Hifi Pig Reviews

13

Comments

  • Nothing works properly when Stu is riding that wagon! :!!
  • A personal experience brought the review of the Paul Hynes SR3 PSU configured for the Squeezebox Touch and Classic on:
    http://hifipig.com/paul-hynes-sr3-power-supply/
  • I've nearly bought a power supply from Paul on more than one occasion. The delays made me reconsider, so I'm really glad to see that he's tackled that.
  • Yep, turn around is really fast now on the few products that have gone across to Davis and the team, other supplies and products are moving across at a steady pace.

    I think many people will concur with u Dave it does seem to be a bug bearer for a lot of people, which should be a thing of the past soon enough :)
  • Danny's review of the Chord Electronics Ltd QUTE EC DAC on Hifi Pig

    http://hifipig.com/chord-electronics-qute-ex-dac/
  • Sounds as if I might like it. At least, people tell me I lean towards that type of sound.
  • It's an EX :)
  • I think there was a thread on Computer Audiophile where a user compared this Chord to an M2Tech Young. The Chord won out in the end IIRC,

    Reading the review, I feels like familiar ground; I could have been reading a Young review a few years ago. Peas from the same pod?
  • Should of course be the QUTE EX :-)
  • DanDan
    edited February 2014
    Yeah the Young wasn't upto much also Alan, well for my tastes that is although again there are so many people who love em. The Chord has a wider bandwidth which my speakers can exploit being all ceramic.

    The casework on the DAC is really beautiful and it feels like a real quality product.
  • There are at least two of us here Dan  [-X
  • Yeah the Young wasn't upto much also Alan, well for my tastes that is although again there are so many people who love em. The Chord has a wider bandwidth which my speakers can exploit being all ceramic.

    The casework on the DAC is really beautiful and it feels like a real quality product.
    Never heard one. What does ceramic exploitation imply...?
  • Ceramic drivers are very transparent revealing and quite neutral, they do allow me to hear changes in the chain very well.

  • DanDan
    edited February 2014
    There are at least two of us here Dan  [-X



    There's two of u? Sorry Dave :)
    I love my Totaldac and the way valves give digital music a particular flow, slightly rounding things and taking off a bit of an edge. My speakers benefit from this also and the Emille is an extremely lively valve amp. I had a guy around recently who was astonished when he found out I was running all valves. It's just getting that balance right.

    It's sometimes difficult reviewing equipment that doesn't suit ones tastes, trying not to inflict a too personal opinion on the item and conveying the sound to others who may think its great and to make an educated decision based on the characteristics of a piece of kit. I'm sure my system wouldn't be to everyone's tastes, so it's that methodology that needs to prevail when giving opinions :)

  • I think I have the balance right here, too ;-)

    The SECA presents detail in a very particular and organic way, despite it being a transistor amp - have you heard Stu's SECA? - making it a very fine pairing with the Young.


  • DanDan
    edited February 2014
    No, Unortunately not but I have heard the Iridium and I'm told they have a similar presentation, I can imagine it sounds very fluid with the Young :)
  • Mine has many similarities to the Iridium, but it's not as good. The Iridium is the best amp I've ever heard. Full-stop.
  • Ceramic drivers are very transparent revealing and quite neutral, they do allow me to hear changes in the chain very well.

    Oithenkyew.

  • The iridium was pretty breathtaking, it did think I broke it tho as it kept shutting down on me so Colin brought down another. Fortunately it was just that my rack was in an alcove under a shelf and it was just way too hot there, thank god for safety features, phew!

    So after he left I built a lower wider rack to help the airflow a little more.
  • It does get a wee bit hot!
  • Did you sort speaker placement out Dave?

  • Interesting comments re DACs, I have been getting itchy feet for a while. The Jolida glass FX DAC is supposedly excellent, and a good deal of ex-Young owners are now using them. A very high proportion, in fact. There is a thread somewhere on the 'Wam about it.

    It has a valve output stage apparently, but responds to certain tubes outrageously well, according to what I have read.

    I am reticent about introducing valves into the system, I am happy with the overall balance as things stand (a bigger SECA wouldn't hurt...) But the Jolida is south of £600 new, quite the bargain by all accounts.

    Dan - isn't Jerry enamored with one at the moment?
  • Did you sort speaker placement out Dave?




    Still playing. Haven't had a eureka moment yet.
  • Interesting comments re DACs, I have been getting itchy feet for a while. The Jolida glass FX DAC is supposedly excellent, and a good deal of ex-Young owners are now using them. A very high proportion, in fact. There is a thread somewhere on the 'Wam about it.

    It has a valve output stage apparently, but responds to certain tubes outrageously well, according to what I have read.

    I am reticent about introducing valves into the system, I am happy with the overall balance as things stand (a bigger SECA wouldn't hurt...) But the Jolida is south of £600 new, quite the bargain by all accounts.

    Dan - isn't Jerry enamored with one at the moment?
    Surely I shouldn't be looking at something with a valve in it????
  • The Jolida is fantastic, Jerry has the MK3, I've heard the MK2 and it sounds great especially with the Siemens and Halaske triple mica e83cc's in, do not be fooled by the word valve, there's nothing lush and fluffy about it and the Siemens give crystal clear controlled detail.
  • Jerry loved the original Amptastic amplifier when he heard it a couple of years ago...even when used to power his MBL Radialstrahler loudspeakers. So how will the company's new £99 amplifier do.
    http://hifipig.com/amptastic-mini-1-amplifier/
  • Jerry loved the original Amptastic amplifier when he heard it a couple of years ago...even when used to power his MBL Radialstrahler loudspeakers. So how will the company's new £99 amplifier do.
    http://hifipig.com/amptastic-mini-1-amplifier/
    The problem here is Tripath went down and what is available may or may not be true Tripath chips, it could be old stock, in which case a limited supply.
    I have not heard if the name Tripath as been re-vamped, but the drivers circuit in the chips were Philips and ST with Panasonic FET,s on the original design.
    I have seen designs on sites looking nice for as low as $35. But are they true Class T Tripath I hope so.

  • Jerry loved the original Amptastic amplifier when he heard it a couple of years ago...even when used to power his MBL Radialstrahler loudspeakers. So how will the company's new £99 amplifier do.
    http://hifipig.com/amptastic-mini-1-amplifier/
    Thats a great review from Jerry. I'm interested to try one of these to see how it sounds compared to my Bantam.

  • I wonder if these are true Tripath chips then, I'm sure Amptastic must have outlined to Jerry that they are?
    I wouldn't mind a pair of these in power amp mode to make the Frugels active :)
  • edited March 2014
    Interesting comments re DACs, I have been getting itchy feet for a while. The Jolida glass FX DAC is supposedly excellent, and a good deal of ex-Young owners are now using them. A very high proportion, in fact. There is a thread somewhere on the 'Wam about it.

    It has a valve output stage apparently, but responds to certain tubes outrageously well, according to what I have read.

    I am reticent about introducing valves into the system, I am happy with the overall balance as things stand (a bigger SECA wouldn't hurt...) But the Jolida is south of £600 new, quite the bargain by all accounts.

    Dan - isn't Jerry enamored with one at the moment?

  • edited March 2014
    I think the Jolida DAC has a valve output buffer, not a pukka valve output stage.
  • Dan's review of the sub £500 Brunoco Dical digital amp /DAC
    http://hifipig.com/category/hifi-reviews/d-to-a-converters/


  • Looks like a nice piece of kit.
  • Reluctant to part with this one I must admit but I can't really use it anywhere.
    It's called a Brunoco DIVA by the way boss :)
  • Nice review there, looks like Paul has really worked hard on those!
  • My Hifi Pig review of the sub £800 Onix A 25 integrated amplifier.

    http://hifipig.com/onix-a-25-integrated-amplifier/
  • Jerry's review of the RFC Pluto II cables.
    http://hifipig.com/rfc-reference-pluto-mk2-interconnect-cables/
    I feel delighted to read that.
    I have never heard Paul's cables in my own system, but knowing how talented he is as an audio engineer and music listener I don't doubt that they are superb. His own system certainly sounds impressive.
    £105 for the "best cables I've heard at any price and I have bought the review repair" is a pretty cool quote.
    Well done Paul with the RFC Reference Pluto Mk2! :-)
  • Jerry's review of the £3700 Audiovalve Eclipse preamplifier. Audiovalve is a German brand that isn't that well known in the UK but they have a new distributor that seems to be very enthusiastic at promoting the brand and so perhaps we'll see a bit more of them.


    http://hifipig.com/audiovalve-eclipse-pre-amplifier/
  • Skogrand are a Norwegian cable manufacturer that are partly funded by
    their government and headed by Knut Skogrand. They asked us if we'd take
    a listen to their Centaurus interconnects and Speaker cables that as
    tested were $3250 and $4750 respectively a pair. Danny Worth took a
    listen and here are the results of his time with them

    http://hifipig.com/skogrand-sc-and-s...interconnects/



  • Couple of reviews from me from the last few days.
    First up is the SoulNote SA 170 integrated amplifier which is an €1800 ten watt integrated and whilst you may not know the name the amp ticked a lot of boxes for me.
    http://hifipig.com/soulnote-sa-710-integrated-amplifier/

    Second up is the much lauded Temple Audio Bantam Gold which I just had to have a listen to given the discussions on the forums. It's a sub £200 integrated affair that is truly miniscule in size, UK built and sold direct from the manufacturers.
    http://hifipig.com/temple-audio-bantam-gold-integrated-amplifier/


  • DanDan
    edited March 2014
    I've added my thoughts in an 'add on' review to Paul's Pluto cables and they have been awarded our 'Outstanding Product' Award.

    They are an immensely impressive cable and Paul's ethical approach to producing these sets him far apart from the rest of the competition, this is what a piece of wire should cost and do :)
  • Yep, I think Paul RFC prices too low to be taken seriously, sometimes - if you can afford to spill £300 then why get a cheapo £100 pair of cables?
    The more expensive ones must be better - not really worth bothering with an audition ----
    Which would be a shame for both Paul and you!

    The same thought applies to the Amptastic Mini-1 I reviewed recently on t'Pig. Has anyone tried one? - thoughts?
  • Yep, I think Paul RFC prices too low to be taken seriously, sometimes - if you can afford to spill £300 then why get a cheapo £100 pair of cables?
    Shhh Jerry! Shut the fuck up... At least till I buy some...!
    :P
  • I told Paul the same thing, he really does make sod all on them, a small labour fee and that's it. I'm still using the Plutos at the moment and they are just so musical and involving. Looking forward to trying his higher up the range ones.
  • And I've told Paul the very same.

    I have a couple of pairs of his interconnects and they're excellent. 
  • Yep, I think Paul RFC prices too low to be taken seriously, sometimes - if you can afford to spill £300 then why get a cheapo £100 pair of cables?
    The more expensive ones must be better - not really worth bothering with an audition ----
    Which would be a shame for both Paul and you!

    The same thought applies to the Amptastic Mini-1 I reviewed recently on t'Pig. Has anyone tried one? - thoughts?
    Hi Jerry. I've got the Amptastic Mini-1 playing at the moment. It's brand new so will give it a few days before doing any serious listening. I intend to switch it into power amp mode and try it with a couple
    of preamps I have hear at the moment. Have you tried it with a linear power supply? This makes a positive difference with my Bantam monoblocks.

    James



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