SPL Audio

dalims4 - That's great news, thanks!

@high-amp I owned the treo of the DirectorMk2/Performer/Phonos. I love the small form factor, outstanding build and stellar sound. The internal DAC was good but the RME-ADI-FS is phenomenal. Great Gear IMO.

audiosaurusrex  +1!!!

dalmis4

no worries, I’m convinced, once I can afford it I’ll be going with SPL exclusively. Thanks again for chiming in, much appreciated!

I've read from different sources that their phonostage is a real dandy. Haven't seen one on the used markets for a while, so that might be a confirmation.

The Phonos preamp has been on radar for some time. It looks like a really good product. Any feedback on that one would be great.

dalims4 - what speakers?

I owned the SPL Phonos and actually traded it in for the Modwright 9.0X at TMR. The Phonos is totally outstanding and definitely benefitted from fuses and PC. I actually was very hesitant getting rid of it as it is that good. The dynamics and low noise of this unit are outstanding. The SPL Phonos will not disappoint.

Its good stuff.  I had an opportunity to use the Phonitor headphone amp and it was nice. It was one of the better units with crossfeed and meters,  input / output trim.  It felt and sounded like high end gear

Haven’t heard but cool looking stuff.  Meters!

I have the SPL Elector SS preamp.  In stock form, the sound is oof the hook good.  Very fine detail, spatiality and clarity.  It truly does sound tubelike.  That is, a modern tube design.

jaymark - Thanks, I'm looking at the Director Mk 2 which I presume it the Elector with a built-in DAC? 

@navyachts Yes the Director has the DAC which is quite good. I loved the small form factor of the SPL line.

audiosaurusrex - Great handle!

Ya, pretty cool stuff. I’m thinking of pairing the Director with their s800 power amp. Thanks for the feedback on the DAC, but you did say in the past that the RME-ADI-FS was better. So, I was thinking I could add an external DAC somewhere down the road (if funds prevail).

Two months into s800 ownership. It definitely works better with Tidal and MQA than Qobuz hi-res. Tidal has beautiful, spacious, ethereal qualities and tight bass. Qobuz sounds turgid and dark. Both through Roon. Don't know why but that's how it sounds at my house.

dalims4 - ahh, Roon, now that's another story! I would like to stream Tidal as well, but without using Roon, but they say, computers are too noisy as music servers. I really don't want to purchase another piece of equipment as a Roon Core and I really don't want to pay a second monthly (or lifetime) subscription fee over that of TidaL!

@navyachts thanks yes while the Directors internal DAC is no slouch the RME is certainly more resolving and open sounding IMO. I wound up trying the RME into the balanced inputs of the Director and that’s how I used it. I wound up selling the treo Director/Performer/Phonos because I was itching to get into tubes but I loved the sound. Built extremely well, sounds great and looks cool! Good luck and Happy Listening!

You can stream Tidal without Roon but Roon adds a lot more body to the music. I think Tidal sounds better through Roon than JRiver. You probably Tidal by itself with whatever computer you have.use. I was using a cheap stock Hewlett Packard before I got the Wolf and it sounded much better than the Bel Canto cd3 transport I was using. A Tidal trial is free. You might be surprised with the results.

dalims4 - thanks, I'll give it a try!

My Phonos is listed in the classifieds. Like a baby bird. Cheap, cheap!

dalims4 - Gee, You speak so highly of SPL so why are you selling?

Selling off the entire analog side. I’m too old and crippled to hunt and flip records. The Phonos is a fantastic phono preamp, the best I’ve heard.

I feel ya, I got out of analog many, many moons ago. I seem to move about every  every 3 years or so and dragging 30 milk carton of LPs did my back in way before I got to old. Then there was always the problem of where to keep all those records!

I know what you mean. I only have about five-hundred records and they are a pain in the ass to move. The digital side sounds better anyway and all I have to do is find the mouse.

👍 LOL!

@dalims4 

I'm very tempted on this one...