[mscott58]

Fellow Head-Fiers - This is one great unit! Highly recommended.  
 
Here's what it looks like in what I consider to be an "ultimate stack", paired with the AK100 and Chord Mojo. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Cheers 

 

[meomap]

The MSRP was stated in the first post, eh? It's $695, unless something has changed since

Went up $104. Forget it.

 

[mscott58]

Went up $104. Forget it.

Except it's $699 now for pre-order, unless the $4 is too much.

 

[KB]

Went up $104. Forget it.

Yes I stated we had some additional costs since its first (long ago) announcement and explained why. We did not make that many so its ok if some are turning away because of the increase, again sorry about the delay and unexpected hike.
 
Ken

 

[unknownguardian]

Hi Ken,

Great day to wake up with this piece of good news. May I know what are the "accessories" included in the purchase? (Will there be a mini-mini cabl provided?)

 

[KB]

Hi Ken,

Great day to wake up with this piece of good news. May I know what are the "accessories" included in the purchase? (Will there be a mini-mini cabl provided?)

 
HI 
 
Yes amp straps, 5v charger, usb cable for charging, mesh bag, manual, sorry no mini to mini cable.
 
Ken

 

[meomap]

Yes I stated we had some additional costs since its first (long ago) announcement and explained why. We did not make that many so its ok if some are turning away because of the increase, again sorry about the delay and unexpected hike.

Ken

Since I have the new Rx and CDM, how the Cv5 fit into these?
Sounds of Cv5 vs CDM? Can you point out same and differences in sound signature? Tx.

 

[goldendarko]

Isn't the CV5 pretty much a CDM with no DAC? Should be pretty similar

 

[KB]

Since I have the new Rx and CDM, how the Cv5 fit into these?
Sounds of Cv5 vs CDM? Can you point out same and differences in sound signature? Tx.

Hi Meomap,
 
Thats tough, the Cv5 and CDM are very similar sounding really... I honestly dither between the 2. Mscott58 spent some critical time with both so he can also chime in here but IMO the Cv5 in terms of size and function is ALOs finest amp ever.  Lately I have been using the CDM digitally with the AK70 only because I like using the AK70.
 
Ken

 

[meomap]

Hi Meomap,

Thats tough, the Cv5 and CDM are very similar sounding really... I honestly dither between the 2. Mscott58 spent some critical time with both so he can also chime in here but IMO the Cv5 in terms of size and function is ALOs finest amp ever.  Lately I have been using the CDM digitally with the AK70 only because I like using the AK70.

Ken

Thanks.

 

[mscott58]

Since I have the new Rx and CDM, how the Cv5 fit into these?
Sounds of Cv5 vs CDM? Can you point out same and differences in sound signature? Tx.

Yeah, I have the Rx and the CDM as well, and as Ken pointed out I was lucky enough to be able to spend some quality time recently with a pre-production CV5. 
 
In my experience the CV5 is essentially the excellent amp portion from the CDM put into a package that is the size (or very close to the size) of the Rx. The amp is excellent, bringing over all the tube-goodness and warmth/emotion/musicality of the CDM but being small enough to really make it portable (I'd consider the CDM more trans-portable). I couldn't say I would prefer one over the other consistently in sound (which is high praise given how good I find the CDM to be), the real difference is the use-case.
 
The CV5 doesn't have the balanced architecture of the CDM, but I didn't find it any worse for it. Also the fact that it uses one tube versus two also helps with the battery life and keeps it cooler (it runs much cooler than the CDM). I didn't have the chance to put one of my highly-prized Mullard tubes from my CDM into the CV5 before I had to (sadly) send it back to Ken for a show, but it was still great and I know that the Mullard tube might make it just incrementally even better, although tube preferences are highly specific to the individual.  And at the $699 intro price the CV5 is less than half the price of the CDM, and even at the regular $799 it's still a good value for its sound quality in my opinion. True you don't get the DAC portion, but even with the CDM I usually default to the Chord Mojo for DAC duty (sorry Ken, personal preference here!). 
 
My main issue with the CV5 is the same one I have with the CDM, specifically in my experience they're both pretty susceptible to interference (EMI) from things like cellphones. Think this might be due to either the architecture of the system and/or the tubes. However, I found that if you're careful in how you use and place the units you can remedy this. 
 
So big thumbs up to the CV5 and hope to add one (or add one back) to my gear collection soon! Cheers 

 

[WCDchee]

I actually personally preferred the cv5 to the cdm, it felt tighter, cleaner and quicker than the cdm to me, but really that's just preferences. That said, it might have changed/I might be wrong due to show conditions

 

[meomap]

It's a tough call right now.
If Ken throw in a Mullard for the preordered then I think I will jump in right away.
Got all tubes except Mullard.
Mullard vs Raytheon?

 

[mscott58]

It's a tough call right now.
If Ken throw in a Mullard for the preordered then I think I will jump in right away.
Got all tubes except Mullard.
Mullard vs Raytheon?

Personally I like the Mullards.

However, that doesn't really matter as I don't think there are any to be had by anyone, including Ken.

Cheers

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

Almost was disappointed by the price, then I found I had some money I didn't know about in my PayPal account... Basically got a free amp, so I'm pretty happy.

It'll be my first tube amp... Can't wait to compare it to the Rx.

Sent from my E5803 using a highly trained, special forces carrier pigeon