Preamp Aries vs Cello ?

Davidlahmi

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Feb 5, 2021
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hello everyone, I am new to this forum in which the Aries brand is well presented and I am delighted. I bought the Dac Helene a few months ago, and I am very happy with it. (Excuse my mistakes , I am in France) )
I would like to thank Stavros, who had a very professional attitude to lower the tension of my Dac helene , until réception in my home .
I own a Cello Encore preamp, which I really like, given its performance. I have not possibility to listen preamp incito, I would like to know if someone could compare the 2 preamps by chance, or maybe have an opinion? Thanks for reading me
 

nonesup

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The Incito-S is a preamp that I was very interested in. The inability to hear him has greatly diminished my interest.
 

Davidlahmi

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Feb 5, 2021
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The Incito-S is a preamp that I was very interested in. The inability to hear him has greatly diminished my interest.
difficult yes to buy without being able to listen, and yet that's what I did with the Dac Helene, but for the preamp, the cello gives me a lot of pleasure already and I would not like to go wrong by going to Incito
 

Gregm

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Mar 14, 2019
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Do you have the Encore with the upgrade? I remember auditioning an Encore very many years ago that had been supposedly upgraded internally (in Germany? Switzerland?) and its contacts had been changed to standard rca.
It was outstanding, I remember it as one of the best pre‘s i have ever listened to. It was better than a Goldmund mimesis7 that i held in high regard and was only outperformed by a FM acoustics.
Sorry for the banter, I have never listened to the Aries pre
 

Davidlahmi

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Feb 5, 2021
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thank you for your answer, the cello that I have was modified by a professional, and replace with RCA instead of fisher. I listened to some preamp and I always preferred my cello, which has a fairly magical and very elegant listening .. but I say that there is the possibility of going even further, and why not with an Aries, since I already have Helene
 

Believe High Fidelity

[Industry Expert]
Nov 19, 2015
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What amplifiers and speakers are you running? The easy answer would be yes, but at 30V the Incito may have too much gain as it is almost 3x the Cello.
 

flyer

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Amplifier is Karan 600 and speakers B&W 801D
As Believe High Fidelity stated, the Aries Cerat Incito S preamp has a lot more gain than your current Cello preamplifier. BUT, there is a possibility to have a low-gain unit made!

No doubt the Incito S would add a layer of musical enjoyment and sparkle to your setup.
 
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Davidlahmi

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Feb 5, 2021
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yes, that's what Stavros did to me on my Dac Helene, he lowered it by 6 db. but there may be a gain setting on the Incito?
 

flyer

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Yes, you can either have the standard version with -6 dB switch, to lower the gain from 20 to 14 dB.

Or you can opt for a factory set gain of 8 dB. There is no switch in that case.

Do you feel you have to put the preamp volume wide open now or just around 10-11 o'clock? In the prior case i would opt for the standard version with the gain switch. in the latter case likelihood of ending up with too much gain is higher, I recommend you opt for the 8dB gain version.

Mind you, this is just about usability as soundwise there is no difference whether you put the volume of the Incito S on 1 or its maximum. As the volume control is of the TVC type, the quality of the sound is exactly the same at all levels, only the SPL goes up and down unaffecting the sonic character.
 

Davidlahmi

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Feb 5, 2021
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thanks for all these details Flyer , so the Preamp has an original gain of 20db? so that I look at what gain I put my cello. I prefer to have several possibilities of gain, in case I change equipment, and thus better adapt
 

nonesup

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One thing, if the decrease in gain in Incito-S, from 20 to 14, is produced by the same mechanism as in Kassandra (as I suppose) that decrease in gain is accompanied by a change in the sound.
 

flyer

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thanks for all these details Flyer , so the Preamp has an original gain of 20db? so that I look at what gain I put my cello. I prefer to have several possibilities of gain, in case I change equipment, and thus better adapt
I would effectively opt for the 20/14 dB version. Chances are much higher your preamp will stay as you live through iterations of power amps...
 

flyer

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Dec 16, 2012
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One thing, if the decrease in gain in Incito-S, from 20 to 14, is produced by the same mechanism as in Kassandra (as I suppose) that decrease in gain is accompanied by a change in the sound.
That is correct! But in both cases the sound is excellent and world class. If you haven't heard the 20dB version, you would love the 14dB setting. If you only know the 20dB setting, you would quickly get accustomed to the 14dB setting.
In other words, difference is really minor in my opinion.
 

Davidlahmi

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Feb 5, 2021
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interesting answer, for me who am not yet sure of the choice of the gain of preamp incito . and what about the gain of 8db
 

nonesup

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That question is very interesting. With a fixed 8db, the sound is like with the switch at -20 or -16?
 

Believe High Fidelity

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Doesn't specify Input impedance on the Karan, but you could easily run the standard output Incito and the B&W which like juice and that would be a large step up from the Cello.
 

musicfirst1

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Mar 8, 2015
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I heard the Incito S in my system between the Metrum Adagio and driving my Audionet MAX amplifiers 12 weeks ago. I ordered one immediately (previous setup was the Metrum Adagio driving the MAXs directly).

It was magic. Inserting a layer of humanity, density and drive and an outstandingly epic soundstage I had not experienced when driving the maxes directly with the Metrum Adagio.

To my ears, here was no discernable insertion loss. That bares repeating THERE WAS NO DISCERNABLE INSERTION LOSS.

This is the first Pre that changed my perception that, when it comes to digital, the best preamp is no preamp.
The Incito S, to my ears, completely destroys that tenet, at least in he context of this system.

The Aries Cerat DACs are equally special. When our budget allows, we will add one of the Kassandra to our reference system.

Despite the 12 week wait, I ordered the Incito S and became an Aries Cerat Dealer here in Canada.

Well the wait is over, and the Incito S arrives today!!

Until we are able to procure the Kassandra 2 REF, we will have to rough it* with either our Mola Mola Tambaqui or the Metrum Adagio feeding the Incito S and the Audionet MAXs. I'm expecting the Tambaqui as the source driving the Incito S to be quite stunning.

*Problems problems problems of the first world... ;)
 
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Davidlahmi

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Feb 5, 2021
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I finally bought one IncitoS , and without listening before . I can compare with my Cello
 

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