Our Customer's Systems

As a big fan of listening to vinyl, it took me a while to discover streaming. The main decision to invest was the access to an (almost) unlimited discotheque, with quality files.
Within my budget, the Emerson quickly caught my attention!

Since the acquisition of the Madison LE STREAMER in January, the setup has evolved: a Hôte Fidélité 1000VA symmetrizer designed by Paul Pellarin himself, a REL Acoustics T/9x subwoofer and a change of AC cables to Esprit Audio's Celesta range have been added.

As the owner of an Emerson ANALOG and a fan of the analogue side of the sound, I was looking to upgrade the source of my system. Quite naturally, I wanted to compare my Emerson with a Madison STREAMER and I was won over by this device: tighter bass, more authority while retaining the musical and analogue side.

I wanted to change my amp because of the problems I was having with the tubes. Paul (from "Hôte Fidélité") advised me to change the source to get closer to what I was looking for, advising me to opt for Wattson Audio and to change the brand of tubes.

Having owned the Madison STREAMER, when I heard that an LE version was coming out, I couldn’t resist booking it with my friend Marc Maurer (of Jean Maurer Swiss Audio Manufacture SA). I had no particular expectations, apart from an overall improvement on the Madison 'Classic'.
And I was not disappointed!

A modulation absent until now, I wanted simple, first-rate dematerialization!

I wanted a streamer without a lot of features, knowing that most of the time I wouldn't need them anyway.
Here it is, pure purism. My expectations weren't to hear the last bell, I rather wanted to enjoy the musical flow.

I just wanted a natural sound...

I chose the Emerson DIGITAL for its compactness, robust software, Qobuz integration and sound quality. The reputation of the on-board streaming module also caught my attention.

Second audio system.
Precision, transparency, balance, rigor, high musical quality of sound reproduction.
For Hi-Res music streaming, with an intimate studio approach for the office.

I wanted to switch towards a Roon server and TIDAL. I got hooked when listened to Danny Labrecque's (Luna Cables) setup here in the eastern township of Quebec, Canada.
Wanted a digital solution that sounded as good as my Kuzma turntable (for convenience) and couldn't believe how this thing sounded...
My former digital setup was through a Wavelength Cosecant DAC which I thought was pretty awesome!

I have always loved sound, the search for the right vibration, the search for the product that will change everything.
We change speakers, amplifiers, speakers, amplifiers and too often we neglect the source.
The famous audiophile "quest" that the Anglo-Saxons would call in an almost pathological way "upgraditis"...

During this quest, I obviously switched from passive speakers to active speakers, in this case the Beolab 50, whose particularity is to free itself from the acoustic constraints of the room by controlling the diffusion of the sound (beam) towards the listening area while cancelling the rear and lateral resonances.
Nevertheless, my room is treated, acoustic panels, walls, and ceiling... in short you understood it I am a "control freak"...

To such an extent that we end up listening to our system instead of listening to the music... The speakers allow us to work on the voicing... So, we add a little more level at 60Hz, we decrease it at 3 kHz, and in the end, we forget about the music.
You end up with a very straight, clean, and lifeless system. A dematerialized music that I would describe as devitalized...

Confidence in the product based on recommendations.

I was looking for a steamer that could significantly improve the sound quality of my installation and should be compact and very intuitive in its operation.

I discovered Wattson on the Hifi Forum (Independent Hifi and Audiophile Forum). Having already owned a good dozen different streamers, I bought my Emerson DIGITAL for my main system. When I heard the result, I immediately looked for a second-hand one for my secondary system, so much I liked the result!

The sound, the stability of the app and the simplicity of the whole thing.

A few months ago, I finally decided to catch up with the 21st century and add a streamer to my audio system. My thought at the time was that I would use streaming primarily for background listening and discovering new music. But once I discovered the joys of being able to conjure up almost any album instantaneously, I knew that I had to find something significantly better than the basic streamer I had initially purchased.

I was looking for a streamer with a high quality converter that does not get too hot so that I can listen to new releases and music during summer without getting too hot.

I was mainly interested in streaming with TIDAL.

Using a R2R 16/44 NOS DAC, my wish was to have a "bit perfect" steamer for dematerialization use in parallel with a CD player.

I read about the Emerson DIGITAL on Fairaudio, and thought that the ANALOG would actually tick more of my boxes, seeing that I suspected the built in DAC of my AVM integrated as a bottleneck for the sound for some time. I went on the Wattson Audio website, and it happened to be on time for the 2021 Christmas give away... And now I have the first Emerson in New Zealand!

I have been looking for a device to connect to my system to enjoy digital music for a while. A quality product without a high price tag. My installation is pure old fashioned analogue, with pre-amp and tube amp.

A lot of pleasure and emotions with the integration of the Wattson Audio Emerson DIGITAL player.
Technical and electronic quality of the components.

I wanted to renew my "entry-level" source to harmonize my HiFi system.

I’d like to find an AES/EBU streamer for my vintage DAC.

I wanted a streamer to connect to Qobuz in Hi-Res to replace a Yamaha WXC-50. After comparing my set-up with a Cambridge CXN v2, the choice of the Emerson ANALOG was obvious for the quality of its reproduction which seems to me much more precise, clear and neutral than that of the CXN.