I was stunned at the dead silence upon starting my first track. I heard the singer parting her lips, the slightest tapping, sounds of saliva. OMG, everything caught by the master tape was there effortlessly presented by the Nagra headphone stage.
The Hugo is not in the same league. There were a lot of new information. The music was liquid, understated, analog. Like a master tape off a Revox.
Tonight, I have been listening again the tracks we played on the Nagra on my Cary, Grace, BHSE, and Stax amps. They are all not a the Nagra headphone output level.
Simply put. This was a very costly experience for me.
What source are yo using there: the NAGRA CD or the Music files from your PC ? Do you also consider the NAGRA CD a very good CD worth the extra cost ( It is expensive for a CD Player) ?
I am astonished (in a good way) when you say that the internal NAGRA Amp is better than an external STAX or a 5000$ BHSE Amp !!! The internal Amp is a small circuit board lost on the right side of the case ! this is almost incredible ! don't you have the new toy syndrome ?
( In fact I can really understand that you get more details direct from the HD DAC than through an external Amp. I experienced exactly the same feeling listening direct from the TotalDAC compared to through a Cavalli LU. This make sense since you remove one component in the signal chain. BUT... you do not get the "space" and "volume stage" that a BIG headphone amp can provide. )