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  1. #51

    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Hello

    Did anyone had the opportunity to directly compare this combo to Dartzeel preamp /monoblock ?

    Thanks
    Alex

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  2. #52

    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by heihei View Post
    Yes - I've spent quite a bit of time with CH. The L1 is stunning, both with and without the X1 - great flow alongside precision, detail etc. The Stern beats a bare L1 for me on soundstage - more around the defined spacing of voices instruments etc. Adding the X1 to the L1 eclipses the Stern as it adds that spacing.
    The power amps are good, but not exceptional IMHO, especially for the price. They do not bring enough drama into the music for me.
    I don't get the digital side of CH, but others do, and this is a thread on amps.
    I've heard Soulution briefly in my system and liked what it did. If I'd had a dealer closer by, I would have explored it more. I tried the 5 series pre, power and DAC and thought was great - had that sense of drama.
    May I ask if you still would prefer the Stern over the L1 (with or without X1) with a different amp neither Heisenberg nor CH Precision? At the moment I play music with an EMM Labs DV2 directly feeding two EMM Labs MTRX2 amps and I'm not sure if the DV2 is able to completely replace a preamp.
    Now I have the chance to get either a demo L1 or a Stern (with a better offer for the Stern) but don't know which way to go and which preamp would be the better match.

  3. #53
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    I would put them in the following order, best to worst: L1 + X1, Stern, L1, all listened with Berning Quadrature Z's as power amps. It therefore depends on whether you think you'll end up with the X1 if you go the L1 route, and if you ever think you will change the power amps. If so, then Audionet wins for me. If not, then depends on X1.
    Adding the X1 to the L1 adds the strengths that the Stern has around noise floor and soundstaging to the L1. L1 has a bit more flow to the music than the Stern, hence the L1 + X1 outperforming.

  4. #54
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    I also thought of the Stern but since i'm getting Mephisto stereo i will most likely purchase L1+X1.
    Speaker System : Thiel CS 3.7 - Vitus SIA-025 Mk2 - Aqua Acoustics LinQ - Aqua Acoustics Formula xHD Rev 2 - Fanless Intel NUC + Sbooster Mkll - Farad Super 3 - Paul Pang Quad Switch - Pink Faun LAN cables - Cardas Clear Beyond IC and SC - Furutech DSP 4.1 Power cables - Audioquest Niagara 3000 Power Conditioner - Woodlink Rack - Roon Rock - Qobuz & Tidal.

    Headphone Rig : Hifiman HE-1000SE - Kennerton Ondin Mk2 - Chord Hugo 2 - Smartphone - Qobuz & Tidal.

  5. #55

    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by Thieliste View Post
    I also thought of the Stern but since i'm getting Mephisto stereo i will most likely purchase L1+X1.
    If you're planning to go the CH route, the A1.5 or M1.1 makes more sense partner with L1 (+X1 potentially) than mixing things up with Gryphon in my opinion. Borresen has great synergy with CH as well as Audionet.

    / Marcus, Perfect sense
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  6. #56

    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by heihei View Post
    I would put them in the following order, best to worst: L1 + X1, Stern, L1, all listened with Berning Quadrature Z's as power amps. It therefore depends on whether you think you'll end up with the X1 if you go the L1 route, and if you ever think you will change the power amps. If so, then Audionet wins for me. If not, then depends on X1.
    Adding the X1 to the L1 adds the strengths that the Stern has around noise floor and soundstaging to the L1. L1 has a bit more flow to the music than the Stern, hence the L1 + X1 outperforming.
    Many thanks, heihei, for your response and the ranking. If I'd go with the L1 I'll definitely consider also a X1, but that's roughly double the cost of the offered Stern. So I have to negotiate with myself if L1+X1 is worth the extra effort.
    At the moment I have no plans to change my MTRX2 amps, they are quite something. For me it's more the question if the EMM DV2 will be outperformed with either the L1+X1 or the Stern or if it the outcome is rather a matter of taste.
    Unfortunately I can't compare the preamps for myself before buying, therefore I don't really know if I should invest such an amount blindly. I also tried to ask other DV2 owners if they already compared it with any ultra High-End preamp, but it always ends just in a theoretical discussion about pro and contra preamps vs. volume controls in Dacs. Fact is that the DV2's volume control implementation is different than others.

  7. #57

    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by Perfect Sense View Post
    If you're planning to go the CH route, the A1.5 or M1.1 makes more sense partner with L1 (+X1 potentially) than mixing things up with Gryphon in my opinion. Borresen has great synergy with CH as well as Audionet.

    / Marcus, Perfect sense
    I happen to have the four box CH X1-L1 mono preamp paired with Gryphon Mephisto monos.

    I am hoping to be able to do a direct comparison of the Heisenbergs and CH M1.1 in my system in the near future if logistics work out. But until then, I can tell you that CH L1-X1/Mephisto combo provides a wonderfully live musical experience - not a weak link in any sense of the word.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Rockport Lyra speakers; TotalDac Amp-1 mono blocks; four box CH Precision L1/X1 pre/power supply monos; CH precision P1/X1 phono/power supply; TotalDac d1-driver monos; Pacific Microsonics Model 2 DAC; TotalDac d1-12 MkII DAC with two reclockers; Kodo The Beat Turnatable with LT Schroder magnesium tonearm and Lyra Atlas cart; Taiko Extreme server; Kalista Dreamplayer CD Transport; Taiko Audio Daiza Platforms; Nordost Odin2 Power Cords and Analog ICs; 512 Engineering/Tim Marutani Balanced Transformers (30 amp for sources; 50 amp for amps); Rives designed dedicated room.

  8. #58
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    i would love to read a mephisto-heisenberg comparison.

    also....@heihei, i remember you mentioned you and your friend will probably have the opportunity to compre the stern/heisi vs the humboldt. did that ever happen?

  9. #59
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by u-sound View Post
    iwill probably have the opportunity to compre the stern/heisi vs the humboldt. did that ever happen?
    lol, it is happening here right now. christmas machines have arrived last week and are burning in.
    for the moment, i prefer the humboldt.

  10. #60
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by u-sound View Post
    lol, it is happening here right now. christmas machines have arrived last week and are burning in.
    for the moment, i prefer the humboldt.
    Keep us posted.
    Speaker System : Thiel CS 3.7 - Vitus SIA-025 Mk2 - Aqua Acoustics LinQ - Aqua Acoustics Formula xHD Rev 2 - Fanless Intel NUC + Sbooster Mkll - Farad Super 3 - Paul Pang Quad Switch - Pink Faun LAN cables - Cardas Clear Beyond IC and SC - Furutech DSP 4.1 Power cables - Audioquest Niagara 3000 Power Conditioner - Woodlink Rack - Roon Rock - Qobuz & Tidal.

    Headphone Rig : Hifiman HE-1000SE - Kennerton Ondin Mk2 - Chord Hugo 2 - Smartphone - Qobuz & Tidal.

  11. #61
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by u-sound View Post
    lol, it is happening here right now. christmas machines have arrived last week and are burning in.
    for the moment, i prefer the humboldt.
    If that's the end result, that would be incredible, given how good the Stern / Heisenberg is, and would make the Humboldt a bit of a bargain in high-end terms!

  12. #62
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    humboldt is incredible, sound and pricerelative wise, no doubt. best sound i have ever heard. as i have stated sometime before, power is its only limit.
    burning in was a pain, the stage was as small as a coin for weeks.
    heisenbergs seems to be different burn in. they are excessive in every sense.....lol, very very massive. the little sabrinaX sounds like a big clubspeaker.
    i do enjoy it, yes. potentially a lot better than with the humboldt.....if all that weight gets more structure.

  13. #63
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by u-sound View Post
    i would love to read a mephisto-heisenberg comparison.
    Did you ever see such a comparison, u-sound? Or perhaps @heihei?
    I am thinking of changing from Humboldt (which is amazing) to possibly Mephisto (more expensive but apparently also amazing)??

  14. #64
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    hi icutoo. glad to hear you wanna fly
    certainly there is headroom above the humboldt. imho, for longterm satisfaction the answer is simple and clear: get a deal on a pair of heisenbergs!

    from what i hear from others the heisenbergs are ways more refined, balanced, soundstage vs mephisto.
    and mephistos performance seems to be quite system dependent while heisenbergs have a 100% positive feedback around the globe in various systems.

    hey, gryphon is cool, however it is dark vader at best and sharp grills in 2022 is i dont know what to say. i mean if you can get the mephisto for an incredible price, sure, go for it. most likely it will be fun to expirience and should outperform the humboldt.

  15. #65
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Hi, u-sound.
    I think you are quite right- what I need is a pair of Heisensbergs.
    The Humboldt is clarity and tone-colour personified, the Mephisto is control and power without limit. Stunning volumes without any loss of control or pitch or timbre. Heisenbergs should give me both.
    But they are SO expensive- I will have to think about the compromises I am willing to accept, knowing that they are out there...

  16. #66
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by u-sound View Post
    lol, it is happening here right now. christmas machines have arrived last week and are burning in.
    for the moment, i prefer the humboldt.
    Is Stern/Heisenberg combo like a Humboldt on steroids or it is more than that ?
    Can you please explain to us what you get coming from Humboldt to Stern/Heisenberg thanks.
    Speaker System : Thiel CS 3.7 - Vitus SIA-025 Mk2 - Aqua Acoustics LinQ - Aqua Acoustics Formula xHD Rev 2 - Fanless Intel NUC + Sbooster Mkll - Farad Super 3 - Paul Pang Quad Switch - Pink Faun LAN cables - Cardas Clear Beyond IC and SC - Furutech DSP 4.1 Power cables - Audioquest Niagara 3000 Power Conditioner - Woodlink Rack - Roon Rock - Qobuz & Tidal.

    Headphone Rig : Hifiman HE-1000SE - Kennerton Ondin Mk2 - Chord Hugo 2 - Smartphone - Qobuz & Tidal.

  17. #67
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    i really like the humboldt. with the little wilson tuntots it was a match in heaven.
    beside sonics, it was pefect power, very juicy. when i switched to sabrina x, it was still nice but far from unlimited. with the heisenbergs, it sounds unlimited again. only big amps sound like big amps, question of torque.
    your question is good, since they are buildt out of the same parts, so in some ways its steroids only, but the subjective impresission is quite dramatic. much more stable, the realism, etc etc.
    the humboldt is like you can watch them perfectly, the heisenberg is an invitation to be with them.
    the comment of my closest audiophile friend who joined my journey was: the humboldt is a toy. well, that was with the sabrina x which is known to be powerhungry. the difference with other speaker and smaller rooms might be much smaller.
    overall, i cant describe how happy i am still after 2 years. have heard a lot of other top amps since and never ever even thought about to change.
    that said, a friend from germany has a very similar system....heisenberg, wilson, nordost....and evaluated a lot of pre amps with the heisenbergs and stated the heisenberg would sound a 1000 times better with the nagra hd pre hv than the stern.
    cut the story short, big shock, i should get one of thouse in about 10 days.
    i feel a bit stupid as the sound is perfect right now and dont want anything else. i am scared of the nagra pre, lol. part of the deal is to sell the humboldt and stern, so i have no way back.
    will do an update when i know more.

  18. #68
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by ICUToo View Post
    Hi, u-sound.
    I think you are quite right- what I need is a pair of Heisensbergs.
    The Humboldt is clarity and tone-colour personified, the Mephisto is control and power without limit. Stunning volumes without any loss of control or pitch or timbre. Heisenbergs should give me both.
    But they are SO expensive- I will have to think about the compromises I am willing to accept, knowing that they are out there...
    since you already have a top system, my recommendation would be to follow a strategy of patience.
    focus on your weakest links in the system, find out a couple of dream replacements and then wait until one of them comes around for a very good price. i can tell you from experience that whatever you dream of in audio, withhin 2 or 3 years you will get it for less than half price.

  19. #69
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by u-sound View Post
    i really like the humboldt. with the little wilson tuntots it was a match in heaven.
    beside sonics, it was pefect power, very juicy. when i switched to sabrina x, it was still nice but far from unlimited. with the heisenbergs, it sounds unlimited again. only big amps sound like big amps, question of torque.
    your question is good, since they are buildt out of the same parts, so in some ways its steroids only, but the subjective impresission is quite dramatic. much more stable, the realism, etc etc.
    the humboldt is like you can watch them perfectly, the heisenberg is an invitation to be with them.
    the comment of my closest audiophile friend who joined my journey was: the humboldt is a toy. well, that was with the sabrina x which is known to be powerhungry. the difference with other speaker and smaller rooms might be much smaller.
    overall, i cant describe how happy i am still after 2 years. have heard a lot of other top amps since and never ever even thought about to change.
    that said, a friend from germany has a very similar system....heisenberg, wilson, nordost....and evaluated a lot of pre amps with the heisenbergs and stated the heisenberg would sound a 1000 times better with the nagra hd pre hv than the stern.
    cut the story short, big shock, i should get one of thouse in about 10 days.
    i feel a bit stupid as the sound is perfect right now and dont want anything else. i am scared of the nagra pre, lol. part of the deal is to sell the humboldt and stern, so i have no way back.
    will do an update when i know more.
    Wow that's amazing, keep us posted when you get your Nagra HD pre.
    Stern- Heinsenberg is my next step in my journey but why not with another pre.
    Speaker System : Thiel CS 3.7 - Vitus SIA-025 Mk2 - Aqua Acoustics LinQ - Aqua Acoustics Formula xHD Rev 2 - Fanless Intel NUC + Sbooster Mkll - Farad Super 3 - Paul Pang Quad Switch - Pink Faun LAN cables - Cardas Clear Beyond IC and SC - Furutech DSP 4.1 Power cables - Audioquest Niagara 3000 Power Conditioner - Woodlink Rack - Roon Rock - Qobuz & Tidal.

    Headphone Rig : Hifiman HE-1000SE - Kennerton Ondin Mk2 - Chord Hugo 2 - Smartphone - Qobuz & Tidal.

  20. #70
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    thx yes, going to report, really thinking about it a lot myself. got to tell it to my wife somehow as well...

  21. #71
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    very happy, nagra hd pre works fantastic with the heisenbergs.
    tonality is almost identical as with stern, a bit more natural, ease, lushness and substantial more low level information. big thx to the universe!
    i got an unused unit, then again it is not the new hv version. about 100 hours now and cant imagine further improvements.

  22. #72
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    I would be very interested to know if there would good synergy between the Vitus SL-103 linestage and the Heisenbergs.
    Speaker System : Thiel CS 3.7 - Vitus SIA-025 Mk2 - Aqua Acoustics LinQ - Aqua Acoustics Formula xHD Rev 2 - Fanless Intel NUC + Sbooster Mkll - Farad Super 3 - Paul Pang Quad Switch - Pink Faun LAN cables - Cardas Clear Beyond IC and SC - Furutech DSP 4.1 Power cables - Audioquest Niagara 3000 Power Conditioner - Woodlink Rack - Roon Rock - Qobuz & Tidal.

    Headphone Rig : Hifiman HE-1000SE - Kennerton Ondin Mk2 - Chord Hugo 2 - Smartphone - Qobuz & Tidal.

  23. #73
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by Thieliste View Post
    I would be very interested to know if there would good synergy between the Vitus SL-103 linestage and the Heisenbergs.
    Not happy with the SIA-025 anymore ?

    Do you know where the changes are between the mkI and mkII SIA-025, don't see anything on the Vitus website, also I don't see the mkII anywhere on the backplates of the SIA-025.

    I am still on the fence between the SIA-030 and the Humboldt, slight advantage for the SIA-030 at the moment.
    Moon 700i V2, YG Acoustics Hailey, Aurender N10, dCS Rossini, Oppo BDP103D (audiopraise board), Ansuz Mainz 8 D2

  24. #74
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    Re: Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG

    Quote Originally Posted by imprezap2 View Post
    Not happy with the SIA-025 anymore ?

    Do you know where the changes are between the mkI and mkII SIA-025, don't see anything on the Vitus website, also I don't see the mkII anywhere on the backplates of the SIA-025.

    I am still on the fence between the SIA-030 and the Humboldt, slight advantage for the SIA-030 at the moment.
    Yes i am for now but for my speakers i will need to go monoblocks at some point when funds permit.
    The difference between Mk1 and Mk2 is only 50w class A/B more for the Mk2 version if i recall.
    If you can afford the SIA-030 or the Humboldt you will be happy with either one of them, both very good choice.
    Since i already own the SIA-025 i'm going to skip the Humboldt and get the Heisenbergs when possible.
    I'm trying to figure out if i can find a better linestage than the Stern in the same price range and smaller form factor.
    Speaker System : Thiel CS 3.7 - Vitus SIA-025 Mk2 - Aqua Acoustics LinQ - Aqua Acoustics Formula xHD Rev 2 - Fanless Intel NUC + Sbooster Mkll - Farad Super 3 - Paul Pang Quad Switch - Pink Faun LAN cables - Cardas Clear Beyond IC and SC - Furutech DSP 4.1 Power cables - Audioquest Niagara 3000 Power Conditioner - Woodlink Rack - Roon Rock - Qobuz & Tidal.

    Headphone Rig : Hifiman HE-1000SE - Kennerton Ondin Mk2 - Chord Hugo 2 - Smartphone - Qobuz & Tidal.

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