Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread

[griff500]

I'd been running the M Scaler - TT2 combo into my PMC 25.22 speakers for about 5 months... really enjoyed it. I'd been in contact with Chord about something or other and they said that I'm probably not getting the best out of it and should try a TToby or Etude... Etude being based on the same tech as the Ultima range. This resulted in a demo of the Etude.

Have you tried it into active speakers?

 

[Toonartist]

Have you tried it into active speakers?

No. I did get in contact with a guy at PMC about their TwoTwo range of actives compared to the Twenty5 22. He said that he'd used the TwoTwo instead of a pair of Twenty5 21 speakers and that while the TwoTwo were more detailed, he preferred the musicality of the Twenty5 range. He ended up selling the TwoTwo and getting another pair of 25.21's.

So, I thought as I really liked the PMC 25.22 I'd look for a power amp that is very transparent... that's where the TToby and Etude come in I guess. I opted for Etude after hearing really positive reviews from other Naim forum members.

 

[Triode User]

No. I did get in contact with a guy at PMC about their TwoTwo range of actives compared to the Twenty5 22. He said that he'd used the TwoTwo instead of a pair of Twenty5 21 speakers and that while the TwoTwo were more detailed, he preferred the musicality of the Twenty5 range. He ended up selling the TwoTwo and getting another pair of 25.21's.

So, I thought as I really liked the PMC 25.22 I'd look for a power amp that is very transparent... that's where the TToby and Etude come in I guess. I opted for Etude after hearing really positive reviews from other Naim forum members.

I admit that it was a few years ago that I last had a demo Chord power amp in my system and that was the SPM 1200mk2 but it was not to my taste. The only time I heard the Etude was at the North West Audio show in the Chord room and again that was not my cup of tea from what I heard in the demo room. I much prefer the Pass Labs XA30.8 that I bought instead of the 1200mk2.

 

[Toonartist]

I admit that it was a few years ago that I last had a demo Chord power amp in my system and that was the SPM 1200mk2 but it was not to my taste. The only time I heard the Etude was at the North West Audio show in the Chord room and again that was not my cup of tea from what I heard in the demo room. I much prefer the Pass Labs XA30.8 that I bought instead of the 1200mk2.

Looks a lovely amp but unfortunately, too big for the space I have in my office. At one point I had a SN2, ND5 XS2 with a HiCap and it sort of dominated the space too much and much preferred the smaller profile, footprint of the Chord setup. Now, if I had the space for a full size rack, things might have been different. But I do like the sound of the amp so it would have probably meant I would have gone for the Ultima 6 or something.

 

[griff500]

No. I did get in contact with a guy at PMC about their TwoTwo range of actives compared to the Twenty5 22. He said that he'd used the TwoTwo instead of a pair of Twenty5 21 speakers and that while the TwoTwo were more detailed, he preferred the musicality of the Twenty5 range. He ended up selling the TwoTwo and getting another pair of 25.21's.

So, I thought as I really liked the PMC 25.22 I'd look for a power amp that is very transparent... that's where the TToby and Etude come in I guess. I opted for Etude after hearing really positive reviews from other Naim forum members.

I'm using my TT2 with ATC actives and it works very nicely.

 

[Toonartist]

I'm using my TT2 with ATC actives and it works very nicely.

Yes, very nice speakers, get really good reviews. Sadly, not the room for floor standers. Pics below of setup.

 

[griff500]

Yes, very nice speakers, get really good reviews. Sadly, not the room for floor standers. Pics below of setup.

Nicely done!

 

[GreenBow]

I'd been running the M Scaler - TT2 combo into my PMC 25.22 speakers for about 5 months... really enjoyed it. I'd been in contact with Chord about something or other and they said that I'm probably not getting the best out of it and should try a TToby or Etude... Etude being based on the same tech as the Ultima range. This resulted in a demo of the Etude.

Even with the cable they sent it with, the bass was so much better, deeper but still tight and focused with a stack of detail... double bass sounded so real. In terms of detail, I haven't noticed a drop in detail, if anything, it seems to reveal more... possible more texture to sounds. Especially strings and piano.

Sound stage and imaging have improved in a big way. A lot more depth both front and back and imaging seems very precise. Panning in some Electronic Dance music seems extremely fast... the whole sound sounds very dynamic. Voices have weight and character to them. This mixed with the precise imaging and you can sense and feel the movement from the singer as they shift around the mic.

The TQ Ultra Black XLR needs burning in as the dealer said they only had a couple of hours of use. I'd left them running today for about 6 hours before listening to them. While they need more burning in, they sound very impressive so far.

Still need a lot of listening with both cables but a quick bullet point comment at this stage

TQ Ultra Black 2 - Very musical, not to heavy bass wise, really nice tone to them with a real clarity to them... very rich sounding, think Empyrean with silver cable.
TQ Ultra Silver - Less time listening to these so far. Very open sounding, a bit drier in tone, lots of detail but really need more time with these to work out the bass. It's there but not sure I like as much as I did the blacks but, in fairness, too early to say.

Edit.
Forgot to say, the Etude does have a fan. You hear it on start up but only for a split second. If you move your ear close enough, you can hear them. My system is a near field setup, 4ft away and even when the music is very quite from that distance you can't hear them. If no music is playing you can hear the faintest of sound from the amp at 4ft. Less than a Naim power supply hum.

I would like it if Chord would make a sibling version of the Etude in a larger case. One that incorporated passive cooling, and no need for fans. (For context, I could hear the Ttoby fans from metres away, although not always.)

I think you did really good by having a retailer bring you an Etude to evaluate. I personally am wary of the Etude because of HiFi World's review. They talk about a 'not low' distortion figure at 10KHz. However it may have been a rogue reading, or a review sample with an issue. For me it means I would need a good while to evaluate the Etude. I've not come across anyone with an Etude that feels there is an issue though. I might look at it more. .. Going by my experience with the Ttoby, I imagine the Etude to be special. Wish also that more reviewers covered the Etude. There were a lot of Ttoby reviews, and all were stunning. (HiFi Choice said, they could not think of a better way to allocate budget.)

 

[Toonartist]

I would like it if Chord would make a sibling version of the Etude in a larger case. One that incorporated passive cooling, and no need for fans. (For context, I could hear the Ttoby fans from metres away, although not always.)

I think you did really good by having a retailer bring you an Etude to evaluate. I personally am wary of the Etude because of HiFi World's review. They talk about a 'not low' distortion figure at 10KHz. However it may have been a rogue reading, or a review sample with an issue. For me it means I would need a good while to evaluate the Etude. I've not come across anyone with an Etude that feels there is an issue though. I might look at it more. .. Going by my experience with the Ttoby, I imagine the Etude to be special. Wish also that more reviewers covered the Etude. There were a lot of Ttoby reviews, and all were stunning. (HiFi Choice said, they could not think of a better way to allocate budget.)

If I recall correctly, a review of TToby mentioned problems with the fan but a lot of people who have them say it's a non issue and that the reviewed amp was possibly pre-production or had a fault. Might have been similar situation with the Etude.

You might've already been through the thread at the Naim forum. There are a few Chord users over there. Some use a mix of Naim and Chord, some all Chord. Link Here. I'm Toonartist over there.

There are a few who now have the Etude and prefer it to the Naim 250.2 / 250 DR. It just depends on how you like your music.

I contacted Chord to ask who would be able to offer me a home demo and they came back to me with a few options and have also been available to answer any questions. I've been very impressed with them. One question I asked via their website on a Sunday was answered within 30 mins!

Edit... just to say that while the fan hasn't been a problem, very faint, it would be great if there was a one with a low height but larger that could do away with fans altogether!

 

[Amberlamps]

Yes, very nice speakers, get really good reviews. Sadly, not the room for floor standers. Pics below of setup.

Nice pic’s

A titty bar not far from me has those same lights.

 

[GreenBow]

If I recall correctly, a review of TToby mentioned problems with the fan but a lot of people who have them say it's a non issue and that the reviewed amp was possibly pre-production or had a fault. Might have been similar situation with the Etude.

You might've already been through the thread at the Naim forum. There are a few Chord users over there. Some use a mix of Naim and Chord, some all Chord. Link Here. I'm Toonartist over there.

There are a few who now have the Etude and prefer it to the Naim 250.2 / 250 DR. It just depends on how you like your music.

I contacted Chord to ask who would be able to offer me a home demo and they came back to me with a few options and have also been available to answer any questions. I've been very impressed with them. One question I asked via their website on a Sunday was answered within 30 mins!

Edit... just to say that while the fan hasn't been a problem, very faint, it would be great if there was a one with a low height but larger that could do away with fans altogether!

Yes the What HiFi review mentioned slightly noisy cooling fans on their recent Ttoby review.

All other reviews said Ttoby was silent. One other point I found in Ttoby reviews was someone mentioned the Ttoby fans keep it cool. (Which they do.) However they went on to say that the Ttoby fans would be enough to keep the Ttoby cool when stacked. Meaning with the TT2 on top. ... However I found that not to be the case. The TT2 heated up the Ttoby, and I ended up with them separated.

Sometimes I could hear the fans of my Toby from maybe four meters away. I guess more if spacing allowed. It wasn't loud, but I could hear it through late night very quiet music. .. The result was that it pained me to let the Ttoby sound go, and I still pine for it. No worries though, something else will come along. Right now I am giving very serious consideration to the Hegel H120. It is said to be neutral, clean, clear, fast, dynamic, and with excellent bass and bass grip. H120 is less money than the Ttoby or Etude. I am intersted though because of many reasons. One being the HiFi Choice review, which said it does big-picture and fine-detail, better than anything anywhere near the price.

I can't help wondering if Hegel are flying a bit under the radar. What HiFi never reviewed them. Not many people talk about them, although I have seen a few mentions in the Chord threads. … Interestingly they have a system called SoundEngine 2, which cancels out noise between the signal input and the signal output. Good idea full-stop, but an excellent idea given they build DACs and streamers into their amplifiers. Am not really interested in the digital side of their amplifiers right now. I am willing to give the H120 a try though, given its sound-signature. Plus it's only 75 w/p/channel 8ohms, and I don't want any more power. (Still have not written off Naim either.)

I think the last point about the Ttoby was that it seemed tuned perfectly to the TT2, or Chord sound. I guess the Etude is very much too.

 

[GreenBow]

Uh oh yeah, I forgot one other point about Hegel ampliers, among many points. They can set any input you want to Home Theatre mode. Meaning Hegel volume at maximum, and control overall volume with the excellent TT2 volume control. (TT2 volume control was 'bellisima" with Ttoby.)

There are quite a few amplifiers that do that. Some even cut out the pre-amplifier section of the integrated amplifier. Thus allowing the TT2 to feed straight to the power amplifier section. While leaving the user with an integrated amplifier over the other inputs: very useful.

Additionally @dAndis67 I was told by another Head-Fier that the Etude way better than the Naim power amps that you mentioned. … I find that whole area a bit confusing though. Previous model Naim power amps nowhere near Etude. Yet new Naim Nait integrated amps are said to be very fast. I believe the Etude will be faster than the Naits though. … Anyway, am checking out your link. Thank you.

 

[Toonartist]

Uh oh yeah, I forgot one other point about Hegel ampliers, among many points. They can set any input you want to Home Theatre mode. Meaning Hegel volume at maximum, and control overall volume with the excellent TT2 volume control. (TT2 volume control was 'bellisima" with Ttoby.)

There are quite a few amplifiers that do that. Some even cut out the pre-amplifier section of the integrated amplifier. Thus allowing the TT2 to feed straight to the power amplifier section. While leaving the user with an integrated amplifier over the other inputs: very useful.

Additionally @dAndis67 I was told by another Head-Fier that the Etude way better than the Naim power amps that you mentioned. … I find that whole area a bit confusing though. Previous model Naim power amps nowhere near Etude. Yet new Naim Nait integrated amps are said to be very fast. I believe the Etude will be faster than the Naits though. … Anyway, am checking out your link. Thank you.

I think the idea of stacking the TT, M Scaler and TToby is great in terms of looks and design but it isn't something I'd ever considered in terms of sound quality. Cable management, RF/electronic noise and heat. I've always given plenty of space between pieces of hardware... probably a habit from using Naim... always provide space between each box and the M scaler (a computer) is placed as far away from the DAC as possible.

I used to have a Naim Supernait 2 integrated amp with a HiCap DR power supply. The SN3 is an improvement but from all accounts, not a massive one. It's the top of the line integrated that Naim sell and I can say without doubt, the TT2 directly into speakers is significantly different. I say different, whether it's better will depend on what you like. If you like transparency, natural presentation with large soundstage with bags of detail then it is a definite improvement. However, part of the draw of Naim is the, "Naim Sound". And rightly so, they are great amps.

To me, the mids on the Naim SN2 have a lot more bass, more warmth when compared to the TT2 driving speakers directly. After comparing the two, I felt they were too heavy and masked too much detail for me. A cliche I know but it was like a veil being lifted across the mds. Suddenly I could hear loads of detail in the mids that I hadn't heard before. After a week I couldn't go back and that's when the SN2, HiCap and ND5 XS2 went up for sale and in came the M Scaler.

So, given the improvement going from M Scaler - TT2 direct to then adding the Etude, I can say for sure I would never find a Naim integrated, SN2 or 3, to be better than the Etude when combined with a TT2 and M Scaler. But, if you like the Naim sound then you may not agree and find the Chord setup to analytical due to the lack of extra weight in the mids and all that extra detail. Horses for courses.

I think there are a few others over at Naim arranging a demo of the Etude so it will be interesting to hear their take on it as well.

Ultimately, whether it's Naim, Chord or Hegel etc it's about getting the right, closest mix of source, DAC, amp and speakers that works in your room and satisfies your taste in how music is presented and then complete the fine tuning with cables. We all have the same destination, our version of perfection, just that we all take a different route

 

[Spawn300Z]

Well I almost went for the Etude also. But I decided to go with the Chord TT2, M-Scaler and 2 TTobys. I will be Bi-Amping them. The form factor fits better for me.

Still waiting on my speakers. But a friend of mine sent me his Verdant Audio Nightshades to try out. Will be testing soon.

Has anyone used them? I’ve been using Mark & Daniels.

 

[118900]

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