Hydrology Posted December 1, 2023 Author Posted December 1, 2023 My Sonic Messiah (HiFi) is back in business!! Couple of pics of the core (new) parts:- T+A DAC-200 DAC/Pre T+A M200 Monoblocs Wiim Pro Plus (only for the wife's need for Spotify) Also playing around with isolation but might just take them out until the gear is run in over the next couple of weeks. 14
2Brix Posted December 1, 2023 Posted December 1, 2023 what's the depreciation rate allowed for those work-related related devices 1 1
Hydrology Posted December 2, 2023 Author Posted December 2, 2023 Running Divine Acoustics Halley speaker cable in a bi-wiring configuration. 3
Hydrology Posted December 4, 2023 Author Posted December 4, 2023 Each piece of T+A gear is of course inspected and signed off by members of the team... 1
Darryl Posted December 4, 2023 Posted December 4, 2023 Naturally. Who would say no to inspecting some T+A? 1 2
gypr1961 Posted December 4, 2023 Posted December 4, 2023 (edited) On 13/06/2022 at 3:41 PM, Hydrology said: Slam! Interesting weekend. I spent most of Saturday night doing the comparisons. Sunday I was just in enjoyment mode - listening to music for a full 13 hours straight! So, who won the battle? Devialet Expert 250 Pro was the winner, but was it a close contest? In some ways yes, it some ways no. I used identical cables for the comparison (Nordost Blue Heaven USB and Divine Acoustics Halley Speaker Cable) to keep consistency across the amps. Source was Innuos ZEN via USB (running Roon). The Hegel provides a very agile and speedy presentation - you definitely sit up and take notice. Some might say a "forward" presentation, but certainly not as relaxed as, say, Class A amplifiers or the smoothness of tubes. But the Hegel never quite grabs you by the scruff of the neck and drags you kicking and screaming INTO the music quite like the Dev does. Front to back and left/right stereo separation is so much better and bigger on the Dev. Vocal performance was similar and close, but on at least 50% of the music I played on both, the Dev just had a smoother top end. Bass! One huge advantage with the Expert Pro was the ability to get Devialet in Hong Kong to recently "SAM" my speakers, the Wharfedale Elysian 4. Boy oh boy does this make a HUGE difference! The Elysians are no slouch in the bottom end, having good deep and controlled bass, but with SAM enabled on the Dev, the dynamics goes up to 11, but with the same grip and control I'm used to. All this from an amplifier with a huge damping factor of 8,000 (twice the Hegel H590). Now, we aren't comparing apples and apples. The Dev is almost $13K more expensive than the Hegel, so there's that, but we do have onboard Roon Ready streaming, a very capable phono stage and a very flexible package, sowhen you start adding those components to the Hegel, you start to get close from a price perspective. Am I selling my Hegel right now? No, not yet (don't have the money to move up to the Dev just yet) and the performance of the Dev with SAM switched off was not as sublime, but I would seriously recommend anybody with speakers that have been SAM'd by Devialet, to give the Expert Pro amplifiers some serious consideration. These aren't just "lifestyle" amplifiers - they are the real deal. Hi, you said you got devialet to sam your model of speaker, can I ask how you went about that ? Cheers Edited December 4, 2023 by gypr1961
Hydrology Posted December 4, 2023 Author Posted December 4, 2023 19 hours ago, gypr1961 said: Hi, you said you got devialet to sam your model of speaker, can I ask how you went about that ? Cheers In all seriousness though, we had just taken on the brand and like most brands, they showed a very high level of "willingness" to prove how respensive they were - so when they knew I owned these speakers they SAM'd them at their Hong Kong headquarters. You can always send a request and they will do their best to acquire a set of speakers. Here is an image they sent me around the time of the process 3 1
Hydrology Posted December 27, 2023 Author Posted December 27, 2023 So the OCD in me meant I wasn't happy with having the isolation footers sitting on the actual footers of the T+A gear, coupled (sic!) with the fact that they were probably not equidistant, so I made me a template!!!! Now they are all perfect! 8
Hydrology Posted December 31, 2023 Author Posted December 31, 2023 With the new equipment now run-in, time to do some minor speaker re-positioning... 5
Hydrology Posted April 21, 2024 Author Posted April 21, 2024 The afternoon sun is telling me what to play next... 8 1 2
awayward Posted April 21, 2024 Posted April 21, 2024 8 minutes ago, Hydrology said: The afternoon sun is telling me what to play next... Wait ten minutes it will change its mind 2 2
Hydrology Posted June 14, 2024 Author Posted June 14, 2024 Ordered new racks to replace the singular, heavy entertainment we have. Due in about a months' time. In the meantime snapped up a couple of Torus Power PB4 toroidal isolation power conditioners for the system. I've heard the benefits of these in other systems so knew it was only a matter of time before I jumped in. 28 kg right there! 4 3
Hydrology Posted July 24, 2024 Author Posted July 24, 2024 Some sneak pics of new racks installed in place on Monday. Moved away from the large heavy duty entertainment unit in favour of some solid teak. 13 1
David A Posted July 24, 2024 Posted July 24, 2024 Your new racks look very nice. Teak is a nice timber. Did you have the racks custom-made, or are they from an audio rack manufacturer? Anyway, that must be a nice room to relax and enjoy your music & movies 2
Hydrology Posted July 24, 2024 Author Posted July 24, 2024 4 hours ago, David A said: Your new racks look very nice. Teak is a nice timber. Did you have the racks custom-made, or are they from an audio rack manufacturer? Anyway, that must be a nice room to relax and enjoy your music & movies The racks are from Esthetica (India) and these are the Chorus Racks (solid Teak with a Yellow Teak stain). Full transparency for those not in the know, I am the importer of these racks as @art of SOUND 4
2Brix Posted July 27, 2024 Posted July 27, 2024 On 25/07/2024 at 1:31 AM, Hydrology said: Some sneak pics of new racks installed in place on Monday. Moved away from the large heavy duty entertainment unit in favour of some solid teak. all i see is room for two more turntables 2
Hydrology Posted July 27, 2024 Author Posted July 27, 2024 1 hour ago, 2Brix said: all i see is room for two more turntables Oh, I know! 4
Hydrology Posted October 6, 2024 Author Posted October 6, 2024 Right, let's give this bad boy a run in the system. 6
Hydrology Posted December 11, 2024 Author Posted December 11, 2024 So this Remote Two (by unfolded circle) has been a love/hate relationship. It has enormous promise, but the developers are clowns and over a year after release, some basic functions are still not resolved. Anyways, one thing it does do well is its ability to control and respond to Roon. You get gorgeous artwork on the OLED screen. Other features are "promised" but I like being abe to play/pause just by touching the screen as well as forward/rewind and volume control. 1
Hydrology Posted January 12 Author Posted January 12 Wanted to try a HOLO RED transport for a while now.. 4
2Brix Posted January 25 Posted January 25 On 27/07/2024 at 1:22 PM, Hydrology said: Oh, I know! it's been 6 months...the suspense is kiiiilllllliiiingg me......is this up and running? 1
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