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Chord Dave - Missing soundstage width

Hi I am in the process of evaluating the Chord Dave.I have a Orchid dac and to my ears it has a wider soundstage than the Dave, but in every other aspect the Dave is the clear winner.
The Dave has height, depth and a way to make you feel that you are there. but not much sound outside the speaker boundaries.
Is my observation correct or does my system suck (;
Equipment: Primaluna HP integrated EL34 tubes. Tekton Design DI, A well treated room.Streaming with Tidal HIFI/Master
martin-andersen

Showing 1 response by adg101

adg101
1,063 posts
 
Is the stage actually wider on the Orchid or does the stage just sounds like a wall of music, and not saying it doesn’t have a pleasing sound. Is the Dave maybe quieter, more space between the instruments and maybe at a quick observation comes across as a narrower stage? No doubt tubes can throw a wide stage, but at what expense? Is there space between the musicians, can you close your eyes and point to each musician? I think on some tube components that have that tube bloom, things can get lost a little but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sound pleasing or wonderful.

I have not heard either DAC but I suspect the Dave is more refined and there’s more space and openness with depth.  Also is the Orchid a little louder than the Dave or do you have the output levels matched? Maybe the Orchid is a little more forward sounding? Could be the Orchid is just a better match in your system.

My RME ADI 2 fs throws a huge stage but it’s not always on, it has great stage and space and here and there you get that, “Where the heck did that come from”... feet beyond the sidewalls. Not to side rail things but using my RME as an example it’s more complex than just wide wall of sound always there, it’s extremely quiet, and maybe a little eerie with micro detail. Maybe the Dave is much more like this than just a wide wall of sound.
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