The Benchmark weighed more. Only kidding. as mentioned the synergy between the VDA-2 and my tube system was very good. My original comments hold true for both my system in the first round of testing and Geof's Rotel amp and I-Bens speakers in the 2nd round: A low noise floor was evident in both units - an improvement over the stock SB3 analog out. While both units and systems sounded well rounded and revealing the Benchmark seemed a bit more flat, or perhaps more realistic depending on the listeners POV. Musical instruments in the low range were a bit more bleached running on my system with the Benchmark but this was not evident with the Rotel/I-Bens - it could also be the effect of doing the comparison a week apart and the VDA-2 is that much further along in its break-in period.
I've seen this mentioned in other threads and I did my own test to compare Optical-Out vs. Coaxial between the SB3 and VDA-2. Absolutely no difference was discernible. While this is a Squeezebox forum I'll mention one more comparison; Neither unit improved the listening experience when used in conjunction with my 7 year old Krell transport. -- kphinney SB3 Krell KAV 250CD CIAudio DVA-2 JoLida 102B Omega Grand 6's & B&W 602 S2's PowerMac Zhaolu D2.5 AKG K501 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ kphinney's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10409 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36172 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
