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Post by ChrisB on Mar 16, 2021 8:50:53 GMT
I had an original Cyrus 2, which served for years in the main system, then got demoted to a second one, then another demotion to spent years driving speakers with output from my computer. It was OK. Way better than most £300 amps of its time. I still have it but it no longer works.
Five or six years ago, a friend was getting back into playing music at home and I spent ages interesting him in all sorts of options that I thought would suit him and would get him a fabulous sounding system. Then, one day he announced that he had invested in a Cyrus amp and CD player. This led him to end up investing heavily in the full Cyrus system and he was trapped! It ended up badly when he was repeatedly let down by a string of component breakdowns, with him spending over a year with one piece after the other being returned to base for something or other to be repaired, some of them more than once.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 16, 2021 9:20:18 GMT
The legendary Cyrus II strikes again!
Although bought as working, I've no idea quite what state of repair my Cyrus I is in but I will pay for a service if required.
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 16, 2021 11:11:10 GMT
That's an advantage of rapid turnover box swapping. Move stuff on before it has a chance to fail!
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 27, 2021 9:50:57 GMT
I've gone even pottier than usual atm. A quad of GE USA 6L6GC power valves got plumbed into my Primaluna amp this morning. Sounds promising so far. I had been pondering selling the PL, but these toobs may well give it an extra tranche of life. Initial impressions are very lively, open, detailed. Much more listening today. That's not potty, that's quite sensible. What's potty is that I spotted a Beresford Bushmaster DAC on eBay for £50 BIN. It's years since I listened to a StanDAC. So I snaffled it out of curiosity, tbh not expecting to be impressed. I had been a big fan of B'DACs but been there, done that, years ago. Moving on ........ Plugged it into my Cyrus pre and WHOOSH! I really enjoyed it. It was like coming home after a while away. So nice to listen to, there was a kind of rightness to my ears. So I followed up with a Caiman II, and before that arrived a fully upped SEG with Dorado PSU enhancer came up on eBay, so I got that too. Caiman II in and a somewhat more expansive sound than the Bushmaster, obviously similar, though. The Caiman has a switchable preamp option, so removed the Cyrus pre and removed a veil or two as well! Then yesterday in went the SEG, and more detail and dynamics issued forth. Not totally sure yet it's the direction I want to go in - not really into hyper detail these days. I'll probably try the Caiman II with the Dorado and see what I want to settle down with. The Cyrus pre is now up for sale, and a LDR-type remote pre is on its way, should arrive today. Made by the Horn Shoppe, he calls it The Truth. Rave reviews from some. We'll see. So here we are this morning ... my goodness, what a mess! The system is definitely a work in progress atm. Sideways on Quad 606ii, the refurbed 303 that had been "in" until I tried the PL with new valves this morning. SEG with Dorado on top. Bushmaster next to the PL amp. In the distance Nobsound Bluetooth receiver, GW Labs reclocker, LPSU for the Beresfords, Behringer digital eq (set flat atm), Arcam disc spinner, Quad 303, Cyrus pre and psu.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 27, 2021 10:39:01 GMT
The thing about Stan's DACs is that they place soundstage and musical flow above detail. Trust me, they don't really do hyper-detail compared with the latest DACs like my LKS. With that, though, comes other problems that need to be tweaked to regain the original StanDAC musicality yet retain the detail.
We still run a Caiman-II in our AV system with the big TV, and I often notice just how good it sounds.
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Post by brian2957 on Mar 27, 2021 11:01:32 GMT
Been a while since you posted about buying new stuff Jerry. Now you've gone a bit 'loopy' and bought loadsa stuff
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 27, 2021 11:15:54 GMT
The thing about Stan's DACs is that they place soundstage and musical flow above detail. Yes, that sounds about right. I think that the StanSound is where I want to be at the moment.
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 14, 2021 14:55:24 GMT
Current stack. Top to bottom ... Khozmo passive pre (arrived a few days ago) Holo Audio Spring Level 2 R-2R DAC (arrived today) PrimaLuna Prologue 5 (been around for well over a year now) fitted with a quad of GE USA 6L6 and TAD input tubes. All sounding rather good.
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 14, 2021 16:13:54 GMT
Mmmmmm ... tasty.
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 15, 2021 9:30:44 GMT
How does the Holo compare to your other R2R DAC Jerry?
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 15, 2021 12:31:59 GMT
More listening hours now under the belt.... The Holo blows any other DAC I've owned totally away.
My old MyST R2R is great but a definite stepdown, commensurate with a 6x difference in cost. But it does give a definite flavour of what the R2R magic is about. I can understand why some folks go a bit crazy about the approach.
Must admit I don't see me moving the Holo for quite some time, maybe step up to a Holo May next year?
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 15, 2021 12:45:07 GMT
Previous systems hadn't noticeably struck me as having a thinned out soundstage, but with the Holo the whole presentation is more solid and grounded. More resolution, too, but not explicitly thrown at me, but just there for me to focus on if I want. Rustling of music scores as pages are turned and the slight creaking of chairs as musicians move on very familiar recordings, where tf did they come from?!
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Post by MartinT on Apr 15, 2021 13:36:41 GMT
Rustling of music scores as pages are turned and the slight creaking of chairs as musicians move on very familiar recordings, where tf did they come from?! LOL - there's also conductors and pianists humming along, audience coughs on live recordings, stands being knocked etc.
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 17, 2021 3:48:39 GMT
Having played more types of music through it, my liking and admiration for the Holo Spring DAC continues to grow. My best sound ever, without a doubt. Although the Khozmo passive pre plays a not insignificant part in that. Two very fine components.
A period of system stability will now ensue as I'm not sure what to do next! And I've also blown my annual budget, the Holo being rather in excess of my usual recent spend on electronics - will have to sell stuff to progress further. The main superfluous gear is my pair of Podium planar speakers, but they'll have to wait until visitors are allowed back chez Jerry in a partial Post-COVID era. Also 4 DACs at one to two hundred each.
So far I've only used the Primaluna power amp with the 2 new components. Sometime soon I'll see how the Quad 303, 606ii and the little TPA3116 class D amps get on with the new gear.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 17, 2021 6:08:58 GMT
Sounds like that DAC is a keeper, Jerry.
It does come with a fine reputation.
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Post by user211 on Apr 17, 2021 17:41:26 GMT
Keeper? C'mon. We're talking Jerry here...
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 17, 2021 18:07:44 GMT
I reckon it's good till next year when I might look to go further up the Holo range. I just listen and smile atm. It really is super. The only issue was the lack of remote control on the Khozmo pre, but that's sorted now. .... 2 pairs of shielded 5m interconnects and the Khozmo is on the small cabinet by my side. Just reach over and twiddle the volume knob.
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Post by user211 on Apr 17, 2021 23:03:31 GMT
I reckon the Khozmo, Halo and Prima look great together.
The Hattor passive I heard a few years ago in a nice system with a Lampi and hORNS FP15 IIRC speakers. Very nice.
Hattor is or at least was Khozmo++. That said apart from eBay I can't see it is still current production from Khozmo.
Blingier looking stuff that Hattor. But it won't go as well with what you have visually.
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 18, 2021 4:46:40 GMT
I haven't come across Hattor, I'll keep an eye out. No rush for me on that, though, the Khozmo is clearly and obviously a class product. It's not just the usual clarity of a decent passive, there's a solidity and depth to the imaging that was immediately noticeable.
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Post by MartinT on Apr 18, 2021 8:22:00 GMT
Is there not a Khozmo with remote option? Strikes me it would be ideal for you, and not require long runs of signal cable.
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