General Source Gear Help/Discussion Thread

Sovrce Gear
1771

I mean, you likely helped him with the quicksilver right? I don’t see how that doesn’t count as real knowledge

In this case, I’d propose 3 options, all potentially equally worthwhile

  1. Mysphere 3.2 or 3.1, just kings for a lot of classical imo, and if you talk with a dealer for a potential open box/demo unit you could get the price down to something reasonable, or wait for a used one to pop up
    Chain wise, if I were to do it in one go, optimizing for high performance but also potential value, I’d make these chains:

If he wanted to buy new electronics but still get actually good value:
Sonore ultraRendu + a decent linear psu → Totaldac d1-core + live power → Mass Kobo 433 for the 3.2. You could also substitute the totaldac with a rockna wavelight if you wanted to lean more clean and forward but be a bit careful there lol and if you did that perhaps go for a ddc instead. You could swap the amp with a paltauf hpa-100 if you wanted a warmer lean. This seems like a lot of initial investment, but all of these are imo worth at retail and seldom come up used, and this is a fantastic one and done imo. But this is likely blowing out the budget, but I’d still call this high value despite basically having to buy new. Would also suggest grabbing a lavricables grand later on or now if you can, interconnect wise I wouldn’t worry too much, usb cable might grab a triode wire labs passion usb or mad scientist black magic usb.

Going a step down in price but still high value new:
Allo USBridge Signature Player + Plixir Elite BDC (or just use usb to pc) → Crane Song Solaris Quantum → Violectric V550 (on discount). You could also swap the crane song for an og schiit yggdrasil a2. W

Both those are great chains with gear that offer good value new and aren’t really much cheaper used imo.

BUT, If you wanted to buy a high value used 3.2 chain:
EMM NS1 → Meitner MA-1 v2 or newer Bricasti M1 → Pass HPA-1. I do think the meitner combo might be a bit smooth, you could look try and find a berkeley reference 1 if you’re lucky as well. Grand cable

Going a step down in price but still high value used:
Berkeley Alpha USB or Singxer SU6 → Berkeley Alpha Series 2 → Bryston BHA-1

Not that these are the only options, there’s plenty of others too.

  1. OG Focal utopia, another can that’s gotten so cheap that it’s such a great option if you have the source for it. While I don’t like it as much as the mysphere, it actually does better than the mysphere on the quicksilver and is cheaper and easier to find imo

New chain:
Sonore ultraRendu + a decent linear psu → Lampizator Baltic 3 → LTA MZ3 or an Eddie Current Studio B, a mojo mystique is a reasonable option too but I feel that it might lose more value quickly and might make more sense to buy used. Another really solid option is a dna stratus although for classical I don’t know if it would be my personal preference, if you did that I’d swap to a dac like a Weiss DAC501. Mass kobo also works really well here too. Cable wise, I’d go for a mid tier danacable, anticables interconnects, and a triode wire labs usb

Used chain:
Mutec MC3+ USB → Mojo Mystique EVO Pro 21 or X perhaps → Allnic HPA3000GT. Cables I’ll think of later, got busy, will add more detail to all of this later

Or just use your old chain and buff it up

  1. Buff up your qs + 800s chain further if you’re happy with it and don’t want to risk a full revamp on this

Really if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but you could still easily upgrade it without changing too much in the form of a strong dac and digital frontend upgrade and some cabling. And so on, will finish this later

4 Likes
1772

I think it depends on what you are trying to get out of classical (which itself isn’t really a single genre), I’ll assume Orchestral classical for the sake of argument.

If your looking for the open space and you like the overall sound then I agrees the HD800S, and I know EStat’s always get thrown around for classical, and would probably move further in that direction. But Orchestral is often a very Bass forwards genre, and if that part of the presentation is important o you there are probably better options.

And we’re back to what does he like about the current setup.

1 Like
1773

Lol @M0N that escalated quickly with the budget spending.

fwiw there’s a Berkeley at Audiogon now

1774

So my thoughts would be if you’re going to upgrade, do it right, and follow through with something that you’ll never want to change given what was said above. And that’s also just my honest opinion if you’re looking for value, especially in my suggestions for getting value with new products. The used chains are going to be a lot more in the potential ballpark of the prior budget. It’s also assuming they sell off the quicksilver and 800s which adds to the budget

I’ll add more reasonable options when I get the chance tonight

3 Likes
1775

It’s funny to think, I own a Quicksilver and like, if I had to buy a bunch of the source components I have today: an Exogal and an SU-2 and an ultraRendu w/ power supply and a Power Plant and some decent cables; I feel like that’s already hitting about $4K worth of spending.

(Though this list probably doesn’t work as a “bang-for-your-buck” list, it’s just stuff I’ve used and am familiar with.)

1 Like
1776

It’s very different going one piece at a time over years vs dropping a chunk of money to upgrade and not look at anything for a long time after. If I sold all my gear now and collect the money and spend it all again, not sure I would buy all the same stuff again.

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1777

Wow now this is a nice list of awesome equipment! But yep a little bit above the $5k budget, lol. I would never guess the Mysphere 3.2 would be the #1 rec for this!

I think he will go with keeping the QS and 800S and, as you said, buffing up the rest of his chain. Just need to figure out which DAC to buy now that he is ok with used. And also which streamer and DDC since i think he will have the money for that.

1 Like
1778

Yeah it really does seem like a lot, but really as others have mentioned, it would save you in the long run vs doing progressive upgrades. But I still like the progressive upgrade approach more myself lol

Gave a few high value options in a previous post like the exogal, aqua, mojo, lampizator, etc that I think would be quite solid. In terms of streamers it would depend on what’s out there in the used market more and what direction they went with the dac

3 Likes
1779

Yep i guess this is true, i think i opened his eyes to the possibilities he never thought existed. He was pretty sure the Matrix + 800S as his entire chain was as good as it gets :slight_smile:

Now that i think about it i kind of feel bad for him , ignorance is bliss! Hahaha

4 Likes
1780

Do you guys happen to know if the Matrix can be used as a streamer alone feeding a BF2?

He currently uses it as Streamer / DAC and he needs to have a streamer since he does not use a computer.

1781

Which model? They pretty much all have some type of digital out and that’s all you’d need.

EDIT: I scrolled back, looks like it’s the Matrix Mini you mention. If it’s the 3 that’s currently on the Matrix site, it doesn’t have a digital out so he can’t use it to feed a DAC. Tell him to sell it, you can do much better if he really wants to upgrade. :slight_smile: Would have been a much more flexible component if it had digital out.

As mentioned though a very good streamer with digital out can be had for well under $1K the names already mentioned.

1 Like
1782

I dont think either of the Minis have digital outputs, so no.

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1783

Hello,

As a tube amplifier, I would throw the Feliks Elise/Euforia into the room.
They also appear second-hand from time to time.
Also because the pairing with the Hd800 is popular.
And for classical music it can be a good pairing again, perhaps even reaching the upper end.

As a Dac, I would go with what has been roughly suggested.
Since my knowledge is not too advanced in the higher sector.
And many suggestions can already go well towards the endgame.

2 Likes
1784

Was wondering, can you still benefit from dual XLR outputs on an amp even if you have to use an adaptor (dual XLR to XLR)? Or would that negate the potential benefits in general?

1785

I’m sure you’d hear a difference, but i doubt it would be a win.
Difference is pretty subtle to start with.

2 Likes
1786

Been thinking about grabbing another pre + power combo (or an integrated) for driving my 01 and headphones, and really just want to try something pretty different from my FM gear. Currently, I’ve set some basic requirements for myself:

  • Can’t be massive
  • Power amp needs to be stereo and not monoblock unless very tiny monoblock
  • Needs to have excellent single ended performance if balanced
  • Not something unobtainable or overly unique/one off lol
  • Something I haven’t owned
  • Something that won’t fill the same role as the FM

And somewhat came up of a few combos I’m looking at

Shindo Giscours + Cortese (have to buy new otherwise get fucked later on, also shindo cables)

Air Tight ATC-3 + ATM-300R + that headphone junction box they have (something that I’d be more toward the shindo but having an assured to work well with headphone ready option is cool)

Vitus SIA-025 MKII or perhaps a pre power combo but that’s pushing it in size and/or price imo

Riviera APL-10 + AFM-25 (yes breaking multiple rules but moving up and I miss the sound of the aic and at least have heard it with headphones lol)

darTZeel NHB-18NS + NHB-108 (new models are too expensive so I’d look for the older ones, but given past experience I actually don’t know if I’d want to pair the power amp with a pre from the same company, it’s weird)

And that’s really all I’ve thought of at the moment since all of those I can get from a dealer for a reasonable price ish, but really I’m just looking for something different to honestly replace the studio b with a warmer and richer and/or sweeter tilt but technical upgrade, so I feel like I’m missing quite a lot of potentially interesting options so figured I’d ask if anything comes to mind for what might be worth considering/checking out. I’ve kinda gravitated toward the more tried and true stuff at the minute because I want something that there’s a decent amount of them out there for being able to get demo/used and also have some sort of resale if needed, and long term support, but there’s so many great 2ch options I know there’s a lot more out there I should be looking into lol

6 Likes
1787

I’ve always been curious about the Air Tight gear. I love the aesthetic.

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1788

How about the Mola Mola?
Not sure about the Makua+Kaluga but I’ve been drooling reading about the Kula integrated

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1789

I’m a little hesitant with air tight given good but not amazing demos I’ve had with their stuff, but they’ve always been in systems I’m not too experienced with and more brief than not so I’m still willing to give them a shot, and yes they do look awesome although for me that’s not really a selling point/big influence

Hmmmm those would fit some of the bills, although I think it might conflict with the FM if the sound is anything like the tambaqui, and honestly given my experience with the tambaqui I’m personally not too inclined to pick up anything else from them lol (wasn’t really my thing/always left me conflicted)

3 Likes
1790

Fair enough. The Kula with a phono add-on and the Tamabaqui board inside is one sexy all in one though. If I’d go the minimalistic route it would be high on my list.

2 Likes