Abbas dac 2.1 se
- Thread starter jespera
- Start date
Yes my 2.1se came with a new production chip.
No i never got around to do the operation.
Abbas confirms my hunch that the original is better.
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Hi Charles,
The primaluna is without a doubt is not on the same league as abbas 3.1se.
The 3.1se with stock tubes is ~3k usd, mine was upgraded with tung sol 5998 tubes 108 usd and raytheon 12x4 for 45 usd, roughly we are at 3,2 k usd.
Primaluna is at 3,5 k usd.
I heard many many dacs, chord( dave, qutest, hugo), msb , psaudio,terminator ,rose,rockna,etc..
The primaluna punch way above its weight for sure, and will compete with dacs twice more expensive easily i think.
Abbas dac, is a different story….
Stay tuned
@Samsoum
You have an impressive data base with that list of numerous well-regarded DACs you have listening experience with. I was particularly curious about the Primaluna EVO DAC as it has received universal praise from a number of professional reviewers in Europe and the USA. The Positive Feedback Online reviewer (Robert Levi) said it bettered any DAC he's familiar with under 10K USD. Thus, my interest in what you thought of its sound quality. There is no shortage of really good sounding DACs these days.
Thanks,
Charles
You have an impressive data base with that list of numerous well-regarded DACs you have listening experience with. I was particularly curious about the Primaluna EVO DAC as it has received universal praise from a number of professional reviewers in Europe and the USA. The Positive Feedback Online reviewer (Robert Levi) said it bettered any DAC he's familiar with under 10K USD. Thus, my interest in what you thought of its sound quality. There is no shortage of really good sounding DACs these days.
Thanks,
Charles
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Charles,
The primaluna is very good for the price, i m sure upgrading the stock 12a7 tubes will push higher up…what i heard in my system is a very good dac , punching way above its price point, i can go further and describe how it sound against my current ref dac the abbas , but i m nit sure you want that, cause sq description is personal.
Abbas dac is magical, it is not in the digital domain anymore and more into analogue sound..
Primaluna is still in the digital domain with bloom and precision ! : )
@Samsoum
“Abbas dac is magical, it is not in the digital domain anymore and more into analogue sound..
Primaluna is still in the digital domain with bloom and precision ! : )”
I understand the distinction you have made.
Do you find that the Aries Cerat Kassandra also resides in the “Analogue “ realm?
Charles
“Abbas dac is magical, it is not in the digital domain anymore and more into analogue sound..
Primaluna is still in the digital domain with bloom and precision ! : )”
I understand the distinction you have made.
Do you find that the Aries Cerat Kassandra also resides in the “Analogue “ realm?
Charles
Good question!
When i bought the kassandra dac ref2 my goal was to have a source giving same sq as owning an analogue rig.
( i had a brief analogue set up, not high end but enough to process the analogue sound: clearaudio tt + devialet 200 phono).
My time with kassandra was with full range speakers cube audio nenuphars, plus different amps from 300 b to ss etc…
It was magical!
Kassandra dac is like very high end analogue rig, imagine an amazing analogue rig , bloom, warm, clean , and the most important realism!
Kassandra dac is in the realism ! Not digital not analogue , but into real players in front of you, real instruments in front of you!
But the server streamer in front needs to speak the same language!
Kassandra dac is a final destination dac , all aries cerat products in fact! I m a big fan!
Expensive but worth every penny!
@Samsoum
I find your comments very interesting. Until I became aware of the existence of Abbas, I was giving serious consideration to acquiring an used Aries Cerat Helene DAC.
I have subsequently ordered an Abbas 3.2SE. I’m certain that either would make me very pleased in their own way.
Charles
I find your comments very interesting. Until I became aware of the existence of Abbas, I was giving serious consideration to acquiring an used Aries Cerat Helene DAC.
I have subsequently ordered an Abbas 3.2SE. I’m certain that either would make me very pleased in their own way.
Charles
@Samsoum
Can you give a little description about the impression of Abbas in comparison to Cassandra in your friend's system?
Can you give a little description about the impression of Abbas in comparison to Cassandra in your friend's system?
@trinley
well to be honest with you all ,for me it was tot to toe with Kassandra..
we started listening to my friend system for an hour maybe, warmed up before my arrival ,we started the recording of the songs...after that we hooked the Abbas plus the su6 and started listening for an hour warming up the Abbas and getting the electricity /blood of the system mixed up.
we started recording same songs, and I was having a smile on my face and my friend started stressing up and get nervous...
I Forgot to mention that ,before the recording we played one classical song,danse of macabre, and I didn't liked when played by Kassandra but I didn't say anything, when we played it with Abbas 3.1 se I liked ,even my friend liked and told me I like this song with Abbas more...
Anyway,after we finished the recordings, my friend liked so mush Abbas dac that he was literally freaking out and hooked Kassandra right a way...
well, from 1st notes he relaxed again saying well bigger soundstage, vocal was clearer,wich I confirmed, more resolution clarity.
overal in this comparison I will say Kassandra was better but not with a big margin..
I liked the tonality of Abbas dac on electric guitars, on strings, piano Kassandra was better, etc... I can go on and on...
abbas dac for the money is unbeatable...kassandra ref 2 imo is the best dac out there with monsters...
to get the best from Abbas dac you need upgrading the tubes ,you need an excellent usb to coax converter and this push you to 4,5 k usb may be.
I will probably keep the Abbas DAC FOR LIFE OR UPGRADE TO THE 3.2 SE .
new songs uploaded on my channel for this comparison
well to be honest with you all ,for me it was tot to toe with Kassandra..
we started listening to my friend system for an hour maybe, warmed up before my arrival ,we started the recording of the songs...after that we hooked the Abbas plus the su6 and started listening for an hour warming up the Abbas and getting the electricity /blood of the system mixed up.
we started recording same songs, and I was having a smile on my face and my friend started stressing up and get nervous...
I Forgot to mention that ,before the recording we played one classical song,danse of macabre, and I didn't liked when played by Kassandra but I didn't say anything, when we played it with Abbas 3.1 se I liked ,even my friend liked and told me I like this song with Abbas more...
Anyway,after we finished the recordings, my friend liked so mush Abbas dac that he was literally freaking out and hooked Kassandra right a way...
well, from 1st notes he relaxed again saying well bigger soundstage, vocal was clearer,wich I confirmed, more resolution clarity.
overal in this comparison I will say Kassandra was better but not with a big margin..
I liked the tonality of Abbas dac on electric guitars, on strings, piano Kassandra was better, etc... I can go on and on...
abbas dac for the money is unbeatable...kassandra ref 2 imo is the best dac out there with monsters...
to get the best from Abbas dac you need upgrading the tubes ,you need an excellent usb to coax converter and this push you to 4,5 k usb may be.
I will probably keep the Abbas DAC FOR LIFE OR UPGRADE TO THE 3.2 SE .
new songs uploaded on my channel for this comparison
@Samsoum
Thanks very much for taking the time to share the comparative listening experiences of you and your friend. Not everyone wants to or is comfortable doing this on a forum thread.
For example, @jespera has a friend who purchased the 3.2SE to replace his LampiZator B7 MK II. I’m interested in his comparisons and thoughts. It seems however that he has chosen not to post publicly, which is obviously his choice.
It is highly impressive that your 3.1SE acquitted itself so well against the Uber Aries Cerat Kassandra Reference II. Particularly so when Abbas has very openly said the 3.2SE is a clear advancement/improvement of the earlier 3.1SE.
One could make the case for the 3.2SE (Probably all Abbas DACs) being an extraordinary value proposition. A true upper tier DAC sound quality for obtainable (For many) cost.
Thanks again. This forum is a wonderful vehicle for sharing thoughts and bringing exposure to exceptionally worthy audio products.If not for WBF, I’d have no idea or awareness of Abbas and his “devices”.
Charles
Thanks very much for taking the time to share the comparative listening experiences of you and your friend. Not everyone wants to or is comfortable doing this on a forum thread.
For example, @jespera has a friend who purchased the 3.2SE to replace his LampiZator B7 MK II. I’m interested in his comparisons and thoughts. It seems however that he has chosen not to post publicly, which is obviously his choice.
It is highly impressive that your 3.1SE acquitted itself so well against the Uber Aries Cerat Kassandra Reference II. Particularly so when Abbas has very openly said the 3.2SE is a clear advancement/improvement of the earlier 3.1SE.
One could make the case for the 3.2SE (Probably all Abbas DACs) being an extraordinary value proposition. A true upper tier DAC sound quality for obtainable (For many) cost.
Thanks again. This forum is a wonderful vehicle for sharing thoughts and bringing exposure to exceptionally worthy audio products.If not for WBF, I’d have no idea or awareness of Abbas and his “devices”.
Charles
@samsoum . here is Abbas describing the new 3.2SE in JULY 2021. Keep in mind that the current models have received further improvement/refinements.
"After long experiments, the new converter was equipped with DAC3.1, which in fact is already a prototype of DAC3.2
The cathode of the lamp 6080 sits on the ground, the converter on the 1965 military acceptance transistor MP16 provides on the collector -12V offset for the output lamp, since the connection is direct, without a capacitor. All the advantages of the PHP converter can be heard here. The quality of the bass has improved, the sound has become clearer throughout the range, and the visual spatial characteristics, which are usually given a lot of importance in the high-end, have improved. With this, everything is fine and few devices will compete with DAC3.2 in this regard, regardless of the price category. The dynamics was and remained hurricane, and this quality even intensified. Attempts to transfer the power of the output lamp to the kenotron seriously impaired the dynamics, so in 3.2 there will be diodes in the rectifier for the 6080. If you think there aren't a lot of kenotrons, then you don't.
In the new DAC, however, unlike the 2.3, a major change has been introduced - the converter cascade is powered by the EZ81 kenotron in the OPPV instead of the diode in DAC2.3. This solution perfectly balances the sound features of germanium.
There was a fear of instability of the output stage on such a powerful lamp as 6080, with a quiescent current of 120-130 mA, but tests showed excellent long-term stability. For safety between the midpoint and the ground, a powerful 25-watt resistor is included. In the event of problems with the kenotron, when it becomes possible for the displacement to disappear, the anode drops sharply due to a voltage drop on this resistor.
As for the board of the digital part, there everything remained unchanged and -15v to power the DEM cells TDA1541 has a rectifier on the EZ90 lamp placed outside the board.
All in all, this is a whole new level of sound for a production product. And for sure, this is the best serial device with TDA1541 on board."
Charles
"After long experiments, the new converter was equipped with DAC3.1, which in fact is already a prototype of DAC3.2
The cathode of the lamp 6080 sits on the ground, the converter on the 1965 military acceptance transistor MP16 provides on the collector -12V offset for the output lamp, since the connection is direct, without a capacitor. All the advantages of the PHP converter can be heard here. The quality of the bass has improved, the sound has become clearer throughout the range, and the visual spatial characteristics, which are usually given a lot of importance in the high-end, have improved. With this, everything is fine and few devices will compete with DAC3.2 in this regard, regardless of the price category. The dynamics was and remained hurricane, and this quality even intensified. Attempts to transfer the power of the output lamp to the kenotron seriously impaired the dynamics, so in 3.2 there will be diodes in the rectifier for the 6080. If you think there aren't a lot of kenotrons, then you don't.
In the new DAC, however, unlike the 2.3, a major change has been introduced - the converter cascade is powered by the EZ81 kenotron in the OPPV instead of the diode in DAC2.3. This solution perfectly balances the sound features of germanium.
There was a fear of instability of the output stage on such a powerful lamp as 6080, with a quiescent current of 120-130 mA, but tests showed excellent long-term stability. For safety between the midpoint and the ground, a powerful 25-watt resistor is included. In the event of problems with the kenotron, when it becomes possible for the displacement to disappear, the anode drops sharply due to a voltage drop on this resistor.
As for the board of the digital part, there everything remained unchanged and -15v to power the DEM cells TDA1541 has a rectifier on the EZ90 lamp placed outside the board.
All in all, this is a whole new level of sound for a production product. And for sure, this is the best serial device with TDA1541 on board."
Charles
Thank you very much for describing your impressions.
I am now even more excited about the Signature.
With the DI-20HE I have maybe a worthy usb to coax converter for the Signature.
I saw on youtube that you have a NAT Single. I had the NAT SE1 with GE 211 tubes in 2017. They sounded very good for the money. The mono blocks looked very powerful and archaic.
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Abbas brought me up to date and told me a few details about the Signature (SE).
He has commissioned the manufacture of the case and front panel. Both will be even higher quality and more massive than his first six units.
The sound improvement, compared to the regular Signature, shall be achieved by more black gate capacitors and an octal tube instead of the EZ81.
He has commissioned the manufacture of the case and front panel. Both will be even higher quality and more massive than his first six units.
The sound improvement, compared to the regular Signature, shall be achieved by more black gate capacitors and an octal tube instead of the EZ81.
All very interesting.
I listened to the videos but i struggled to catch any significant and consistent differences.
Video comparisons are difficult and at most give impressions. So im not putting too much weight on it.
Anyways, you use very modern recordings. Hifi show stuff. I think potential difference will stand out more with analog era material, ie early 1980s and before. AAD. The tda1541 will shine more with it.
Also, these dacs deserve the best so try a cd player as source. For example an early philips transport.
For usb-spdif duties consider abbas.
The same for digital cables.
Just my 2c.
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Best result for me was with tungsol 5980.
Best of the best appearently is gec brown base .
I based my choice of 6080 tube on this amazing tubes comparison.
apologies my 6080 tube is the tungsol 421A ,i will probably try the 5998.
apologies my 6080 tube is the tungsol 421A ,i will probably try the 5998.
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