MOFi 888s powered by Topping monoblocks and other Topping things–maybe a DAC.
My friend is so proud that the Topping specs are such that he can’t be criticized.
I was reminded of AM radio.
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When I visit the people I know who have systems, I am normally very, very impressed. My buddy Tony with a less than $10k system is a standout. The worst I ever heard was when I delivered a Gryphon Diablo 300 to a customer of George. He had giant JBL monitors pushed hard up against the back wall, maybe six feet apart. It was distressing. I asked for permission to pull the speakers three feet away from the back wall. That helped a lot. But she who must be obeyed nixed that.
Who do I know has the worst sounding system? I can’t really say. (as in no one system other than the one mentioned stands out). The first time I heard @paul172 system it was pretty awful. These days I feel I could swap his for mine and I’d be happy. But I had to invest a lot of money in cables and components for his system to get it there. LOL!
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It’s almost there. Should we start a go fund me page for a Firefighter rehabilitation facility 
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Before I bought my Gain Cell dac I had a Topping E50 dac/preamp. I knew it didn’t sound great but I couldn’t believe how bad it sounded when I barrowed a friends Adcom preamp. It was like the Topping had the bass and treble turned all the way down when used as a preamp.
Can I blame the cables? Maybe some bad tubes? Awful? Ouch……
It was a certain unnamed pair of amplifiers. I refuse to name them. Here.
Sarcasm?
No. My honest reaction after 5 seconds, continuing the 2 hours I was there. It was sterile, lifeless, strange sounding. There was a distinct lack of texture, something one might not think about until it’s gone. But that’s just my opinion.
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It sounded like a dCS DAC? Ewe!
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That is a bad sounder! I had a 1960 Falcon once and the rust had chewed it up so bad that under the drivers floor mat if you lifted it up you could see the pavement running by under it. It had an AM radio so I could listen KAAY, Little Rock, Beaker Street if I wanted.
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As long as he’s happy that’s all that matters. But as soon as the upgrade bug bites the party is over, and he’ll be on the endless upgrade treadmill with the rest of us audiophile kooks.
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“But it’s got perfect specs.. ASR”
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Has the friend listened to your system(s) and not recognized a difference between his and yours?
Yes, he has heard many systems including mine. In fact, the system he had before this one was powered by a Cary Audio Rocket 88 tube amp and Cary SLP98 preamp. He eventually claimed to be bothered by the second and third order harmonics and felt it was “faulty” engineering.
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So he went totally in the other direction, couldn’t find some middle ground?
He’s happy. He has all the specs memorized.
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Different strokes…
I’m kinda envious that he’s found satisfaction in a rack of electronics that costs less than what a moderately priced DAC goes for.