The integrated amp appears to be a good match for the speakers. However, they are not very sensitive and are rated @ 4 ohm. It would seem that an increase in amplifier power or perhaps bi-amping would really make them sing. If there is an extra amplifier hanging around and a few extra cables not being used, hook it up and give it a whirl.
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I have the Holo May KTE, it is sublime.
I would skip the KTE upgrade unless you have really good stuff to go with it.
Check out the GoldenSound review of it on YT, everything he says about it is true.
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Santa Girl gave me a Holo May for Christmas. Heavy little beast and took some re-working/arranging of the rack to set it all up but yikes!, is it ever clear. Have a Hegel H390 and was previously relying on its internal DAC. It was good, very good, but the system always seemed like it wasn't letting the Sopra 2's deliver to the their capability. That is no longer a concern, so I further the recs for the Holo May. However, I will admit I didn't listen to anything else so other than the Hegel's internal DAC, or the Ayre CD player's internal DAC, I don't have a comparative point of ref.
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Tony at Coherent Systems UK has lots of Dacs he has ordered and listened to. He gives very good advice on Dac options.
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I love my R200i. Not looking to upgrade. Got it recapped last year.
Has a good amount of power for my ATC speakers. A neutral sound. Good soundstage, takes control of the music. Good instrument separation.
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How would you describe the sound of the Perreaux R200i intergrated amp? As this should influence your decision of your chosen dac? I have a Belles integrated and wanted to soften the highs that I was experiencing with my speakers. Therefore I went with the Orchid which has really helped with the listener fatigue. I actually purchased a used R200i recently so would be very interested in hearing opinions of its sound characteristics. Thanks, happy new year.
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Anyone managed to compare the two?
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Thanks for all the input
bern doing some research and the sa10 and holo may look to be the ones I’ll be saving for
just not sure which..
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Denafrips Pontus II ($1,750), Musician Aquarius ($2,700), Holo Audio May DAC KTE ($5,500)......all terrific R2R ladder DACs at their respective price points. I own the Pontus II and love it, but have also tested the Aquarius and May DAC and they all amaze
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Bigkidz do you even do upgrades on the $5600 holo May KTE?
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If you can make heads or tails of the above you should go into
code breaking!
The Holo May DACs are current favorite. There are many great DACs
available. Buy one and see how it goes!
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Strongly consider a Merason
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Great bang for the buck dac right now is Gustard R26. R2r sounds great with built in lan end point. Some have added modest priced external clocks to move it even further in sound. The best way I can describe it is musical. I sit down to listen to a few songs and find it very difficult to pry myself away. Any time I turn it on I just want to listen to one more song and then another and another. Does not matter what I throw at it it just makes music!
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What kind of sonic improvements are you looking for?
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get the Halo and send it to me to upgrade. It will better anything mentioned above by some large margin. Since my company builds reference audio components you need to tell us what type of sound you like otherwise all the recommendations are useless. I can tailor the sound to your liking with upgrades.
We build R2R tube DACs but some of the non R2R DACs compete but have a different sound in direct comparison.
Happy Listening.
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are there any other good / better dacs out there
To name a few well regarded companies that produce DACs.
Bryston
WYred4Sound
Schiit
Gold Note
Moon
Benchmark
PS Audio
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So how much are we willing to spend?
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A good DAC for the money is Schiit.
Though a Bifrost would probably sound better than what you have, I would opt for a Gungnir- very close to the Yggy.
Bob
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I have an R200i as my main amp, into ATC SCM 19v2.
Have had Soekris 2541 recommended.
I went for the Gustard A22 as it suited my taste, and price.
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Yes that’s an older integrated. On the whole time has moved on I believe digital has moved WAY more than amplification. I would suggest trying a R2R dac. I’ve only tried one and it is an absolute cracker! Musician Aquarius. There are many and I make no claims as to it being the best.
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