[funkur]

Thanks, Matthew. The Aquarius is not in my budget at present so I went with the Pegasus. It'll be interesting to see how it fares against the ESS 90128 chip in my PS Audio Gain Cell. I'll probably try the Hi-Fi Tuning Gold fuses since they're quite a bit less than the SR Purples.

Check out the QSA Blacks - best $28 fuse out there. I like them better than the HiFi Tuning Supreme at 1/2 the price.

 

[output555]

Check out the QSA Blacks - best $28 fuse out there. I like them better than the HiFi Tuning Supreme at 1/2 the price.

Excellent!. Thanks for the tip, Mathew. buying two today.

 

[Matthew Willims]

Mmmm, have taken note of the QSA Black for my second system.

 

[Tubewin]

The Pegasus is an amazing dac and it compares favorably to much more expensive dacs like the Holo May. I have a pair of synergistic research orange fuses in mine and it sounds better than it has any right to be for a 1,100 dollar dac (+329.00 for the fuses). I was heavily considering purchasing the Aquarius given how well the Pegasus performed, but, I'm someone who would constantly ask myself "what if" and regret not spending the extra money so I went with the May. I was surprised that the Pegasus was more similar than different with the Holo May. There are a few things that the May does better, like the blackness of background (possibly from a very well implemented isolated usb module and the separated power supply), slightly less digital haze, and absolutely zero distortion when going back and forth through a track (the Pegasus did have this problem on occasion). But the tonality seems more similar than different which is insane to me considering the difference in price. Both are smooth and natural sounding, but the Pegasus actually did sound less fatiguing on my previous amp, gsx-mini, than the May (most likely due to the high voltage output of the xlr's on the May(5.8v vs the pegasus 4v)), which allowed for longer listening sessions with that specific audio chain. Just goes to show, throwing more money at a chain doesn't always equate to being better. Synergy should be taken into account. I don't think there is a single negative post on the Pegasus' sound quality (just about "bad business practices") in the entire thread, and that speaks volumes.

 

[Matthew Willims]

Yeah my Aquarius occasionally plays distortion too. I just pause playback and pause and it comes good. I’ve only read of this happening with USB as the source so I suspect it’s the USB implementation. At least I hope that’s what it is as I plan to just use I2S from the U18.

 

[bouscadie]

The Pegasus is an amazing dac and it compares favorably to much more expensive dacs like the Holo May. I have a pair of synergistic research orange fuses in mine and it sounds better than it has any right to be for a 1,100 dollar dac (+329.00 for the fuses). I was heavily considering purchasing the Aquarius given how well the Pegasus performed, but, I'm someone who would constantly ask myself "what if" and regret not spending the extra money so I went with the May. I was surprised that the Pegasus was more similar than different with the Holo May. There are a few things that the May does better, like the blackness of background (possibly from a very well implemented isolated usb module and the separated power supply), slightly less digital haze, and absolutely zero distortion when going back and forth through a track (the Pegasus did have this problem on occasion). But the tonality seems more similar than different which is insane to me considering the difference in price. Both are smooth and natural sounding, but the Pegasus actually did sound less fatiguing on my previous amp, gsx-mini, than the May (most likely due to the high voltage output of the xlr's on the May(5.8v vs the pegasus 4v)), which allowed for longer listening sessions with that specific audio chain. Just goes to show, throwing more money at a chain doesn't always equate to being better. Synergy should be taken into account. I don't think there is a single negative post on the Pegasus' sound quality (just about "bad business practices") in the entire thread, and that speaks volumes.

are the fuses easy to change on Pegasus? do you have to open it? and also if possible what is the precise reference of the fuses you have used? Thanks for your help.

 

[Matthew Willims]

are the fuses easy to change on Pegasus? do you have to open it? and also if possible what is the precise reference of the fuses you have used? Thanks for your help.

Two screws at the back and the top lifts off. Two fuses to change of your area uses 110VAC or just the one if 220VAC

 

[bouscadie]

Thanks
I am so lazy I admit .... what is the amperage?
Pegasus is really a beautiful piece I think too. Groovy and precise at the same time, it's not often and that suits me well.

 

[Matthew Willims]

2A slow blow for both fuses. The Synergistic Research Purple does wonders in there though if looking for cheaper the Aucharm single crystal silver fuses are excellent too.

 

[Tubewin]

are the fuses easy to change on Pegasus? do you have to open it? and also if possible what is the precise reference of the fuses you have used? Thanks for your help.

Yeah, its easy. Just make sure the fuses are in the right direction. Synergistic research fuses are directional. Make sure you turn off and unplug the dac as well. The only difficult part for me was putting back the lid on.

 

[bouscadie]

all right guys, enjoy.

 

[Palyodgree]

I have the Holo May KTE dac , it would be remarkable considering the design features and cost difference‘s if the Pegasus approached the sound quality performance of the May KTE. However having owned the May for a considerable time I know the May KTE isn’t THE dac for me .
The bigger brother Aquarius at $2600.00 is a eye opening bargain though recent parts costs , current shortages , availability issues and shipping all have shot up . There are stand out differences between the Aquarius , May KTE and another well received dac though I don’t care for VS / VS comparisons between components that cost double and triple or more I prefer to listen to what they have on their own .

 

[Basil65]

I've had my Pegasus for 2 weeks now. It's been burning in for 24 hours/day since I have it. I am listening to it as I write this and it is absolutely stunning. Will be doing a comparison this weekend with both my Auralic Vega and my Musical Fidelity M6sR DACs... but I already have a feeling I know how the results will turn out.

Tested the DACs, all through USB from ROON on my Dell laptop: results are what I was expecting. On the Naim-ML Montis (using SE since the Naim doesn't have xlr), the Pegasus was clearly more airy and had more precise imaging. Soundstage was also bigger, especially the depth. Timbre also sounded much more accurate on the Peggy than on the Vega and the M6sR...alot more. The Vega & M6sR were a tad more dynamic and had just an edge more of slam in the bass, the Vega being the best in this area. What surprised me the most is how much I could hear the digital glare around the notes on the M6sR. To the point of it being annoying. The Vega sounded much more analog compared to the M6sR, but could not match the Peggy. The Vega was $3500US in 2014...

The second test was on my headphone rig with the Hifiman Arya and the HD650, driven by the Topping A90. I used all balanced inputs and outputs for this test. Not suprisingly, the results were the same, with the gap between the Peggy and the Vega narrowing down quite a bit in all aspects, especially on the HD 650. The Arya is more revealing and allowed me to hear the differences between DACs quite clearly, but the Vega was a very close match for the Peggy on this system.

Considering the Peggy is less than half the price of the Vega and 2 thirds the price of the M6sR, I have to say, I'm very happy with my purchase!

 

[Tubewin]

I have the Holo May KTE dac , it would be remarkable considering the design features and cost difference‘s if the Pegasus approached the sound quality performance of the May KTE. However having owned the May for a considerable time I know the May KTE isn’t THE dac for me .
The bigger brother Aquarius at $2600.00 is a eye opening bargain though recent parts costs , current shortages , availability issues and shipping all have shot up . There are stand out differences between the Aquarius , May KTE and another well received dac though I don’t care for VS / VS comparisons between components that cost double and triple or more I prefer to listen to what they have on their own .

I do need to stress that the amp I previously used did not synergize well with the May because of the xlr output voltage. The May is the better dac. The pegasus just punches really high for its price and pairs better with the gsx mini because the output voltage is 4v.

 

[Palyodgree]

I do need to stress that the amp I previously used did not synergize well with the May because of the xlr output voltage. The May is the better dac. The pegasus just punches really high for its price and pairs better with the gsx mini because the output voltage is 4v.

It’s a learning curve for me to I’m back with a tube amplifier after a long while with nothing but solid state , I’ve borrowed a server made by Rockna I don’t normally bring components home I can’t afford though it made me re-think a few things and they do come up for sale used occasionally.