So, I bought a Chord Hugo TT2...now what?
Hello all!
Today, I ordered a Chord Hugo TT2 DAC from my local dealer...should be able to pick it up late next week. It will be fed by a Bluesound Vault 2 that I'm using to stream Tidal and Qobuz, as well as play my ripped CD collection.
As the TT2 is definitely several orders of magnitude better than the on-board DAC of the Vault, I now have a quandary regarding what my next upgrade step should be. So, if you could only make one more upgrade, would you get the Chord M Scaler, which from everything I'm reading/hearing is the ideal pairing for the TT2 and takes it to near reference-class Dave levels? Or, would you upgrade the streamer, since the TT2 is only as good as the files/data you're feeding it?
For reference, the rest of my system consists of Audio Research's LS7 line stage, PH3 phono stage and (2) D240MKII amps running as monoblocks. Speakers are Kef Blade Twos (non-Meta versions) and my turntable is a Technics SL-1210GAE.
Thanks for any thoughts or suggestions!
Arvin
I mothballed Hugo TT 2 and got a Lumin x1 streamer dac. I think the internal wiring was done really well and now I don't have to deal with a separate dac component and it is sounding a lot better. I thought about the m scaler and also the Dave but it just was nauseating to deal with all this stuff. The colors on tt2 are cute |
@arvincastro, my Chord TT2 DAC is the heart of my music streaming system, I use it with a Chord m scaler and a pair of WAVE High Fidelity Storm BNC cables as interconnects. Both the TT2 and m scaler use Sbooster 15-16v linear power supply units. If you’ve got the cleanest power possible running thru your mains, and you’re using a good high-res music source, then adding an m scaler would only be to your benefit IMO because it really enhances the overall listening experience. |
I had the Qutest for a few years and decided to upgrade. Compared the TT2 + M-scaler to Lab1 dac and MSB Discrete. What can I say - I'm a big fan of the Chord sound. I'd say the TT2 got me 90% of the improvement and the M-scaler 10%. Also powering both with the Hypsos Ferrum - definitely an upgrade worth considering. I'll throw you one more idea. I had an McIntosh MA-8900 integrated and I tried the TT2 as the preamp into the power amp inputs and it was surprising and amazing how much the soundstage improved in width and height. I ended up selling the 8900 and bought the MC-275 and again the soundstage got bigger, but this time also added depth. |
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Try an Eversolo A6. It's only $900 and competes well with more expensive streamers. I had a node 2i and went to the A6 and the difference was not small. I now have the A8 which is in another league dac-wise....but the A6 is a great deal as just a streamer. App works well too. The rest of my system is a B&K reference power amp driving Legacy Signature se speakers via Kimber cables. |
