5103/5125 not good enough for DS?

[Warren]

Coming back on track, I was surprised the difference between 5103 and Renew DS for 16/44 was small (and for 24/96 was huge). Though from being familiar with the level of performance obtained by things like the RDS I was aware of more of a difference between 5103 and RDS and with more listening over a year or so I'm sure the skill of hearing more subtle musical differences will be developed.

Is there a difference? Yes.
Is it huge? No.
The DACs in the 5103 are very good, even though the RDS is much better. It is a bit like saying the 5103 can run a mile slightly faster than 4 minutes and slightly faster than Roger Banister, it is just that the RDS holds last year's world record (less than 3 and 3/4 of a minute). There's not much difference between waiting 239 seconds or 223 seconds.

What the RDS is better at is timing (and some detail due to 24/352 upscaling smoothing) and the Ninkas can't reveal much more of what is there.
What 24 bit is better at is detail and the Ninkas can cope with that.


To give the rest of you the backstory, in a shop with doodlebug's Mimik, Kollector and two LK85s we auditioned a pair of Ninkas. As luck would have it, in the room was a customer's LP12 that had just been SE'd (Keel, Trampolin 2, Ekos SE), so not just a good LP12, but the top LP12 at the time. Biamping the Ninkas there was almost no sonic difference between the Mimik (probably the worst or least best source Linn have done) and the LP12 SE (the best source Linn had done to date). We moved to a pair of Akurate 242 with just one LK85 (as the speakers were configured for single wired/amping) and the difference between the two sources was huge.

Doodlebug wants to stay active, though I've been curious about what kind of killer electric shock would be achieved by plugging my Twin into his Ninkas. Astonishing, even if passive.

Doodlebug wants active balls, he thinks. (I was active, but don't miss it since getting 242s and I'm in no rush to go active since hearing Solos). That said, the stay active route would be Majik 140, or even Keltics would be a sensible step forward, with another 5125. Though the Keltics might have too much bass. ;)

I've recommended dynamiking the 5125, probably to the point of nagging. The modern successor to the 5125 as I see it is the M2100 and I've heard an AB of a 2100 and a 2100/d and the dynamik just added heaps more power to what was already there. I don't see how dynamik could reduce the balls of a system, only increase it.

[doodlebug]

And if i could hear dynamic first I might.... I have to say that I did hear a difference after ripping with XLD. Warren, perhaps I could dump you a couple of my ALAC rips and see what difference you hear on your system between them and your FLAC equivalents, given you heard mine (slash yours )