Aries - Cerat in the house.....

[Synaxis]

Took an almost 12 hour round trip to see Joshua at Believe High Fidelity outside of Austin today, and returned with two Aries-Cerat pieces to check out!

One is the Helene DAC and the other is the Genus Integrated amp.

Exhausted from driving and lifting these 150 pound beasts so I'll wrangle them into the system tomorrow.

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...Good Luck!

 

[Synaxis]

Here is Mrs. Greek checking out the TRIPLE CHASSIS PER CHANNEL - so SIX in total for a stereo pair Aries Cerat Achilles mono blocks employing a mind-bending 30 tubes EACH CHANNEL!

The sound? Glorious beyond description.....or as my wife described their sound: "hauntingly beautiful".

I'll be trying some Aries-Cerat gear back at my place on Tobian 12FH horn speakers.

*Pictures were taken at Joshua's @Believe High Fidelity just outside Austin, TX.

 

[Golum]

I'll be trying some Aries-Cerat gear back at my place on Tobian 12FH horn speakers.

That is kind of a tube gear Tobians were meant to be used with

 

[Synaxis]

That is kind of a tube gear Tobians were meant to be used with

I have it all warming up now.

I also wanted to let the gear settle over night from the vibrations from the road trip.

First I'm going to do the @AriesCerat with the Aqua tube DAC I am familiar with (I am running NOS tubes in it) with the Tobians.

Once I am very familiar with that I'll be swapping out the DAC and adding in the Helene DAC and see what changes occur.

 

[Zappadaddy]

I have it all warming up now.

I also wanted to let the gear settle over night from the vibrations from the road trip.

First I'm going to do the @AriesCerat with the Aqua tube DAC I am familiar with (I am running NOS tubes in it) with the Tobians.

Once I am very familiar with that I'll be swapping out the DAC and adding in the Helene DAC and see what changes occur.

and impresions about dac etc?

 

[Synaxis]

and impresions about dac etc?

Hello!

First, I have to say the Aqua with NOS tubes is a fantastic DAC that has kept be very happy. My love for what the Aqua with NOS accomplishes at the price it does will never change.

Putting the Aries-Cerat Helene in it's place was a noticeable difference.

Music had more ease and communicated the emotion at a higher level with the Aries Cerat. It performed equally well with opera, jazz, blues and even vocal trance. Music just sounded more like an event that you wanted to listen to.

It sounded more open, effortless, and honestly was a surprisingly large step up in terms of the sound I look for.

I also tried the Helene both with the Aries Cerat Genus and with other amps I have here to see if it performed just as well with other brands, and it 100% did.

 

[J007B]

Synaxis,

Thanks for posting. I’m very interested in your impressions as both the AC Helene and an Aqua Formula are on my short list for a new Dac. While I love the sound of tubes, heat is an issue here in SoCal.

 

[Synaxis]

Synaxis,

Thanks for posting. I’m very interested in your impressions as both the AC Helene and an Aqua Formula are on my short list for a new Dac. While I love the sound of tubes, heat is an issue here in SoCal.

Neither of them give off any appreciable heat.

The Aqua La Scala - with NOS tubes - is very, very good. Very good.

The AC Helene is (is my personal opinion) clearly superior and it's not subtle.

 

[J007B]

Did you ever compare the La Scala to the Formula?

 

[Synaxis]

Did you ever compare the La Scala to the Formula?

I personally preferred the La Scala.

 

[morricab]

Hello!

First, I have to say the Aqua with NOS tubes is a fantastic DAC that has kept be very happy. My love for what the Aqua with NOS accomplishes at the price it does will never change.

Putting the Aries-Cerat Helene in it's place was a noticeable difference.

Music had more ease and communicated the emotion at a higher level with the Aries Cerat. It performed equally well with opera, jazz, blues and even vocal trance. Music just sounded more like an event that you wanted to listen to.

It sounded more open, effortless, and honestly was a surprisingly large step up in terms of the sound I look for.

I also tried the Helene both with the Aries Cerat Genus and with other amps I have here to see if it performed just as well with other brands, and it 100% did.

How about the Genus? Do you have Genus with 813s or with 845s? I had it with 813s and loved it. Now I have Protos and it’s also great.

 

[Synaxis]

How about the Genus? Do you have Genus with 813s or with 845s? I had it with 813s and loved it. Now I have Protos and it’s also great.

The 845's.

I think the only word I can use to sum up the AC gear and how it sounds to me personally is "magical".

 

[Lee]

Neither of them give off any appreciable heat.

The Aqua La Scala - with NOS tubes - is very, very good. Very good.

The AC Helene is (is my personal opinion) clearly superior and it's not subtle.

Jim Smith has the Aqua La Scala. It’s really good.

 

[Zappadaddy]

Aqua was not contender to Helene, neither Rocna or Playback design M8, my customers telling me that, that is why they replaced their dacs with Helene or Kassandra

 

[Synaxis]

Aqua was not contender to Helene, neither Rocna or Playback design M8, my customers telling me that, that is why they replaced their dacs with Helene or Kassandra

The Helene is so good, I can't even imagine the Kassandra.

 

[Zappadaddy]

The Helene is so good, I can't even imagine the Kassandra.

Ithaca more so, maybe one day

 

[J007B]

I’ve read that tube rolling with the Helene can make it even better.

 

[Audio Addict]

The Helene is so good, I can't even imagine the Kassandra.

It is excellent but it gets expensive as I ended upgrading my entire system since once I decided to upgrade from the Helene to the Kassandra II Reference everything else felt like a weak link.

 

[iaxel]

I think the only word I can use to sum up the AC gear and how it sounds to me personally is "magical".

I concur. Stavros is a magician.
I'm totally converted to AC.
Once I've heard the sound signature of the Genus and the Helene in my system, I've decide to go full-AC (I've owned Luxman, VAC, CH, Metronome to name a few...).
I don't know how Stavros does it, but every time I listen to my system I have a big smile on my face. Previously, there were days that it shone and other less so. Now the magic begins from the first few notes.

I've recently added the Talos Reference phono, and it is also truly magical.