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Holo's new R2R KTE Spring-2 Dac

New R2R KTE Spring -2 dac from Holo promises to be something, a month ago they said this is going to be a cracker, fully locked and loaded.

"The KTE spring2... specs.
Hand picked dac modules for KTE models
Mundorf caps used in power supply circuit and also improved power regulation
Silver o type transformer, silver solid core 4N wiring and direct to pcb soldering with mundorf supreme 9.5% silver solder
Silver rhodium faston connectors at the iec inlet. Fuse type is now ultimate SHD beeswax fuse
Pure Copper KTE emblems
New improved front panel display with more data to be displayed all at same time. Such as input and mode (nos/os) while retaining the classic dot matrix white display the spring1 is known for.
Same dimensions and same control buttons as original. Same unique chassis design which sets our company image of products. Copper and black
The spring2 now comes with a remote control by popular demand!
Also lower freq performance is improved around -40db and compared to the already great sounding spring1 we have further improved sound quality.
The dac is the first discrete linear compensation network dac and also first to support dsd1024 over discrete network. As well as pcm1.536M
And we have ditched lvds for i2s! Now using custom 4way circuit it isolate each signal and further improving sound quality of i2s! I’m very happy for this feature alone. As many know I use i2s and recommend this.
The usb module has all the code completely rewritten custom and improved with low latency performance.
femto clocks are now implemented for dac
I’m confident that our customers will love the improvements we have implemented to this already great dac! I’m happyto bring a KTE model to be available to our authorized sellers. It will be the only official modded version of the spring dac. No other versions are authorized by HoloAudio.

So those over in Europe or China can buy from their authorized dealer of holoaudio products and get support from those dealers. Or of course they can still buy direct from Kitsunehifi and get our excellent customer service too ;)" 

https://kitsunehifi.com/

Cheers George




128x128georgehifi
11 responses Add your response
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 

"Msrp Pricing is as follows
L1 is 1698+ship, L2 is 1998+ship and KTE (kitsune tuned edition) is 2698+ship
There will be a special pre order pricing for early dec orders to get 100off msrp on the KTE model. There will be a coupon code avail on launch date. Build time will start around 3.5-4weeks and 3-5day ship time. But will expect these times to vary as orders come in. We have done some improvements on our end are working hard to bringing these products to everyone. The demand is there and I want to eventually get to a point where we can get these built in 2 weeks or less. But these are our estimates at this time when we do a launch.

Photos will be available early December, likely 2nd week. So there are some minor delays due to aesthetics and I will be doing some nice photography that will take me a week to finish. I should have the first KTE Spring2 in for photos scheduled dec 6th-8th approx. I am likely over estimating the official launch. But mid December is what I’m shooting for and likely. Early december we may be taking some orders, but really want to wait til mid dec so I don’t spend too much time doing manual orders. It’s best everyone waits til the website can do its job  and I can put it up online live so orders can be accepted.


Hope I covered everything but I may of missed some other features . I wrote all this on my iPhone and completely from memory. So spare me of errors if I messed something up.  it should be everything I believe."

 

Cheers George


erik_squires
15,646 posts
 
The usb module has all the code completely rewritten custom and improved with low latency performance.

Well, that makes me nervous! Being in IT, re-writing code from others that is working already is expensive. It's not just the writing but the hundreds of hours that go into testing.

Also, no one cares about low latency. They care about low noise and distortion. But hey, sounds cool.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 

Here the official release page just put up, on the new Holo Spring-2.

 

  https://kitsunehifi.com/product/holo-audio-spring2-dac-kitsune-tuned-edition/

 

Cheers George



roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Thank god it doesn't have an extra zero at the end of its price (like some other high-end DACs - names withheld!).
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 
roberjerman1
Thank god it doesn’t have an extra zero at the end of its price (like some other high-end DACs - names withheld!).
And said to be better than it’s predecessor, that was very favorably review and measured in Stereophile. Which I had on loan for two weeks from it's owner and was very impressed with. 
https://www.stereophile.com/content/holoaudio-spring-kitsun%C3%A9-tuned-edition-level-3-da-processor

Cheers George
lordcloud
154 posts
 
Interesting
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 

lordcloud95 posts11-30-2018 11:55amInteresting


  Noticed you've heard the R2R Aries Cerat Kassandra dac, you know what I mean then.
PCM just sounds real, alive, with all the jump factor intact, and no artificial sweetening and calming that you get from non R2R dacs.
I get the same from my Linn CD12 and also heard from Naim CD555, ML No.39 which are all also R2R dacs.

Cheers George
cortes
34 posts
 
Level 1 ($1698) & 2($1998)  looks the most interesting to me. The KTE version looks expensive or risky to me taking into account that there is little warranty that  chi-fi  Holo Audio will exist in a few years. 


georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 
Holo Audio will exist in a few years
Same goes for any hiend boutique dac manufacterer.

Cheers George
cortes
34 posts
 
@georgehifi 

yes, tha'ts true. I've been probably unfair with that statement. 

Anyway, we have to wait and see how the second encarnation performs.  There is now a new DDC with a ESS chip with I2S interface, the Gustard U16, that if complains with the Spring can be really an additional step upwards. 



georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 
Anyway, we have to wait and see how the second encarnation performs.
Well the first was a cracker, even Stereophile’s review and bench tests were outstanding and they don’t even advertise there. (if you get my drift)
https://www.stereophile.com/content/holoaudio-spring-kitsun%C3%A9-tuned-edition-level-3-da-processor
and if this new model "is" better, it will be hard to come close to.

Cheers George
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