[DJJEZ]

Has anyone compared chord dave against holo audio may kte or wells audio cipher? Does dave beats them in sound quality? Please share your views abt sound quality comparisons. Thanks

im going down this same path very shortly. its very hard to find many people who have compared the DAVE against the holo may KTE so im going to buy both and compare myself lol

 

[VladYR]

The reviews for Etude are generally positive. One rarely sees those amps on Audiogon lately.

 

[VladYR]

Is that a serious question?

The Dave is also a great dac/headphone amp and yet people part ways with it for various reasons. What really makes no sense to me is Dave owners trading it in towards a dCS Bartok. I went to a nearby dealer once to pick up an Innuos Zenith mk3 and was told that they had a Bartok on display and it was one of the things I was considering getting to consolidate my system. 30 minutes of listening was enough to convince me that this product is ridiculously overpriced for what little it offers. A Dave with a stock cable beats it with a laptop as its source. Dave & M Scaler just blows it out of the water and then some. As an added benefit, Dave and M Scaler take up far less space.

 

[ra990]

The reviews for Etude are generally positive. One rarely sees those amps on Audiogon lately.

Doesn't look like a single Etude has been listed on head-fi since 2019. As you mention, it's rare on AG as well. I got it used from my dealer who happened to have this deal when I was actually going to purchase a TToby. Don't know where this perception of people not being happy with them and being widely available on the used market is coming from. I merely suggested that the price is more palatable used to the user looking for a good amp under $5k.

 

[mammal]

Don't know where this perception of people not being happy with them and being widely available on the used market is coming from.

I think it would be very difficult to gauge how people are happy/unhappy with certain gear, just by looking at the classifieds section. I don't think it shows the whole picture. You will see people selling their Daves, or AB-1266, but many times listing other reasons than not being happy.

 

[VladYR]

Doesn't look like a single Etude has been listed on head-fi since 2019. As you mention, it's rare on AG as well. I got it used from my dealer who happened to have this deal when I was actually going to purchase a TToby. Don't know where this perception of people not being happy with them and being widely available on the used market is coming from. I merely suggested that the price is more palatable used to the user looking for a good amp under $5k.

I saw it once on Audiogon about 2 months ago for a little under $4000. It was in pristine condition and offered by a dealer. Before buying Dave new, I kept looking it up on Audiogon and here. Reasons varied widely for the most part. Some bought it and realized that they couldn’t really afford to keep it and were selling it off at around $3000 loss. As mentioned before, some were selling it to finance a purchase of the Bartok. One dealer was selling it for a client who traded in for the before mentioned. Some didn’t really give a clear reason. I can’t really see myself parting with it given how good it sounds. At any rate, Etude isn’t really all that expensive for what it offers in such a compact footprint.

Personally, I just find it strange that someone would buy something like the Susvara but would balk at buying an amp powerful enough to drive it properly just because it’s close to the cost of the headphones. Admittedly, some headphone and amp pairings can get rather pricy and T+A comes to mind but at this level this really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. If you want to enjoy the best, it’s going to cost you.

 

[Slim1970]

I saw it once on Audiogon about 2 months ago for a little under $4000. It was in pristine condition and offered by a dealer. Before buying Dave new, I kept looking it up on Audiogon and here. Reasons varied widely for the most part. Some bought it and realized that they couldn’t really afford to keep it and were selling it off at around $3000 loss. As mentioned before, some were selling it to finance a purchase of the Bartok. One dealer was selling it for a client who traded in for the before mentioned. Some didn’t really give a clear reason. I can’t really see myself parting with it given how good it sounds. At any rate, Etude isn’t really all that expensive for what it offers in such a compact footprint.

Personally, I just find it strange that someone would buy something like the Susvara but would balk at buying an amp powerful enough to drive it properly just because it’s close to the cost of the headphones. Admittedly, some headphone and amp pairings can get rather pricy and T+A comes to mind but at this level this really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. If you want to enjoy the best, it’s going to cost you.

Well said, but I still err on the side that there are some dedicated headphone amps out here that are more than capable of pushing hard to drive headphones. Power amps aren‘t a must have or a necessity to enjoy your headphones and music listening.

 

[VladYR]

Well said, but I still err on the side that there are some dedicated headphone amps out here that are more than capable of pushing hard to headphones. Power amps aren‘t a must have or a necessity to enjoy your headphones and music listening.

Well, I’ve seen some driving the Susvara with Lynx Hilo. A very strange pairing indeed. At the time I was not impressed with its performance and didn’t really understand what was so special about it.

 

[Slim1970]

Well, I’ve seen some driving the Susvara with Lynx Hilo. A very strange pairing indeed. At the time I was not impressed with its performance and didn’t really understand what was so special about it.

Lynx Hilo wouldn't be my first choice for driving a Susvara, haha. When I get my Dave, I'll have it coupled to my Luxman P-750u or Formula S/Powerman for those instances where I need more power. Both are outstanding with the Susvara's.

 

[mammal]

When I get my Dave, I'll have it coupled to my Luxman P-750u or Formula S/Powerman for those instances where I need more power. Both are outstanding with the Susvara's.

So you have decided to go for a Dave ?

 

[Slim1970]

So you have decided to go for a Dave ?

I did, I’m using the TT2 more as a DAC than headphone amp. Since I don’t need the extra power of the TT2 I figured I might as well get the best DAC Chord has to offer. It’s going to take a minute to get here. So I’ll still be enjoying the TT2 until then.

 

[DJJEZ]

I did, I’m using the TT2 more as a DAC than headphone amp. Since I don’t need the extra power of the TT2 I figured I might as well get the best DAC Chord has to offer. It’s going to take a minute to get here. So I’ll still be enjoying the TT2 until then.

Im going for the same. 1266TC - formula S/powerman - DAVE

Would love to hear the luxman P750U as well at some point

 

[MatW]

Im going for the same. 1266TC - formula S/powerman - DAVE

Winning team!

 

[jlbrach]

arguments can be made about the best amp for the 1266 tc but certainly it is hard to do much better than the formula s/powerman

 

[TheAttorney]

arguments can be made about the best amp for the 1266 tc but certainly it is hard to do much better than the formula s/powerman

So, if you could only keep one of your amps to drive a range of headphones (excluding the untypical RAAL), which would it be and why?
Formula S+Powerman or Bakoon?