Are you just talking about the interconnects or also the speaker cables?
Interconnects in this instance. I have TQ Silver 2 speaker cable which is very good and reasonably priced as well for the sound quality.
I’ve had the TQ Silver Ultra XLRs on all afternoon and I am warming to them. Amazing detail at low volumes.
Ultima 6 in the house until Monday courtesy of Doug Brady. Need to give it a real go but I’m pretty sure it will be replacing five black boxes.
Lovely! I bet it sounds amazing … I can seriously recommend trying some TQ Silver Ultra XLR with that! Incredible.
Tomorrow a bit more Audio Therapy on the way… Black Diamond XLR and Entreq Challenger XLR with an assortment of earthing cables etc.
Seriously, hope you enjoy your time with that beast Look forward to hearing all about it!
Edit… I take it your feeding it straight from the TT2?
Yea, straight from the TT2, and amazed by how well it works. I’m using phonobleads so nature there’s more to come. I’ll update on Monday.
Interesting… what speakers? And have you compared with the Etude ?
Wow! Really, is this your plan?
Is is possible to have it also without the 4 legs, I see…
I’ve not listened to the Etude, although I could have done as they had one on stock. My speakers are Gold Note A6, the Ultima bosses them. It’s very consistent from track to track so far and live music sounds unbelievably realistic.
I think so. I have a five box amplifier at present and only one source, the TT going into it. Feels like a lot of redundancy and, as the black boxes are all pretty new, I would be able to sell them for more than the cost of the Chord and clear a lot of space in my rack
Have you found that the mids seem really clear when using the TT2 straight into the Ultima?
Sometimes I guess less is more. Give it a bit of time though, big change. Although, sat here listening to some amazing blues just feels like I’m sat with them so can only begin to imagine how it sounds for you! It’s a very addictive sound.
The aspect I have felt with the TT2 into the Etude is the pace and timing… the rhythm, timing definition and dynamics in music seems really attractive and foot tapping.
The other aspect I have noticed in very compressed rock or punk trunks, the bass guitar and drums cut through the mix to drive a real sense of energy and pace.
Listening to Seasick Steve’s latest album Blues In Mono… it’s a rather minimalistic blues album, and his acoustic guitar sounds natural and unforced …
Yeah… I’m wearing out the floor! That’ll be the next upgrade I think
It’s very fast, transients are superb, and it has loads of space around the instruments. Super clear but with balls when required. Very very addictive so far
Ok, I see your point.
never thought about Hugo tt2 -> Naim Nap…?
I felt that it was like the M Scaler really started to shine with the Chord amp, as if it was built to maximise what it’s capable of.
I think I agree with this…
I have been telling you guys this for at least two years now, the TT2 works fabulous directly into NON-Naim amps. I used mine with my Anthem MCA-50 directly, also a Belles 150a reference V2. Both were superb, and I imagine the Chord amps work even better, enjoy your new setup DayJay.
I’m sure they can do… I think however what some of us have discovered/realised is that the Chord amps are very fast amps, and are ideally matched to Chord DACs, which are very fast DACs.
Although they have different designers, they appear to follow the Chord house approach… and certain blogs by Franks and Watts suggest this is a deliberate consideration.
It’s the synergy thing…
I thought it was more that Naim amps require Naim Preamps to work their best,where (most) other brands are not tied to the preamp as much.
Clearly it is not only Naim, from what I hear the Chord preamps have a real synergy with their amps too, which kind of makes sense when you think about it, along with the TT2 / DAVE in preamp mode. There is a house approach.
As we need to remember the preamp is a key part of the power-amp… and consequently the poweramp’s overall performance. Where the preamp is active there will be consistent design considerations.
Sure you can mix and match, but you are not necessarily using the amps (pre and power) in the way they have been optimally designed to work together… but of course you may prefer to roll your own system combos… there are many options to suit taste in this hobby if you want to wander off piste.