Pilium Audio in action-

[Protegimus]

Exciting day and weekend ahead. Very modest in comparison to a lot of the systems here, however a big step for me - expecting delivery of the Pilium Leonidas to drive my pair of Magico S5. The Pilium is replacing a Pass Labs. INT-250, that I’ve really enjoyed.
Will report further once everything is up and running, so long as it’s ok in this thread.

 

[sonrock]

Congratulations, I am sure your Pilium/Magico combo sounds absolutely fantastic and it’s an amazing system, not modest at all .

 

[TDX]

Exciting day and weekend ahead. Very modest in comparison to a lot of the systems here, however a big step for me - expecting delivery of the Pilium Leonidas to drive my pair of Magico S5. The Pilium is replacing a Pass Labs. INT-250, that I’ve really enjoyed.
Will report further once everything is up and running, so long as it’s ok in this thread.

It will be a day and night difference. No comparison.

 

[itay123]

Exciting day and weekend ahead. Very modest in comparison to a lot of the systems here, however a big step for me - expecting delivery of the Pilium Leonidas to drive my pair of Magico S5. The Pilium is replacing a Pass Labs. INT-250, that I’ve really enjoyed.
Will report further once everything is up and running, so long as it’s ok in this thread.

A huge step and an excellent upgrade over the PASS, congrats and enjoy.

Pilium + Magico sound fantastic together!

 

[Protegimus]

Thanks gents, much appreciated!

 

[Bobvin]

Exciting day and weekend ahead. Very modest in comparison to a lot of the systems here, however a big step for me - expecting delivery of the Pilium Leonidas to drive my pair of Magico S5. The Pilium is replacing a Pass Labs. INT-250, that I’ve really enjoyed.
Will report further once everything is up and running, so long as it’s ok in this thread.

Will look forward to your thoughts and comparison. I'm confident you'll find the Pilium a significant upgrade. Please do report back.

 

[thesaint519]

hi
I have been with this Combo set for almost 3 years and im very satisfied, in fact on the this Combo, I Rebuilt the entirely
current SETUP including the selection of the cables, the selection of the rack, the electricity and at the end of the day, the selection of the speakers, so I can say that this Combo serves me above what is expected of it.

Oh, I hate you right now!!! Just kidding. I was initially completely head over heels in love with & barreling toward a boulder 2160 & 2110 setup to pair with my dream Magico M3 speakers that I am hotly pursuing. And although I haven't heard that setup, I have read lots that warn me about the unrelenting detail that may not be as pleasant to listen to as some might surmise. And then I had the distinct HONOR of spending a few hours with the inimitable & WORLD CLASS HOST - Bob Visintainer of Rhapsody Audio in NY - who introduced me to the Pilium Sound!!! And all I could think was: "DAMN IT, I so wanted him to be wrong about Pilium." I wish I could pay him just for the time he spent with me. Now I'm just saving up my coinage in order to join the Pilium family...

 

[thesaint519]

Today I’ve packed all the Hemingway cables and they’re ready to be collected soon to go back to my friend. It’s just emotional last night when I gave them a final listening to keep their sound signature inside my head. Definitely they’re in my shortlist for the ultimate cables and that’s it, no bother with anything else anymore.

Connecting my own cables back into the system plus some stock cables provided by dcs to get the full 4 boxes up and running, it’s just amazing to see even with very standard ones, those vivaldi boxes are still doing their magic either with streaming or properly recorded CDs.

As I bought my stack with one box each time, I can truly appreciate the improvements when a new one added into the system. I was a bit sceptical with the master clock as I had never had any jitters issues with my other boxes and not very sure how my system could be improved further with just a clock.

But I was wrong because as soon as the clock hooked up, everything has just simply become better. I can feel it is more “right” if it makes sense. Everything is still there in the first place but now has gone up a few notches.

Although my own cables have brought back the limitless dynamic, slam and sparkling from the system, I can still appreciate the differences that the master clock contributes to the overall quality and performance.

I’m just baffled with the new Varese as the timing is not great for me, especially after investing a fortune on the vivaldi stack recently to just find out they could become obsolete soon.

Although dcs has confirmed me Varese is just a brand new flagship line and everything else including Vivaldi / Rossini / Bartok will continue to be in production as usual, nobody knows when they’ll ditch those lines all together and replace with something else.

The price of the full vivaldi stack has almost doubled since it was introduced 12 years ago, so a late owner like myself has suffered a great pain financially and now the Varese .

Whatever dcs decides next with their products, I’ll definitely keep enjoying my vivaldi for awhile before thinking of something else. They simply sound stunning while looking gorgeous, so I’m blessed as an owner of this incredible digital front end.

In near future I will have opportunities to try other cables and let you know how things go. Have a great weekend everyone, especially a bank holiday if you’re in the UK.

View attachment 135344

WHAT AN EPIC SYSTEM. I could easily die and go to Heaven with a grail system like that. Just stunning...

 

[thesaint519]

Hi, does anyone can advice if Pilium Zeus and Olympus have enough power to drive Wilson Chronosonic XVX? My current setup is Gryphon Apex stereo and Commander preamp driving the XVX. Thanks

Gryphon is another world class manufacturer. And highly coveted. Are you considering making the jump to Pilium? Bob Visintainer of Rhapsody would easily be the best resource to consult with. But the specs of both Pilium amps appear to suggest that they'd power those mighty Wilsons with power to spare.

 

[thesaint519]

Thanks for your advice Bob. My friend loaned me his Hercules power amp + Alexander pre to try with the XVX. Sounds very live and dynamic but bass not as deep as the gryphon apex. Does the Zeus + Olympus is a big jump in performance compared to Hercules + Alexander? Because Zeus and Hercules prices are almost the same.

I'd love to her your in-depth comparison. I await with bated breath….

 

[thesaint519]

I have two systems (different house). I have Mephisto Solo/Pandora driving Wilson Sasha V and Apex Stereo/Commander driving Wilson XVX. I am thinking of replacing Mephisto/Pandora with Pilium gear. I also like the Pilium sonic character. Just want to make sure that the Pilium Zeus (stereo) have enough juice to drive the XVX especially in the lower frequencies (control & grip) in case i want to switch Amp & Preamp. I tried the Hercules/Alexander with Sasha V and it was crazy gooood. I consider Pilium Zeus/Olympus because it is within my budget. Pilium Atlas/Olympus will be the best choice but price is doubled. There is nothing wrong with the Apex/Commander combo. Just looking for different sonic characteristics for my other system.

If I could be you for a day… (deep sigh).

 

[thesaint519]

Exciting day and weekend ahead. Very modest in comparison to a lot of the systems here, however a big step for me - expecting delivery of the Pilium Leonidas to drive my pair of Magico S5. The Pilium is replacing a Pass Labs. INT-250, that I’ve really enjoyed.
Will report further once everything is up and running, so long as it’s ok in this thread.

I can't WAIT to get your impressions of the Leonidas. It may be my first step into the world of Pilium...

 

[sonrock]

I’ve just come home after driving 320 miles round trip today to collect my interconnect cables. The shop has also had a brand new system installed recently with flagship 4 boxes Devore speakers, Elysium valve monoblocks, I forgot the name of the 2 boxes tube pre, and dcs Varese digital.

I’ve never listened to Devore speakers before and per their look, they’re similar to AN ones which I am not a fan of. However, the Devore are in a completely different league and they sound absolutely fantastic.

I didn’t have much time there due to 3h drive each way, so I spent roughly 45 minutes in the room going through about 15 tracks cover all types of music from jazz, classical, rock, electronics, vocals, instrumentals etc.

Apart from only 1 track has little booms, which I believe due to speakers position but not the equipment themselves, everything else is great. Of course, with the list price at £120k, these speakers must do their job.

I might be wrong but it seems the woofers used in Devore speakers are similar to ones that used in the best DIY speakers that I listened to last year at Maverick hifi show.

They’re not really big in size but fast, punchy and can go really deep. I see they’re musical and engaging when playing even at high volume level. Interestingly, the woofers are active, so only the main boxes are driven by the amps.

I don’t know how they do in a big room, but for small to medium rooms, I see they’re a strong contender for music lovers. The finish is first class and beautiful to look at. They’re impressive overall.

I don’t know if they make these woofers in passive mode and being paired with big pilium amps, how they will sound compared to these massive valves amps. Should be very interesting!

 

[LL21]

I’ve just come home after driving 320 miles round trip today to collect my interconnect cables. The shop has also had a brand new system installed recently with flagship 4 boxes Devore speakers, Elysium valve monoblocks, I forgot the name of the 2 boxes tube pre, and dcs Varese digital.

I’ve never listened to Devore speakers before and per their look, they’re similar to AN ones which I am not a fan of. However, the Devore are in a completely different league and they sound absolutely fantastic.

I didn’t have much time there due to 3h drive each way, so I spent roughly 45 minutes in the room going through about 15 tracks cover all types of music from jazz, classical, rock, electronics, vocals, instrumentals etc.

Apart from only 1 track has little booms, which I believe due to speakers position but not the equipment themselves, everything else is great. Of course, with the list price at £120k, these speakers must do their job.

I might be wrong but it seems the woofers used in Devore speakers are similar to ones that used in the best DIY speakers that I listened to last year at Maverick hifi show.

They’re not really big in size but fast, punchy and can go really deep. I see they’re musical and engaging when playing even at high volume level. Interestingly, the woofers are active, so only the main boxes are driven by the amps.

I don’t know how they do in a big room, but for small to medium rooms, I see they’re a strong contender for music lovers. The finish is first class and beautiful to look at. They’re impressive overall.

I don’t know if they make these woofers in passive mode and being paired with big pilium amps, how they will sound compared to these massive valves amps. Should be very interesting!View attachment 147071View attachment 147072View attachment 147073View attachment 147074View attachment 147075View attachment 147076View attachment 147077

Beautiful! I also note the source was an Antipodes Oladra. The preamp appears to be Trafomatic as well...the Tara 30A. I have little doubt it is a mellifluous sound...the question is scale and sheer power. I can imagine when you go home you have something quite a bit more powerful with greater scale.

That said, this is pure conjecture on my part. What do you think now having heard both your system and this one?

 

[sonrock]

Actually I like my system more, no question and no doubt. The scale is in a completely different universe as you can see these Devore are small and short, while the Sigma Maat are big and tall. Not to mention the differences in woofers sizes and the number of drivers per side.

Also the controls and impacts are also different given the amps are ss vs tubes. I see the Esylium is fantastic but we need to compare directly with the pilium to tell. However, my gut feelings tell me that Pilium is better, especially in terms of grips and bottom end. Esylium is a bit coloured due to tubes nature but I’m perfectly fine with that.

As I said earlier, in small to medium rooms, if being setup correctly, these Devore will be fantastic. I have no idea how they do in a big room, but the Sigma Maat have a few rivals in this arena

 

[LL21]

Actually I like my system more, no question and no doubt. The scale is in a completely different universe as you can see these Devore are small and short, while the Sigma Maat are big and tall. Not to mention the differences in woofers sizes and the number of drivers per side.

Also the controls and impacts are also different given the amps are ss vs tubes. I see the Esylium is fantastic but we need to compare directly with the pilium to tell. However, my gut feelings tell me that Pilium is better, especially in terms of grips and bottom end. Esylium is a bit coloured due to tubes nature but I’m perfectly fine with that.

As I said earlier, in small to medium rooms, if being setup correctly, these Devore will be fantastic. I have no idea how they do in a big room, but the Sigma Maat have a few rivals in this arena

Thank you. I thought as much. I do not know if Elysium is colored or not...I have heard they are intoxicatingly good and I believe there is a member here who owns them and has quite an august all-out system.

In any event, great reading!

 

[sonrock]

Yes, as I said, they’re fantastic when driving the passive boxes. I’d love hearing them driving the woofers too but not possible today, so I could tell how good they are when controlling 4 woofers by themselves but not via the built in amp inside the cabinets.

I think tubes are tubes and they have their own signature in sound. The reason I said the Elysium valve monoblocks are a bit coloured because dcs is very neutral. I’m using the full stack vivaldi apex so I know as the Varese still carries that house sound.

Probably the tube pre helps in this case too, so amps are all tubes in this demo system.

On another note, I’ve just connected my new odin 2 xlr 2.0m between my pre-monoblocks. As my White Gold Estasi speaker cables are with Aldo until I receive my new pair completely custom made to my system specs, I have to use the jumpers and a very old pair of nordost red dawn single wire cables that I bought 15 years ago used exclusively for HT.

The Sigma Maat speakers don’t like jumpers as I reported several times before. The sound has been compressed and not as lively as without. Having said that, it’s still very pleasant to listen to the music with my temporary solution .

Sometimes we have to go for lower standards to appreciate better ones. I’m sure it’ll be incredible when I receive my speaker cables back from Italy, truly can’t wait.

 

[sonrock]

I’ve just come home after spending 5h on the road and around 6h at the UK Deluxe Show today. I can tell the quality of the rooms this year is better than last, especially with the debut of several new products for the local market like magico s5, wadax studio, peak consult etc.

I was not impressed with the million dollars room at Munich using top wadax digital, koda amps and big kharma speakers. But today, these amps drive the magico s5 with amazing results although digital is dcs full stack vivaldi apex.

When I was at Hifi Lounge last year for the debut of Varese, I was very impressed with the new wilson watt puppy anniversary. But today in a much bigger room, it was boomy and bass all over the places.

Nevertheless, the new Sasha sounds fantastic even put near the front wall and driven by small Brinkman monoblocks. I bought several CDs from Mike Valentines when I was there too, now listening at home

The most expensive speakers of the show with the starting price from £700k really put me off, same feelings by other audiophile friends who attended the show. I think it’s worth less than 1/10 of that haha, it’s me anyway. The new Kef Blade speakers are way better, not only the flagship Muon but also these mega expensive ones.

Now looking forward to Munich this year before the show moves on to Vienna next year. Hopefully I’ll see Sigma Acoustic, Pilium and another great brand for digital teamed up at shows one day, gonna be fantastic.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

 

[sonrock]

Some more pictures

 

[sonrock]

Finish