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Mhdt Havana, Calyx , Metrum Octave for my setup ?

Hello people. As my Audiolab 8000cd player (2007) finally stopped working after starting to behave weird for some time, I'm now looking for a dac which fits nicely into my system. I have Klipsch Forte 2's and a Primaluna Dialogue 2 amp. Iḿ looking for a musical warm smooth organic sound with no added highs, harsness, grain. Gear with A focus on detail or extended highs my set highlights it and is not what I want.
After reading lots of great reviews about the Havana dac it sounded that with the Havana I could have found an excellent matching dac, however also thanks to this forum I now read even better reviews (although not as many), of the Calyx and Metrum Octave dacs also from (former)Havana users.

I 'm wondering if through the horns of the Fortes the newer Calyx and Octave dacs with increased detail /insight will shift the tone from musical warm smooth organic music flow to more attention to details instead. Also how are these dacs different in tone with eachother, e.g. which is the warmest smoothest, organic, lightest, clearest etc?
Of course I don t want to miss something in case the increased detail / insight is working out very positive. Any experience, advice, ideas ?
delta_hf
meiwan
399 posts
 
I used to own the Calyx dac, only sold it because I needed toslink. It's a wonderful dac, extremely open, airy and neutral, but I wouldn't call it warm and organic. If you are using tubes (as I was), it's a great match. However if you are looking for some flavour, you might stick with a tube dac. The EE minimax is very nice in that regard. I have no experience with the other dacs you mention.
Have the w4s dac 2 now. I'd say warmer than the Calyx.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,987 posts
 
I would also recommend the EE MiniMax DAC.
mythirdcoastaudio
1 posts
 
Disclaimer: As a Calyx dealer we will finally have a new FEMTO DAC back in to use for DEMO's tomorrow. The demo's are selling and not coming back, this one will be new in the box.

The DAC from MSB is selling the FEMTO second clock as an add for about $10K not including the main unit or power supply. The promo pricing on the FEMTO is ridiculously low compared to this.

The FEMTO has a significant jump on the Calyx 24/192 in sparkle and soundstage depth and presentation, with that said, the 24/192 is very competitive in the sub $4K range of DAC's. It's value is about half of where it would be with a more established name. Let me know if you need to demo any unit as the list is growing. Jim myTHIRDCOASTaudio dot com or thirdcoastaudio at gmail dotcom

I want these units heard in discerning systems for testimonials and feedback. As the name is growing and reviews come in so the demand is growing.
eugene81
270 posts
 
I've owned all 3. First the Havana, then the Calyx, then the Octave.

Now I am using the Havana in a highly modified form -- pretty much all caps replaced, several with V-Cap CuTF, DAC chips, power transformer, diodes, key resistors, WBT silver RCA outputs, BNC input (all parts replacement, no alterations to the board). There is a huge MHDT Havana thread on Head-Fi that goes over all of these mods. I never sold the Havana but bumped it down to a second system; it has special qualities of timbre, texture, and PRaT that are unique IMO, but lacks a fair amount of detail, dynamics, extension, and authority in its stock form. Now it is back in the main rig and is easily the best DAC I've owned, which includes both Berkeley DACs. The heart and soul of the original is retained, but the shortcomings are all rectified and the strengths are improved upon greatly as well. It is also nice that you can tune the sound by replacing certain caps and of course the tube. The Havana is quite responsive to changes.

To answer your questions, based on memory...

Warmest: Havana
Smoothest: Calyx
Organic: Havana
Lightest: Octave
Clearest: Octave
delta_hf OP
4 posts
 
Eugene81 Thanks for your answers, very helpfull. I like the idea you can mod the Havana and there is lots of information available. It also seems people do not want to part with it although they purchased another dac, that must be good. What I do not get is it seems so few Havana owners went for the Stockholm dac. Have you listened to the Stockholm, if so is is there difference in tone compared with the Havana or just better detail, image etc. thx
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