Long time lurker and what a journey it has been. Speeding ahead 1 year and bringing this all up to date. I’ve gone thru a few iterations of cabling, amps, pres, DACs, power conditioning, speakers, and streamers. I’ve spent the last year A/B’ing gear and moving forward.
I A/B’ed:
MSB Analog DAC w/Power Base vs. Aqua Acoustics La Scala MKII vs PS Audio Directstream
Inakustik P3500AC vs. Shunyata Triton stack
Pass Labs XA60.5 vs. XA100.5 vs. X150.8
Coda fet 07x vs VTL 6.5 MKII vs MSB Analog direct
McIntosh MEN220 vs DEQX Premate+
Innuos Pulse vs Aurender N10
Harbeth SLH5 XD vs Dynaudio Heritage Specials
I found the older MSB Analog DAC to be on par with the La Scala, subtle difference but nothing astounding. And both to be on a different level, when listening to the PSAD.
The Inakustik I found to impart a little bit of brightness into the sound, which wasn’t to my liking.
Both Innuous and Aurender have super buggy apps; SQ, I preferred the Aurender
The VTL + Pass combo has a pleasant relationship, and sounds great. The Coda is SS, so not much of a comparision, though I didn’t prefer the synergy.
I’m a glutton for Harbeth, though the Dyn HS’es are definitely a special speaker, I was astounded by the bass from those little guys. Preferred the HL5’s.
I had also began with lower level/entry cabling, I’ve since updated to an entire Shunyata power cabling/distribution setup. Huge difference, snake-oil aside. I tried out a few different IC’s and speaker cables, settled on the Kubala Sosna Temptation series.
I favor the PL .5 XA series, and currently run the XA100.5’s. Was speaking to someone the other day about the X.8 series, and he said “they sound glassy.” I had not read that, or recall hearing anyone say that about them, but it’s exactly what the X150.8 sound like with a louder volumes. Same speakers, but with the XA.5’s, not “glassy”.
This next iteration is going to be fun, on the way I have a set of Harbeth 40.3’s arriving and am slightly ruminating on these next acquisitions…though I’m fairly settled with them:
T+A P3100HV Pre
I think highly of the VTL pre, and will be putting it in a second system. But, the tube pre does lack a little grip, or dynamics…something, it’s not fully there. The other item I really miss in my setup is room correction. Going thru the process of getting speaker placement optimized, then apply room treatment, I’ve found that a hair bit of room correction adds versus detracts. Ultimately, I”m just not prepared, nor have the desire to go through setting up another DEQX. My preference, now, is to keep/maintain signal quality/DSD. The TA has a room correction and EQ’ing feature built in, and I’m really interested in using it. I watched a Steve Huff review on the T+A PA3100HV Integrated, and he described it as “warm analytic,” which sounds right up my ally.
Playback Designs MPD6/MPS-X
Read a ton on this combo, and spoke to some people that have extended experience. Confirmation bias confirmed. I looked at the Lampizator DACs/Poseidon, just not for me. Aesthetically, it would wear on me long term, and Nerf Dart wars are a thing in my basement…so there’s that.
Pass Labs XA160.8 or T+A A3000HV
Still a toss up, and there’s a good chance I hold off, while letting the rest of the gear/sound settle in.
I A/B’ed:
MSB Analog DAC w/Power Base vs. Aqua Acoustics La Scala MKII vs PS Audio Directstream
Inakustik P3500AC vs. Shunyata Triton stack
Pass Labs XA60.5 vs. XA100.5 vs. X150.8
Coda fet 07x vs VTL 6.5 MKII vs MSB Analog direct
McIntosh MEN220 vs DEQX Premate+
Innuos Pulse vs Aurender N10
Harbeth SLH5 XD vs Dynaudio Heritage Specials
I found the older MSB Analog DAC to be on par with the La Scala, subtle difference but nothing astounding. And both to be on a different level, when listening to the PSAD.
The Inakustik I found to impart a little bit of brightness into the sound, which wasn’t to my liking.
Both Innuous and Aurender have super buggy apps; SQ, I preferred the Aurender
The VTL + Pass combo has a pleasant relationship, and sounds great. The Coda is SS, so not much of a comparision, though I didn’t prefer the synergy.
I’m a glutton for Harbeth, though the Dyn HS’es are definitely a special speaker, I was astounded by the bass from those little guys. Preferred the HL5’s.
I had also began with lower level/entry cabling, I’ve since updated to an entire Shunyata power cabling/distribution setup. Huge difference, snake-oil aside. I tried out a few different IC’s and speaker cables, settled on the Kubala Sosna Temptation series.
I favor the PL .5 XA series, and currently run the XA100.5’s. Was speaking to someone the other day about the X.8 series, and he said “they sound glassy.” I had not read that, or recall hearing anyone say that about them, but it’s exactly what the X150.8 sound like with a louder volumes. Same speakers, but with the XA.5’s, not “glassy”.
This next iteration is going to be fun, on the way I have a set of Harbeth 40.3’s arriving and am slightly ruminating on these next acquisitions…though I’m fairly settled with them:
T+A P3100HV Pre
I think highly of the VTL pre, and will be putting it in a second system. But, the tube pre does lack a little grip, or dynamics…something, it’s not fully there. The other item I really miss in my setup is room correction. Going thru the process of getting speaker placement optimized, then apply room treatment, I’ve found that a hair bit of room correction adds versus detracts. Ultimately, I”m just not prepared, nor have the desire to go through setting up another DEQX. My preference, now, is to keep/maintain signal quality/DSD. The TA has a room correction and EQ’ing feature built in, and I’m really interested in using it. I watched a Steve Huff review on the T+A PA3100HV Integrated, and he described it as “warm analytic,” which sounds right up my ally.
Playback Designs MPD6/MPS-X
Read a ton on this combo, and spoke to some people that have extended experience. Confirmation bias confirmed. I looked at the Lampizator DACs/Poseidon, just not for me. Aesthetically, it would wear on me long term, and Nerf Dart wars are a thing in my basement…so there’s that.
Pass Labs XA160.8 or T+A A3000HV
Still a toss up, and there’s a good chance I hold off, while letting the rest of the gear/sound settle in.
