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Item: Gieseler Audio Linear PSU - two available Location: Sydney Price: See below Item Condition: Excellent Reason for selling: Downsized my setup, so these are no longer being used. Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Extra Info: Both come with 5.5mm x 2.1mm DC output plugs. Both come with their external AC transformer. $200 with free postage for the 5Vdc / 7Vdc / 9Vdc at 1.5Amp output unit - these 3 voltages can be adjusted via internal jumper SOLD $230 with free postage for the 9Vdc / 12Vdc / 15Vdc at 1.5Amp output unit - these 3 voltages can be adjusted via internal jumper SOLD From the Gieseler Audio website: This linear low noise DC power supply is designed to improve the performance of digital audio accessory devices that are normally powered by small SMPS plug-packs. All the internal components are of high quality & are selected for reliability & sound quality where applicable. Capacitors are Nichicon Fine Gold, Panasonic or Elna Silmic II’s. It is powered by external IE core transformers. These have a distinct advantage over the usual Toroidal type as they have better isolation between the windings & lower bandwidth means less HF noise coming in via the mains. Also being external there is less radiated hum entering the power supply circuitry. Noise, hum & ripple levels are very low due to the common mode choke pre filtering & low noise Linear Technology high performance regulators. Also what helps to reduce noise as well is the use of Schottky diodes & a transformer LC snubber. The DC output cable/connection is an area that is often neglected; so I have gone to extra lengths here to get it right. The DC output on the supply uses a Neutrik 6 Amp XLR gold pin socket. The supplied DC cable uses a matching Neutrik gold pin plug hand soldered to a 10A lead with moulded DC barrel connector for ruggedness. Photos:

Introduction Had the opportunity to test a friend's MRX-1120 on my 5.2 setup and compared it my MRX-710. Fed using an Oppo 103, with separate video and audio hdmi channels into the 1120. Due to time constraints and home network & PC issues, Anthem Room Correction (ARC) was not run. Decided to focus on music because it was a more difficult challenge and allowed us to also compare against a 2 channel Giesler Groß DAC setup. Note that the 5.2 and 2.2 systems shared the same SGR Audio CX3Bs (Mk1) mains and SVS SB13U, SB2000 subs. Surprise No. 1 The 1120 beat the 710 hands down for both multi channel and 2 channel music. The DACs and analogue circuitry on the 1120 were far superior with improved clarity and detail. We did not even need to switch to the 710 to compare; the 1120 won easily. Gjeilo: North Country II and Arnesen: Magnificat 4 (both on 2L label) were used for the comparison. Had we had more time, we would have used other non-classical pieces, but such was the difference that we were confident that the 1120 was better for music, full stop. Surprise No. 2 The 1120 came close to the Giesler Groß DAC for PCM. Playing North Country II, 2.0 LPCM 24/192 on the 1120 almost matched the 24/96 PCM on the Groß. There was slightly more detail and clarity on the Groß but what was unexpected was how close the 1120 got to the Groß. However, the Groß with the DSD 64 version of North Country II was the best and took things to another level. With Magnificat 4 5.1 DTS HDMA 24/192 on the 1120, there was more ambience, and from behind, better organ and piano. However, with the Groß, Magnificat 4 DSD 64 had more detail, clarity and presented such a wide sound stage that it almost made up for the lack of rear speakers. It was that good! Note no DSD decoding on Anthem products; ARC worked only with PCM. Conclusions Can recommend with confidence the Anthem MRX-1120 for music. By implication, the 520 and 720 are also good for music, with the same DAC chip, analogue circuitry but with a non-toroidal power supply. Even more compelling is the AVM60, with better analogue to digital converters and quieter circuitry. Would expect the AVM60 to match PCM playback with the Groß. For superior 2 channel, go with the Groß DAC or equally as good DACs. But do not despair if you only have the MRX-1120; PCM reproduction will match many good 2 channel DACs. What about the MRX-710 (& 510, 310)? Would recommend them for movies and less for music. Music is ok but not to discerning levels. Movies? I would expect the MRX-520, 720, 1120 to excel with movies, and provide better audio than the "10 family", but the improvement will not be as much as music.

Review Setup GIESELER Groß DAC with usb only input option (standard has s/pdif & usb inputs). Groß connected to Sotm SMS-200 with Audioquest Carbon usb cable. Used XLR outputs to SGR CX3B (Mk 1) powered speakers. Bass optimised with dual subs (SVS SB13U, SB-2000). SMS-200 bridged to Synology DS414 NAS to access music. Used MPD server on SMS-200 and MPDroid on phone for playback. Update 17 Feb 18: Upgraded equipment with Uptone ISO Regen, Behringer DCX2496 with Behringer Mods. Swapped positions of subs with SB13U doing more and further bass optimisation using Multi Sub Optimisation. External Appearance & Remote The unit has a smart looking front, with a power button and 4 line display. Update 17 Oct: new firmware removed Channel, now 3 line display The rear panel has a usb input, XLR and RCA outputs and a 9V AC input from an external transformer to feed low noise internal PSU's. Update 17 Oct: Note that Groß has output transformers which allows it to be directly connected to power amps or powered speakers. Smaller and much lighter than previous Audiolab 8200CDQ (DAC plus pre-pro, CD player, headphone amp). 8200CDQ displayed both the bit depth and sample rate but Groß only the sample rate. Groß display could do with brightness adjustment because it was too bright at night. The remote was slim and easy to use. Red power button cycled through home menu, screen off, large volume and filter display. Channel Up/Down cycled through filters, Volume Up/Down, plus mute button. Volume control was digital with a bypass available for a pre-pro. In my case, requested that bypass be disabled to prevent an accidental overload on the amps in the CX3Bs. Setting up on the SMS-200 was straight forward. After plugging the usb cable into Groß, the SMS-200 picked up the DAC. Then, manually changed DAC setting from non-DSD to DoP in Eunhasu MPD setup. Update 17 Feb 18: using DSD instead of DoP. DAC Comparison As expected, Groß out-performed 4 years old 8200CDQ (which was highly acclaimed then). The difference was marked when switching back to the 8200CDQ after a few hours on the Groß, with less detail, transparency and naturalness among many things lacking. Looking forward to reviews of others comparing Groß with more recent DACs. Listening Experience Most of my music consisted of ripped 16/44.1 flac, with some purchased 24/96 flac and also have ripped DSD64. Groß is my first unit able to play native DSD; previously DSD converted to PCM during playback. Long time favourite, Parce Mihi Domine (Jan Garbarek & Hillard Ensemble, Officium, 16/44.1 flac) had never sounded so good. Jan Garbarek’s saxophone was more natural and transparent and there was clarity in the position of the saxophone relative to the Hillard Ensemble. In numerous 16/44.1 flac, Groß managed to bring out the details and improved the imaging, depth, sound stage. Vocals, particularly female (e.g. KD Lang, Hallelujah, Hymns of the 49th Parallel) had a presence. Even relatively poor classical recordings sounded cleaner. Groß does 16/44.1 flac very well. With higher resolution music, the piano in Gjeilo’s North Country II, Stone Rose, 24/96 flac was natural and as close as I have heard to a real one. When the flugelhorn comes in, imaging was good and realistic. Diana Krall’s My Love Is, from Love Scenes, 24/96 flac, had deep tight bass bass, tighter than I knew, with an excellent voice. Groß managed to improve the bass a bit more in an already optimised dual sub setup. Groß’s DSD capability is outstanding. Eagles’s Hotel California from the same named album was a revelation in native DSD64. Detailed, transparent, nice sound stage. Much better than 16/44.1 and beat 24/96 version. Similarly, Arnesen’s Magnificat 4: Et Misericordia from Magnificat album (DSD64) on 2L label was very good. However, in an unfair comparison, it could not (& not expected to) match the atmosphere and presence of 5.1 PCM with the piano and organ behind the conductor. DSDs came across superbly on the Groß. Could have written a lot more about how good the listening experience was but above was a fair representation. Update 17 Oct: The listening experience improved after 30 to 40 hours of use. Not sure whether this was because I was getting more used to the Groß’s presentation? Female vocals continued to capture my attention with their presence. And still amazed by the details in PCM material. DSDs remain outstanding, problem now is opening wallet to get more DSD material. Update 17 Feb 18: Details, sound stage improved with the upgrades (ISO Regen, Behringer Mods and Amanero firmware). Am surprised how much the Amanero firmware contributed to audio quality. DSD made my wallet lighter but brought more smiles. North Country II in DSD has now replaced the 24/96 PCM version as my favourite piece, with the piano better. Filters The Groß with the AKM AK4497EQ DAC chip came with 6 filters: Super slow roll-off: no echo reproduces natural sound Short delay, slow roll-off: minimal echo reproduces original sound Slow roll-off: minimal echo reproduces original sound Short delay, sharp roll-off: post echo enhances bass sound Sharp roll-off: pre & post echoes make powerful sound. Low dispersion short delay: sound quality optimised Selecting the filter was via the remote and could be changed on the fly for PCM. Filters do not apply to DSD. There were supposed to be subtle differences between filters, but was beyond my old ears to resolve consistently. Update 17 Feb 18: finally found differences! Used short delay, slow roll-off, previously low dispersion short delay, to reduce the echo. Found the short delay, sharp roll-off and sharp roll-off filters had too much echo. Firmware Owning the first USB unit is wonderful and exciting but came with imperfect beta firmware. The firmware was derived from the Gieseler Konverter (same AK4497EQ DAC chip plus pre-pro) and still displayed channel in first line. Also, there were pops when skipping DSD tracks, and occasional pops elsewhere. Will get update once these niggles have been resolved. Update 17 Oct: Firmware has now been updated which removed channel in display, eliminated the annoying pops/clicks. It turned out that the Konverter firmware had the same problem. Both sets of firmware now been overhauled and improved. Update 17 Feb 18: Used Amanero2003_71A firmware optimised for Linux players (SMS-200) . Note that this is different to the Groß firmware referred above. Skip Groß If You … Like the unboxing experience and want to make a YouTube video of it. GIESELER Audio has spent R&D dollars on how it sounds and none on the packaging (but unit was well packed with 3 layers of bubble wrap). Bonus was no one was tempted during shipment! Update 17 Oct: Clay has sourced a double box for shipping Desire international brands with big reputations, leading edge look & feel and extensive reviews. GIESELER Audio have well regarded niche products here on SNA. It may yet gain a wider acceptance as a result of Groß! Conclusion Proud and delighted to own an Australian designed and manufactured DAC which delivered superb audio. In summary, WOW! Update 17 Oct: a theme coming through from the early owners is that the Groß DAC is addictive and we want to listen to it even more. Update 17 Feb 18: With the upgrades, enjoying the Groß DAC more than ever. p/s Clay Gieseler @Gieseler Audio is a fantastic person to deal with and service is second to none.

Item: Gieseler Konverter preamplifier + DAC Location: Ballarat, VIC Price: $2500 Item Condition: Excellent Reason for selling: Simplifying Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, COD Only Extra Info: Very first Konverter to leave Clay's workshop, S/N 0001 (21-04-17). Everything you need to know about this beauty can be found in this thread. Needless to say, this is an exceptional unit from Clay, building on and far exceeding his work on the Klein and Klein II DACs, not to mention a further step up from his standalone preamplifier, too. Clay's retail on these is $4000 - however being the first owner of a Konverter, I was got it for a 'nicer' price which is reflected in the (I believe) very good price I'm asking here. "Inputs Digital: USB, Coax & optical. Inputs Analogue: 2 x RCA Outputs: 1 x XLR + 2 x RCA DAC Chip: Asahi Kasei Microdevices AK4497EQ Output level is variable by remote control with a maximum of 3v RMS or 4.5v RMS depending on a PCB gain jumper setting. The unit has full remote control of all functions except main power on/off. Settings, filter, input, etc information is via a large OLED display. There is a 'Display OFF' mode. The muting system is very sophisticated, eliminating all pops during sample rate changes & DSD-PCM format changes. At this stage there will only be one version which uses two additional Jensen transformers for the output of the DAC chip. In comparison to the usual op-amp stage the transformer was miles ahead in terms of sound quality." Selling to simplify my system a little. Wife always struggled a bit with multiple devices and now with parents doing babysitting duties regularly, the whole thing is too overwhelming for them. As much as I love this thing (I was waiting over a year for it, frequently hassling Clay for updates ), I've decided to keep the rest of the household happy by simplifying a few things (hopefully). *EVENTUAL SALE WILL BE DEPENDENT ON MY FINDING A SUITABLE REPLACEMENT VIA A SERIES OF DEMOS OVER THE COMING WEEKS* Pictures:

Item: Gieseler pre-amp Location: Melbourne Price: $400 ($420 posted) Item Condition: Excellent Reason for selling: Too many preamps Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal (buyer pays 3% fees or pay as friend), Direct Deposit Extra Info: Clay Gieseler’s preamps (and DACS and power supplies) are well known on this forum, so I’ll be brief. This preamp has three inputs and one output, all RCA. It has a gain toggle at the back, to add 6db if needed. The LCD displays input, volume level and muting. Volume adjustments are in 0.5db increments, so it is very easy to set the volume exactly as desired. The output impedance is very low (10 ohm or lower) – so it will easily drive any power amp. Path signals are very short and current drive excellent. This preamp is dead silent. The wand-style remote handles volume, input selection, muting, turns the display off and on and turns the unit off (but not on, which is done at the switch). It comes with an Eversure 9V converter. I have used this preamp in a system worth nominally many many times more than the asking price, and it was not out of place. It’s good, not just good value. RRP is/was $1000. (The light in the pics makes the top cover look not as good as it actually is.) See details at Clay’s site: http://www.speakerparts.com.au/ProductsPage/index.html Pictures:

Item: Gieseler dual-output Linear PSU - 9V x2 Location: Forestville NSW Price: $250-ish plus postage Item Condition: Used but working fine Reason for selling: Not currently used. Payment Method: Pickup - Cash, Paypal, Extra Info: I haven't been using this dual supply for a while, as I've changed my setup, and I'm doing a tidy up. Purchased new in May 2016. I have a few facts I want to confirm with Clay first about the Voltage, Amperage and the pin sizes before it becomes a full FS advert. Pictures: