[Triode User]

Agreed. Nice post.

Anyway, if enough customers like me express a strong preference for Chord product affordability over current brand identity cosmetics, maybe Chord could actually increase their profitability. Economy of scale, and all that.
For example, I have the new Qutest DAC in my audio system, but once initial setup of the DAC was completed, I hardly ever need to look at it anymore.
So, superficial appearance not that important to me.
When looking at home theater movies, I want all the audio hardware to stay out of my way, be 'invisible', and not demand further attention.

Is it not possible that the machined case has less resonance and is therefore functional?

 

[Bill13]

Is it not possible that the machined case has less resonance and is therefore functional?

Yes, that's a justification for the machined case.
However, there are less expensive ways to suppress/dampen resonance -- and also be strong enough to protect the internal electronic circuitry.
I think the machined case is mainly to maintain or project Chord's 'brand identity'.

Looks like it's futile to campaign for price reduction -- after all, Chord makes high-end products intended for discriminating audiophiles (apparently people willing to pay the money for impressive looking stuff)

 

[neogeosnk]

So how much is this going to be in America? I will buy one as soon as a local dealer gets em.

 

[Currawong]

Trade off enclosure cosmetics & some bells & whistles for affordability. IMO of course.

They did that: Qutest vs. Hugo 2.

At AXPONA, Peter Madnick indicated one the primary ways they did that was by foregoing the sleek curved Audio Alchemy cases with cheaper black boxes.

Whether we like it or not, part of the appeal of Chord products is the presentation. Mind you, they could put their products in basic, boring cases AND still charge as much, which I think would be worse.

 

[Bill13]

So how much is this going to be in America? I will buy one as soon as a local dealer gets em.

You can expect to pay roughly $6000 in USA for Hugo TT 2. UK list price is just under 4000 pounds.

$6000 USA price estimate assumes roughly the same ratio of UK price in pounds to the USA selling price in dollars in the USA for the Chord Qutest DAC (ratio approx. ~ 1200 pounds UK, compared to about $1900 list price in USA dollars after accounting for currency exchange rate plus domestic distributor/importer markup fees). 1900 dollars / 1200 pounds = 1.58 = price ratio
Another way to contemplate the USA price is that Chord Qutest price in dollars was ~ 58% above the price in UK pounds.
However due to the recent lower exchange rate for British Pound, I think we (hopefully) might see price sticking to around $ 6K even -- maybe even $5995. Add 50% of 4000 = 2000 to get estimate in dollars.

As I said in a previous post, I'd be a buyer at around $4000 = wishful thinking!

 

[Mediahound]

You can expect to pay roughly $6000 in USA for Hugo TT 2. UK list price is just under 4000 pounds.

$6000 USA price estimate assumes roughly the same ratio of UK price in pounds to the USA selling price in dollars in the USA for the Chord Qutest DAC (ratio approx. ~ 1200 pounds UK, compared to about $1900 list price in USA dollars after accounting for currency exchange rate plus domestic distributor/importer markup fees). 1900 dollars / 1200 pounds = 1.58 = price ratio
Another way to contemplate the USA price is that Chord Qutest price in dollars was ~ 58% above the price in UK pounds.
However due to the recent lower exchange rate for British Pound, I think we (hopefully) might see price sticking to around $ 6K even -- maybe even $5995. Add 50% of 4000 = 2000 to get estimate in dollars.

As I said in a previous post, I'd be a buyer at around $4000 = wishful thinking!

I don't know. Currently 4,000 UK pounds is $5427.41 US dollars.

 

[Rob Watts]

Regarding the metalwork cost issue - I don't recall ever saying it was 50% of the bill of materials (BOM) cost - and if I did it would have been non-serious as a humorous response to a question. For sure, the machined metalwork is the most significant part of the BOM cost, but it's nothing like 50%. The benefits of a machined chassis is huge - no steel to potentially create distortion through hysteresis; much better RF noise rejection; efficient way of removing heat from the PCB; and extremely good vibration control, plus of course being able to do John's back-lit switches (which I like a lot as it's cool and intuitive).

Rob

 

[Christer]

Yea.


I wonder what happens to all the old dacs that have been superseded with newer ones and which dont get sold because people are buying the newer ones, do they sell them at rock bottom prices or do they get broken down and recycled?

Good question.
As far as HUGO 1 goes I have had mine up for sale about one year now at one site without even one single buyer showing any interest in it whatsoever!
On the other hand I managed to sell a Hegel HD25 DAC a couple of years ago for roughly 60% of what paid for it.
On the site where I have put my HUGO 1 up for sale there is occasional interest from buyers in Benchmark's DAC 2 which I still own and hope to be able to sell a roughly 50-60% of the original retail price.
But for older Chord products like HUGO there seems to be very little resale value when new products are released.
Amps and speakers and headphones seem to have a MUCH longer "shelf life" and higher second hand value than Chord's Dacs do.
Looking on the bright side of life, there are lots of VERY GOOD indeed bargain priced products in the second hand market if you know what to look for.
Both my speakers and amp combo each retailed at 8-10k USD new but I got them for less than 40 percent of orginal retail.
Good as my electrostatic speakers still are, I am a bit tempted to audition and maybe buy a pair of ML 15As for less than half of retail price this summer if they turn out to clearly outperform my current MLs.

PS I'll check local prices of TT2 here in Singapore today.
Even unheard it seems to do some things I have missed even with DAVE/BLU2 ie enough current/power for all those fff-ffff crescendo transient peaks in large scale classical symphonic and operatic no dynamic range limiting master files that DAVE BLU2 did not quite cope with without a separate headphone amp during my auditions of Susvara and DAVE/BLU2 . And twice as many taps as Qutest would most likely dig even deeper into low level acoustic cues and instrumental timbre than Qutest.
With TT2 Susvaras direct could actually be an option for me. It would work as a one unit transportable powerful headphone amp/DAC combo. But I can't find any information regarding its weight?
Tempting yes. But why,oh why doesn't it have an M-scaler onboard?
That would have made it both truly groundbreaking and a very desirable product indeed IMHO!


Cheers Christer

 

[bidn]

....
Does this mean TT2 has the same depth and detail resolution as Dave? No I am afraid not. Dave is still considerably more transparent - although the noise shapers are vital, there is more to depth and transparency than just the noise shapers.
...
Rob

Thank you for this information and for your outstanding work! All these improvements are amazing!

I listened to the Dave driving the Utopia = incredible! However my headphone electronic devices are on a stack ( larger ones at the bottom and smaller ones on top) on my computer desk but I would not be able to fit in a Dave which can't be stacked.

On the other hand a Hugo TT can be stacked .
Now I understand from what you are disclosing that the TT2 will not have the SQ of the Dave.
So I wanted to share that I ( and probably others) am hoping for a device with the SQ of the Dave but in a more practical enclosure like that of the Hugo TT2 which would allow stacking.

Keep up with your excellent work and have a nice day,
bidn

 

[S Crowther]

Having read through this thread I am confused.
I have the TT and I use it as a DAC for my headphones usually with an external amp.- Violectric 281 (Hifiman HEKv2) or Pro-Ject Head box RS (Sennheiser HD800s).
If i want to upgrade, do I buy a TT2 or a Dave?

 

[musicday]

Having read through this thread I am confused.
I have the TT and I use it as a DAC for my headphones usually with an external amp.- Violectric 281 (Hifiman HEKv2) or Pro-Ject Head box RS (Sennheiser HD800s).
If i want to upgrade, do I buy a TT2 or a Dave?

Dave no doubt, if you can afford it. Is the Best.

 

[someyoungguy]

Good question.
As far as HUGO 1 goes I have had mine up for sale about one year now at one site without even one single buyer showing any interest in it whatsoever!
On the other hand I managed to sell a Hegel HD25 DAC a couple of years ago for roughly 60% of what paid for it.
On the site where I have put my HUGO 1 up for sale there is occasional interest from buyers in Benchmark's DAC 2 which I still own and hope to be able to sell a roughly 50-60% of the original retail price.
But for older Chord products like HUGO there seems to be very little resale value when new products are released.
Amps and speakers and headphones seem to have a MUCH longer "shelf life" and higher second hand value than Chord's Dacs do.
Looking on the bright side of life, there are lots of VERY GOOD indeed bargain priced products in the second hand market if you know what to look for.
Both my speakers and amp combo each retailed at 8-10k USD new but I got them for less than 40 percent of orginal retail.
Good as my electrostatic speakers still are, I am a bit tempted to audition and maybe buy a pair of ML 15As for less than half of retail price this summer if they turn out to clearly outperform my current MLs.

PS I'll check local prices of TT2 here in Singapore today.
Even unheard it seems to do some things I have missed even with DAVE/BLU2 ie enough current/power for all those fff-ffff crescendo transient peaks in large scale classical symphonic and operatic no dynamic range limiting master files that DAVE BLU2 did not quite cope with without a separate headphone amp during my auditions of Susvara and DAVE/BLU2 . And twice as many taps as Qutest would most likely dig even deeper into low level acoustic cues and instrumental timbre than Qutest.
With TT2 Susvaras direct could actually be an option for me. It would work as a one unit transportable powerful headphone amp/DAC combo. But I can't find any information regarding its weight?
Tempting yes. But why,oh why doesn't it have an M-scaler onboard?
That would have made it both truly groundbreaking and a very desirable product indeed IMHO!


Cheers Christer

What are you looking to get for the Hugo 1? I had a Mojo, and ended up selling it after about a year, looking for something new and wanting to try the micro iDSD which is often thought of as a comparable device. But now I'm regretting it a little and thinking about getting the Chord sound back.

 

[miketlse]

What are you looking to get for the Hugo 1? I had a Mojo, and ended up selling it after about a year, looking for something new and wanting to try the micro iDSD which is often thought of as a comparable device. But now I'm regretting it a little and thinking about getting the Chord sound back.

I spotted the Hugo on sale for £900 approx on a UK dealers website at the weekend. This inevitably means that people expect pre-owned Hugos, to be even cheaper.

 

[Triode User]

I spotted the Hugo on sale for £900 approx on a UK dealers website at the weekend. This inevitably means that people expect pre-owned Hugos, to be even cheaper.

Looking at recent completed sales on eBay there seems to be a demand for Hugo1 but at realistic prices. My own rule of thumb is to start at half retail for non current items and then discount a bit more for fast moving technology items such as DACs. So half of UK RRP of £1,400 and less a little bit more brings it bang into where most of the ebays sales are made.

Edit, Sorry for continuing the OT content but it is useful.

 

[miketlse]

Looking at recent completed sales on eBay there seems to be a demand for Hugo1 but at realistic prices. My own rule of thumb is to start at half retail for non current items and then discount a bit more for fast moving technology items such as DACs. So half of UK RRP of £1,400 and less a little bit more brings it bang into where most of the ebays sales are made.

Edit, Sorry for continuing the OT content but it is useful.

This is useful info for quite a few people. The Hugo was very popular on the Naim forum, so I expect that there is still a market for pre-owned Hugos, at the right price.