Anyone running the Hugo TT2/M Scaler stack?

JSQT

JSQT

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Joined
Dec 23, 2018
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174
Location
Salem VA
My Hugo TT2 just arrived yesterday to join my M Scaler (replacing the Qutest).

I spent most of last night trying things out in different configurations in my system. There are a lot of different ways to use this thing. It's too early to get a feel for what kind of sound it's putting out but it's definitely a whole different ballgame compared to the Qutest.

I have been running it in AMP mode overnight to run in the unit; it did sound a little sharp around the edges out of the box. I'm guessing at least 24 hours of run time should burn in whatever caps need run in or however that may work.

I do have some observations and some questions... hoping there are some users here that may be able to fill in the blanks on some of this stuff as the head-fi.org thread is all over the place.

My amp separates are the Rhumba Extreme preamp and Luxman MQ-88uSE tube amp. The 1.2 version of the preamp I own I believe IS balanced.

Is there a benefit to running balanced out of the TT2 into the preamp if I'm running single ended RCAs to the Luxman tube amp? I definitely noticed a boost in overall gain but I wonder if it's at the expense of any detail and transparency from the RCAs.

I tried running the TT2 in AMP mode directly into the MQ-88uSE (running the TT2 as a preamp) and the overall sound seemed more balanced but less holographic and engaging. Any owners here experiment with this and what were your results?

Running the TT2 into the Rhumba Extreme in DAC mode seems to improve the soundstage and balance of the sound of the TT2 to a notable degree. Running the TT2 into the preamp in AMP mode on Hi Gain has more authority and heft to the sound, but at the expense of soundstage, it definitely has a more "forward" sound.

Any owners have a preference of DAC mode over AMP mode into a preamp?

Looking forward to spending more time with the TT2 over the weekend, and I'm interested in any AudioShark members' experiences with the unit/M Scaler combo!
 
Following up... worked with this quite a bit over the weekend and in my system keeping the Rhumba Extreme preamp ALWAYS resulted in better sound quality. The only thing I did not try was powering my speakers directly from the TT2, which seemed silly and requires custom cables.

The best configuration I've settled on is keeping the TT2 in DAC mode, feeding the Rhumba Extreme via Audience Ohno RCA cables, and from there into the Luxman MQ-88uSE.

The sound is quite a bit deeper than the Qutest. It's really the first time I've ever heard music in my system that literally sounded like being on a stage or in the room with musicians. When listening to a proper rock band mix like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers it's startling that I can hear the depth between the amps - Mike Campbell's amp being further downstage right in the sound field and Petty's amp being closer stage left, etc. Truly made me feel like I was standing on stage again and could walk over to the guitar amp or stand next to the drummer and focus on the stick hitting the bell of the ride cymbal, etc.

More of everything with the TT2/M Scaler combo with an added lifelike dimension and dynamics that is hard to describe.

Endgame stuff for me, to be sure.
 
I slightly preferred using the tt2 as a dac in dac mode definetely with and without the m scaler which I found was decent but not as good vfm as the tt2.
On the other hand the DAVE is very good as a pre amp, so too the dCS Bartok I have atm.
 
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