Chord Hugo TT2 dac and Hugo M Scaler

[the sound of Tao]

^ That is the official Chord line... I’m hoping it doesn’t actually reflect the real robustness of the Chord units though. There is a whole established business in the supply of very high quality linear power supplies designed to replace cheaper and possibly noisier smps. That said the supplied smps does anecdotally seem better than most smps... I still hold firm that volt for volt, amp for amp generally the better engineered linear supplies make for better sound quality but replacing the unshielded cable on the Chord smps with a bigger gauge properly shielded furutech cable and an oyaide dc plug helped which validates for me that higher quality components are still influential in this.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Some of the power supplies do not have regulators. The voltage will shot up momentarily when it turns on. The spike in the voltage will kill TT2 or HMS.

I see.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Graham, it is absolutely the official company line, if two in depth reviews are to be believed. Warranty voided if aftermkt LPS spikes damage. Rob the designer is bullish his stock SMPSs can't be meaningfully impvd upon.

Tbh if I go down the Chord route, I'm not going to test this out. And I'll be v happy to start w TT2 dac alone and progress onto using it w the M Scaler

For me, choice of dac will be whether Chord w it's proprietary FGPA can do the detail/natural warmth balance, or whether a Ladder dac like Holo Springs, Lab12 or Aqua La Voce, achieves this better. I am very sensitive to any digital that is leading edge/digital sheen type presentation, and my Eera cdp is a great data point, as is my hugely non euphonic, fast and precise tt front end.

 

[Legolas]

Graham, it is absolutely the official company line, if two in depth reviews are to be believed. Warranty voided if aftermkt LPS spikes damage. Rob the designer is bullish his stock SMPSs can't be meaningfully impvd upon.

Tbh if I go down the Chord route, I'm not going to test this out. And I'll be v happy to start w TT2 dac alone and progress onto using it w the M Scaler

For me, choice of dac will be whether Chord w it's proprietary FGPA can do the detail/natural warmth balance, or whether a Ladder dac like Holo Springs, Lab12 or Aqua La Voce, achieves this better. I am very sensitive to any digital that is leading edge/digital sheen type presentation, and my Eera cdp is a great data point, as is my hugely non euphonic, fast and precise tt front end.

I had the DAVE on a day long demo and although good, was behind the Kassandra by some margin in terms of realism and removing digital 'haze' as I call it. Aries Cerat has a baby Kassandra out for Munich which is cheaper than the Kassandra. Maybe you should try to hear it?

I have also heard the Aqua La Scala V2 and Formula V2.

There is something quite special going on with R2R DACs, especially ones without a digital filter or up sampling, and using tube gain stage. IMO they get closer to reality.

I would say unless you get closer to your TT spend, digital will disappoint you.

 

[caesar]

Graham, it is absolutely the official company line, if two in depth reviews are to be believed. Warranty voided if aftermkt LPS spikes damage. Rob the designer is bullish his stock SMPSs can't be meaningfully impvd upon.

Tbh if I go down the Chord route, I'm not going to test this out. And I'll be v happy to start w TT2 dac alone and progress onto using it w the M Scaler

For me, choice of dac will be whether Chord w it's proprietary FGPA can do the detail/natural warmth balance, or whether a Ladder dac like Holo Springs, Lab12 or Aqua La Voce, achieves this better. I am very sensitive to any digital that is leading edge/digital sheen type presentation, and my Eera cdp is a great data point, as is my hugely non euphonic, fast and precise tt front end.

Spirit,
You got some great diversity of opinion going to help you shape the decision. One of the things that't not clear to me is your use of the term "streaming" and then discussing Innuos . Innous is a "server".

 

[caesar]

Doesn't Innous just replace a laptop? It's not a streamer, correct? Yet Innous , I think has an input for Ethernet... and maybe an output to a streamer...

I wonder if it works better with stuff on the local drive vs. a NAS?

So wouldn't one need an extra box for streaming Tidal / Qubuzz?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Astro, I'm in a little semi-contact with an audio group in UK incl a guy with a hugely impressive AC system incl Kassandra and Symphonia horns. He mentioned the "baby" Kassie dac being released.

Since I'm not looking at any dac over £5k, price range being £1750 Lab12, £2750 Kitsune Holo Springs, £3350 Aqua La Voce S3, £4000 Chord Hugo TT2, let's see where Baby Kassie fits in.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Caesar, if money was no object, it would be SGM on the spot.

Looking at one box solutions, ie ethernet from router to server, USB out to dac.

Roon Nucleus was my first choice at £2-2.5k w LPS, but I've been swung to Zenith at £3k. I had been considering a SonicTransporter i5/Sonore MicroRendu/AqVox switch/Uptone LPS-1 solution too, at £2.5-3k.

 

[Al M.]

Astro, I'm in a little semi-contact with an audio group in UK incl a guy with a hugely impressive AC system incl Kassandra and Symphonia horns. He mentioned the "baby" Kassie dac being released.

Since I'm not looking at any dac over £5k, price range being £1750 Lab12, £2750 Kitsune Holo Springs, £3350 Aqua La Voce S3, £4000 Chord Hugo TT2, let's see where Baby Kassie fits in.

£20,000.

 

[Al M.]

I would say unless you get closer to your TT spend, digital will disappoint you.

Nah. Great digital can be had for much less money than a great TT. If the best digital is as good as the best TT is another matter, which I personally cannot say much about.

 

[bonzo75]

Astro, I'm in a little semi-contact with an audio group in UK incl a guy with a hugely impressive AC system incl Kassandra and Symphonia horns. He mentioned the "baby" Kassie dac being released.

Since I'm not looking at any dac over £5k, price range being £1750 Lab12, £2750 Kitsune Holo Springs, £3350 Aqua La Voce S3, £4000 Chord Hugo TT2, let's see where Baby Kassie fits in.

Are all of these one box? Otherwise the costs of Daiza, stacore, and cables will add up

 

[caesar]

Spirit,

Another thing you need to consider that hasn't been touched in this thread is the foundation for good digital. What I mean is, first and foremost, superb power conditioning is required for digital to sound great.

Another foundational piece maybe using a high quality switch such as SOtM, with a quality power supply, along ethernet filtering.

So, although not sexy, this foundational is like getting another component.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Caesar, no probs on power front. I have a dedicated feed to my room that splits off the mains before the rest of the chapel, with a 100A fuse. 18mm SWG cable to audio room, 8kVA balanced power, Oyaides dedicated lines/Furutech sockets, Entreq grounding.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Awaiting release of Uptone Audio EtherRegen switch. Happy to go down the switch path if it proves beneficial.

 

[Legolas]

£20,000.

Baby Kass is around 12,500 euros I think. I will confirm later.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Are all of these one box? Otherwise the costs of Daiza, stacore, and cables will add up

Daiza and Stacore overkill. Daiza just fine. It's a £10k budget to incl server, dac, cables and isolation.

 

[Legolas]

Awaiting release of Uptone Audio EtherRegen switch. Happy to go down the switch path if it proves beneficial.

spirit, if you want digital to get close to your TT you need to spend more IMO. Yes Holo Spring, Aqua La Vice are good, but you are used to a higher level already. it just isn't going to work IMO. You have sent more on supports than a DAC, what gives?

 

[spiritofmusic]

Astro, my journey into streaming may be a little different than others. It's not to replace my lp, or even cd, listening and buying. Indeed, I expect to buy more lps in future, and keep up my cd purchasing. I love physical media, cds included.

No, streaming for me is to Roon search for music I'd never find, deep genre searches, and to expand my classical and jazz education.

So, I don't know how far this will take me, I'm aiming for a nexus of good, organic digital sound, at great price points. Zenith server chooses itself, my shortlist of 4 dacs are ones that I believe punch way above their weight.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Also Astro, you're selling high worth goods in the AC.
I was really impressed w the AC system I heard, I'm sure I'd be bowled over if I ever heard the AF0 tt.
But these days I'm more taken my really well engineered gear that sells at price points that are hugely challenging. The dacs I've mentioned all tread this very difficult line.
I've seen inside a hugely well regarded server that sells at SGM ballpark price and it's shocking how poor it is. Look inside a Holo Springs or Aqua La Voce, and you're getting excellent value busting engineering.

I'm confident that £10k spent on Zenith, an excellent vfm dac, and a Sablon loom/Daizas, will do me very well, w room for future impvts via switch/LPS at later date.

 

[asiufy]

Doesn't Innous just replace a laptop? It's not a streamer, correct? Yet Innous , I think has an input for Ethernet... and maybe an output to a streamer...

I wonder if it works better with stuff on the local drive vs. a NAS?

So wouldn't one need an extra box for streaming Tidal / Qubuzz?

All these names are still very much "in flux", so you can call it server, streamer, whatever.
Innuos will replace everything, and work as a complete digital transport, outputting USB or Ethernet.
No extra box needed for streaming Tidal/Qobuz.
I do agree some care will be required on the network itself, a good switch with LPS, etc.

cheers,
Alex