[draytonklammer]

Maybe consider the Chord TT2 and have the best (or very close) of both - it will drive headphones and speakers, and is about in line with the C47, and you could sell Dave and Emotive (which is likely limiting you with speakers anyway).

I've been looking at bit into the Chord TT2, but at that point I might as well either commit to the full McIntosh setup, or keep the Dave and find a good power amplifier or mono power amplifiers for these. Just trying to think of ways not to cost myself much more financially, which is why selling the Dave came up to fund a more balanced speaker system.

Maybe I'll put the money I get from selling the Abyss eventually into a nice amplifier instead.

This is all around a year off still anyways, but I like to make sure I have a plan.

 

[koven]

Why McIntosh? They look great and sound fine but certainly not in the bang for buck camp if value is a priority for you..

 

[draytonklammer]

Why McIntosh? They look great and sound fine but certainly not in the bang for buck camp if value is a priority for you..

I'm very much open to suggestions. I know some people have said I should look into tubes as well.

I believe part of it is the McIntosh Autoformer design.
I was looking at the McIntosh MC302 (which can be had for about $3800) and being able to support over 300W per channel at any major impedance (I know these Focals can often hit 2 ohms, or jump much higher) seems rather important.

I also figured the extra headroom the MC302 would give me, along with the name (and subsequent resale value if it ever came down to it) could be worthwhile.

Part of the reason I came here, was just in case I could find some extra suggestions.

 

[koven]

I'm very much open to suggestions. I know some people have said I should look into tubes as well.

I believe part of it is the McIntosh Autoformer design.
I was looking at the McIntosh MC302 (which can be had for about $3800) and being able to support over 300W per channel at any major impedance (I know these Focals can often hit 2 ohms, or jump much higher) seems rather important.

I also figured the extra headroom the MC302 would give me, along with the name (and subsequent resale value if it ever came down to it) could be worthwhile.

Part of the reason I came here, was just in case I could find some extra suggestions.

Looks aside and in same tier, I like Classe sound over McIntosh. But of course it comes down to the speaker pairing. Have not heard Focal Aria but with B&W I prefer Classe, despite B&W being popularly paired w/ McIntosh. A bit cheaper power options include Bryston, Krell, Parasound, etc. For tubes you cannot go wrong w/ Luxman, Audio Research, BAT, etc. I suggest some research or posts on speaker forums like Audiocircle or Audiogon, since this is predominately a headphone community.

 

[GryphonGuy]

Looks aside and in same tier, I like Classe sound over McIntosh. But of course it comes down to the speaker pairing. Have not heard Focal Aria but with B&W I prefer Classe, despite B&W being popularly paired w/ McIntosh. A bit cheaper power options include Bryston, Krell, Parasound, etc. For tubes you cannot go wrong w/ Luxman, Audio Research, BAT, etc. I suggest some research or posts on speaker forums like Audiocircle or Audiogon, since this is predominately a headphone community.

When fed lots of current, my B&W 802 diamond speakers sing with verve, strength, solidity and delicacy. Hence Gryphon class A amps and Krell class A amps are my favourites with B&W juice-hungry speakers.

GG

 

[pjk1]

I own a ton of McIntosh gear including the headphone amp. Let me just say there is no comparison the Dave blows it away. I have not heard the TT2 yet but already a fan of Chord!

 

[pjk1]

Looks aside and in same tier, I like Classe sound over McIntosh. But of course it comes down to the speaker pairing. Have not heard Focal Aria but with B&W I prefer Classe, despite B&W being popularly paired w/ McIntosh. A bit cheaper power options include Bryston, Krell, Parasound, etc. For tubes you cannot go wrong w/ Luxman, Audio Research, BAT, etc. I suggest some research or posts on speaker forums like Audiocircle or Audiogon, since this is predominately a headphone community.

Using Classe CA-5300 to power my B&W 802 D2 the sound is breath taking. I use it in a theater setup as well as listening room. It's definitely not the best looking amp but when I auditioned other comparable amps the pairing seemed like a match made in heaven. I have it hidden away in a cabinet so just the speakers are showing which are a piece of art themselves.

I have a McIntosh setup for "looks" in my library which is just a dedicated listening room. More for show but I prefer Classe sound.

 

[x RELIC x]

I'm very much open to suggestions.

Maybe the DX amp from Rob will show up this year....

 

[Deftone]

Antipodes audio DX running roon is excellent.

#Antipodesquad

 

[jlbrach]

When fed lots of current, my B&W 802 diamond speakers sing with verve, strength, solidity and delicacy. Hence Gryphon class A amps and Krell class A amps are my favourites with B&W juice-hungry speakers.

GG

the mcintosh 452 is great with the 802sd's

 

[Hoegaardener70]

Not yet. I need to spend the night listening to my Hugo 2 and convincing myself not to spend the money

I do think I’ll consider getting one in the next 6 months. It also gave me the urge to really give the Hugo TT2 a solid look. I’ll also have to read up on MScaler + HugoTT2 combo too.

I have the Hugo2, and together with a great amp (I use the ifi Pro iCan) you can beat most systems. Feel the chord amp section (even on the Dave) is not on par with their DACs, and that way you get the best of both worlds for a reasonable price

 

[miketlse]

Maybe the DX amp from Rob will show up this year....

I thought that JF posted that they are still years away.

 

[x RELIC x]

I thought that JF posted that they are still years away.

I’m quite aware of these digital Amps that Rob has been working on for many years. I can confirm that we are at least several years away, in producing any Amplifier comparable to the power performance of our new Etude Amplifier. These are just hitting the dealers in the coming weeks if your looking for a truly amazing amp I’d get a demo lined if you can.

Sure, and I forgot about the Etude! Then again I did say maybe (one can hope).

So, add the Etude to the list of potential amps if one is looking for an external 150W power amp solution for speakers.

 

[ecwl]

I thought that JF posted that they are still years away.

I suspect both statements are true. If you parse John Franks words, he said no power pulse array amp comparable to the power performance of Etude. Hugo TT2 is 8-18W per channel into 8 ohms and there’s no stats available for 4 ohms or 2 ohms. Etude is 75W into 8 ohms and 150W into 4 ohms.
But Rob Watts recently said he is busy working on other projects instead of his ADC Davina. The only readily available project would be his power pulse array amplifier since it’s already starting to be used in TT2. So my guess is that maybe Rob Watts is working on an amplifier that can do 30W into 8 ohms? That said, I recall in the past Rob Watts is convinced that he can get the technology working up to 1000W or something like that. But as always, I’m sure there’s theory and then there’s the end product.
I think looking back at the Head-Fi Forums, Chord DAVE (and now DAVINA) took longer than expected to be developed while Blu2/M-Scaler took less time than expected. But even if the new power pulse array amplifier is announced in May, Chord history suggests they won’t ship until November and most customers won’t get theirs until February 2020.
So I’m enjoying my Etude amplifier with speakers tremendously. The new Hi-Fi+ February 2019 is coming out and downloadable on the Chord website. And I’ve been watching my volume setting to see how much wattage I really need. If and when Rob Watts’ power pulse array amplifiers come out, I’ll evaluate at that time whether it’s a product I’m interested in.

 

[Triode User]

I suspect both statements are true. If you parse John Franks words, he said no power pulse array amp comparable to the power performance of Etude. Hugo TT2 is 8-18W per channel into 8 ohms and there’s no stats available for 4 ohms or 2 ohms. Etude is 75W into 8 ohms and 150W into 4 ohms.
But Rob Watts recently said he is busy working on other projects instead of his ADC Davina. The only readily available project would be his power pulse array amplifier since it’s already starting to be used in TT2. So my guess is that maybe Rob Watts is working on an amplifier that can do 30W into 8 ohms? That said, I recall in the past Rob Watts is convinced that he can get the technology working up to 1000W or something like that. But as always, I’m sure there’s theory and then there’s the end product.
I think looking back at the Head-Fi Forums, Chord DAVE (and now DAVINA) took longer than expected to be developed while Blu2/M-Scaler took less time than expected. But even if the new power pulse array amplifier is announced in May, Chord history suggests they won’t ship until November and most customers won’t get theirs until February 2020.
So I’m enjoying my Etude amplifier with speakers tremendously. The new Hi-Fi+ February 2019 is coming out and downloadable on the Chord website. And I’ve been watching my volume setting to see how much wattage I really need. If and when Rob Watts’ power pulse array amplifiers come out, I’ll evaluate at that time whether it’s a product I’m interested in.

It is good to hear from an enthusiastic etude owner. I look forward to reading the review you mention.

As to what Rob is working on, who knows apart from him. Personally I suspect that the stand alone digital amp is a big project to try and get done even within the timescale you mention.

Having recently heard a TT2 driving my spendor speakers however I would be very happy to have a Dave version of TT2 with just a bit more power. Whether it is worth doing that as a project until there are other reasons to update Dave is another matter.

The thing about Rob is that he does stuff none of the rest of us can dream up or have the nouse to do it. Having tried to second guess him before I’m now inclined just to wait and see.