[themanbeast]

Its about payday time, and I have enough budgeted to get one of these two amps that day

I just have a few questions about them I am hoping someone might be able to answer.

First and foremost, is the Cantates USB DAC good quality? The main reason the Arietta is in this conversation is that I already have a Zero DAC (No mods whatsoever, completely stock). I figure I can perhaps save a bit of money by going with the Arietta. However, if the DAC in the Cantate is of similar or better quality than the Zero, I would probably go for that. Of late, I have noticed some increased static output on my Zero, and I am starting to wonder if it is getting ready to kick off on me. When it is plugged in I get a small shock almost whenever I touch it (it has not seemed to affect the SQ as of yet). FWIR, the Arietta is very close to the Cantate in terms of amp quality.


The second question would be where I should get the amp. I saw the Arietta and Cantate on TTVJ and the prices are in my range, but I don't know if there are better deals for these out there. if the price is only 5-10 dollars difference I would most likely buy from Todd, but in this day and age it never hurts to shop around.

 

[ddoingwell]

The answer really lies in what headphones you're going to use. I have an Arietta and it's gorgeous with my AKG K240S and Philips SHP9000 though it just doesn't have the oomph for my AKG K501s. If your headphones aren't really fussy or power hungry, the Arietta will make you very happy, especially with a pre-existing DAC in your rig.

As for the prices, I'm assuming you've looked at the Meier webpage so you have a baseline. These amps don't seem to come up used very often but you might get lucky with a WTB in the For Sale forums.

Shocks and static from the Zero? Yikes! Get help! Better make the next $-spent on a repair or at least diagnosis; no sense getting fried...

Good luck and I hope I've been at least a tiny bit of help.
Cheers,
Don

 

[peanuthead]

If you're gonna buy Meier, buy directly from Meier audio. Arietta is $225 including shipping, and Cantate 2 is $470 including shipping, $65 and $100 dollars cheaper respectively compared to TTVJ.

 

[themanbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ddoingwell /img/forum/go_quote.gif The answer really lies in what headphones you're going to use. I have an Arietta and it's gorgeous with my AKG K240S and Philips SHP9000 though it just doesn't have the oomph for my AKG K501s. If your headphones aren't really fussy or power hungry, the Arietta will make you very happy, especially with a pre-existing DAC in your rig. As for the prices, I'm assuming you've looked at the Meier webpage so you have a baseline. These amps don't seem to come up used very often but you might get lucky with a WTB in the For Sale forums. Shocks and static from the Zero? Yikes! Get help! Better make the next $-spent on a repair or at least diagnosis; no sense getting fried... Good luck and I hope I've been at least a tiny bit of help. Cheers, Don

I'll put up my headphones I currently have, very subject to change though because I trade quite frequently.


K701 (Probably the least used)
SR225
DT250/80 (On the way)
Ety ER4P

My upgrade path for these varies wildly, though I'm probably going to go for some Denons next. I'll likely end up with one of the high end Grados, be it the PS-1, PS-1000, RS-1, or GS-1000. I'm mainly looking for something that will work with these well, and something that is built remarkably well (The meier amps caught my eye for this).

As for the Zero, I'm almost positive it doesnt have a problem now, after a brief turn of events. My mouse has a metal mousewheel, and when I sat down to type this just now, I got zapped by it. I'm pretty sure its something other than my Zero (Powered off and unplugged atm) causing the issue. As nothing seems to have been impacted sonically on it, that seems to solidify that the unit itself is fine.


Quote:

Originally Posted by "Peanuthead If you're gonna buy Meier, buy directly from Meier audio. Arietta is $225 including shipping, and Cantate 2 is $470 including shipping, $65 and $100 dollars cheaper respectively compared to TTVJ.

This is true, but shipping is also international and on a heavy item to boot. It might not be all that much cheaper... unless im wrong, and it actually does get shipped within the US. I've sent an email to find this out.

 

[winzzz]

i'm curious in this also...does cantate.2 a good headphone amp for it's price ?

 

[peanuthead]

The prices I quoted INCLUDE shipping.

 

[themanbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by peanuthead /img/forum/go_quote.gif The prices I quoted INCLUDE shipping.

Good to know, Guess I know where I'm getting my amp from then

 

[lutwey]

more on this please