[Nyvar]

@Tink97 Thanks bud.  For the compliment and the thread.  
 
 
 

What is that device in the lower left hand corner away from the rack?

WA It's a fluval 405 (4 compartment canister splist 50/50 mech & bio) that goes with Cui's tank along with a not pictured AC110.  It's a bit of overkill on a little 75g tank, but all of my tanks have heavy filtration. 
 
 
 

Isn't the CSP2 better for high imp phones, while the Taboo only is suitable for <60 ohm planars?

Yup, but I won't let that stop me from trying the HD800 with both and deciding which works for me.  That was also part of the reason for getting the combo, they can one way or another handle most head phones. 
 
 
 
 

I have to say that even unbalanced my Beyer T1's have never sounded better than driven by the Master-6. They have never had bass like this before! 

If possible, when everything is settled, could you try the Master-6 pre amp to the Taboo.

 
I know what you mean.  I got the master 6 specifically for the HE6, and it's great, I can finally hear what they're really supposed to sound like.  But thought what the hell, let's try the HD800.  The bass was incredibly full. controlled and articulate, sound stage, detail, instrument separation all went way up.  15 minutes later the Lyr was packed up to go to work.
 
I hadn't through of trying the master 6 as a pre-amp.   I like that idea a lot and will give it a try in a couple weeks once things begin to settle in, and I get used to the signatures.  
 
 
 

 

[Skylab]

Great looking amps, Nyvar!  Congrats.

 

[Llloyd]

Anyone know the current backorder?  3 months?

 

[Lord Soth]

Quote:

Anyone know the current backorder?  3 months?

If you ever place an order with Decware, they provide daily updates of all orders placed so far and still in WIP stage.
 
http://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1308588670
 
To answer your question, yes, it appears that currently 3+ months of waiting time is required.

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

I based my calculation (with Zout = 0) on Decware's 6W/channel into 8 ohms, getting exactly the same result as Chris J: 960mW.
 
I'm sure he would have been consistent and carried this (per channel) into his second calculation.
 

Hi Ai,
Yezz'r, that is per channel.
thx,
CJ

 

[SemiAudiophile]

CSP2 is here. Please excuse the crappy phone pics.
 

 

 

[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

CSP2 is here. Please excuse the crappy phone pics.
 

 

Nice.  How is the CSP2 as a stand alone Pre Amp?  anyone using it just for that purpose?  I'll be looking for a Pre amp not too far down the line.  How many line outs does it have.  I'll need a line out to an amp and another line out to a subwoofer.
 
 
 
 

 

[Nyvar]

 
 

How many line outs does it have. 

 
It has a mono out as well as L & R channels.   

 

[Audio Addict]

I am less than an hour from Decware so maybe I will have to give Steve a call and see if I could drive over sometime and bring my HE6 and T1 over to have a listen to some of his integrated amplifiers that double as headphone amps.  I have the pigtails for the speaker terminals along with the 10 ohm resistor.  Anyone else interested in seeing about setting up a date and time to audition? 

 

[Skylab]

SemiAudiophile that looks awesome!

If you want matching volume knobs, PM me.

 

[tink97]

Beautiful pictures SemiAudiophile!  I have no doubt you have a fun time listening with them. 
 
 

 

[SemiAudiophile]

 
Quote:

Nice.  How is the CSP2 as a stand alone Pre Amp?  anyone using it just for that purpose?  I'll be looking for a Pre amp not too far down the line.  How many line outs does it have.  I'll need a line out to an amp and another line out to a subwoofer.

 
It's excellent as a stand alone preamp. I haven't auditioned many preamps before, but to my ears it comes across as transparent, dynamic, and provides lots of juice for amplifying needs. Of course it was made to match the Taboo, so I'm not sure how well it will do with other power amps. But from reading the article from Decware, it seems he built his preamps to play with many amps out there. 
 
Like Nyvar said, it does have a mono output, though I'm not sure what that's used for. It also has 2 inputs, another nice touch in my book. 
 
Quote:

SemiAudiophile that looks awesome!
If you want matching volume knobs, PM me.

 
I think I'm gonna order a rosewood base down the line to match the Taboo. I know I said before that I like the gold knobs, but now that I have one, I think I prefer the wood ones better. 

 
I got to play around with it for a bit yesterday. My early impressions are that I can't really hear a difference with the LCD-2 with the CSP2 in place, but with speakers, it made a pretty big difference. Soundstage seemed more 3D like and wider versus what you may believe from the placement of the speakers. Much more dynamic in general, I can feel the bass kick and rumble coming from my sub. And lots of detail being flushed out. It's just what my system needed. 
 
I know the HD650 don't get much love anymore, but I wanted to add that it sounds amazing out of the CSP2. I swore I'd only listen to it balanced but it sounds damned good out of a good OTL amp. Probably one of the best I ever heard. In fact I'd say its equally enjoyable to listening to the LCD-2 out of the Taboo. Sometimes I even prefer the HD650 to stuff like Adele. Maybe not as technically refined, but just as musically engaging. The 3 JAN 6922 tubes it came with are incredibly well balanced and neutral. I think I spent at least 2 hours listening to the HD650 last night standing up, I just couldn't take them off! 

 

[Nyvar]

 
 

 It also has 2 inputs, another nice touch in my book. 

 That was a big plus when I was looking at it.  My original plan had been to use them for the W4S and the analog out from the Marantz.  Then along came the master 6, so right I'm only using the W4S since I can pass the analog through it to both the CSP2 and the master 6.  Ultimately I'll probably try them both with it as a separate input, but I doubt I'll hear enough difference to over ride the convenience of using the W4S to send everything to both amps at the same time.  
 
My roomie's first take on seeing them was to ask what I was planning on bringing to life.  If he saw your set up it's be certain evil was brewing.  He's so not into audio.  
 
(Psst, I had no idea what the heck the mono out did either, I just knew it was there.)

 

[Frank I]

The mono out is for sub woofers that have the mono in as my Outlaw does. I use the CSP2 mono into the sub and use the outlaws crossover and amplifier to drive the sub works kind of easy. Most newer subs have mono in as some receivers have bass management in their setup for using the subs.

 

[SemiAudiophile]

I switched back to the stock Russians (I think?) 6N1P's. They have a warm, fatter sound. Goes better with my vinyl. The 3 JAN 6922's are NOS I believe from looking at the boxes. They're nice too and have more of a transparent, detailed sound. Better match for the HD650's.
 
I get a feeling the tubes in the preamp has more of a overall effect on the sound than the tubes in the amp itself. If I'd guess I'd say 60% preamp 40% amp, from what I'm hearing anyway. What tubes are you guys using on your CSP2? I'm thinking about picking up some more varieties.