AudioAficionado.org - Magnum Dynalab 108T

I got the tuner on Friday night after a long day of travel.

Shipping went off without a hitch and many thanks to Magnum Dynalab for expediting shipping. They're in Canada somewhere, so if you send yours back, it's best to coordinate timing with them. You ship to a freight forwarder in Buffalo, which worked just fine for me. As discussed, the flight case for the tuner is absolutely wonderful for shipping - no muss, no fuss, and lots of protection. (see pictures above).

I love the fact that MD will upgrade its tuners. It greatly reduces the chances that you get stuck with something that's somehow out of date and makes repairs (if needed), etc. much less worrisome. I started thinking about retrofitting a gold faceplate to the 108T when I got the Accuphase gear which is (of course) the famous muted/matte gold. I also did not like the blue lights on either the 108T or the Sleuth, much preferring amber. MD still has photos on their website of current models with amber lights, but they don't ship with amber lights as a matter of course now, so be sure you tell them which you want. Of course, if I'm going to send it all the way back to Canada, I thought about the SE upgrade, about which I had heard great things. I suppose, in for a penny, in for a pound (and god, I hope FM doesn't go away (which I really don't think will happen in the foreseeable future)).

Then, the SURPRISE upgrade - I had heard that they would include a DAC, so I had that done at the same time also. My basic theory was that even if it wasn't the greatest DAC in the world and it was difficult to upgrade, if the signal was running through that luscious upgraded analog output stage, it would sound pretty good. My system is precise and neutral, not clinical or harsh, but I thought it would be nice to add tubes into the output path. Boy, was I ever right about that. FYI - I had USB and Toslink connections installed (part of the price of the DAC). I would have had a coax installed, but the Silenzio does not have a coax out. Good news is, I can always ship it back and have it changed.

The chip is a Burr Brown PCM 1794, so it's a well respected chip. Of course, it's not software upgradeable and won't play DSD, but for $750, it was well worth it. The sound is just absolutely wonderful - it adds that analog feeling/sound/mystique to the tunes coming from the Silenzio perfectly. I haven't extensively compared the 108T DAC to my PSAudio DSD, but if I were stuck on a desert island, with no DSD and no moving formats, etc. and had to choose between the two, I would likely go with the 108T. The PSAudio is magnificent (particularly for the $$) and clearly reveals more detail, but the upgraded 108T output stage is just absolutely gorgeous - so smooth, so analog, just wonderful. That's not the world we live in though, so I will enjoy and benefit from having both.

Then, there's the FM, which was the point of the entire exercise. The review that said that the SE upgrade to the 108T was like Usain Bolt shaving a few tenths of a second off of his world record was absolutely right. What was the best tuner I had ever heard took an exponential leap forward. Had I to do it over again, I certainly would have gotten the SE edition the first time around (much cheaper to do it that way). First, the fundamental sound is richer, without being rolled off. Then, all of the things that we look for are there in spades - more depth, more width, more clarity, blacker backgrounds, just more, better, bigger, richer, smoother (without sacrificing any detail). I don't know exactly what they did, but it worked a charm. This is all via audio memory, not via an A/B, so take it for what it's worth (but it sounds lots lots better to my ears).

One interesting thing though is that I originally got the Sleuth because there's a jazz station that I had problems receiving clearly. Even though I didn't think that the upgrade changed the FM reception, I can no longer get that station at all (the Sleuth used to bring it in perfectly before the upgrade). There may have been an atmosphere change or something happened with my antennae or something, but I truly don't understand that one.

The aesthetics are much better when it counts, with the lights down. With the lights up, it's a flashier gold than the muted accuphase and it's OK, but if I didn't have the accuphase gear, I would have stuck with black or silver. With the lights down though, it's much much nicer to my eye. The amber lights (even though the meters are still blue) are just much more pleasing to my eye and the overall fit with the Accuphase amber/red/orange/aqua lighting is much better. The crappy iphone photos make the meters look white, but they're actually blue.

I also changed to a Verastarr Statement power cable and Verastarr XLR interconnects from WW. The Verastarr have had a very positive impact on my system, so that's another change that would alter the sound between the 108T as I used to run it, and the upgrade. The 108T is by far a good enough component to manifest power cord and interconnect changes, so it's worth the time and $$ to find something you like. I'm also benefitting from having changed the WW PC from the wall to the PSAudio P10s to double foil, high capacity Verastarr a few weeks ago, which added a shocking amount of body to the overall sound of the system. Crazy that a change from the wall to the P10 which regenerates the power would have that much impact, but true. I have every confidence though that without any cabling changes, I'd still be making roughly the same positive comments as to the sound, but I wanted you guys to know about those differences.

I got everything I wanted. Unfreaking believable FM, fabulous new analog sounding DAC for not that much money, better aesthetics, and no shipping hassle or worry. If you're a fan of FM and on the fence (Dan, calling Dan ...), it's just a wonderful piece that will likely reside in your system a very long time. Well done Magnum Dynalab.