Looking for a more organic dac
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I was going after Aries cerat Helene but there was no dealer to show it so i tried Mola Tambaqui, I liked it, then I almost have got Lampizator directly from Fikus without hearing it. Last dac I had a chance to hear at home was Baltic, hmmm, great for jazz, but when I played some energetic music I was really disapointed, music was slow and very soft unlike Tambaqui which was so amazing in this regard. Finaly I decided in favor of Tambaqui and I am very happy with it. I highly recommend add 2x pads Stillpoint Ultra6 under the dac, so much better. Tambaqui is very natural sounding, I am still amazed how balanced the sound is, it can´t get any better then that. Thinking about adding pre Aries cerat Incito S in the future
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@Zappadaddy … Its a shame that you didn’t manage to audition the Helene , it is exceptional at its price point , however you have acquired a very fine DAC 
Hi Zappadaddy,
Glad you loved the Tambaqui.
I am going to demo the low gain version of the Aries Cerat Incito S when it becomes available.
Not sure when as there is a part shortage, but definitely will come back and report my findings.
But if you do get to try it before I do, please let me know your thoughts too
Interesting article where Tambaqui is mentioned in very positive way in conjuction with Incito:Hi Zappadaddy,
Glad you loved the Tambaqui.
I am going to demo the low gain version of the Aries Cerat Incito S when it becomes available.
Not sure when as there is a part shortage, but definitely will come back and report my findings.
But if you do get to try it before I do, please let me know your thoughts too
This posting represents the third in a series of posts on our Reference System and our experience with the Aries Cerat Preamps:
With the Impera II REF at about the 200 hour mark, I think it would be best to talk about the Incito S first, which we have had for about a year and is now well and completely broken in.
Out of the box, when we first heard the Incito S, for my partners and myself, it represented a Sea Change in comparison to all other SOTA preamps we’ve ever heard; and once fully broken in (a process that continued for over 500 hours) the preamp became truly an Unforgettable, Not To Be Missed Component For The Ages.
Of course, the Incito S is not immune to the usual tweaks – I like NOS rectifier tubes like the 60s vintage Mullards and the Japanese Matsushitas, while my partners prefer the more modern sound of the current production 5AR4s—like that provided by Aries Cerat. Surprisingly, rolling NOS E280Fs resulted a much more subtle change than changes in the rectifier tubes. In the case of the E280Fs we recommend sticking to the ones Stavros provides (you’re welcome Stavros
The Synergistic Research Orange or Purple Fuses are a significant improvement as well (sorry Stavros
Perhaps not surprisingly, A/C power cords make an even more remarkable difference on the AC preamps than Tubes or Fuses, and we find the Incito S (and the Impera II REF) benefit the most from well designed, high current PCs. We like Canada's own Ear to Ear Cables' Half Helix and even more the Full Helix (specifically designed for monster amplifiers) over the best from other well regarded designs like Siltech, Nordost, Synergistic Research, and Inakustik. Current capability seems to be the main factor in this application.
Of course, adjusting the bias settings as little as +2-3 mV, in a commensurate system, allows for a degree of fine-tuning rivalling that achieved by switching between top level interconnects or speaker cables, say the difference between the best from Siltech and the best from Crystal Cables. Take the bias down 2 or 3 mV and the Incito S becomes ever so slightly more detailed, incisive, airier and lean, while increasing by the same amount adds more weight, bloom and density.
Now before getting into the performance of the Incito S in depth, we must first address the Elephant in the Room; that is the now ancient digital adage that “The Best Preamp is No Preamp”
To cut to the chase, we borrow a phrase from the British, that this assertion, when it comes to the Incito S and her bigger sisters, is “Complete Bollocks”.
In this respect, the Incito S passed the comparison with the best direct-to-amplifier digital volume control configuration we know; that is, the DVC in the extraordinary Mola Mola Tambaqui DAC directly driving the best amplifiers from Audionet: the MAX monoblocks and the amplifier section of the Humboldt Integrated, which represents the pinnacle of current SS amplifier designs.
Using Bruno Putzy’s implemented digital volume control resulted in an extremely clean precise and detailed sound, while setting the DACs output to 6 volts greatly ameliorated the typical shortcomings these configurations have in Authority, Dynamics, Density and Drive (ADDD).
In terms of (ultra) resolution, when comparing at (extremely) loud volumes, where the DAC is operating at close to full voltage, the direct connection may just edge out the Incito S; but this can only be determined by repeated A/B comparisons. However, when the system is run at more sane levels where the DVC is by necessity more attenuated, then the Incito S actually offers more detail, and perhaps more surprisingly, a lower noise floor than the direct connection can achieve! (I have always believed this has to do with bit decimation inherent in all digital volume controls. Don’t let digital designers tell you how they do their DVC at 64, or 128 or a bizillion bits of resolution and ‘it’s inaudible’: - It simply and quite completely ‘is’.) And while the Tambaqui is the best DVC DAC we know (yes we have heard the MSB and Metrum DACs), using the Tambaqui DVC offers no comparison to the same DVC bypassed DAC into the Incito S in terms of musical resolution and detail.
But as you will see, in all other aspects of musical reproduction, the contribution of the Incito S to any world class system, digital or analog, simply cannot be overstated. /more to come
Kerry Legeard
- MUSIC FIRST DISTRIBUTION www.musicfirstdistribution.ca
ARIES CERAT – MOLA MOLA - MUTEC - AUDIONET - BAYZ AUDIO – REL ACOUSTICS - INAKUSTIC- CRYSTAL CABLE - EAR TO EAR – SILVERSMITH AUDIO
Ciao .
Non sono per quel tipo di suono, ovvero a me non piace il suono dcs, msb...
Mi piace invece Totaldac e anche Rokna oltre a molti altri brand artigianali .
Come via di mezzo ti consiglio di ascoltare Reymio, ho ascoltato varie volte a Monaco ed il risultato era ottimo.
buoni ascolti .
Non sono per quel tipo di suono, ovvero a me non piace il suono dcs, msb...
Mi piace invece Totaldac e anche Rokna oltre a molti altri brand artigianali .
Come via di mezzo ti consiglio di ascoltare Reymio, ho ascoltato varie volte a Monaco ed il risultato era ottimo.
buoni ascolti .
I am really enjoying the Lampi Pac. I don’t hear any coloration or noise. It is very clear for a tube dac. I havent herd any of the lower Lampizator models, But this is wonderful. I wonder if anyone has compared it to the Kassandra II directly? Abyway, it is not slow, “tubey” or too warm..
Look here
Aries Cerat Kassandra Ref 2 vs. Lampizator Pacific DAC
Hello fellow audiophiles After I learned quite a lot on this forum from quite a lot of people, I think it is time to give something back to the forum. I realized, that it is very hard to almost impossible to compare the top offerings from different brands because dealers rarely have competing...
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Christoph my friend, I would say that at that time the Pacific was the current top of the line DAC from LampizatOr , a more equitable comparison in the Aries Cerat line up would have been with Kassandra II Signature DAC sporting an upgraded power supply with xenon gas rectifiers for the tube PSUs in a separate chassis, four more AD1865N-K , 10 converters per bank, 20 per channel, 40 in total , Super-capacitors used in tube analog stage. 100 times less ESR/ESL than any film or electrolytic capacitor to name but a few enhancments over the Kassandra 2 Reference,Look here
Aries Cerat Kassandra Ref 2 vs. Lampizator Pacific DAC
Hello fellow audiophiles After I learned quite a lot on this forum from quite a lot of people, I think it is time to give something back to the forum. I realized, that it is very hard to almost impossible to compare the top offerings from different brands because dealers rarely have competing...
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Look here
Aries Cerat Kassandra Ref 2 vs. Lampizator Pacific DAC
Hello fellow audiophiles After I learned quite a lot on this forum from quite a lot of people, I think it is time to give something back to the forum. I realized, that it is very hard to almost impossible to compare the top offerings from different brands because dealers rarely have competing...
The GG 1 was also better than the Kassandra Ref 2 once the right valves were rolled in.
I’ve only heard the Pacific (the only Lampi model I’ve heard) in a Taiko/Alieno/Alsyvox system, and it sounded exquisite. No coloration, even though there were SETs in the DAC and amp chain—just beautiful 3D music.
I’m hoping I still love my Holo Audio DAC when I get my Taiko. After hearing the Lampi I get what the love is about.
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