[chesebert]

My view when it comes to amps is that - if it already sounds good to you 80% of the time, stop, don’t mess with it. Leave it alone and enjoy your success.

 

[devilboy]

 

[Cakes]

My view when it comes to amps is that - if it already sounds good to you 80% of the time, stop, don’t mess with it. Leave it alone and enjoy your success.

Yeah but that’s not really how this hobby works is it @chesebert? We might not need, but many of us do want that extra 20%…

 

[chesebert]

Yeah but that’s not really how this hobby works is it @chesebert? We might not need, but many of us do want that extra 20%…

Sorry to disappoint you but you can spend $100k on an amp and not be 100% happy, 100% of the time. That’s just how this hobby works. Being 80-90% is already very good.

What’s the issue/shortcoming of your current amp that you think Bliss will be able to fix or do better?

 

[kumar402]

Well another way to say it is
don't fix what's not broken

 

[obzilla]

May I ask if anyone has direct experience of comparing the Bliss with a GS-X Mk 2?

I put an R2R through it to D8000 Pros, which is a pleasing combination. I’m curious if the Bliss is considered a clear step up from the Headamp from those that are familiar with both?

Appreciate this is a niche comparison ask of the Bliss for many, but I’m interested to see if anyone has first hand experience of both as the GS-X MK 2 still seems to stack up well with many amps in this price range for those using R2R DACs. Thank you…

There’s a gsx mkii in the classifieds right now, on sale because the owner got a bliss. They might be the only person on earth with them both under one roof. I’d ask them.

 

[devilboy]

@chesebert I think you are just an angry person looking to s*** on other people's happiness.

 

[ScotchSplenda]

I’ve been into high end audio for over 35 years and I’ve never heard of caps drying out due to a component being powered 24/7. I’m in the Pass Lab camp in regards to shutting down solid state equipment. I usually leave my solid state equipment powered on 24/7. Tube equipment is obviously different and I shut my tube gear off at the end of a listening session unless I plan to listen again within a few hours.

I think there is more wear on equipment from frequent power cycling. That said, I shut my First Watt F7 down when I go to bed because it draws about 170 watts at idle. I leave the F7 on during the day unless I don’t plan to listen anymore that day. My Holo May KTE, Serene KTE and Bliss KTE stay powered on 24/7. My 2 turntable solid state power supplies also remain on 24/7.

My friend is into vintage equipment and he says that caps are better left in the powered state. If a vintage component has been stored away for many years then there’s a good chance that the caps need to be replaced.

I agree - the sudden surge of incoming power and temperature fluctuations as a result of the power cycles have to be considered a bigger factor in the “aging” of components (precisely why I disable the auto-standby feature in our cars). If not for not the dissipated heat and utility costs, gear (pre-amp and streamer stay on).

At 50 watts idle, it sounds like the Bliss should be fine staying on at all times. Any owners here do that with theirs?

 

[chesebert]

@chesebert I think you are just an angry person looking to s*** on other people's happiness.

I tried to help you but you ignored my advice and now you are mad at me because you wasted money on an amp.

 

[incredulousity]

May I ask if anyone has direct experience of comparing the Bliss with a GS-X Mk 2?

I put an R2R through it to D8000 Pros, which is a pleasing combination. I’m curious if the Bliss is considered a clear step up from the Headamp from those that are familiar with both?

Appreciate this is a niche comparison ask of the Bliss for many, but I’m interested to see if anyone has first hand experience of both as the GS-X MK 2 still seems to stack up well with many amps in this price range for those using R2R DACs. Thank you…

I have both. They are both highly resolving, powerful, clean amps — Bliss a bit more so. I prefer the tuning of Bliss to Mk2. This is the case with Spring and May (both KTE). Bliss has a better volume and gain control, in both quality and granularity. Though I truly like Mk2, I am selling it and buying another Bliss for my upstairs stack.

Yes. That is my listing in the classifieds.

 

[elf21400]

The performance of Bliss is good, based on the experience of everyone in this thread , I am also one of the Bliss user, in my opinion, Bliss has good value for the money.

 

[Roybenz]

Has anyone tried heimdall 2 powercable with the Bliss?

 

[Cakes]

Sorry to disappoint you but you can spend $100k on an amp and not be 100% happy, 100% of the time. That’s just how this hobby works. Being 80-90% is already very good.

What’s the issue/shortcoming of your current amp that you think Bliss will be able to fix or do better?

@chesebert that's maybe how you view things, but it's not how I do i.e. I'm not sat thinking about the shortcomings of my GS-X mk2 amp as the only possible way to think the Bliss could be of interest to me and benefit my listening journey.

Some components - and I'm interested to see if Bliss is one of these - actually alter your own parameters of what seems sonically possible.

Ergo, every now and again you find a component that reveals or illuminates your favourite music in a way that you hadn't heard before. So on an already very good setup, there's an additional set of possibilities (without having limitless funds) / another layer of sonic excellence that, in retrospect, you realise was missing from the product you have now. I've experienced exactly this myself, my most recent example moving from a well regarded ESS Sabre Auralic Vega G series DAC into my first R2R DAC/DDC setup which just opened up a new level of enjoyment and refinement to me. Once I'd upgraded, I immediately could recognise what the VEGA G was missing, but before I'd heard the R2R I simply didn't know this. Some may argue that could be equipment synergy, but in every dimension of listening that upgrade seemed to create a more coherent, fatigue free, illuminating and quite ethereal listening experience which stepped beyond the boundaries of gear 'chemistry', to me anyhow.

So my curiosity for hearing a new product like Bliss - particularly when you have a forum of others that own one and as an aggregate that seem to have moved on from already great amps including with @incredulousity my own one - is valid, at least to me. I'll always remain interested in reasonably priced (for me), newly-released products that seem to be moving us forward today as compared to those released 1, 2, 5 or 10 years ago in what we can expect for the money.

 

[Cakes]

I have both. They are both highly resolving, powerful, clean amps — Bliss a bit more so. I prefer the tuning of Bliss to Mk2. This is the case with Spring and May (both KTE). Bliss has a better volume and gain control, in both quality and granularity. Though I truly like Mk2, I am selling it and buying another Bliss for my upstairs stack.

Yes. That is my listing in the classifieds.

Thank you for the succinct comparison, @incredulousity

I'm very curious in the Bliss KTE, and a little more so hearing someone that has direct experience of listening to both.

If any other GS-X mk2 owners or past owners with a Bliss feel incline to share their experiences I'd also be grateful...

 

[Arniesb]

@chesebert that's maybe how you view things, but it's not how I do i.e. I'm not sat thinking about the shortcomings of my GS-X mk2 amp as the only possible way to think the Bliss could be of interest to me and benefit my listening journey.

Some components - and I'm interested to see if Bliss is one of these - actually alter your own parameters of what seems sonically possible.

Ergo, every now and again you find a component that reveals or illuminates your favourite music in a way that you hadn't heard before. So on an already very good setup, there's an additional set of possibilities (without having limitless funds) / another layer of sonic excellence that, in retrospect, you realise was missing from the product you have now. I've experienced exactly this myself, my most recent example moving from a well regarded ESS Sabre Auralic Vega G series DAC into my first R2R DAC/DDC setup which just opened up a new level of enjoyment and refinement to me. Once I'd upgraded, I immediately could recognise what the VEGA G was missing, but before I'd heard the R2R I simply didn't know this. Some may argue that could be equipment synergy, but in every dimension of listening that upgrade seemed to create a more coherent, fatigue free, illuminating and quite ethereal listening experience which stepped beyond the boundaries of gear 'chemistry', to me anyhow.

So my curiosity for hearing a new product like Bliss - particularly when you have a forum of others that own one and as an aggregate that seem to have moved on from already great amps including with @incredulousity my own one - is valid, at least to me. I'll always remain interested in reasonably priced (for me), newly-released products that seem to be moving us forward today as compared to those released 1, 2, 5 or 10 years ago in what we can expect for the money.

Gsx mk2 is as clean and as aggresive as most sabre dacs.
You shouldnt blame dac you should blame poor synergy between components. Warmer and softer amp or pure copper cabling could have given you better synergy.