Who has Luv for the Lyngdorf 2170 and is thinking about the 3400.

@shkong788 I did try the unit simply as a DAC (in lieu of my PS Audio PWD).  Again, it excelled in smoothness, bass, and reliability (streaming just always worked right).  I felt, however, that the PWD had a fuller sound with better body.  To steal words from Charles, it was just more natural.  I absolutely agree with Charles that that's the key attribute on which to judge components.  The more natural it sounds, the more easily it pulls out emotions, at least in my experience.

I'll also say that a couple years ago I tried to upgrade my DAC to PS Audio's Directstream and actually ended up going back to the PWD.  The Direcstream had more detail, but again, the music just didn't sound as real. 

Also, just FYI, on the Lyngdorf, all my critical listening was over the ethernet input.

@essrand Unfortunately I can't comment on break-in.  I didn't have my stereo over the past year and had been using the Lyngdorf on some $100 klipsh desktop speakers for about 4 months before finally getting it into the real system this August.  So it was fully broken in by that time...

I'm not going to lie.  I've been listening more and more to my Lyngdorf TDAI 3400 and less and less to my Art Audio Diavolo 300b SET amplifier!  Maybe I'm too lazy to power up my tube amplifier and turn a knob on my Luxman AS-55 amplifier switcher, but I find the Lyngdorf sounds unlike any solid-state amplifier I've ever heard on my Tekton Design Encore speakers.  It's very neutral, natural, detailed, but not overbearingly so, and with Room Perfect properly setup the sound improvements between using it or bypassing it can't be overstated.  It's just sounds so right to me and just as, and at times even more, emotionally engaging than my tube amp; especially on larger music pieces that appreciate the extra power output that the Lyngdorf affords me.  

It's also an absolute joy to use.  You can open Spotify or Roon/Tidal on your phone, cue a piece of music and the Lyngdorf will wake up from standby, change to the appropriate input and begin playing music immediately.  I also love the WebGUI interface which makes setting it up fast and painless. The dedicated Android App is so polished, well thought out, and executed flawlessly. 

I have been touting the greatness of Steinway Lyngdorf Room Correction for several years now . People just tend not to believe how good it really is .Most won't believe it until they hear it. But, the biggest  problem is .....convincing them to try it ! All other room correction pales in comparison.

The above dialogue illustrates the beauty of an open audio forum. Cal3713 (Chris) and Jcarcopo (Jonathan) are both experienced and respected posters who express themselves quite well. I do not find it surprising that they respectively have come to different outcomes regarding the Lyngdorf versus their SET amplifiers.

Different ears, taste, desires and systems will result in varying preferences in such an intrinsic subjective undertaking as listening to music via electronic devices/audio components. The inevitability of different outcomes just makes perfect sense to me.

I haven’t the slightest doubt that Chris and Jonathan are very satisfied with their individual choices. In all my years of High End audio involment I can’t recall a single audio product that has ever received 100% consensus as the’best’ regardless of price or pedigree. Too many variables exist.
Charles