Qutest, Hugo TT2, Mscaler

It was a trust issue for me. Could a DAC pre, TT 2 in my case, actually run a power amp as well as a preamp that cost as much money. It took about three songs in my dealers show room to convince me it could although that was with the chord amp. I never tried it into my 250dr

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So, it seems it has no sense to use a chord TT2 with a (Naim) pre-amp or int. amp?

Not sure people are saying that. A Naim preamp seems to definitely work best and justify it’s cost with a Naim power amp. But, as people have discovered, that does not translate to “a preamp is always better than none” being a universal truism.

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why is impedance matching no longer required from going from DAVE to Etude @Simon-in-Suffolk

My understanding is that it is not normally output impedance of one signal source (preamp or DAC analogue output stage in this case) matching the input impedance of the power amp - indeed it is normal for the input impedance to be significantly greater than the output impedance of the feeding device. What is required is that the input impedance of the power amp doesn’t cause adverse effects in the source - i.e the latter must be totally stable into the power amp load (and vice versa, power amp totally stable with the source impedance). IIUC Dave is happy with, and unaffected by a wide impedance load, including far lower than any normal power amp, even able to drive loudspeakers directly.

I don’t think it is that it does not make sense, but rather how many layers do you want and ultimately what is the sound signature that sounds best to you. I spent many years with a Naim pre/amp and ran my TT2/mscaler through that. I was very happy.

Then I began to explore my option and peeled away the Naim layers. What I found was something that made me happy, with fewer boxes and a bit more cash in my pockets.

I don’t think it a matter of what is better or worse. They are different and very good at their jobs, just in different ways.

“Someone who has seen the light” :wink:

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So it’s no longer a demo of the Etude, it’s now part of your system? :slight_smile:

It is the newest member of the family. Couldn’t be happier. :grinning:

Excellent… hopefully he’s settled in nicely and keeping everyone entertained :+1:t2::wink:

Pah! All you Chord amplifier luvvies !

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An interesting development…

Hi James,
Some dastardly bandit has just stolen 5 years of our lives. I could swear that the 52/Supercap were serviced barely 5 years ago. Turns out it was 10!

What’s a couple to do during Covid when the Naim amp is off for a service…

Best regards, BF

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Hi Toon,

I think I’ve got one in the loft if you still want to give it a go.

M

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Ah… :grinning:

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Thanks very much for the offer, much appreciated!

I think for now, especially as the OpticalRendu is going so well, I’m going to focus on that. Still getting used to the change, very detailed but natural. I swapped back over to the NUC direct the other day and it felt a little bit flat in comparison.

What I do need to do… at some point, is sort out my network. Probably have to change the router etc and may look at a new Cisco switch or, maybe an EtherRegen.

You know, this is why I gave up on this route. It IS interesting but ultimately I felt I was spending more time on OS, widget chain & network optimisation than listening to music, and when i found that the dCS sounded as good (although at a price premium) my mind was made up.

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Seems you were ahead of the curve, then. Quite right too. A DAVE into a 500 is a fine thing. Have heard it.

Oh, that sounds familiar.

opticalRendu powered by Paul Hynes SR-4T
ER powered by another Paul Hynes SR4T

Music server feeding out via ethernet to the ER.

Sounds frankly gorgeous but it’s a lot of mains plugs, wires & small boxes.

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Yes, the idea of of using two preamps cascaded is curious.
However I am told the Dave in line out mode, feeding a Chord Prima and then into a Chord power amp is also very good and offers an alternate presentation to using the Dave inbuilt preamp. I think system synergy and impedance / frequency matching is key, as well as source impedance… which with Dave is very low.

Yeah, I can imagine. I’ve actually been removing a few bits and iFi bods since the OpticalRendu was added. Less going on.

As far as the network goes… it’s really more to do with non music stuff. I need to improve it so I have better coverage around the house and outbuildings. I was looking at something like the Ubiquiti Amplifi. But, when sorting this out, I might migrate a lot of network gear to the loft as I have power sockets etc up there. I need to think about how I can implement optical as well and whether I can also use it for my work.

Wow… yeah, very nice. I have a spare LPS 1.2 at the moment… but I may have a job for that, we’ll see.

Once I know how I’m going to upgrade the house network, I’ll know how or what will be used to connect the audio to it. It’ll either be Cisco with 2 or more SFP sockets or, EtherRegen. If I decide I need more than one optical socket, then it is likely to be a Cisco switch… or, a router with SFP and separate WiFi. Not sure yet though.