Lampi models. I have had four DACs that cost between 10K to around 30K in for audition, only care about redbook- I spin CD's, and did not buy any of them because the DACs that I was using were just as good if not better. And these DACs were bettered by the AM SE. Remember, besides personal taste and synergy, EGO ownership and the price tag comes rapidly into play. My experience as a professional reviewer is that owners of much more expensive pieces and other companies that charge out of your mind prices quickly become defensive, if you dare to state that much less expensive gear competes with theirs. Also, the differences in performance between their much more expensive piece and something like the AM SE are magnified totally out of proportion. There is no "BEST" in high-end audio, lots of great gear. However, the Audio Mirror SE is not just great for the $, but offers a level of performance that competes with so much more expensive DACs I understand why this could lead to some disgruntled owners of other DACs.
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I want to concur with the conclusions of fellow poster Cal3713 regarding that the AM 3 SE has the most beautiful liquidity and "ease" that allows you to relax into the music. In the past two weeks I have compared the AM 3 SE to my standard Orchid, a modified Orchid, and Lamp Amber 3, and across the board I found, in the context of my system, the Audio Mirror to perform at a higher musical level.
I will be writing my formal review for Stereo Times in the next few weeks that will get into all the details regarding Vlad's wonderful music making DAC.
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Just wanted to share that another guest brought over his highly regarded DAC, retails for around 12K to compare to the AM 3 SE. He was some what shocked how much more musical and engaging the Audio Mirror piece was then his DAC.
As grannyring has stated system synergy and personal taste must always be taken into account when trying to come to a conclusion about the performance of any piece of gear. However, its pretty clear to me that the Audio Mirror is a very special DAC that offers so much at a very reasonable price. |
For my upcoming review for The Stereo Times website I went through extensive tube rolling with excellent NOS tubes to see If the Tubadour III SE performance could be enhanced, not just changed, to a higher level. Well, Vlad was correct, the DAC performs at it's optimum level with the 5977, which for his taste sounded the best. He was right! |
Vlad has, builds sets of the 5977 tubes to just plug-in for replacement if needed. I actually asked him to send me a pair so I could experiment with other gear that uses 6922’s because of how terrific these mini tubes perform in the DAC. |
