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davide256

Responses from davide256

What are the best GaN Amplifiers available today?
There is fairly good discussion on Audiophile style, top contenders mentioned  were Boxem and Apollon. Besides build quality, input circuit design was mentioned as critical  
Gustard R26 - good but not the one
The thing to remember about Chord is that its an oversampling DAC and its built in oversampling is pretty good. To do a real side by side comparison for full potential of an R2R DAC like Gustard R26 one should use HQPlayer at the internal 705/768 ... 
Gustard R26 - good but not the one
IMO any attempt to review Qutest vs other DAC's is incomplete if up-sampling isn't a major part of the comparison.  
Which amp to use with Linear Tube Audio pre?
@b2colchagoff  I ended up buying a solid stateTopping Pre90, took me several months to reach a conclusion which I liked better between the MZ2 and the Pre90. The MZ2 has that tube ease in playing music, is neutral and faster on transients than the... 
Does USB quality matter when ripping CDs?
USB audio connection cares about electrical "cleanliness", is feeding a DAC thats doing D/A conversion. File transfers aren't that sensitive, for most of us speed is what matters so a bog standard USB 3.x cable connection will get a copy done far ... 
Gustard R26
@sgreg1  This article may be helpful to you https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/reviews/at-long-last-listen-to-your-physical-sacds-through-an-outboard-dac-r971/    
Gustard R26
@baylinor  I dabbled with an Aries II but sold it because it wasn't true NOS, its linear interpolation rolled off treble at CD rate. But it did have the hallmark of a NOS DAC in the mid range which is correct instrument timbre. The usual compromi... 
Gustard R26
Keeping my eye on this one. But have learned that you want to see at least 2 credible reviews... one mans meat can be another mans poison. Its at the right price point to compete with Denafrips Pontus.  
Which amp to use with Linear Tube Audio pre?
mmm, the Orchard Audio GaN monoblocks are working very nicely with my Magnepans. But the law of unintended consequences has kicked in. My MZ2 used as pre isn't as clean and clear with the GaN monoblocks as a simple passive Schiit SYS pre. So its r... 
Best amp options between $2k-$4 to power Magnepan 1.7?
Ended up buying the Orchard Audio 150W GaN mono blocks. Loving how transparent they are, rediscovering both my analog and digital collection. Far better at driving Magnepan 1.7s then anything else I have used. The only critique I have is that they... 
Which amp to use with Linear Tube Audio pre?
hmm, latest review in TAS on the Orchard Audio Class D GaN mono blocks intrigued me,  submitted an order.  
What do modern, current day CD Transports do that older CDP's with RCA digital out don't?
if your CDP sounds better than streaming, it pretty much says you have not kept up in the "arms race" for a streaming setup. As a comparison benchmark, I highly recommend auditioning an Innuos Zen mini w/ LPS before spending money on any CDP.  
What do modern, current day CD Transports do that older CDP's with RCA digital out don't?
There's a fad to use CD's again. Unlike vinyl its not valid for better SQ.  
Holo Audio Spring 3 DAC
Has anyone bought the Spring 3 in its level 1 or level 2 implementation? Pretty happy with a Metrum Octave DAC/ Audiowise SRC-DX DDC combination but its treble resolution is not the cleanest, thinking that even the Spring 3 level 1 would be a subs... 
Question about Class A
What speakers do you have and whats their efficiency? If Magnepans, I can tell you Aegir isn't a good match, nice sound but 85db efficient speakers make it sound stressed and clip protection will cut in at loud passages. ASR didn't find that runni...