paulchiu said:

  Added Audioquest Jitterbug and Bravo Audi to my Hugo.
Net effect is smoother sound and a sweeter vocal range.
About $100 for the two items.
 

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Nice, what tube are you using?

rearwing said:

 
Nice, what tube are you using?

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It comes with a Shu Guang 12AU7.  About $10 on EBAY.
I rolled to a Genalex Gold Lion ECC82 and the bass improved noticeably.  WIth an even smoother vocal range.
Tried a 1958 Mullard Black Sable with little improvement over the Genalex.

Interesting, I may get one for my bedside rig alongside my Hugo. Thanks.

Does anyone know if Hugo or TT output bandwidth is limited (ultrasonic frequencies have been filtered)? I've read that a Naim power amp I'm considering does not like a full bandwidth input. Thanks.

halloweenman said:

Does anyone know if Hugo or TT output bandwidth is limited (ultrasonic frequencies have been filtered)? I've read that a Naim power amp I'm considering does not like a full bandwidth input. Thanks.

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Why should they be,, its one of the key factors in music timing that you brain can in fact detect higher frequencies than 20Khz, we cant hear it but its make the timing better.

Buy a different brand instead if it cant handle wide frequency bandwidth, then it is not a good amp, and an old circuit design.

DAVE is the only Chord DAC that deliberately filters high frequencies (60KHz I think, optional in the settings somewhere). There's a strong consensus that this sounds better, on all digital audio, CD or high-res. Perhaps because the equipment further down the line gets muddled by frequencies it isn't designed to linearly reproduce.

Do Naim power amps still require filtering? I think it was at about 30Khz on the original designs. Not sure what NAP 500 and later designs prefer.

I suspect, in future, all Chord DACs will offer the filter.

beolab said:

Why should they be,, its one of the key factors in music timing that you brain can in fact detect higher frequencies than 20Khz, we cant hear it but its make the timing better.

Buy a different brand instead if it cant handle wide frequency bandwidth, then it is not a good amp, and an old circuit design.

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Naim power amps are fantastic.

But really they are designed to work with Naim preamps, as their preamps do this job of limiting the bandwidth so that if does not cause problems for their power amps. I guess this is not required with Chord DAC, but their preamps also have time alignment circuits. So they are designed to work best together.
 
I use a Hugo into a Naim 282/200 and it sounds fantastic.

But then my Hugo sounds great anywhere I have tried it, in the car, with entry level headphones, into a Yamaha Home cinema amp, all the way to the top 500 series Naim amps, the Hugo just sounds amazing !
 
As someone who loves music, I consider myself very fortunate to have lived to see (hear) the Hugo come into existence and own one.

All thanks to Rob.

halloweenman said:

Does anyone know if Hugo or TT output bandwidth is limited (ultrasonic frequencies have been filtered)? I've read that a Naim power amp I'm considering does not like a full bandwidth input. Thanks.

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No power amp or pre-amp "likes" a full bandwidth signal - not if that signal has out of band noise. Out of band noise (RF noise) makes the SQ brighter as it induces noise floor modulation - the noise pumps up and down with the wanted music signal. The brain detects this noise, and can't separate it from the wanted signal, and as noise sounds bright (hiss) it adds an edge to the perceived timbre of the instrument.
 
The technical reason why its important is down to the fact that audio electronics (whatever flavour) is non-linear at RF frequencies, and random RF noise inter-modulates with the wanted music signal, creating inter-modulation products that is within the audio bandwidth - hence noise that pumps up and down with the wanted signal. I have measured this problem countless times, so its a very real problem.
 
The brain is extremely sensitive to this issue - and when you remove noise floor modulation, it sounds a lot smoother and darker, with better instrument separation and focus. But it's easy to perceive the sound as less impressive; indeed I have seen many amp companies extolling the virtues of higher bandwidth - and its nothing to do with people hearing above 20 kHz - its just that if you do not bandwidth limit, you let in more RF noise, and this creates more noise floor modulation which then makes it sound brighter. When you hear noise floor modulation its easy to confuse it with better detail resolution, as it sounds brighter and etched - it's one reason why one has to be incredibly careful when doing listening tests, as its easy to perceive distortion as being better SQ. But of course, a bright and forced sound quality lacks musicality, and you will find it tires very easily - its one big source of listening fatigue.
 
So all of my DAC's are bandwidth limited to 50 or 60 kHz, as a DAC is a wonderful source of random RF noise. One of the very unusual things about my DAC's (from Mojo to Dave) is they do not have any measurable noise floor modulation, and I had to go to crazy lengths to do this from digital. But there is no point in having a DAC with no noise floor modulation if later on in the chain it has it due to the DAC's RF noise output, so hence the importance of bandwidth limiting.
 
A comment was raised about the HF filter with Dave; now that filter was designed to stop ADC noise shaper noise from DXD sources from creating noise floor modulation within Dave - not to stop that noise from corrupting the pre or power amp, as Dave's analogue filter will do this too.
 
So no need to worry about out of band noise.
 
Rob

Thanks Rob, excellent reply.

Dear Rob, out of interest what is the limit on the Hugo TT 50kHz or 60kHz? I read Naim preamps roll off before 40kHz - is this difference a non-issue? Thanks.

halloweenman said:

  Dear Rob, out of interest what is the limit on the Hugo TT 50kHz or 60kHz? I read Naim preamps roll off before 40kHz - is this difference a non-issue? Thanks.

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The target is to ensure no out of band noise, its not really about bandwidth per se. Dave has a noise floor that rises at a very much higher frequency than Hugo for example. Hugo is set to 50 kHz -3 dB, but using CD there is no measurable noise at all from 23 kHz to 50 kHz - so don't worry that its set to 50 kHz not 40 kHz. What is more important is noise at 1 MHz plus... 
 
Rob

analogmusic said:

Naim power amps are fantastic.


But really they are designed to work with Naim preamps, as their preamps do this job of limiting the bandwidth so that if does not cause problems for their power amps. I guess this is not required with Chord DAC, but their preamps also have time alignment circuits. So they are designed to work best together.

I use a Hugo into a Naim 282/200 and it sounds fantastic.


But then my Hugo sounds great anywhere I have tried it, in the car, with entry level headphones, into a Yamaha Home cinema amp, all the way to the top 500 series Naim amps, the Hugo just sounds amazing !

As someone who loves music, I consider myself very fortunate to have lived to see (hear) the Hugo come into existence and own one.


All thanks to Rob.

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+1 naim amps are fantastic.

Thanks again Rob, much appreciated.

Does anyone have any experience of using their Hugo to feed the Gustard H10? I really enjoy the Hugo with my HE500's, but I feel they would be happier with a little more oomph! I could be kidding myself and welcome any constructive criticism.

rearwing said:

  Does anyone have any experience of using their Hugo to feed the Gustard H10? I really enjoy the Hugo with my HE500's, but I feel they would be happier with a little more oomph! I could be kidding myself and welcome any constructive criticism.

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The HE500 is a fair bit less sensitive than my 560 (87db v 90db), but I can't think tat they would require more power than the Hugo can deliver to be driven well. The startup volume is generally sufficient for me. I'm guessing you don't need too much beyond blue, so there should be plenty in reserve.