Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

I see no reason why it wouldn’t work well. Naturally it works well with my NDX2 which is what I use it for.

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How are getting on with the M Scaler evaluation @Simon-in-Suffolk ?

Am enjoying it this time around.
Tomorrow using the mscalar will swap out the DAVE for the TT2 to see what I notice.

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Thanks, unfortunately my home demo has been thwarted by the Covid lockdown, will be interested in your views in the TT2 swap

I’d be more interested to hear what happens when, after a few weeks away from the old setup, you go back to the 552/250.

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Is the Luxman still hitting the spot, zen?

I dunno. Everything except the amp is sitting in boxes because Luxman haven’t had luck getting tubes from their Slovakian supplier due to Covid. When they do, I guess it’ll arrive. Sep became Oct, became Nov, became Dec. Hoping the current delivery estimate is correct. They agreed to ship from factory direct rather than waste time through my dealer at least.

Yes I tried it… I think my tastes might have moved on from the Naim sound … possibly more linked to my 250 than 552… but yes for the Naim sound the 552 is outstanding,

Sorry to hear that.
Will be a treat when it arrives.

I didn’t realise Japan more than half a day ahead of Britain…

I sense that the quote joined with your statement contains a joke. But it’s gone over my head.

Sorry FZ - your post could be read as saying it is already December …still 11 days away here in the West.

Ohhh. No I mean the months are when each promise from Luxman has been made for.

I pick my Phoenix up tomorrow, looking forward to seeing how big an improvement it makes

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Flip… you must have the full collection to swap out, lucky fella.

I’m thinking of getting back in touch with Chord to see if they could arrange/find a dealer for a home demo of the TToby & Etude. The only real way of knowing which one will suit me best is to listen to them.

Just received a new USB cable to go from the Roon NUC to the M Scaler. Pairs nicely with the iPurifier 3 I recently got.

The black cable is a Y splitter to allow me to add a power bank as a clean power source for the USB cable. I had to make an alteration to it, cut the power wire in the USB3 lead as both have power as standard. Sort of a Frankenstein ifi Gemini cable :joy:

Quite fiddly to do while preserving the shielding and repacking it. Ifixit tool kit came in handy.

Very happy with the ifi Mercury cable. Bog standard USB sounds thin in comparison. The ifi added more texture to bass and adding battery power to the USB cable improved soundstage depth and took a bit of edge of the highs.

The Anker 20100 power bank seems like it will last weeks between charges. Doesn’t take much power.

With the Aries G1 out and with it the optical connection, this sounds as good, if not better due to using the surplus cables on the Cisco switch and NUC.

Yes I have been fortunate … I feel like I have had a lot of the portfolio… you do need extended listening though… as longer term preference isn’t necessarily short term impact preference.

Currently looking like TT2 with Mscalar… though looking to mitigate slight HF edge mscalar introduces when doing full upscale.

Thoroughly enjoying the Etude, but want to try the Ultima 6 to see if it’s any better with my setup… I suspect it might be smoother and even more weightier.

I know what you mean. I fell for the AudioLab M DAC, sounded great with bags of detail but became very fatiguing after a while in my system.

So is the TT2/M Scaler edging out the Dave at the moment… after taking care of the HF edge? Rob Watts mentioned using This Ferrite on the BNC cables. I tried a couple on each cable but found they deadened the sound a bit compared to the power bank. In fairness to Rob, I think he may have been referring to using them with the Dave and he does say later on that they can make the sound worse. Thought I’d give it a try though.

I was looking at the Ultima 6… more out of curiosity than anything else, no space in the office for it really. Looks a lovely piece of kit. The max size for me for the office would be the Etude but happy to try out the TToby as well to see how it compares.

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The Etude with the TT2 on higain is a rather good combo with my ATCs… certainly enjoying with my 19s.
Before my 19s have been wonderfully communicative and musical with my previous amp, but now I get that plus a real grip and bass depth that adds another dimension to many of my recordings… really impressive for the 19s… bass lines in highly compressed recordings jump out at you and you feel the air vibrate in a way I have not sensed before, and the volume is not even that loud, perhaps I have been under powering them all these years?

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This is what I need to establish with using the TT2 directly into the PMC 25.22s. The only way I’ll know is through a demo. No uplift would mean I’d stay as is… otherwise, G1 cash will end up going towards a new amp some time in the new year.