kinger Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Been from echoloft days to nowadays in xtremeplace, there was a long period of break in my life not into hifi. Now I am back again to this hobby. A pair of humble AE 301 bookshelf speakers has been sitting around and getting the following gears soon: 1) Used Naim integrated (with RCA input & pre-out for subwoofer connection) 2) New Nord Easy-Stream Connect Pro V3 (a streamer with Android & IOS apps which needs an external DAC) 3) New Denafrips Ares ii DAC Hope to achieve a decent Deezer streaming setup with the above gears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephyr11 Posted September 6, 2020 Share Posted September 6, 2020 ^^^^^^^^^^ hope you have fun rediscovering all the joys of listening to music! i'm very new to this myself, but i realize, nothing else matters as long as you yourself are happy and enjoying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 6, 2020 Author Share Posted September 6, 2020 Thanks bro. The music to one's ears is very subjective. Having said that, i have managed to listen to the newly released yamaha AS series integrated amp, AS1200/2200/3200 at PS flagship store over the weekend. I had listened to the AS1200 demo and its strengths seemed to be on its clarity and bassline. But i felt the demo was not able to justify the integrated amp's full potential. The integrated amp was connected to its Main-in via the WXC-50 streamer Pre-out. This is an integrated amp but why was the demo tested on its power amp section but not its pre-amp section? With the benefit of doubt, i then proceeded to Anson Audio at The Adelphi and the in-charge person was kind enough to suggest a demo after he has run-in his AS1200, which takes about a week.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephyr11 Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 ^^^^^^^^^ i suppose those just arrived locally. those power meters are so sexy! Hmmmmmm, that's weird that it's used as power only. i would think most ppl would buy it for the integrated function/ one box solution. please share back after you've heard the setup at anson audio! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsen Posted September 7, 2020 Share Posted September 7, 2020 Do upgrade your speakers as they're doing injustice to the current setup. Cheers. Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 Need to save money 1st...haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 7, 2020 Author Share Posted September 7, 2020 Anyone experience KECES amp before? I happened to see a pre dac/pwr combo on Music Image website....look nice though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Collected Nord... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fei Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Was contemplating the Nord streamer, pls do share your review opinion ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Was contemplating the Nord streamer, pls do share your review opinion ;D haha...ok. Mine is without the ES chip inside but normal chip, hence, it is the lower cost alternative since i am running it with an external DAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthesis1624705793 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 ^^^^^^^^^ i suppose those just arrived locally. those power meters are so sexy! Hmmmmmm, that's weird that it's used as power only. i would think most ppl would buy it for the integrated function/ one box solution. please share back after you've heard the setup at anson audio! Teaser...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Teaser...... Congratz on your new purchase... ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djblackfm Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Collected Nord... You sound like I've just deal with you [emoji12]. Thank you for the purchase [emoji1783]. Shall wait for your review Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 You sound like I've just deal with you [emoji12]. Thank you for the purchase [emoji1783]. Shall wait for your review Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Yes sir...DJ... ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djblackfm Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 ^^^^^^^^^ i suppose those just arrived locally. those power meters are so sexy! Hmmmmmm, that's weird that it's used as power only. i would think most ppl would buy it for the integrated function/ one box solution. please share back after you've heard the setup at anson audio! Zephyr11 bought the Nord with 9038 DAC hahahahaha. Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winwinc81 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Collected Nord... Hi!! Thanks for dropping by to collect! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Zephyr11 bought the Nord with 9038 DAC hahahahaha. Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Oic...bro fei is still contemplating at it... ;D It was between bluesound node 2i and Nord connect pro v3 for me...pulled trigger on Nord as the price is much lower and it will connect to external dac so its internal chip is not the main consideration... Maybe a fairer comparison is between Nord 9038 and node 2i. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 Hi!! Thanks for dropping by to collect! :) Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Djblackfm Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Oic...bro fei is still contemplating at it... ;D It was between bluesound node 2i and Nord connect pro v3 for me...pulled trigger on Nord as the price is much lower and it will connect to external dac so its internal chip is not the main consideration... Maybe a fairer comparison is between Nord 9038 and node 2i. Aha. Nice to know that. Surely I welcome @kinger @zephyr11 to have their thoughts towards Nord. Honestly, sound is more towards personal taste. Fei, did you have any DAC player currently? Maybe we can do an A and B demo. Between both of it. Atleast while comparing we can have honest thoughts on both of it. Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephyr11 Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 Zephyr11 bought the Nord with 9038 DAC hahahahaha. Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk yes! got one with inbuilt dac, this set has option to bypass dac in the future if required, great for me, as i wanted a AIO solution for now, and still be able to use it as a streamer later on if i get a dac. i was looking for the auralic aeries mini, but it was discon, and the rest of the auralic stuff too expensive for me, was also looking at the bluesound node 2i, but thought the nord form factor works better in my setup (tiny and lack of space). my plan was to get the ares II eventually, and use this as a streamer only, which will likely be the same setup as what you are doing now kinger, let me know how you like your current setup! sidenote; i agree them speakers might be the weak link, but i'm sure slowly and surely you will be getting better stuff, end point is never the point, the journey is the point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 yes! got one with inbuilt dac, this set has option to bypass dac in the future if required, great for me, as i wanted a AIO solution for now, and still be able to use it as a streamer later on if i get a dac. i was looking for the auralic aeries mini, but it was discon, and the rest of the auralic stuff too expensive for me, was also looking at the bluesound node 2i, but thought the nord form factor works better in my setup (tiny and lack of space). my plan was to get the ares II eventually, and use this as a streamer only, which will likely be the same setup as what you are doing now kinger, let me know how you like your current setup! sidenote; i agree them speakers might be the weak link, but i'm sure slowly and surely you will be getting better stuff, end point is never the point, the journey is the point! great points shared bro Z....mai tu liao on the ares ii ;D I am putting on hold the ares II purchase as I am looking at the KECES S3/S125 combo. The S3 dac/preamp is running on ES9026 chip but unsure on the rca & xlr pre-out are outputting simultaneously so that I can connect the rca to my powered sub and xlr to the S125 pwr amp. The manual doesn't state so....am checking with KECES taiwan directly... But my gut feeling is the ares ii is surely many steps up from the S3 dac and going the naim/ares ii way, the overall cost is about 20% higher than the KECES combo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthesis1624705793 Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 please share back after you've heard the setup at anson audio! I went there for a quick listen and I think there's something is not right with the setup. Either the speaker/seating placement or even possibly wire polarity mixed up but the imaging was not 'locked'. It was hooked up to ProAc speaker. Anyway one cannot tell whether the final sound is from the speaker, electronics, or the room. It's so much better at home out of the box. Come have a listen :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 I went there for a quick listen and I think there's something is not right with the setup. Either the speaker/seating placement or even possibly wire polarity mixed up but the imaging was not 'locked'. It was hooked up to ProAc speaker. Anyway one cannot tell whether the final sound is from the speaker, electronics, or the room. It's so much better at home out of the box. Come have a listen :D Pls ensure 1m social distancing, safe entry and not more than 5pax are setup.... ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinger Posted September 10, 2020 Author Share Posted September 10, 2020 Prompt reply from KECES Audio... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephyr11 Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 I went there for a quick listen and I think there's something is not right with the setup. Either the speaker/seating placement or even possibly wire polarity mixed up but the imaging was not 'locked'. It was hooked up to ProAc speaker. Anyway one cannot tell whether the final sound is from the speaker, electronics, or the room. It's so much better at home out of the box. Come have a listen :D you mean you bought it already, and is this an open invite? ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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