[AmberOzL]

 
 
he's pulling the poor student malarkey... you wait in a couple of years he'll have the Reference system from Chord with some Wilson Benesch speakers, grrrrr .

lol

in a few years if I can get Hugo + X5 + Extra capacity + needed cables, I will be happy chap. That's more then enough for me.

 

[daveyston23]

anybody have an idea how much the Hugo will cost in Australia? Actually, anybody know if its going to be released down under?

 

[greenmac]

Hugo should arrive in the first week of Feb. I'll let you know how it sounds with AK120 (via optical), UM Miracles and TH900s. I'm hoping it will sound even better than those do with the very good-sounding Meier Quickstep. I'll be disappointed if it doesn't!

Nice one especially since I also have the UM Miracles

Interested to see how they all look together too

Cheers

 

[tonyl59]

Nice one especially since I also have the UM Miracles

Interested to see how they all look together too

Cheers

Not at all sure how they'll "fit" together. There's no obvious way jumping out at the moment. I don't think the AK will strap to the Hugo with the six supplied straps. Even if it did, either the AK or the Hugo would be upside down. Oh well, where there's a will....
I'll post some pics when I've worked it out!

 

[jamato8]

Will Chord offer any upgrade if they find that there is further improvement to be made rather than a II?

 

[OK-Guy]

Jamato... I'm sure they'll update things if it's just firmware... a different version from Chord normally means better components etc.
 
Is there a hi-fi dealer at the North-Pole where you can get a demo?... think this is right up your street, btw looking forward to your views on the iBasso DX90 when it's out.

 

[nOtEcH]

 
he's pulling the poor student malarkey... you wait in a couple of years he'll have the Reference system from Chord with some Wilson Benesch speakers, grrrrr . :wink_face:

Hehe.. I've been there myself, and he also remind me of how I did it at the time.. wanted the best, and saved up. I started with the CD's, then later a CD player that I could use some poor headphones with.. then eventually I bought an amplifier, and finally some speakers.. and from there on out.. a lot of upgrades in sense of audio quality, not price.. found out eventually that the a bigger price tag did not always ment better sound, even though it sometimes was a corelation.

lol :happy_face1: in a few years if I can get Hugo + X5 + Extra capacity + needed cables, I will be happy chap. That's more then enough for me.

You will definetly be a happy man with the setup above.. but don't kid yourself.. you will eventually fall of the wagon again, as we all do..

 

[nOtEcH]

Not at all sure how they'll "fit" together. There's no obvious way jumping out at the moment. I don't think the AK will strap to the Hugo with the six supplied straps. Even if it did, either the AK or the Hugo would be upside down. Oh well, where there's a will....
I'll post some pics when I've worked it out!

I've been thinking about the same problem.. the volume control is not perfectly placed for stacking..
So I guess I will put the source under the Hugo and flip it, and then tilt it for volume adjustments when using cables.

But if Bluetooth is just as good with 16/44.1 as it will be with a cable (coax, toslink or usb) I guess that I will use Bluetooth a lot and have the source where it suits me at any given time, as my main library is in redbook quality.

But then again.. I'll guess that I will find out eventually what I will do.. and I am soo looking forward to it!

 

[AmberOzL]

You will definetly be a happy man with the setup above.. but don't kid yourself.. you will eventually fall of the wagon again, as we all do..

I probably would like to but I am not sure whether the life will let me do

You know there is a relatively large world outside of our ciems

and we have things to do, responsibilities etc. Unfortunately, money plays huge factor, so I won't be spending every penny I earned on ciems and dac/amps. My idea is collect a rig, a game changer one, then stay with it long time, don't need upgrade every other 6 months.
 
That's why I took SE5way, that's why I will get Hugo.

 

[tricka]

  anybody have an idea how much the Hugo will cost in Australia? Actually, anybody know if its going to be released down under?

 
I was quoted A$2400 by Sydney Hi Fi, release date being "sometime in February". I ordered one from Custom Cable in the UK - worked out at A$1900 shipped + any import duties it picks up (if any).
 
Shipping expected first week of February.
 
Cheers

 

[daveyston23]

   
I was quoted A$2400 by Sydney Hi Fi, release date being "sometime in February". I ordered one from Custom Cable in the UK - worked out at A$1900 shipped + any import duties it picks up (if any).
 
Shipping expected first week of February.
 
Cheers

 
Thanks very much for that. It seems like you got a great deal. Congratulations! 

 

[tricka]

   
Thanks very much for that. It seems like you got a great deal. Congratulations! 

 
Pleasure.
 
Anyone can order from Custom Cable - they ship to Australia (as do Analogue Seduction).
 
I was less concerned with the price (although $500 or @20% is significant). I was more concerned with getting my hands on it sooner than it would be available here - love being an early adopter . In my experience when a dealer says "sometime in February" it usually means March...
 
Cheers
 
Andrew

 

[daveyston23]

   
Pleasure.
 
Anyone can order from Custom Cable - they ship to Australia (as do Analogue Seduction).
 
I was less concerned with the price (although $500 or @20% is significant). I was more concerned with getting my hands on it sooner than it would be available here - love being an early adopter . In my experience when a dealer says "sometime in February" it usually means March...
 
Cheers
 
Andrew

 
It's awesome to know we can order the Hugo directly from the UK. I'll definitely look into it once I manage to save a few more pennies. 
 
Feel free to share your thoughts once you get a hold of this handsome little machine 

 

 

[tricka]

  Feel free to share your thoughts once you get a hold of this handsome little machine 

 

 
I'm not too good with the audiophile lingo - I just know if I like something or not

.
 
I don't have any high end cans at the moment or amplifiers, so my scribblings may be of limited use. I should be able (hope?) to determine fidelity through my trusty  (and much battered and bruised) MDR 7506's.
 
I also plan to put the Chord into my hi fi system, which while modest in comparison to some, resolves well enough to readily determine component change. I have friends with some serious hi fi systems, and plan on taking the Chord around to their homes to see how it fairs cf to various dacs they have (AMR, MSB, dCS etc). But not before it is run in....
 
BTW I favour analogue (LP's) as a medium  so will be interested to see if the Chord can get close to analogue playback.
 
FWIW I'll also be relying on contributors here to see how the Chord drives higher end cans, as my access to higher end cans is restricted in Sydney. I can go audition the Hugo & HD 800's at Sydney Hi Fi, but that involves a Saturday morning, which is not always easy. And dealing with sales types, a chore, no matter how pleasant they may be.
 
I am borrowing a pair of LCD 2.2's, which I understand are basically the same thing as the LCD 3's, the latter which I hope to audition with the Chord. I have previously owned the 2.1's and liked them very much: much more than the various HD6xx's I have owned over the years (although, at their time, they were SOTA).
 
So am happy to contribute my thoughts (such as they may be) on the Hugo & 2.2 combo, if that would assist. Having said that, I expect I will burn in the Chord for a couple weeks before I listen too seriously and would expect other contributors here, who have much more experience in head fi than I, to post their thoughts before me.
 
I do have access to various friend's head amps, a Violectric, Conductor (which also has a dac on board I understand), Yamamoto, Graham Slee Ultra Linear etc, to compare, if I feel the need, but not sure where that would get me since I have bought the Hugo.
 
The main attraction to me of the Hugo, apart from Chord quality and sound, is the form factor, portability and almost limitless file handling (I have around 1TB of SACD rips into DSD). It should be great to throw in the bag with a pair of IEMs and my MBA when I am away with work, or even at work for that matter.
 
(A quick note on container types - to me it matters little if a file is in DSD or PCM, what matters to me is how the recording has been handled along the way. For fun I compared  native DSD with a Saracon converted 24/88, and could not discern any difference through the same converters (Mytek DSD and MPD) - the dis-advanatage of DSD are the huge file sizes.)
Cheers
Andrew

 

[daveyston23]

   
I'm not too good with the audiophile lingo - I just know if I like something or not

.
 
I don't have any high end cans at the moment or amplifiers, so my scribblings may be of limited use. I should be able (hope?) to determine fidelity through my trusty  (and much battered and bruised) MDR 7506's.
 
I also plan to put the Chord into my hi fi system, which while modest in comparison to some, resolves well enough to readily determine component change. I have friends with some serious hi fi systems, and plan on taking the Chord around to their homes to see how it fairs cf to various dacs they have (AMR, MSB, dCS etc). But not before it is run in....
 
BTW I favour analogue (LP's) as a medium  so will be interested to see if the Chord can get close to analogue playback.
 
FWIW I'll also be relying on contributors here to see how the Chord drives higher end cans, as my access to higher end cans is restricted in Sydney. I can go audition the Hugo & HD 800's at Sydney Hi Fi, but that involves a Saturday morning, which is not always easy. And dealing with sales types, a chore, no matter how pleasant they may be.
 
I am borrowing a pair of LCD 2.2's, which I understand are basically the same thing as the LCD 3's, which I hope to audition with the Chord. I have previously owned the 2.1's and liked them very much: much more than the various HD6xx's I have owned over the years (although, at their time, they were SOTA).
 
So am happy to contribute my thoughts (such as they may be) on the Hugo & 2.2 combo, if that would assist. Having said that, I expect I will burn in the Chord for a couple weeks before I listen too seriously and would expect other contributors here, who have much more experience in head fi than I, to post their thoughts before me.
 
I do have access to various friend's head amps, a Violectric, Conductor (which also has a dac on board I understand), Yamamoto, Graham Slee Ultra Linear etc, to compare, if I feel the need, but not sure where that would get me since I have bought the Hugo.
 
The main attraction to me of the Hugo, apart from Chord quality and sound, is the form factor, portability and almost limitless file handling (I have around 1TB of SACD rips into DSD). It should be great to throw in the bag with a pair of IEMs and my MBA when I am away with work, or even at work for that matter.
 
 
 
Cheers
Andrew

 
I also love the portability of the Hugo and am really interested in how it sounds with IEMs. I can also see myself carrying the Hugo, Macbook, and IEMs on the go. So I would certainly be interested in your impressions. I'm sure others would be as well, especially those numerous LCD 2.2 owners. But no pressure at all mate. Feel free to share only if you feel like it