heihei
New member
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!
Audionet STERN & HEISENBERG
- Thread starter SoundRebels
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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!
u-sound
Active member
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.
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.
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)??
u-sound
Active member
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.
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.
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...
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...
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.
u-sound
Active member
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.
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.
u-sound
Active member
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.
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.
u-sound
Active member
thx yes, going to report, really thinking about it a lot myself. got to tell it to my wife somehow as well...
u-sound
Active member
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.
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.
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.