Hello, I just joined, primarily for the audiophile products. Looking at purchasing the NHT C3 speakers for our new living room. Space is about 15 feet wide by 33 long and they will fire long ways. Space is just for general listening, music room with all equipment is downstairs, so hoping they will fill it with sound nicely. Cheers.
Mar 18, 2024
“I have a pair of Sennheiser HD600's (now 20 years old) which I currently use with a Yamaha RX-V373 receiver (silent cinema) for films, and it's excellent for the job. However, I recently got interested in new music again and it just sounded dull and boomy. I thought I'd try the smsl m6, not expecting much, and was pretty shocked by how differently it sounded. All the muddiness melted away. The toggle is easy to use, and it's loud enough for me at 28, with it going up to 60. There's also no background noise. I've connected it via USB to a 15 year old Windows XP computer, with the JRiver Media Center (via asio4all), and it plays back 24/192 files perfectly. I've also played HD files via optical from a Dune media player. Pleasantly surprised. Had expected to return it within the allotted 14 days, decided to keep it within a day.”
" I have just tested it on the hd650 it is definitely better sounding than the soundblaster zx i was using previously. I do not have much experience in different dac/amps but I can tell the headphones sound a little punchier down low and the music sounds smoother overall with more sound stage. The headphones sound pretty amazing with it to be honest. The volume the amp can go to is well and truly too loud to listen to so I assume that means it can now power the headphones enough where previously the sound blaster was quite loud but it wasn't as clear or dynamic. "
If you still feel you need a DAC later on, maybe you could look at a refurbished Oppo Sonica at $600 (new one is $800)
Note: With some units (including the O2-SDAC combo from Massdrop), you can use the « RCA Out » plugs as a « RCA In » when the usb in plug of the DAC part is not in usage, meaning that the unit may be used as an amp only. Is this the case with this SMSL? It doesn’t say in the description. Anyone? Bueller?
Of course you still are limited with one set of RCA jacks, especially if you're planning to run external speakers like myself. Still, there are options.