Has anyone tried the Aavik U-180, U-280, or U-580.
Outstanding gear, specially the latest.
Neverthless i opted to buy the respective separates: Aavik I-580 and Aavik D-580.
Amazing human, organic, natural and lifelike sound.
Showing 4 responses by tiagocarneiro
@arafiq i had the U-180 and loved it. When I had the chance to upgrade, I did it and zero regrets. Honestly, and after a bunch of bought gear through the time, probably this is the best DAC+Amp I had. I appreciate more the music instead of the gear. This is a “clichet” but in my case suits perfectly ! Never tried the U-150 but an authorized dealer (that have all gear available, New, Demo, and Used) told me that the U-180 is sonically better than the U-150 (loosing the Phono stage - that I don’t use), and the U-280 a big step above the U-180, putting the U-580 in a even higher league. This lead me to buy the I-580 and D-580, upgrading form the U-180. |
Even not in the same high level of some several gear referred above, one other option with outstanding ratio price/quality is the hybrid "Advance Paris A10 Classic Integrated Amplifier" Really really good sound in a very complete amplifier. For less than USD 2.000 is an almost unbeatable option of a All-in-One solution. Great looks (specially the meters) and a sound that is way above its specs. Worth a audition even with some more demanding speakers. |
I think the performance (Integrated Amp with DAC inside) is about the synergy between the DAC implementation and amplifier section. Although having myself separates (DAC and Integrated Amp), I truly believe this. Another gear I'm curious to test is the Daniel Hertz system or just the Daniel Hertz Maria Integrated Amps. This is the Mark Levinson' brand and it's a new market approach (proposing a complete system - Amp and Speakers). It's expensive but above some point we know that a step up is not a proportional investment but rather an exponential one (a "lot" more money for a "small" step in quality improvement). It's just a matter of deciding if we want to downsize or not, even if it do not mean spending less 😁 - sometimes less is more. This is a subject matter and all opinions are right, at least for that person. |