DAC: Antelope Zodiac; Audio-GD NFB-3
Amplifier: Violectric V200; Marantz PM-6004; Little Dot 1+
Phonostage: Heed questar
Turntable: Rega P7 with Ortofon Rondo Red
Speakers: Linn Majik 109
Headphones: Sennheiser HD800; Grado RS-1i; Grado GS-1000i
Cables: Audioquest King Cobra


Pardon the mess, it's in transition



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The Audio-GD is more entry level. It cost me around £220= RM1100

The Antelope is a far superior DAC. Cost £1895= RM9200.

Bear in mind the antelope also can function as a pre-amp and has headphone jacks so it negates the need to have a headphone amplifier BUT it's not fantastic. The v200 is leagues ahead of this.

Not in the picture but I did audition it with the system I have for 2 weeks is the Wyred4Sound DAC-2. I had both the Antelope and the W4S sent to me to audition side by side. I bought the Antelope. The W4S is £1350= RM6600.

The W4S was really good but I did not go for it because I found it a bit pretentious. It tried to make things sound forward, a bit like your itunes equaliser. The Antelope had a more natural analogue sound to it. The sound was more fluid, more musical and pleasing.

I forgot to mention that my cabling also consist of Transparent Audio Musiclink Ultra Balanced cables.

PM me if you want to.

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Added on April 6, 2012, 8:18 amYou replaced these with the Mission 782? Floorstanders provide a greater presence but it's very dependent on the room's acoustics. I had to have bookshelves due to the small room volume I have.

With that said, I think you have your priorities right; room acoustics are a pain to refine. Imagine moving the more massive Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF.

Also, the Diamond 10.1 is a good setup for the price. Nice entry level.

This post has been edited by silwen: Apr 6 2012, 08:18 AM

The Audio-GD DAC I have is something of a giant killer. I am utterly surprised at its performance per dollar. In fact, for casual listening (Youtube), I can almost never tell the difference between either the Zodiac or the Audio-GD.

The Antelope is obviously out of competition league with the Audio-GD, unless you take into account the Reference level offers. The Antelope has a hidden talent that, but for my opportunity to audition in my system for a week, I would have missed. The de-jittering algorithm in the processor reduces the jitter massively. I used a RM1000 usb cable from locus-design (the polestar) and compared it to my RM15 3metre long cable and I could not tell the difference after comparing both over a few days. I also tried it with optical and still could not tell the difference. The usual argument about digital cables is that although it 'only' transfers binary codes, the jitter causes a degradation of audio quality- this is what the Antelope reprocesses and removes.

To at least try to point out that I am not deaf, I can tell the difference between the three analogue cables I have. Also, with the W4S, I could tell if it was the Audioquest Coffee USB (£200+) or one of those printer USB cables. By virtue of the de-jittering processor on the Antelope, I saved about RM1k on cables, which is a massive plus.

That said, the Antelope has a more analogue sound. The Audio-GD is somewhat harsher and less subtle; the instruments are clear but there's less harmony in the band playing. The treble is strong but a little harsh (speaker dependent) but not so harsh that i cannot tolerate it. The minor effect is that it causes listening fatigue a little more quickly. The harshness could probably be treated by changing cables though. Another difference is the sound staging, the Antelope's sound stage is more realistic. These details are also influenced by the different cables I use in each, this should be noted.

With a smaller budget, I would definitely go for the Audio-GD. It's worth the hassle bringing it in from China. It does not have such a strong presence in hi-fi forums because not many mid-level audiophiles want to go through the hassle.

Anyway because this forum rules that it's for gear photos, here's one of my turntable. Nothing like looking at a spinning disc.


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A simple DIY headphone stand using copper tubes and epoxy.

I am going to make another with a more elaborate design next. This was just a nicely turned out experiment.