Multi-Room Hi Fi by John Ransley of Totally Wired

Hi Fi retailers come in many forms. We have had a long standing relationship with John Ransley from Totally Wired in Dunedin. We would characterize John as the thinking mans hi fi retailer. John recently solved a problem using the Silhouette SX25i Integrated Amplifier and SXD2 USB DAC. We liked his novel approach and felt that it was worthy of mention.

John writes:

“I’ve got two big frustrations with most multi-room systems - their complexity and their musical compromise. You would think it a simple matter to get music from one room to another but often we get tangled up in long, lossy and hum inducing analogue cable runs. There should be a better way.

Digital is the answer - it’s a lot easier to get a digital signal from A to B and then simply convert to analogue in the room you want to listen. Then you have but a short speaker cable run and only require an amplifier big enough to run the one pair of speakers to an adequate level. Make it small, make it elegant.

Following this line of thinking, I recently wanted to incorporate an existing Bang and Olufsen 5 disc system into a new whole house design. Like just about every CD player, the B&O has a coax digital output. It was a very simple matter to connect this via CAT5 cable to a distant room where the whole house distribution system was situated - but what you use at the other end?

What better than the new Perreaux SXD2? - their new and highly capable up-sampling DAC. Here’s the real surprise - the sound quality out of the Perreaux was as good if not better than that from the B&O in the room in which it was situated. Why was this? Firstly the Perreaux simply incorporates better digital to analogue conversion - up-sampling wasn’t and option when the B&O system was designed and we all know that digital technology has progressed quickly in recent years. And while the transmission of digital signals does require a level of performance on the cabling front, the losses are nothing like that in analogue, even in far more costly cables.

In a new home, how things look is important. many multi-room products have to be hidden because they are utilitarian at best. The SXD2 is ultra compact and looks cool. You don’t need to hide it. And why would you when you realise that as well as providing music replay from a distant room, you can also slot in your new iBook or any laptop via the USB connection and have that running iTunes as well. Brilliant!

Following this bit of logic, you can then match the SXD2 with the SX25i integrated amplifier. Just as small, just as elegant. And also very, very good sounding. To be honest I’d really want to see this working with at least the better quality in-wall speakers - to use less would be short-changing yourself at the last step. Having recently got our hands on the new Sonus faber Domus small speakers I have to point out that the sweetest sounds still come from speakers built into boxes (hand crafted leather and teak ones thank you) and the beautiful and refined tube-like characteristics of the little Perreaux.

As of now, we can see no other product from any source that manages to deliver such high performance from such a small, good looking and cool running box - which makes it just perfect for anyone who wants to enjoy great sound but doesn’t want the equipment to dominate the room.”