MSB Select II

[Mike Lavigne]

Hi Mike Lavigne,

I always wanted to ask you, what do you consider to be the anchor component of your system? In other words, if you could keep only one component, which one would you choose to build a new system around?

Thanks,
Ken

hi Ken,

read your question, and thought about it, thought about it some more, trying to decide. there are a couple of choices.....depending on where i started. it's hard to imagine starting anywhere but in my current room. if we were re-booting on the room, then i might go a different path.

in my current room the speaker <-> room relationship trumps all other things. so it would start there. Evolution Acoustics MM7's. i've put so much sweat-equity into room tuning. that would be the one thing to retain and build upon.

the dart 468 mono-blocks are the heart of the system, and would likely be most essential if i were starting from scratch in a new dedicated room. there is just nothing like them. they would work great with any sources, in any room and with any speakers.

lastly if i were to downsize to a smaller home, maybe with a single 'great room' shared with my wife, then it might be digital only with the MSB Select II as the center piece. could even be headphones. the Select would be outstanding in any space. could still have vinyl with the Select II as it has the analog inputs.

btw; as i near retirement and dream about my priorities all these scenarios have crossed my mind.

 

[Alpinist]

hi Ken,

read your question, and thought about it, thought about it some more, trying to decide. there are a couple of choices.....depending on where i started. it's hard to imagine starting anywhere but in my current room. if we were re-booting on the room, then i might go a different path.

in my current room the speaker <-> room relationship trumps all other things. so it would start there. Evolution Acoustics MM7's. i've put so much sweat-equity into room tuning. that would be the one thing to retain and build upon.

the dart 468 mono-blocks are the heart of the system, and would likely be most essential if i were starting from scratch in a new dedicated room. there is just nothing like them. they would work great with any sources, in any room and with any speakers.

lastly if i were to downsize to a smaller home, maybe with a single 'great room' shared with my wife, then it might be digital only with the MSB Select II as the center piece. could even be headphones. the Select would be outstanding in any space.

Great and well thought out answer Mike, thanks!

 

[Bobvin]

Having had the good fortune to hear Mike’s rig, I can understand the speaker <-> room component, and if it were in another space I can appreciate the DartZeel point-of-view. I had the good fortune to have the Dart NHB-108 v2 in my system for a couple weeks, and it is an amazing sound. It played very, very well into both Diesis and Alsyvox. I can appreciate anyone’s affinity to DartZeel. Awesome components!

 

[Alpinist]

Reposting this in the appropriate location.

If you’re wondering why MSB hasn’t made any hardware updates to the Select II DAC it’s because they haven’t been able to improve on any of the individual areas of its modular design.

According to the company, the greatest improvements in recent years have been on its digital input modules. The logical next step for them is to develop a purely optical connection (no USB) from the music server to its Pro ISL (optical) digital input module.

This could be done in a collaborative effort between Taiko and MSB with Taiko’s Extreme model or by developing their own music server in house. This final step would enable the Select II DAC to realize the last bit of its full potential.

Ken

 

[The Sandman]

hi Ken,

read your question, and thought about it, thought about it some more, trying to decide. there are a couple of choices.....depending on where i started. it's hard to imagine starting anywhere but in my current room. if we were re-booting on the room, then i might go a different path.

in my current room the speaker <-> room relationship trumps all other things. so it would start there. Evolution Acoustics MM7's. i've put so much sweat-equity into room tuning. that would be the one thing to retain and build upon.

the dart 468 mono-blocks are the heart of the system, and would likely be most essential if i were starting from scratch in a new dedicated room. there is just nothing like them. they would work great with any sources, in any room and with any speakers.

lastly if i were to downsize to a smaller home, maybe with a single 'great room' shared with my wife, then it might be digital only with the MSB Select II as the center piece. could even be headphones. the Select would be outstanding in any space. could still have vinyl with the Select II as it has the analog inputs.

btw; as i near retirement and dream about my priorities all these scenarios have crossed my mind.

Great answer. I would suggest that the word anchor is not the best word to use in this regard. I would call it a keystone... the central principle or part of a policy, system, etc., on which all else depends. And I don't think you chose a keystone - I think it chooses you.