So, what did you get yourself for the holidays?


My guess is that most of us are "hard to buy for". That said, I get my own presents.

Outside of audio, this holiday season I treated myself to a 3D printer (Bambu Lab P1S), a ZWO Seestar S50 smart telescope, and I will be ordering a PiFinder for my 20" telescope next week.

In the world of audio I upgraded my Rogue Cronus Magnum II to the III. I added the home theater feature so I can put a tube pre-amp between my DAC and the amp at a later date. And since they had the amp in the shop I added a processor loop in the event my hearing would benefit from additional processing in years to come. I'm a small spender for this group and I expect this is my ultimate amp. I will upgrade other components over time, but this is making me very happy right now. Besides, my astronomy hobby is where most of my extra money goes. 

I've been playing the CR III for the past week and it is an amazing upgrade. It also helps that my backup amp was a major step down and since I hand delivered and picked up the amp I've been without the CM since October.

As far as the new amp goes, I love the triode mode and the phono pre-amp is noticeably improved. I'll test out the new headphone circuit in January, I don't use headphones often so I won't be able to weigh in on any improvement, just the end result.

So, what did you get for yourself?

 

 

 

markcasazza

For the body... Santa Cruz Heckler eMTB.  My Hardtail eMTB was beating the crap out of my aging body.  Also got some new riding gear to replace some that's ready to retire.

For the mind...  Puritan Audio PSM-156 with Ultimate cord to clean up my Mains and give me another step toward perfection (Chat's recommendation).  The SQ improvement was subtle, but even darker background and more immediacy in dramatic SNR changes...  almost feels like the amp has more power.

For the feet...  new pair of Minnetonka slippers!  Best gift of all!

Happy New Year!

Frank

Mundorf MCAP EVO silver/gold/oil capacitors for my speakers. Thank you Santa.

Not specifically for the holidays, but I purchased a second hand Audionet Humboldt integrated which I hope is my end game preamp+amp. My tastes run to top SS Sonics like Constellation, Soulution, CH Precision, Boulder…, but my budget can’t reach. I’m fortunate to find this second hand Humboldt in my NAmerican voltage as they are extremely rare.  Replaces my Constellation Inspiration Pre+Stereo - a TAS Top 50 bargain but Constellation’s bottom of the line.  I don’t mind giving up separates, ultimate goal superior Sonics for the money.  

I finally broke down and bought a Degritter MKII. I started with a Vevor and then a HumminGuru. I decided I have enough vinyl to justify the premium cleaner.