Finally Pulled the trigger

veindoc

veindoc

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Joined
Apr 5, 2013
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665
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Northern California outside SF
After almost 6 months of trying to complete a proper pairing for my TAD CR-1 speakers and XP-20 pre, I finally pulled the trigger and made my final choices of amp and DAC. I am proud I was patient, work thru this process(which often seemed like Paralysis thru Analysis). The lists of what came thru my system included the following amps in no particular order. Musical Fidelity(My OLd F-15, Class A 100watts/ channel), TAD 2500, Rowland 625 & 525, Ayre VX-R, and Vx-5, Aesthetix hybrid, Pass x250, Vitus rs100, Merrill Veritas, Krell 402e, Nagra MSA, Lindemann 855, and Bryston 4bsst. The Zanden was just too friggin high and large but I was curious if the kt-120 based tube amp could bring out the best from my speakers. Dacs for my primarily network player based listening include AMR, Rowland Aeris, Berkeley, Meitner MA-1 and MSB ANalog dac. Many combos worked well but after 2-3 days flaws like it only sounds good really loud, empty bass, shrillness, not enough power, narrow soundstage, information loss at lower volumns, or ran like a space heater helped me to zoom in on my final choices, which I realize are totally relative and subjective. Ironically at the last minute a Ch Precision A1 almost came my way, but enough is enough and I really do know what I like. Items will arrive next week. I did move amp off desk area and a new rack will probably make me banish my desk form my study listening room. Wall panels and bass traps after room analysis arrive over the next 2-4 weeks. I can't stress how valuable room treatments were in my tight space. Echo, 1st reflections off near side walls were definitely leading to negative attributes I was blaming on speakers or amps. Really can't thank Sanjay(of Ciamara) for his patience, knowledge and gentle guidance in this process. Just a prince of a fellow. ALso want to thank Shark Standouts- Mike, Joe, and Jeff for all their assistance and fellowship. Lastly I want to thank my wife and UPS and FedEx for lugging all this stuff back and forth.

And the winners are: Viola Labs Symphony and Ayre QB-9 DSD ---runner ups were Lindemann 858 and Meitner MA-1.
The Symphony did it all-great power and finesse, at even low volumns. Class A/B does not run hot and tremendous imaging and soundstage. The Ayre upgrade is much more than just the addition of DSD. It is as good as anything even though it is usb only. Both sound great and seem to make crappy recordings sound better and great recordings sound sublime. FWIW the Aeris DAC was very very impressive on redbook cds. It was the only dac that used some type of synchronous interface as opposed to all these other dacs.
Good night all. Totally stoked, can't wait.

Nick
 
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Very nice Nick. Congratulations.
 
Congrats, Nick! Loved watching your amp journey unfold. I hope to visit Sanjay and listen to a similar combination some time very soon myself.

Congrats again!
 
Possible but , not likely as I keep my watt puppies for over 15 years. But history doesn't always repeat itself. I will do my best to focus on the enjoyment of the here and now and a little less on what's next. At least until both my daughters graduate collage. But I really enjoyed the journey this time.

Nick
 
Congrats Nick! You were in an unusual, but fortunate position to be able to audition all that stuff on your home and on your speakers.

Now, can you speak specifically to what the amps (and DAC) did to the lively tweeter of the CR-1's? Does the Viola control it best? What specifically made you pick the Viola over everything else?

Congrats again!
 
Mike said:
Congrats Nick! You were in an unusual, but fortunate position to be able to audition all that stuff on your home and on your speakers.

Now, can you speak specifically to what the amps (and DAC) did to the lively tweeter of the CR-1's? Does the Viola control it best? What specifically made you pick the Viola over everything else?

Congrats again!
Click to expand...

+1
 
Very nice update, that's a whole bunch of amp contenders. Congrats on the Viola, I've read lots of positive reviews.

John
 
Hey Mike and Joe, not exactly sure how it does this. I do not know if the integral choke filter in the power supply is unique to Viola or is behind many of the desirable qualities I experienced. I have asked Sanjay at Ciamara for some help with your query. I also noticed that with and with ac conditioners or power cords, no real improvement, I just plugged it into my dedicated 20amp furetech receptacle and away we go. I think Ayre has some built in power conditioners I wonder if Viola has something built in that assists in this regard. I forgot to mention I also am excited to mess around with the 2 sets of binding posts to see its affect on biwiring my speakers. Joe seems to have like this even with less expensive speaker cables. I also likedthat Viola doesn't bring out a new version or Mark 2,3 or 4 of a great design. They told me if better parts come out for a particular product they will incorporate it in future builds. They don't try to rewrite the wheel or design if they think it already does a really great job. To me many mark 2 or 3 version r a PR statement to pump up business but not a huge design improvement. I think that's why I also like Hansen's thoughts on his new Ayre dac with dsd. It is essential almost an entirely new design not just a quick addition of dsd capability. He knew after several years there was room for improvement and that is why this new version came out. Nice blog about this on Computeraudiophile where he is a member. I will forward any additional info soon hopefully.

Nick
 
Just a quick post from Sanjay as he will pose question to Viola design team. His initial response as to why the Symphony sounds so sweet may relate to the way the amp is biased and the way the power transformer and input choke are utilized. Although a class AB design, it is class A at a low volumes and when you drive it harder it rolls to AB with greater efficiency.
Nick
 
Congrats.

I had the opportunity to play with the Ayre QB-9 DSD last week at home and it really is 100% better than the Ayre QB-9 it replaces and it was a really really good unit. I had them side by side. I was amazed at the difference. I agree, it is not a DSD addition, it is a whole new beast.

Enjoy your new additions.
 
I was looking at the 2 chassis Viola amp and reading the Tone Audio review. It seems like the fan noise was fairly obtrusive at low listening levels. It's too bad. I'd like to hear the Symphony amp.
 
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