Hi marc
I bought the s500 when it was first released 3 years back. I am still happily using it now, for its natural sound, clarity and resolution. It is working really well in synergy with the rest of the system, obviously -select dac, select transport. I already added the digital director...
Hi Luca,
Just my 2 cents...
If I were you, I would consider the following priority
1. amp. This is the heart of the system. (secondary considerations like preamp compatibility and resell are far into the future)
2. ref dac. A difficult choice because of the price difference. Nonetheleds, my...
Rhodium price rocketed to us$27000 per ounce 6 months ago. Even now it is like $12000 which is 7 times higher than gold. Rhodium plating will be really rare now.
I am using Select + S500, no preamp and very happy about it.
A year ago, the local Nagra agent in Hong Kong offered me the much vaulted HD Pre at some usd55000 - I declined politely. No I' m not spending that (plus accessory cost usd20000?) for loss of transparency and gain in dynamics...
My S500 arrived last Friday, replacing good old DagS250.
First impression - it does reveal a lot more finer details than previously possible...
Now, onto 300 hours of burning in...
Cheers!
Nice review...In fact, I have similar feelings about this whole thing (although I have only heard m500 at the HK show)...
Righteousness is a dramatic word. I would rather put it as natural, or perhaps supernatural!
Try Stromtank battery if you want the best...
But then again, its effect on the (already excellent) select powerbases could be relatively small.
Stromtank benefits on other components (especially amp) are huge.
The above just my 2 cents
Cheers
power house 3 platinum is 3 generations ago and long superseded by
power house 4 alpha
power house zero
power house zero ultimate
even brimar is superseded by brimar graphene
50000 hours are roughly equivalent to 30 engineers working for one year.
In Hong Kong, the approximate cost of such work is in the region of US$3million.
According to the manual, there are supposed to be one main fuse and one unused fuse (in each power base presumably).
I bought a brimar fuse last year and was trying to swap it in, but the local dealer convinced me not to do so, claiming that the original fuse was most balanced. I may yet try...
Some msb models like analog already has an earlier mqa usb module, so renderer 2 is not the first mqa addition.
For dac v etc, renderer 2 is mqa capable for the first time.
Congratulations Cincy...and Ken...
BTW, the Select Transport is in production and the local agent Pacific Audio here in Hong Kong said delivery within 2 months...so lets see...
New renderer 2 up and running at koalakoala's place!
5 units were shipped to Hong Kong last week... many thanks to the local agent Pacific Audio for the speedy installation...
Need time for burning in... First impression - no doubt a significant upgrade over the old renderer.
btw, the Japanese are having audiophile grade nas (like the Fidata I use) with dual Ethernet ports - one feeding renderer direct, second one to router for Wi-Fi control. This way the audio signal is not going through router.
Yes I think a Stromtank battery could be an upgrade for select ii
Here is a photo I took at the recent Hong Kong Audio Show - the new half height S2500
Don't know what Mike would think if I bother him with more suggestions like
- putting Select II directly on the Herzan
- putting the 2 mono bases on separate rack levels
- bypassing the Dartzeel pre altogether, driving 458 direct...(with -6db native dsd option)