Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Mar 25, 2014 14:52:16 GMT
I see Graham $lee has a new dac / pre-amp about to hit the market, the Majestic. Not sure of the price though.
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jc
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Post by jc on Mar 25, 2014 15:09:27 GMT
Spooky! I was just reading up on that. Retail price, I believe, is going to be £1600. There is already a fair bit of discussion on line. For it's type and performance claims it's suitably priced well below that of some integrated amps offering similar capabilities so just add a power amp or active 'speakers. Things like the latest Tellurium "Claymore" amp spring to mind, though IMHO and without hearing, it seems over-priced. A worrying omission on the Majestic, in this modern, lazy world of ours, is remote control!
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Mar 25, 2014 17:00:16 GMT
Probably this might be the reason when I try and type Graham's surname the dollar sign appears in place of the S. If I was paying that kind of cash, I'd want a nice Naim logo on the case for sure.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 25, 2014 21:06:49 GMT
I wish Graham all the success in the world.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2014 21:17:32 GMT
I wish Graham all the success in the world. With Leo part of the team, even if it only comes down to using his special hearing abilities to verify it meets it's performance objectives , it should be.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 25, 2014 21:40:07 GMT
I wish Graham all the success in the world. Maybe time for him to go down the designed by Graham $lee / assembled in China route? I have no desire to conquer the world with my Little Pinkie power supplies and am happy to make them, with my fair hand, as pretty much a labour of love at no real profit to me. I am Happy with that. Graham is doing it for his living and has to turn a pound to keep his family / staff / supported / comfortable. He has always been pro UK / home grown industry and I respect the man immensely for sticking to his guns and continuing to produce "made in the UK" products, even though the economics of our sadly "we just cannot compete with Chinese labour costs" society gains even more downward momentum toward the UK being "binned" as a viable "producer" of affordable goods. It's not £1600 worth of DAC, it's UNFORTUNATELY what it costs to produce a £200 DAC in the UK. Don't blame Graham, blame the fukked up state of the economy and the reality that Asians can do it a lot cheaper. The "Made in the UK" flag is fantastic but 95% of the components that are "hand soldered" in the UK are from Asia. I told Graham "years" ago that he would gain a lot more customers, and greater sales, by going down the "designed by Graham $lee / England" route and getting the production done in Asia. £1600 is, essentially, limiting his audience to either fools with more money than sense or stout nationalists who are fools with money to waste. I will repeat it again, just to make it clear..... I have the upmost respect for Graham, and I wish him all the best..... I just wish he would get off his bloody "home baked" horse and realise that "made in the UK" isn't necessarily a "good" thing / USP these days Mike.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 25, 2014 21:57:00 GMT
I would much rather have a 19 year old Asian chap, with good eyesight, solder my surface mount components than a blind bastard like me ;_) I don't give a damn WHERE (on the planet) it's soldered..... all that's required is damned good eyesight and a few days with a soldering iron training!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2014 22:20:29 GMT
I would much rather have a 19 year old Asian chap, with good eyesight, solder my surface mount components than a blind bastard like me ;_) I don't give a damn WHERE (on the planet) it's soldered..... all that's required is damned good eyesight and a few days with a soldering iron training! These days I have enough problems just soldering in 4 x SMD diodes on a PSU PCB.(embarrassed smile) My eyes aren't the problem, it's that my hands aren't as steady as they used to be, partly due to Arthritis . That reminds me that I must get another Flux Pen.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 25, 2014 22:34:40 GMT
I would much rather have a 19 year old Asian chap, with good eyesight, solder my surface mount components than a blind bastard like me ;_) I don't give a damn WHERE (on the planet) it's soldered..... all that's required is damned good eyesight and a few days with a soldering iron training! These days I have enough problems just soldering in 4 x SMD diodes on a PSU PCB.(embarrassed smile) My eyes aren't the problem, it's that my hands aren't as steady as they used to be, partly due to Arthritis . That reminds me that I must get another Flux Pen.
My hands are as steady as the Rock Of Gibralter (believe it or not) it's my "motherfekking" eyesight that's going pear shaped......... My balls haven't dropped down to my knees "yet" so I can't really moan ..... If (and when) my balls drop below knee level I will, most certainly, visit a Doctor OR jump off a cliff
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jc
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Post by jc on Mar 25, 2014 22:47:55 GMT
I empathise with Mike, steady hands but hopeless eyesight BTW Mike, all this time I thought you had knobbly knees, thank god you weren't wearing shorts
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Mar 26, 2014 9:33:39 GMT
Graham makes great products so I imagine it will demonstrably outperform similar priced equipment. I can remember in the late eighties when the Arcam Black Box was about the only DAC on the market. Think it was priced either £299 or £399. Apart from facilities, sound quality wise, have DAC's substantially improved over the last twenty or so years?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2014 10:13:25 GMT
Yes, DAC's have (in general) substantially improved over the last twenty or so years in sound quality. Check out the offerings from John Kenny for example. Even many DIY DACS are vastly better sounding than many commercial products of 10 years ago.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 26, 2014 22:36:03 GMT
£1600 is a shitload to pay for a £1 DAC chip though ?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2014 23:08:42 GMT
£1600 is a shitload to pay for a £1 DAC chip though ? Due to the quantities purchased, I doubt that G.S. would be able to get them at anywhere near that price. John Kenny would likely have more of a clue about actual costs involved in bringing a DAC to market ?
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Post by PinkFloyd on Mar 29, 2014 20:59:20 GMT
£1600 is a shitload to pay for a £1 DAC chip though ? Due to the quantities purchased, I doubt that G.S. would be able to get them at anywhere near that price. John Kenny would likely have more of a clue about actual costs involved in bringing a DAC to market ?
Stanley Beresford would have a good idea too Alex but he seems to have disappeared into the ether
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Post by freddypipsqueek on Apr 3, 2014 17:14:50 GMT
As I'm still using an Arcam Black Box 2 and I've heard quite a few of the recent DACs I have to say the answer is no they haven't improved much with the exception of the lower end of the market. There is a lot in a good DAC besides the chip that still has to be well implemented. Nigel your memory is very good - £300 paid for mine in 1988.
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Post by PinkFloyd on Apr 3, 2014 20:08:22 GMT
As I'm still using an Arcam Black Box 2 and I've heard quite a few of the recent DACs I have to say the answer is no they haven't improved much with the exception of the lower end of the market. There is a lot in a good DAC besides the chip that still has to be well implemented. Nigel your memory is very good - £300 paid for mine in 1988. x2 on that.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2014 20:47:02 GMT
Adrian It takes a lot more work, particularly in the power supply and clock areas of a DAC to change it from average to well above average. This can be seen in the old X-DAC V3 thread, and Silicon Chip DAC threads in the DIY area of the forum.
Regards Alex
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Apr 14, 2014 10:28:37 GMT
By all accounts the latest Musical Fidelity V90 DAC is very good. Real world price as well. Hi-Fi Critic called it exceptional in their review.
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Post by colinwonfor on Jul 24, 2015 12:31:41 GMT
Still plodding on nearly completed the NEW Wonfor/Inca Tech Claymore Design without remote and the other junk the marketing Guru wanted at TQ, It about sound not flashing lights wally. It will be a lot cheaper I hope too. We will see.
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jc
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Post by jc on Jul 27, 2015 12:42:22 GMT
Still plodding on nearly completed the NEW Wonfor/Inca Tech Claymore Design without remote and the other junk the marketing Guru wanted at TQ, It about sound not flashing lights wally. It will be a lot cheaper I hope too. We will see. Will this be a "straight" amp i.e. no dac etc. A 2015 Claymore update could be very interesting and far more competitive than the TQ. There is hole in the market left by the old crew not doing things like they did (Naim, Exposure etc), possibly a real cottage industry comeback could be lucrative or is that just my rose tinted specs!
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