Xi Audio amp thread, Broadway / Formula

Sovrce Gear
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So I am still saving up for some future upgrades. In the meantime, I’m trying to nail down Chain Synergy before committing to purchases.

I Figured this would be the best place to ask this question with so many prior Broadway and Diana V2 owners. Basically, what are my best DAC options to pair with the Broadway?

In addition to that, are there any other Solid State amps in a similar price range of the Broadway/V281 that would pair well with the Diana V2 (assuming that you all are familiar with my preferences).

Admin note: edited to include all xi audio amps

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YGGY…i just had two dacs with the broadway. yggy and qutest. yggy by far out played the qutest for me lol. Was very nice with my th900,lcd24, and Diana Phi…big fan of the yggy and broadway lol

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Seeing the Yggy recommendation has me curious…the sound signature of the Broadway, is it neutral? Analytical? Warm?

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Generally I think you have a few good options to pick from, I’d say if you wanted to keep things pretty neutral, obviously you could consider the xi sagra (a bit more neutral dryer leaning but great macro performance), but I would also look for a berkeley alpha s2 (neutral and technical without being harsh nor inorganic, pretty refined and balanced), or a crane song solaris quantum (neutral but a bit more rich and lively, still great technical ability). Also like it with a la voce s3 but can get a bit too soft at times with that

If you wanted to tilt warmer and wider, you could consider a spring 2 kte (wide, smooth, spacious, and dynamic although slightly inorganic but not to a big fault, focus on micro), yggy a2 (meaty, impactful, organic, and fun, macro focus), or a rockna wavelight (actually more leaning neutral but it’s got that mild warmer wider smoother tilt while being very technical at the same time)

It’s reasonably neutral, but does have a slight warm and smooth tilt, somewhat relaxed

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The Spring 2 and Yggy are both on my hifishark saved searches…nothing out there at the moment (at least at a decent price). Same with the Rockna.

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Seems as though the entire used market is really dry in the past few months, so I’m not sure if there’s honestly much out there at all lately

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That is pretty much the read I have on it as well. The few things that have been worth the price have sold very quickly.

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In that case, the best options are the crane song or the rockna, since both hold their resale values really well, if you have to buy new (expect to lose around 500 ish on both if sold later on, which isn’t bad). Or the new spring now that I think about it, those are basically almost retail as well

Or wait it out lol

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Nice. I looked at the Crane Song Solaris Quantum the other day and was surprised to see it was an AKM4490 chip. Considering that is the same one in the Modi, they must have done some really good work implementing it.

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The Rockna’s are rarely a significant discount used if you were seriously considering one I’d ask a dealer what they can do, my guess is it would only be a few hundred off the used prices.
Historically the Spring has the same issue, but without the dealer discount option, though with the 3 released that might change. I suspect it will be a while before it does though, Holo are a “trendy” pick right now.

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It’s an excellent dac, extremely well implemented

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Also, out of curiosity…have you heard the Spring 3 yet? I am just curious what the sound differences are between the level 1, 2 and KTE (even the Spring 2 versions would apply as well). On the Kitsune site, you can see the actual component differences, but I don’t think I’ve read much at all about the sound differences.

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No, but given what it is, I’d guess it’s in-between the 2 kte and the may, not sure which side it really leans on

So the difference between 1 and 2 is more functionality and not sound, but the kte is an upgrade in both technical ability and refinement, worth the extra cost imo. It doesn’t really shift voicing/signature but is more a direct upgrade, perhaps it does tilt a bit more dense and thick though than normal

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How is the input on the Spring, Crane Song, Berkeley, etc? Would a DDC be necessary or just something that will give me a bit more performance? I’m asking because that is something I would need to consider in my budget while crunching the numbers for different possibilities/options.

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Spring has a solid usb input, crane song has a pretty good, and Berkeley has no usb. With the spring I wouldn’t worry about a DDC off the bat, for the crane song I wouldn’t worry about it either. But the Berkeley needs a reasonably good DDC out of the gate. I do think the Berkeley is the most dependant on the ddc, the crane song after that, then the spring isn’t as dependent

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Thanks @M0N , that actually helps me a lot in running the number scenarios for prices. Eventually I plan on getting one anyway, but good to know that with a Berkeley it is a necessity. Pretty sure I will probably buy the SU-2 eventually unless I see a deal on a higher quality one.

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I’ve noticed that it’s relaxed, in fact I mistook its “relaxation” as a lack of detail at first. It took at least a few more hours of listening to realize I was wrong in that assessment

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Just enough to notice lol, but the yggy really gave it nice body and staging.

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I really liked it with the P6P, but that’s a bit of a different path. Pretty neutral, but a touch of warmth and really nice impact and dynamics.

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I should also throw it out that I currently use a Bifrost 2 for the Broadway and I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of performance the Broadway can offer. When I tried it with the 2541 it definitely came alive more. Those are the only two DACS I’ve paired with it; so I can’t say more than that.

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