[elviscaprice]

Okay, it's been a year with the Chord Hugo and one happy one at that.  Thanks Chord.  Like many here I live on the go a lot and need audio gear to give me the biggest bang for my buck in the smallest package possible.  Achieved, PC/labtop, JRiver => Hugo => Audeze X.   Great system for great sound.
But now I would like to move into creating a room (very small, 16X8X15) into a listening audiophile room when at home.  Nothing will change as far as PC => Hugo, but now I want some decent speakers to listen to without headphones.  I know this is going backwards, but what speakers should I be looking at?  Active vs. Passive.  Really space is no concern to me within my room dimensions.  So I'm leaning toward passive.  I've always wanted some Maggies.  So I'm thinking of going with some Magnepan MMG's, to start out with and 2 mono block Outlaw amps model 2200, 300 watts @ 4ohms.  Are these a good match with the Hugo? 
I can always upgrade the Magnepans.  2K budget which can be stretched, but at this point I think is a reasonable starting point.  Also I may add some bass traps and of course decent interconnects and cable.  I'm open to suggestions/opinions from other Hugo owners.
   Thanks

 

[Sonic77]

  I would love to be able to do it but its impossible - the FPGA in Dave is enormous and expensive. It dissipates 5W against Hugo's 0.8W - Chord have machined a heat-sink that holds the display and dissipates the FPGA power. To get all those taps I use all of the available capacity within this FPGA - it has 166 DSP cores running in parallel just to do the WTA filtering - in fact its amazing in that it only dissipates 5W.
 
Rob  

Will DAVE be on display at T.H.E. Show in Los Angeles at the end of May? I will be at that show at the end of the month and I am hoping that I would be able to see and hear it. I am planning on buying it and am budgeting and saving and figuring out how best to do that, but of course for that kind of money, I want to hear it in person first, I'm sure you understand. Thanks for bring an excellent product to market.

 

[paulchiu]

  Okay, it's been a year with the Chord Hugo and one happy one at that.  Thanks Chord.  Like many here I live on the go a lot and need audio gear to give me the biggest bang for my buck in the smallest package possible.  Achieved, PC/labtop, JRiver => Hugo => Audeze X.   Great system for great sound.
But now I would like to move into creating a room (very small, 16X8X15) into a listening audiophile room when at home.  Nothing will change as far as PC => Hugo, but now I want some decent speakers to listen to without headphones.  I know this is going backwards, but what speakers should I be looking at?  Active vs. Passive.  Really space is no concern to me within my room dimensions.  So I'm leaning toward passive.  I've always wanted some Maggies.  So I'm thinking of going with some Magnepan MMG's, to start out with and 2 mono block Outlaw amps model 2200, 300 watts @ 4ohms.  Are these a good match with the Hugo? 
I can always upgrade the Magnepans.  2K budget which can be stretched, but at this point I think is a reasonable starting point.  Also I may add some bass traps and of course decent interconnects and cable.  I'm open to suggestions/opinions from other Hugo owners.
   Thanks

 
I have tried various speakers in my office smaller than that.  PSB Imagine Mini, KEF LS50 and Harbeth P3ESR
 
The KEF sounds great with the Hugo.

 

[elviscaprice]

   
I have tried various speakers in my office smaller than that.  PSB Imagine Mini, KEF LS50 and Harbeth P3ESR
 
The KEF sounds great with the Hugo.

Thanks paul, for your response.  I have considered the KEF LS50's, but my big concern is that I would only be replicating the Audeze X's I have for headphones.  I'm worried that the Hugo's neutrality and exactness would carry over to the KEF's in a way that would amplify the Hugo to an extreme.  Maybe a little coloring, very subtle at that, would give me another sound to hear?
Do you ever find yourself tiring from the Hugo/KEF combo?  Of course bad recordings are no help.

 

[paulchiu]

 
Thanks paul, for your response.  I have considered the KEF LS50's, but my big concern is that I would only be replicating the Audeze X's I have for headphones.  I'm worried that the Hugo's neutrality and exactness would carry over to the KEF's in a way that would amplify the Hugo to an extreme.  Maybe a little coloring, very subtle at that, would give me another sound to hear?
Do you ever find yourself tiring from the Hugo/KEF combo?  Of course bad recordings are no help.

 
let's put it this way.  My LCD3 really sings with the Hugo playing Jazz at the Pawnshop, placing that beautiful alto saxophone and vibes somewhere slightly inches off my left ear and inches above my right ear.  With terrific bar sounds in between.  The bass is felt behind my cheeks.
 
I can live with this experience forever but the LCD3 begins to announce itself after 30 minutes and gets tighter from there.
 
The KEF LS50 really replicate the sounds if the LCD3 well.  I still can hear those headphone details but now the bar is in front of me with the sax somewhere i can locate and the audience all around.  At loud enough speaker volume, the near field office experience in better than any headphone available to me, including the SR009.
 
With the right tube amp in the mix, i really recommend you find a salon and have an audition.  I did not, since the price of the LS50 was so reasonable. I bought a pair just based on reviews from Stereeophile.

 

[sp3llv3xit]

Have you had any experience sending your Hugo back for phono / RCA jack repair?  
 
How long did it take Chord to repair and send it back to you?


Mine's been out for 3 weeks already...

 

[agooh]

   
I have tried various speakers in my office smaller than that.  PSB Imagine Mini, KEF LS50 and Harbeth P3ESR
 
The KEF sounds great with the Hugo.

 
 

 
Thanks paul, for your response.  I have considered the KEF LS50's, but my big concern is that I would only be replicating the Audeze X's I have for headphones.  I'm worried that the Hugo's neutrality and exactness would carry over to the KEF's in a way that would amplify the Hugo to an extreme.  Maybe a little coloring, very subtle at that, would give me another sound to hear?
Do you ever find yourself tiring from the Hugo/KEF combo?  Of course bad recordings are no help.

I have the same experience before , I search alot and find the best speakers for the money . it also can compete against any other speakers at any price , now I have them and they replace my focal speakers : Emerald Physics ep 2.3 simply stunning for the price. huge soundstage , very good bass, mids so good you can hear the voice very clearly and highs improved from the old model to the highest level . I love them alot and work perfectly with Hugo as a dac and pass labs as an amp .
links for more info  : http://www.emeraldphysics.com/
here is a review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6KdzSIUjII....but for the old model ,the new one is way better .
also this guy can help you .He listen to the most high end speakers his channel in youtube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8mwfiB_0vQtdPPbBJv0EMQ

 

[OK-Guy]

 
Thanks paul, for your response.  I have considered the KEF LS50's, but my big concern is that I would only be replicating the Audeze X's I have for headphones.  I'm worried that the Hugo's neutrality and exactness would carry over to the KEF's in a way that would amplify the Hugo to an extreme.  Maybe a little coloring, very subtle at that, would give me another sound to hear?
Do you ever find yourself tiring from the Hugo/KEF combo?  Of course bad recordings are no help.

 
I know I might get slammed over this but when I demo'ed KEF's LS50 I actually preferred their R300's, cost about 20% more but I felt they had more depth & low-end grunt, they've just released the Reference-1 stand-mount, its expensive... love to hear those Harbeth's. 
 
KEF link: http://www.kef.com/html/gb/showroom/hi-fi_series/THE_REFERENCE/overview/#

 

[OK-Guy]

 

Have you had any experience sending your Hugo back for phono / RCA jack repair?  
 
How long did it take Chord to repair and send it back to you?


Mine's been out for 3 weeks already...

 
is your repair being dealt via a Chord Dealer?... if so I would contact the Dealer in the first instance, hth.
 
btw... things get turned around quite quickly at Chord. 

 

[sp3llv3xit]

Thanks!

 

[Rob Watts]

  Rob, I guess that the digital section in Dave is much more powerful than Hugo... is the analogue section also much more powerful?
Am very pleased to see the Dave launch and also very curious about it

Yes - I will be posting something about the technology behind Dave in Head-Fi over the next few months.
 
Probably the most unusual aspect is the OP stage which is a second order analogue noise shaper - one of the benefits of this is when you load the output with 33 ohm you get a negligible change in distortion. Secondly there is no increasing HF distortion. But the approach still means that like Hugo there is still only one global feedback path, with 2 resistors and two capacitors in the signal path.
 
Rob 

 

[Kakki]

  Yes - I will be posting something about the technology behind Dave in Head-Fi over the next few months.
 
Probably the most unusual aspect is the OP stage which is a second order analogue noise shaper - one of the benefits of this is when you load the output with 33 ohm you get a negligible change in distortion. Secondly there is no increasing HF distortion. But the approach still means that like Hugo there is still only one global feedback path, with 2 resistors and two capacitors in the signal path.
 
Rob

Thank you Rob, for your reply. So the OP stage is kept minimized for the best transparency.
I'm looking forward to hearing your further information and also the day I can hear the real Dave sound!

 

[JaZZ]

A note to the HD USB connection: After installing the WASAPI driver on Foobar2000 and corresponding output settings the previously experienced interferences have disappeared.

 

[paulchiu]

   
I know I might get slammed over this but when I demo'ed KEF's LS50 I actually preferred their R300's, cost about 20% more but I felt they had more depth & low-end grunt, they've just released the Reference-1 stand-mount, its expensive... love to hear those Harbeth's. 
 
KEF link: http://www.kef.com/html/gb/showroom/hi-fi_series/THE_REFERENCE/overview/#

 
No slamming.  I listened to those as well as up to the Blade (yeah, $$$$, that one) and they were both better than the LS50.  But with my current set of equipment, the Blade was overkill and the Reference would not have sounded all that different.  I say this even with a Nagra HD DAC and a couple of Cary 300B amps.  The LS50 is also very easy to position.  Even works on my office table as field monitors.

 

[uzi2]

   
No slamming.  I listened to those as well as up to the Blade (yeah, $$$$, that one) and they were both better than the LS50.  But with my current set of equipment, the Blade was overkill and the Reference would not have sounded all that different.  I say this even with a Nagra HD DAC and a couple of Cary 300B amps.  The LS50 is also very easy to position.  Even works on my office table as field monitors.

The positioning is a good point. KEF R series usually have a tuned bass port, which means they need to be a good distance from any surrounding walls. The LS50's , I think are totally enclosed, so positioning within the room is less critical.