Everyone,
I think all of us here should acknowledge the fact that Ashish at Lakozy did great at the event and the event wouldnt have happened without his generous support.
Cheers Ashish !
:clapping:
I agree,
We need to give Ashish from Lakozy a big round of applause, we seems to have gotten lost with the negative outlook on things and forgotten the positive things and main supporter of the meet who took great effort to make it possible.
I'll write about the transport on the weekend but writing about lakozy now.
We got to use the following from Lakozy:
NAD M51 DD DAC
NAD DAC 1 Wireless DAC
NAD M5 SACD PLAYER
Room Equalizer
NAD Dock
Naim Nait 5i
NAD M2
PSB Synchrony one B
PSB active mini speakersSupra Cables
Supra Power conditioner
Nostone Stands
Supra RCA interconnects
Supra Power Cable
Supra XLR interconnects
Supra speaker cables
PSB image B6 was having technical difficulties when we tried hooking it up and could not be auditioned.
NAD M51 DD DAC (Auditioned throughout the entire meet): Very versatile and decisive sounding DAC. When pitted against the Acoustic portrait DAC, I felt the NAD was better suited for more genres of music, while the AP dac had a certain sweetness when it came to vocals. This dac needs a driver, just like the AP dac and asus xonar essence. The search for their drivers used up a lot of time on our end because we assumed dac's auto detect.
NAD DAC 1 Wireless DAC: Quite a handly little DAC that worked without breaks in the signal while connected through a computer. The sound when compared to the nad 51 was a little less decisive but it was no small contender even though the size was small, quite impressive. Did not need a driver. Would I buy it? yes I would.
NAD M5 SACD player: This was the only CD player at the meet so it's hard to compare. However we did use it as a transport and compared it against the acoustic portrait transport and I found again that the acoustic portrait had a slight advantage with vocals while the NAD was better suited for more dynamism in "busy" tracks even when connected as a transport to an acoustic portrait DAC.
Room Equalizer: We tried this out and it did seem to make a small difference, but I was unable to hear it properly or see the brand because I was doing other stuff at the time, so if others could highlight it please.
NAD Dock: HUGE sound stage! It's good for casual, small footprint, bedroom or outdoor listening. The bass is quite strong and if I were going somewhere on holiday in a car or something, I'd take this for outdoor listening because it would not sound hollow unlike many other docks I've heard.
Naim Nait 5i(on DIY floorstanders): VERY sweet sounding combination. We heard the naim right after hearing a lyrtia GM70 amp on the same pair of speakers.
I was worried that naim might sound too bright given the fact the TL floorstander was a little bright according to Pranav, but it was a very sweet sounding combination with good dynamics. HIGHLY detailed but not fatiguing even though paired to a bright speaker. I can definitely now see why people recommend naim nait 5i.
NAD M2 + PSB Synchrony one B: The M2 though a class D(D does not stand for digital), direct digital topology, it sounded like the most analog amplifier in the meet, the background was totally black. It is built to almost 20kg weight and can drive anything you throw at it. This was evident when we hooked up a PSB ONE B to it and then later connected the ONE B to a cambridge audio azur 840a. I felt the M2 was a little overpriced for it's sound, and that the 390 DD from a lower pricepoint is better value for money given it's direct usb input for computer users like me without any requirement for seperate dac.
However, the M2 confirmed what I read about these 2012 direct digital amplifiers sounding like analog systems. IT DOES NOT SOUND DIGITAL! The sound was THICK lush and well bodied. The PSB ONE B added to the body a little IMO but hearing the ONE B on another AMP, one can decipher the difference and where the M2 stands.
These direct digital amp's like m2 and 390DD are the future, I suggest everyone get familiar with them!
PSB Alpha PS1 Powered Speaker: These were the most surprising little devils of the meet. They're active, tiny, but sound nothing like it, You'd imagine something as tiny to sound small and have no body to the sound but boy was I surprised (Along with subhoh and ranjeetrain)
We heard it with MJ thriller and some other tracks and I honestly have no words to describe my surprise to their sound to size ratio.
These are excellent contenders for small computer desks that need good sound in minimal footprint.
Supra Cables: No nonsense speaker cables with excellent build, EXCELLENT power cables, the rca cables has slightly fragile terminations imo, the XLR cables again were very sturdy. Everything seemed relatively transparent without any noticeable coloration.
Supra Power conditioner: HEAVY DUTY! It's built like a tank and everything fit into the power sockets like charm.
Nostone Stands: Quite well finished, a bit light, but quite rigid, excellent example of how a stand does not need to be heavy to support a massive weight.
