Give Up on Bacch?
I have sitting next to me a little suitcase with the Bacch4Mac hardware. Implementation is scheduled for Monday, next week but I may return it before then. I thought I would seek advice before pulling the trigger. Theoretica gives one 14 days from shipping to return for a refund less a $200 restocking fee. The 14 days is up Monday. Why the cold feet? First, I will not have the opportunity to listen to the Bacch system in my home before the return period expires. Second, I was underwhelmed at the Theoretica room demo at Axpona. Third, I have a modded Peachtree Gan1 that requires a coax input. I will have to spend an additional $1000 to get that capability with the Bacch system. Fourth, at Axpona the sweetspot was narrow and impractical (2 seats, one behind the other).
It will cost me a $200 restocking fee and shipping to return the Bacch system. I hate to do that, not because of the cost, but because I won't have the opportunity to hear it in my home. What do you think?
@OP .....I'm as curious to read your observations as @cundare2 , but have no dog nor wallet in this stage of your conundrum.... Any experiment generally has a cost. Considering the overall $'s involved, think of it as getting to drive an F1 McLaren for 2 weeks.... 🤷♂️👍😎 ...we'll certainly have a good idea of where you'll Be in that time.... LOL* |
Man, this has been painful. Installation was Monday and Edgar himself called me. We didn't get far because a) my Peachtree Gan1 requires a coax which the RME supplied with the Bacch system does not support. I have an old analog HK Signature power amp, but that was no good either because the Bacch wants to output balanced. No go. b) Edgar assumes that his customer will reside in the Apple universe. I do not. I made a decision 45 years ago not to succumb to Apple's nanny state. I maintain that stance. The practical consequence is that I do not have an iPad or iPhone to control the Mac Mini, nor do I have a suitable keyboard. Edgar said that he doesn't know anything about Android and that I am on my own,, although he said there are apps that may be helpful. I ordered a cheap Monoprice xlr to rca interconnect and agreed to reschedule the install. Where to begin? First, I would have to sell my Ric Schultz-modded Peachtree Gan1 that I like very much. Either that or spend $1000 just for the coax interconnect. Second, I guess I have to buy an Apple keyboard just for the setup. Third, yes, there are apps for Android devices to control Mac Mini's remotely, but the best ones cost $30/month. There are other options, but you need to be computer savvy. I'm not an idiot, but this is distinctly unpleasant. I am over my head. I wanted to be convinced to keep the Bacch4Mac system, but I'm afraid that there are too many hurdles. I will unfortunately not get to implementation. Not much of a report. Sorry. I'm thoroughly bummed. |
The Bacch4Mac is up and running, sort of, but I need some more advice. First, though, I'd like to make clear the Edgar is a pleasure to work with. He is patient and, of course, very knowledgeable. I'll keep it and explain the pros and cons for me later, but because I am going to keep it there are some consequent choices to be made. First, I had to swap out my modded Gan1 power dac for an old HK Signature power amp. I could either upgrade the Babyface Pro interface for $1100 to get a coax out that the Gan1 requires. Alternatively, I could sell or repurpose the Gan1 and buy a power amp that supports an xlr input from the Babyface pro. I have in mind Orchard Starcrimson monoblocks. TMR has a used pair for $1500. I like the modded Gan1 very much but am open to an alternative. However, I have no experience with other power amps. Second, I had to disconnect my sub as the Babyface pro has no sub-out. I really need the sub as the speakers are Spendor SP3/5r2 (newer version of ls3/5a). Edgar said I could route the speakers through the sub using its high-pass filter, but this would be suboptimal because of the crossover: having a digital crossover integrated with the Bacch dsp would be better. The Babyface pro upgrade mentioned above would allow me to integrate the sub with the dsp digital crossover. Thus, the $1100 Babyface pro upgrade would allow me to keep the Gan1 and better integrate the sub. Is it worth it? Is the sub's high-pass filter sufficient? Maybe I should take this opportunity to try another power amp and put the $1100 toward that end. Your thoughts would be helpful. Edgar's solution is simple: just upgrade the Babyface pro. End of story. However, I'm not sure. I really could use a dealer to work with and advise me. That's not the role Edgar wants to play, nor should he. There are other issues the Bacch implementation prompts, such as the streamer, the dac and the webcam. But I'll post about them later. And then there are my initial impressions of sound quality. Like just about everything concerned with the Bacch, the answer is complicated. More later. Thanks. |
