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Their new DAC has the same Class A tube hybrid DAC and tube hybrid line stage + a new SS DAC stage - to each his own.
Since it's so highly reviewed, I'm surprised there aren't more Headfiers that have heard / tried the M24 - perhaps only 2 or 3.
I'll soon know if it's all true - I ordered one. We'll see. But... I've got to believe that all the reviews / user comments I've seen on multiple forums are true.
__________________ Sources: Marantz SA-8001 SACD/CDP - California Audio Labs Delta Transport - California Audio Labs Alpha Tube DAC - Monarchy Audio M24 Tube DAC - Monarchy Digital Upsampler - Sony Walkman EJ612CK & JD01 Portable CDPs -- Sold: Musical Fidelity XDAC v3 -- Music Hall MMF CD25 1+ CDP - California Audio Labs Sigma II Tube DAC.
Phones: Senn HD580 (new version modded & de-veiled) w RAL Senn Cryo-Silver cable - Grado RS-1 - ATH AD2000 - Denon AH D5000 w Markl Mods -- Sold: Bose Tri-Port ("the beginning”) - Senn HD280 Pro - Senn HD600 x2 (old versions) & HD650 x2 (old and new versions) w Cardas, Zu Mobius, Headphile Senn v2 Blacksilver cables - Grado SR125 - Grado SR225 - Grado SR325i - Grado GS-1000.
Accessories: Signal Cable Black Magic PCs x2 - Iron Lung Jellyfish PCs x2 - CT Cryo Silver ICs x6 - Shellbrook Silver Mini IC - RnB Audio Sky Blue Mini IC - Caig Pro Gold - Walker SST - Herbie‘s Tube Dampers.
i saw a used one with a black faceplate a few weeks ago for like 835 used for a few weeks. Judging by the zip code, new status and 10/10 rating, its straight from monarchy audio in south san francisco my old stomping grounds. I should go down there and pay them a visit, its only like 30 min away.
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Work In Progress, so far i got my power conditioner...
The M24 is heavily based on the Lite DAC50, I think, and the Lite DAC60 is an improved DAC50, and my DAC60 has had the sonicraft mods and it has a pair of $400 Amperex 6922 tubes. It sure does sound good
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pictorial for telling apart the production runs of the k240 sextett here - my feedback - team vintage
Yup. I at first was bothered that I didn't get this instead since I bought my Monarchy M24 literally 2-3 weeks before this was rolled out. Thankfully at the meet Steve Nugent of Empirical Audio fame offered a prediction about this new offering. He said the reason the Monarchy M24 sounds so good is that the # of stages/steps between the DAC -> Output are very small so the chances of pollution from whatever is less. Adding complexity with the new DAC, unless done exactly right, could quite possibly result in a perhaps slight decrease in sound quality.
Of course neither of us have heard the new DAC so perhaps this is in the wrong, but I did appreciate Steve's input as it made me less annoyed that I bought right as an upgrade rolled out So for my peace of mind I'll believe that the new DAC is at best an equal to what I have Sadly, since I also believe that the people at Monarchy know their stuff as well, the new DAC is probably pretty sweet Also I might have misunderstood/misquoted what Steve said so take whatever I just wrote with a big grain of salt!
__________________ Sources: Esoteric UX-1, Wavelength Audio Cosine DAC 5.0 with Transcendental Module/Upgraded Power Supply, EMU 0404 usb, Headamp Pico
I wish there were more detailed internal pics of the new M24, but for all we know, the "solid state" stage may just be some simple op-amp output. In small pics, I don't think I see any sizable discrete output stage in there...
The M24 is heavily based on the Lite DAC50, I think, and the Lite DAC60 is an improved DAC50, and my DAC60 has had the sonicraft mods and it has a pair of $400 Amperex 6922 tubes. It sure does sound good
Can you really tell $380 worth of improvement over a pair of JAN Philips 6922's???
__________________ Sources: Marantz SA-8001 SACD/CDP - California Audio Labs Delta Transport - California Audio Labs Alpha Tube DAC - Monarchy Audio M24 Tube DAC - Monarchy Digital Upsampler - Sony Walkman EJ612CK & JD01 Portable CDPs -- Sold: Musical Fidelity XDAC v3 -- Music Hall MMF CD25 1+ CDP - California Audio Labs Sigma II Tube DAC.
Phones: Senn HD580 (new version modded & de-veiled) w RAL Senn Cryo-Silver cable - Grado RS-1 - ATH AD2000 - Denon AH D5000 w Markl Mods -- Sold: Bose Tri-Port ("the beginning”) - Senn HD280 Pro - Senn HD600 x2 (old versions) & HD650 x2 (old and new versions) w Cardas, Zu Mobius, Headphile Senn v2 Blacksilver cables - Grado SR125 - Grado SR225 - Grado SR325i - Grado GS-1000.
Accessories: Signal Cable Black Magic PCs x2 - Iron Lung Jellyfish PCs x2 - CT Cryo Silver ICs x6 - Shellbrook Silver Mini IC - RnB Audio Sky Blue Mini IC - Caig Pro Gold - Walker SST - Herbie‘s Tube Dampers.
I doubt those Amperex tubes are really $400 unless they're pinched waist or something else incredibly rare. He probably greatly overvalued them to make the sale more tempting.
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SB3 → north star m192 → b22/Stax SRD7-pro → Koss ESP/950 or Stax Omega II
Just that... from what I've read, and learned from Monarchy directly... the NM24 has, perhaps... "just a smidgen" more detail than the M24, yet withouth the cold, analytical sound of SS.
Apparently, they offer it for those who want to compare SS sound to tube sound, and those who may want to switch back and forth for different types of music - though, even the SS DAC has a bit of a warm tube sound, especially when routed through the tube line stage to your amp.
I still like the great sound of the M24, which has lots of detail, as well as the warm, organic... almost vinyl-like... sound provided by tubes - though, I am tempted to try the NM24, just to see how it compares.
Either model - offers "World Class" sound at an incredible value (see reviews).... even moreso, since it permits the listener to listen directly to the DAC or Line Stage via an inexpensive $7 RCA to 1/4 phone jack/plug adapter cable from Radio Shack, without a separate amp - the sound is virtually as good as that out of my DV332.
__________________ Sources: Marantz SA-8001 SACD/CDP - California Audio Labs Delta Transport - California Audio Labs Alpha Tube DAC - Monarchy Audio M24 Tube DAC - Monarchy Digital Upsampler - Sony Walkman EJ612CK & JD01 Portable CDPs -- Sold: Musical Fidelity XDAC v3 -- Music Hall MMF CD25 1+ CDP - California Audio Labs Sigma II Tube DAC.
Phones: Senn HD580 (new version modded & de-veiled) w RAL Senn Cryo-Silver cable - Grado RS-1 - ATH AD2000 - Denon AH D5000 w Markl Mods -- Sold: Bose Tri-Port ("the beginning”) - Senn HD280 Pro - Senn HD600 x2 (old versions) & HD650 x2 (old and new versions) w Cardas, Zu Mobius, Headphile Senn v2 Blacksilver cables - Grado SR125 - Grado SR225 - Grado SR325i - Grado GS-1000.
Accessories: Signal Cable Black Magic PCs x2 - Iron Lung Jellyfish PCs x2 - CT Cryo Silver ICs x6 - Shellbrook Silver Mini IC - RnB Audio Sky Blue Mini IC - Caig Pro Gold - Walker SST - Herbie‘s Tube Dampers.
Phones: Senn HD580 (new version modded & de-veiled) w RAL Senn Cryo-Silver cable - Grado RS-1 - ATH AD2000 - Denon AH D5000 w Markl Mods -- Sold: Bose Tri-Port ("the beginning”) - Senn HD280 Pro - Senn HD600 x2 (old versions) & HD650 x2 (old and new versions) w Cardas, Zu Mobius, Headphile Senn v2 Blacksilver cables - Grado SR125 - Grado SR225 - Grado SR325i - Grado GS-1000.
Accessories: Signal Cable Black Magic PCs x2 - Iron Lung Jellyfish PCs x2 - CT Cryo Silver ICs x6 - Shellbrook Silver Mini IC - RnB Audio Sky Blue Mini IC - Caig Pro Gold - Walker SST - Herbie‘s Tube Dampers.
New Monarchy NM24...
Linear Mode
