Thiel Owners

Happy Friday! All

For those looking for good equipment to power their Thiels speakers without robbing the bank ;-)

Thorough review by Christiaan Punter regarding the following components of Audio-GD (exactly the same set I use)

Audio-GD Master-1 preamplifier
Audio-GD Master-3 power amplifier
Audio-GD R8 ladder DAC 

https://www.hifi-advice.com/blog/review/digital-reviews/spdif-dac-reviews/audio-gd-part1/

Conclusion

I’ll be honest: I think that the R8 DAC is the star of the show, sounding very nearly as good as the Aqua Formula xHD DAC which given its low price is an amazing achievement. But don’t assume that the Master 1 preamp and Master 3 power amp are mere bystanders. This pre-power pair also offers extremely good value for money, delivering a combination of transparency, neutrality, and even-handedness that is normally impossible in this price class. I think you can easily spend double the amount and not get better sound. But the most amazing aspect of all is perhaps the further increase in performance when all the components are wired using the proprietary ACSS connections, giving the system such a leap in performance that it becomes impossible to fault, even in the company of esoteric hardware. Oh, and should you still be worried about the build quality of these products then the 10-year (!) warranty should instill confidence.

The reviews on audio science review forum suggest some caution with the audio-gd dacs.

Oh, and should you still be worried about the build quality of these products then the 10-year (!) warranty should instill confidence.

I got burned by Chinese products in the past.  Not sure I can trust them.  Hopefully they will be still around ten years from now.