Trying to think of another way to describe their house sound it would be reminiscent of combining the characteristics of a tube amplifier with a high end Class D amp that has insane dynamics.
SPL Diamond - Review
I have had the pleasure of having the SPL Diamond in the house for a couple of weeks now and I must admit that I have fallen in love with it’s seductive sound in spite of the lack of remote control capability even for the volume. Before we dive into the details let me digress.
I was talking to John over at JM Audio Editions about how to tune my XTC 2.5’s he was building for me, which are amazing by the way. We settled on linear, detailed and slightly on the warm side - just the way I like it. I then asked him what he thinks about the LSA HP-1’s that I have, which have gotten glowing reviews. He responded that he was not a big fan. When pressed he opined that they are not “organic” sounding. I was puzzled. What may this organic sound be? When I received my XTC 2.5’s I think I understand what he meant. It is that illusive, seductive timbre that sucks you into the music. It is more of a sensation than a sound. It is soothing and lets you listen for hours just wanting more.
I am going to take a little different approach to this so rather than trying to describe the performance of the Diamond by endless descriptions of how certain songs sound I will try to describe it in terms of some other DAC’s I own and also love for various reasons.
Hegel HD30 - The most dynamic DAC I can think of with a dynamic range of 150db. It throws a huge sound stage with wonderful natural sound. A true reference DAC.
Benchmark DAC2 & 3 - The pro heritage is evident. Detailed and analytical, while still maintaining musicality.
Bel Canto DAC 2.7 & 3.7 - As one audiophile friend put it they are the most musical and analog sounding DAC’s. Some may call the sound on the lush side. People who love them usually have several the sound can be that seductive - me included.
So how does the Diamond fit into this venerable bunch? It borrows a little from each. It takes the dynamics from the Hegel and combines it with the pro heritage of the Benchmark while borrowing a little of that musicality and analog sound from the Bel Canto. It all adds up to a silky smooth, dense analog sound with amazing dynamics or something one may call “organic”. Linear, detailed and slightly on the warm side - just the way I like it.
Combine the Diamond with a SPL Performer amp and you may never look back. It is worth the walk to adjust the volume.
Here is the system it was in:
Auralic Aries G1
Diamond
SPL Performer S800
SPL Phonitor XE
Acoustic Zen Adagio
2 X Anthony Gallo Classico 12” Subs
Custom braided Western Electric 1970’s new old stock interconnects and speaker cables
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- 13 posts total
The preamp in the spl is not that good , on any good preamp it has either a good resistor ladder ,or relay control forthe volume attenuator , the $20 Alps blue velvet is the cheapest way you can get, it’s a silver round can with 2 plastic wipers and a conductive spray on the wipers,you are robbed of a lot of detail I am just saying the truth , even spl separate preamps the same low quality Alps volume pot , for the money Linear TubeAudio , or even the Schiit freya+ preamp are solid low cost tube preamps , which too would be a plus . a Solid state amp,Vacuum tube preamp is a classic combo. |
Here is a perfect example of why a Quality preamplifier is needed as well as a High Quality volume attenuator is needed this is a spl preamp very good until you get to the $20 Alps volume pot ,Being in Audio ,having owned a Audio store and modding for many years Why would you go through all that then take a short cut to cut costs and ultimately your resolution ? Prima Luna does this too on a $5k preamp totally makes no sense ,IHave worked with some of the best electronics engineers in the business ,I just wanted to point this out , https://tmraudio.com/blog/tmr-exclusive-review-spl-elector-preamplifier-part-2/ |
- 13 posts total