Harbeth M30.1,Nordost Leif series cables,well treated room...Looking at either the Unison Research Triode 25 or Mastersound Box...
Showing 12 responses by freediver
devilboy:just yesterday I spent 2 hours between a pair of Harbeth M40.2 speakers driven by a Hegel H590 & cabled up with several thousand $ of Cardas cables,talk about overhyped,You can keep your hegel,I would rather have my Cayin any day! |
^^^ I looked at Raven but everything is sold out,then I came across the Mastersound "Box" at a STEAL of a price & wonder if the investment will bear fruit over the Cayin...Were talking all hand made in Italy,in house transformers,Pure Class A,EL34 Parallel Single Ended(No Push Pull/Class A/B)weighing 15lbs more than the Cayin... |
Well folks I have spent pretty much every waking hour since Friday afternoon sole searching & critically listening to my system.Experimenting with switching from KT88(EH) to El34(Svetlana Wing C reissue)as well as extensive use of the Triode/UL switch & have ruled OUT the Mastersound... Turns out I REALLY don't care for Triode mode(which is hard wired into the M.S.)& I actually like the KT88 better,feeling it has much better bass & IMO a touch better accuracy from the upper bass right through the midrange..Treble seems close but maybe a touch more sparkle in the KT88 to my ears...I will admit it is TRULY difficult to step away from that Mastersound,it probably is the absolute deal of the decade... |
twoleftears"Sounds like the moment is ripe for some serious tube-rolling." Haha,the KT88’s are about toast with near 3000 hours,one went from serviceable to almost 0 bias voltage over the weekend & the small signal are stock chinese SOOO just ordered full boat Platinum Matched Gold Lion reissues,KT88/12AX7 & 12AU7! Now I’m going to investigate a fancy support stand...Hummm,I wonder if Solid Steel Tripod stands would be better than the Pangea DS400’s I have & what KT120's sound like hahahaha.... |
Well folks,we ain't in Kansas any mo! Just placed my order for the Icon Audio ST30SE integrated INCLUDING the Mundorf silver/gold in oil capacitors and upgraded CV181 premium white ceramic tubes!!!Were talking Pure Class A Single Ended KT150's running UL(mode,which I prefer to Triode Mode)for 28 wpc..I think my Harbeths are going to be VERY happy! Now I need a good DAC/Headphone amp but my $ budget is about shot with the amp...It's going to have to be something superbly clean to match the amp & speakers...Well more research... |
twoleftears:I’m confused. Wasn’t a Quad VA-1+ mentioned at some point? hahahahah,not in this thread...That was the ProAc Tablette Anniversary thread... |
@ audiothesis There were several points that swayed me away from the Box & the Due Venti,which I did look at,cost of retube & circuit design being foremost(Triode EL34 vs KT150 in UL)...Someone WILL get an amazing amp from you at an absolute STEAL of a price but my requirements were a better fit with the Icon Audio.. |
To expand on my choice,after a lot of listening to both EL34 & KT88’s running Triode & UL,I simply prefer the KT88..IMO it has more extended treble,a more electrostatic midrange & bass is no contest..BOTH the Mastersound amps were EL34 based so I passed them on to someone who prefers what the EL34 brings... twoleftears"Geez, how much gear are you buying?" About $10,000.00 all total.I got an absolutely amazing deal on my Harbeth M30.1’s at almost -$3000.00 under retail..Same for the Cayin CS55a being replaced & the Creek Evo50a/Ruby & those funds go back towards the end game system...The Nordost Leif series cables were also bought used at about 50% off retail(gotta love cable depreciation hahaha)...The Icon Audio amp also received a nice discount from the N.American importer in celebration BOTH founding members & lifelong friends of the 2 companies turning 67years old...That left just enough for a magnificent pair of ProAc Tablette Anniversaries in the amazing Ebony finish for the bedroom & a good DAC/Headphone amp... |
Farther down the yellow brick road Dorothy. Today I found the nerve center worthy of my amp/speakers & headphones(HiFiMan Sundara & Audeze LCD3)...From the side of the industry I believe is the finest driving force behind DAC technology today I went to the desktop audio industry & Burson Audio of Melbourne,Au... If you aren't familiar lets just say Burson gives you $5000.00+ worth of performance in a compact,superbly technical,fabulously spec'd & meticulously constructed piece of equipment,sold direct for $1000.00+!!! I'm going to chew my nails to the quick waiting on everything to land in my living room,I've waited 45 years for a system like this... |
devilboy. "The DACs inside are pretty nice; far from the last word... But nice. " Your kidding?There is NO better DAC Chip on the market today. " The Conductor uses the SABRE32/ESS9038Q2M DAC and XMOS USB receiver chips, the most advanced and expensive in the industry. Its Customised USB driver by Thesycon Germany ensures low latency bit-perfect audio playback. The result is incredible processing power, accurately playing back DSD512 and 38bit/786khz audio. It also features a Qualcomm/CSR8675 Bluetooth 5.0 receiver. Playing back at 24bit/96khz with aptX HD audio codec. , it pushes sound quality and ease of use to the highest level." |