I am very familiar with schiit products, and have used them in the past. I mainly prefer them for their budget units as they are reliable and sound very solid for their pricing. Especially their new iteration of the Magni being an integrated unit at only $100. A fantastic way for beginners into the hobby.
However, when it comes to their gear, I have also noticed it to be very... boring? Especially their tube gear. I have heard the valhalla and the jotunheim and they were both alright, but didnt really wow me. I have seen this opinion reflected through multiple others whos ears I trust, as I have seen we have similar experiences when listening to equipment.
I have also used SMSL in the past, and feel similarly. That is mainly why I have been looking at gear that might not be very common, as I have heard quite a bit of the more common audio brand setups and they havent really been too much to my liking.
Benchmark is certainly an interesting audio brand, and I have heard quite a bit about some of their more famous units (i.e. the AHB2) with high levels of controversy surrounding it. I have not heard it personally, but based on the impressions that I have heard from others, their gear does not seem to be oriented to what I am looking for.
I also would love to venture into the vintage market for some of theses mini units, as I have had fantastic experiences with vintage equipment in the past, but have noticed the vast majority of units are built for a rack, rather than a desktop system. One that seemed interesting, albiet rare, was a mini system from Technics that supposedly was fantastic (that being the SU-CO1). Curious if you all have seen anything like this before?
