[dawktah2]

It will be interesting to see what you think. I use the Supra and have never thought of it as a bright cable. Indeed for me anything to do with brightness is something which hints at RF and is to be avoided.

Could be a little placebo, will give more listening time then switch back.

 

[jarnopp]

Hi All,
i'm currently using my TT2 to directly drive my 15 year old set of speakers (sens 90db 4Ohm) and it does very well. I am though looking to replace the old speakers with something better and wondered if anybody could give me there experience of TT2 driving other types of speaker. I'm looking for a stand mount rather than floorstanding as my listening room is only 10ftx14ft, most listening is at moderate/low levels so don't care for concert like levels of volume.

I've seen plenty of speakers specs ranging from 84-96+db but the higher sensitivity ones tend to be difficult to audition single driver stuff like Omega or Zu. So looking to hear if anyone has had success driving more conventional 2-way+ speakers and at what sort of sensitivity TT2's 18watts starts to become an issue. I am pretty sure there are other factors to consider but very interested to hear anyway so I can target my own auditions more carefully.

thanks!

+1 for Omegas with TT2. Where are you located? There may be some head-fiers near you with what you want to audition.

 

[LeoKane]

+1 for Omegas with TT2. Where are you located? There may be some head-fiers near you with what you want to audition.

Thanks I have read that the Omegas work very well with the TT2. As for location I am located in Southampton (south coast UK) and the only Omega dealer in UK is over 3hrs drive away.

 

[rkt31]

Zu audio has full range driver with whizzer cone. Though that cone improves treble response but the off axis response is uneven . Also since there is no electronic crossover involved, the response of central whizzer cone does not blend well with rest of the driver area. Some Zu audio models even have super tweeter but again since there is no electronic crossover so the response is peaky. I have made diy 5 inch single full range driver (without whizzer cone ) bookshelf speakers. The response is lot mote even. Though treble response is not very extended but is sufficient for all kind of recorded music . Bass extension is surprisingly good specially when put close to back wall. I regularly play these directly with chord mojo with great effect. So making a sealed box single driver full range bookshelf speakers yourself is not a bad idea.

 

[koven]

Doesn't Zu Audio make terrible speakers? I recall an article exposing their builds.

 

[seedubchris]

Can tt2 be portable battery powered like mscaler?

Also for seedub and everyone would planning to use an ultra high quality iem as primary listening with tt2 be the right frame of planning or thought here? I see A18TZAR is used above so i wonder could it substitute for a full size can?

Iem and cans are very different in their qualities so I doubt one would ever replace the other unfortunately. I enjoy listening to iem’s more but rely on the detail and flat response only offered by cans so I have to have both . Audeze lcd-xc and A18tzar.
I secretly don’t even like headphones which you can see considering the disparity of my expenditures between the two . I only use cans when I need to for checking mixes and hearing eq changes .

 

[Stu79]

Technical question on sources for TT2:

I've been trying out Roon the last few days I'm seriously thinking about signing up, which leads me to think about having a dedicated streaming device, rather than just using my laptop as I do now with Hugo.

Does the galvanic isolation that TT2 benefits from obviate the need for an exotic device when feeding via USB? Do I need a high end audiophile product such as an Aurillac device, or would I do just as well with a small headless PC such as the Intel devices endorsed by Roon?

I'm asking this from a technical point of view, as I know it all gets very subjective once we get into this stuff. To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I'm not the sort of golden-eared audiophile who perceives huge differences when A-B testing USB cables or wired vs wireless networks etc. I can notice bugger all difference when making those kind of comparisons and envy the people who can, but simply getting out of bed on a different day without changing any components can make a huge difference to the quality of my listening experience. The weakest and most influential component in my system is, and always will be, the grey jelly between my ears!

 

[miketlse]

Technical question on sources for TT2:

I've been trying out Roon the last few days I'm seriously thinking about signing up, which leads me to think about having a dedicated streaming device, rather than just using my laptop as I do now with Hugo.

Does the galvanic isolation that TT2 benefits from obviate the need for an exotic device when feeding via USB? Do I need a high end audiophile product such as an Aurillac device, or would I do just as well with a small headless PC such as the Intel devices endorsed by Roon?

I'm asking this from a technical point of view, as I know it all gets very subjective once we get into this stuff. To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, I'm not the sort of golden-eared audiophile who perceives huge differences when A-B testing USB cables or wired vs wireless networks etc. I can notice bugger all difference when making those kind of comparisons and envy the people who can, but simply getting out of bed on a different day without changing any components can make a huge difference to the quality of my listening experience. The weakest and most influential component in my system is, and always will be, the grey jelly between my ears!

You won't find a consensus, but there are various options available:

• some owners swear by the need to use an expensive high end server, like you describe
• A few months ago, I was considering two options, tinkerboard S for optical, allo for usb:
  https://www.amazon.fr/Asus-Tinker-Single-Computer-90ME0031-M0EAY0/dp/B07B3WPRZW
  https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/netw...er-volumio-interface-for-usb-dac-p-13489.html but with diet pi + a roon bridge
• But there are a growing number of owners (for example @romaz) posting about very good experiences using DIY servers based on Intel NUC boards, low noise power supplies etc

Ultimately your decision will probably depend on factors like budget, do you like a DIY solution or prefer a plug in and switch on solution, etc.

 

[Stu79]

You won't find a consensus, but there are various options available:

• some owners swear by the need to use an expensive high end server, like you describe
• A few months ago, I was considering two options, tinkerboard S for optical, allo for usb:
  https://www.amazon.fr/Asus-Tinker-Single-Computer-90ME0031-M0EAY0/dp/B07B3WPRZW
  https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/netw...er-volumio-interface-for-usb-dac-p-13489.html but with diet pi + a roon bridge
• But there are a growing number of owners (for example @romaz) posting about very good experiences using DIY servers based on Intel NUC boards, low noise power supplies etc

Ultimately your decision will probably depend on factors like budget, do you like a DIY solution or prefer a plug in and switch on solution, etc.

Thanks. I was looking at the Allo device myself, then I found lots of forum posts with people debating about the sonic differences between PSUs and that kind of put me off. I don't want to get into all that stuff, I just want something that's technically good enough to do a TT2 justice without getting into subjective debate.

I remember in the early days of owning Hugo reading lots of posts about people utilising various devices to clean up the USB input and improve the sound or use optical instead. The lack of galvanic isolation on the USB input and subsequent malign influence of PSU noise was usually blamed for this, so I was hoping one of the benefits of upgrading to a TT2 with galvanic isolation would be not having to worry about that stuff. Personally, I experimented with using optical via a Macbook and a Raspberry Pi with SPDIF hat, but I found the sound was either the same (Macbook) or slightly worse (rPi), so I reverted back to using my laptop USB and stopped worrying about it. I know there's something in it, because the USB straight from the standard Raspberry Pi is clearly poor compared to my laptop, but I don't know if I'd still be able to tell a difference if I had galvanic isolation.

Budget-wise, I want to enjoy my TT2 as much as possible while I save up for an M Scaler, so budget is as big as it needs to be and as small as it CAN be!

 

[LeMat]

I assume contributors to this thread are probably biased toward the TT2 but would like to get your opinion on one thing: how much improvement can one expect moving from 2 separate devices, amp & Dac, to an integrated one like this one? I'm considering replacing my Yggdrasil v1 + Taurus MkII with the TT2 but am still debating whether going with separates would be a better choice... Right now I'm using a pair of Elear but will move to Stellia or Utopia soon. Thanks!

 

[jarnopp]

I assume contributors to this thread are probably biased toward the TT2 but would like to get your opinion on one thing: how much improvement can one expect moving from 2 separate devices, amp & Dac, to an integrated one like this one? I'm considering replacing my Yggdrasil v1 + Taurus MkII with the TT2 but am still debating whether going with separates would be a better choice... Right now I'm using a pair of Elear but will move to Stellia or Utopia soon. Thanks!

In this case, the differences in sound will come more from the difference in implementation (FPGA, filters, simple output stage) more than the combined vs separate aspects. Try to audition, if you can. Or, if you’ve heard a Chord Mojo, TT2 sounds like that, but much improved on ALL fronts.

 

[RustyGates]

I assume contributors to this thread are probably biased toward the TT2 but would like to get your opinion on one thing: how much improvement can one expect moving from 2 separate devices, amp & Dac, to an integrated one like this one? I'm considering replacing my Yggdrasil v1 + Taurus MkII with the TT2 but am still debating whether going with separates would be a better choice... Right now I'm using a pair of Elear but will move to Stellia or Utopia soon. Thanks!

The amp in the TT2 is world class; really. I have a Utopia and its is a gorgeous sound. In terms of measurements, the TT2's internal amp outclasses anything while being able to deliver huge (relative to Headamps) current.

See this: https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/revi...ord-electronics-hugo-m-scaler-hugo-tt-2-r781/

The author compares the TT2 to the Cavalli Liquid Gold; and ends up selling the Cavalli to finance the TT2.

Anyway, just a heads up the TT2 has a very squeaky clean precise sound to it; but its not "bright", its very full bodied, and very clean, very musical. You may still want a tube amp on the side as I have; I've kept my Pro iCAN for the tube and bass amplification modes; but SQ takes an audible hit, and I find I hardly use it anymore.

 

[LeMat]

Thanks RustyGates and jarnopp!

If the DAC is as good as what I've read and the amp section as good as a Cavalli liquid gold, then it sounds as a good value, or even a deal! Too bad it doesn't have a XLR4 plug. I'll have to reterminate by cable.
I do have a Mojo and while good, the difference with the Yggy is striking. I get far more details with the big boy but that was to be expected. But yes, the little mojo is quite musical though the highs seem a bit rolled off.
While I have hard times considering an alternative to the TT2, when it comes to sources, I'm completely puzzled. And because it's not complicated enough, we now have audiophile servers AND streamers.... with hefty price tag. Any obvious all in one option for <2k?

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

Rob has said low gain inserts a resistor, and is mostly for sensitive iems. So, unless you need to, I’d stick with high gain.

Question for you: how are you cables for driving speakers? (Per my post above.). Thanks!

Noise: 4 uV ‘A’ weighted (high gain), 1.7 uV ‘A’ weighted (low gain) with no measurable noise floor modulation.
Would the above information change your mind about the gain settings? If low gain was adequate, why would the resistor sway your decision? I am using the Empyreans on low gain at the moment with loads of power to spare.

Edit: I read through all the pages of my gain search and RW did say use High Gain. I am just wondering why?

 

[seedubchris]

Big fan of my AK 320 for source via optical over real glass cable by wire world. Sounds notably better to my ears than laptop /usb.
There are used ones for $1k .