Hugo TT 2 by Chord Electronics - The Official Thread
Dec 25, 2021 at 10:25 AM Post #15,466 of 18,907
Dec 25, 2021 at 10:58 AM Post #15,468 of 18,907
I have no doubt these are great, but they cost more than double the price of the speakers I want to try them out with ahah.
@ss2625 I love going to hi-fi stores and looking at used audio gear. Amplifiers that were $2,000 a few years ago can be found for a handful of hundreds. But you gotta be patient and be ready to pounce when a good deal pops up.
 
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Dec 25, 2021 at 11:25 PM Post #15,469 of 18,907
It smelled ugly after playing a while and then it got stuck in a boot loop.

Yup, you blew it up by trying to get more power out of it by using speakers. If using speakers next time, use active ones, then TT2 wont need to blow up by sending the speakers power that it cant handle.

The smell you smelt was the little blue smoke that once released, can never be put back inside whatever it came out off.

Chord will see you alright, but next time, use near field speakers at a low volume or active speakers. I would advise active ones.
 
Dec 26, 2021 at 10:37 AM Post #15,471 of 18,907
Yup, you blew it up by trying to get more power out of it by using speakers. If using speakers next time, use active ones, then TT2 wont need to blow up by sending the speakers power that it cant handle.

The smell you smelt was the little blue smoke that once released, can never be put back inside whatever it came out off.

Chord will see you alright, but next time, use near field speakers at a low volume or active speakers. I would advise active ones.
I guess Rob Watts himself got me that far by driving his B&Ws with his TT2... In theory the max 18 W at 8 ohm on XLR should be OK for low level near field, in practise: thread carefully and do not use cheap Amazon adapter cables, they malfunctioned).
 
Dec 26, 2021 at 11:08 AM Post #15,472 of 18,907
I guess Rob Watts himself got me that far by driving his B&Ws with his TT2... In theory the max 18 W at 8 ohm on XLR should be OK for low level near field, in practise: thread carefully and do not use cheap Amazon adapter cables, they malfunctioned).
Yes, owners should read the thread!
The TT2 is not designed for 18W continuous, but some owners seem determined to try.
There are enough posts describing the correct wiring for adapters. The wrong wiring shorts out the pins, and blows the TT2.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...nics-the-official-thread.879425/post-16091242
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...nics-the-official-thread.879425/post-15121421
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hug...nics-the-official-thread.879425/post-14784467
Chord themselves on their website state do not use the TT2 to drive speakers.
That said, it is clearly possible, with the correct adapters, and nearfield speakers, provided the owners use common sense (not that common), and limit themselves to lower sound volumes.
 
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Dec 26, 2021 at 4:10 PM Post #15,474 of 18,907
Might be, it was not instantaneous though, but the cheap Amazon adapters were badly soldered at the speaker end so sound was interrupted a few times and the quick succession of load-no load-load was too much I guess. Volume was low, about as much as 8 o clock on my 34W primaluna. But still, I won t try this at home anymore.
I just was very curious how the Heritage Specials would sound without the tube 'distortions' of el34 primuna dialog integrated in between. Next time, I ll borrow some purify eigentakt eval amplifier.
And of course you should never follow any speaker related advice on a headphone forum 😉
 
Dec 26, 2021 at 4:19 PM Post #15,476 of 18,907
Might be, it was not instantaneous though, but the cheap Amazon adapters were badly soldered at the speaker end so sound was interrupted a few times and the quick succession of load-no load-load was too much I guess. Volume was low, about as much as 8 o clock on my 34W primaluna. But still, I won t try this at home anymore.
I just was very curious how the Heritage Specials would sound without the tube 'distortions' of el34 primuna dialog integrated in between. Next time, I ll borrow some purify eigentakt eval amplifier.
And of course you should never follow any speaker related advice on a headphone forum 😉
And yes, I sadly missed the do not use XLR under 16 ohms, so it was really my own fault, the speakers get down to 5 amps somewhere in the curve.

Maybe on the unbalanced output.... With the right adapters...


No, not risking that anymore.
 
Dec 26, 2021 at 4:38 PM Post #15,477 of 18,907
And yes, I sadly missed the do not use XLR under 16 ohms, so it was really my own fault, the speakers get down to 5 amps somewhere in the curve.

Maybe on the unbalanced output.... With the right adapters...


No, not risking that anymore.
I know from my own experience with the Hugo2, that I can drive the Focal Aria 936 at acceptable levels for Jazz and similar.
The 936 are rated at 300W max, but the Hugo2 can drive them at less than half power (so less than 1W).

For owners to blow the TT2, then the suspicion falls on:
  • continuous volume too high
  • incorrectly wired adapter
  • speakers too low sensitivity (so higher volume needed)
  • speakers too low impedence at some frequency ranges (so too high current flows).
I apologise if posters think that I am being irritating, but I just want to try and ensure that new owners of the TT2, do not destroy their christmas present at the first opportunity.
 
Dec 26, 2021 at 5:40 PM Post #15,478 of 18,907
I know from my own experience with the Hugo2, that I can drive the Focal Aria 936 at acceptable levels for Jazz and similar.
The 936 are rated at 300W max, but the Hugo2 can drive them at less than half power (so less than 1W).

For owners to blow the TT2, then the suspicion falls on:
  • continuous volume too high
  • incorrectly wired adapter
  • speakers too low sensitivity (so higher volume needed)
  • speakers too low impedence at some frequency ranges (so too high current flows).
I apologise if posters think that I am being irritating, but I just want to try and ensure that new owners of the TT2, do not destroy their christmas present at the first opportunity.
I appreciate the advice. I also do not want to destroy my tt2 at the first opportunity ahah
 
Dec 26, 2021 at 8:10 PM Post #15,479 of 18,907
This discussion, which has been going on for some time now, about the TT2's ability to drive speakers, reminds me of the debates which occur on DAP threads about the ability of these devices to drive full size headphones. It also ties in with the discussions on what is the minimum power requirement to drive various headphones, which often crop up on this thread.
I don't have experience with the TT2 driving loudspeakers but I have tried various DAP's driving full size headphones and IMO although you can get decent sound quality using a DAP to drive a full size headphone you are not getting the full performance full sized headphones are capable of (which are usually designed to be used with a desktop headphone amp). I'd be surprised if the same doesn't apply to the TT2 driving speakers (unless they are very high sensitivity or active; in which case the TT2 is being used as a preamp rather than a power amp}.
Back in the day there was an argument that it was worth driving speakers with the best quality and highest power amp they could take; not to cane them but so you would have a lot of headroom and power in reserve which would translate into ease of dynamic response and an effortless sound. My experience, with speakers and full size headphones, ties in with this point of view. In other words and IMO to get the best out of any acoustic transducer you need an amp which does not just have the minimum power to drive it but has sufficient headroom to drive it easily.
 
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Dec 27, 2021 at 5:38 AM Post #15,480 of 18,907
Surely sticking to the single ended outputs would eliminate most of the problematic issues related to using the balanced outputs of tt2? Personally i would feel comfortable going single ended out into most speakers including the less efficient less sensitive types. My main concern continues to be the neighbours if i ever get round to trying this. Voxative make some gorgeous sensitive small size speakers at around 6000 euros. That would be excellent if you viewed them as a lifelong possession that would last many years.
 
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