MSB Sentinel

[Mike]

Words cannot even begin to describe what I’m hearing. I’m in California at MSB this whole week. The factory is fantastic. They have such amazing efficiencies and build everything in house. Watching the circuit boards made from scratch and the various stages each one goes through for QC and even a step to increase longevity is mind blowing. The entire production facility efficiency is amazing. I love their constant steps to minimize waste too.

As for the Sentinel? The performance increase is bigger from the Cascade to the Sentinel than a discrete to a Cascade. It’s truly a new level of source. Nothing can come close. The clock blows away the Femto 33 on the bench and listening. The ladders are next level. The power supply? 125 pounds. The immediacy and realism is a level I never thought possible. I am truly speechless. I am so glad to be able to spend several days with the Sentinel so I can truly appreciate this next level of performance.

 

[brodricj]

So I suppose the PS Audio factory in Colorado will be on your next to visit list

 

[Mike]

So I suppose the PS Audio factory in Colorado will be on your next to visit list

Hahaha. Nope. They’re busy with repairs.

 

[brodricj]

The champagne MSB chassis with gold accents reminds me of the special edition Grandioso chassis Esoteric did for the Hong Kong market. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the reason why MSB is offering it, to crack into the Hong Kong market.

 

[Mike]

The champagne MSB chassis with gold accents reminds me of the special edition Grandioso chassis Esoteric did for the Hong Kong market. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the reason why MSB is offering it, to crack into the Hong Kong market.

They are already in the Asian market in a big way. They did it because the customers asked for it.

 

[Ritmo]

“The performance increase is bigger from the Cascade to the Sentinel than a discrete to a Cascade.”

That is quite a statement Mike!

 

[Mike]

“The performance increase is bigger from the Cascade to the Sentinel than a discrete to a Cascade.”

That is quite a statement Mike!

It’s not hyperbole. I have done the comparison. It redefines what is possible with any source. An incredible achievement. The clock alone took the engineering team over a year to develop. It is the most accurate clock in the world. The power supply. The ladders. The digital director section. All many levels above anything else. The combination is not just the greatest DAC, but the greatest source I’ve ever heard.

 

[Michaels HiFi]

It’s not hyperbole. I have done the comparison. It redefines what is possible with any source. An incredible achievement. The clock alone took the engineering team over a year to develop. It is the most accurate clock in the world. The power supply. The ladders. The digital director section. All many levels above anything else. The combination is not just the greatest DAC, but the greatest source I’ve ever heard.

What excites me about achievements like this, is the technology and things learned from this top level (in a good way) ends up trickling down into other offerings from them to benefit us all.

 

[GSOphile]

“The performance increase is bigger from the Cascade to the Sentinel than a discrete to a Cascade.”

That is quite a statement Mike!

Well, maybe, considering the law of diminishing returns (IMO definitely in play in high end audio). However, consider the base MSRP price differences:
Discrete to Cascade $82,500
Cascade to Sentinel $280,000

 

[mep]

Well, maybe, considering the law of diminishing returns (IMO definitely in play in high end audio). However, consider the base MSRP price differences:
Discrete to Cascade $82,500
Cascade to Sentinel $280,000

Yikes!

 

[Mike]

Well, maybe, considering the law of diminishing returns (IMO definitely in play in high end audio). However, consider the base MSRP price differences:
Discrete to Cascade $82,500
Cascade to Sentinel $280,000

The jump in performance was commensurate with the price. I listened and compared for over 20 hours. The Sentinel was so far above everything else I had ever heard, I was completely speechless. Talking to the engineers and listening to the technical details and measurements they achieved during its 5 years of development was incredibly impressive. Take the clock. They had theories on how to drastically improve on the Femto 33. Theories because there was no clock in existence more accurate. They developed it from scratch and made it not just a little better, but a lot better. You then dive into the weeds of the ladders, power supply, the digital director section, noise, and on and on and they weren’t just tweaking, but completely redefining what was possible, measurable and clearly audible.

We also had discussions on the upcoming amplifiers. I can’t wait to hear those. But once again, those will be completely evolutionary and different than anything done before. I don’t think we will see them for at least a year. Their goals are quite lofty.

 

[Ritmo]

I can sense the excitement in your write ups Mike. As good as the Cascade is, and it is fantastic, the Sentinel needed to be much better. It has 4X the number of ladders, a completely new and much improved clock, and a much better power supply - it has to be better! Can't wait to hear it.