[OG10]

Hello guys, I am very conflicted at the moment between two options. It might seem a bit absurd, but this is what is going through my head.

Well first of all I only have a project-heabox SE as an amplifier, and its doing a good job, but its not all that detailed and lacks real punch that I am after. I have some HD600 which will be the recipient of whatever I buy. I need a DAC primarily to feed my Naim Nait, so I really am after good DAC, but if possible a headphone amp too. Now here come the hard choices.

I was okay till I found firestone audio, because I was sent on the Stello DA100, now having had a look at firestone website, I could have the DAC, the HPAmp and two conditioned PSU all for the price of the Stello.. I am just flumuxed as to what I should do.

Is the quality difference between the Stello and Spitfire that different? And if I do get the Stello, my current headbox will need upgrading anyway? I know in the meantime it could add some great clarity for the Naim, but the idea of owning so much via firestone is tempting..

Please offer any advice you can. My maximum budget is USD $700, and they must deliver to the UK. My musical tastes are between Classical post 1900 and Rock. So please use your acumen to suggest what I should be buying?

Whatever I get I shall review in here

Regards

Wasp

 

[OG10]

I couldn't wait for you guys to reply ;p so I went and bought the following:-

I decided not get another PSU as I have heard that the DAC really doesnt need an independent PSU. I hope to god this is better than my weak ass Pro-ject headbox.

Damn you head-fi! next stop is stefan audio equinox!

Oh, reason why didn't get the stello, it is the same if not slightly different to the Russ andrews DAC-1, and that only got a marginally better score than the Moodlab DICE.

I hope this combo goes well together. Shall keep this thread appraised of what happens

 

[IceClass]

I have both the Cute Beyond and the Spitfire and have been very happy with them.
I use the Supplier PS with both the Cute and Spitfire and got an extra one for the Fubar 2. In my opinion, the supplier makes a difference to all three units but in particular the Spitfire.
Try if for yourself and see how your mileage stacks up.
Firestone make fun little units that IMHO represent good value and quality for the investment.

As someone wrote on another thread though, these things are a gateway step to bigger and better things.

I'm still using Spitfire and Fubar DACS happily but I'm about to trade or sell the Cute Beyond & PS as I'm finding I'm more into tubes and electrets at the moment.

Welcome to upgradeitus.
Have a lot of fun with your kit when it arrives and just face the fact that you are now hooked and destined for headphone inflicted poverty and there's nothing you can do about it.

As you can tell, I'm a little bit of a Firestone Fanboy:

And as the Firestone DACS fit into my rig now:

I'm using the Melos as headamp and as a Line Out/Preamp instead of the Firestone TubeHead preamp which I love and is soo unobtrusively useful and great sounding but I want to simplify my rig for the moment.
Besides, the Melos is no slouch as a preamp and adds a nice dose of tubeyness to the über-solid state Nakamichi 620 amp, the combination of which is doing very nice things to the bevy of electrets.

 

[OG10]

I actually used your review of the spitfire to finalize my decision.

I am already wondering what I'll be buying next month heh, probably some equinox cable for the HD600, and if I have spare another PSU. So what DAC are you going onto next?

I have a lot of lossless audio on my PC, so the DAC element is the main thing for me. Hopefully the firestone can do for now, but I am sure the Naim amp will demand a better source. But it has to be better than the sound coming from my O/B sound card right?

Nice system rack btw where did you get it?

 

[IceClass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OG10 /img/forum/go_quote.gif So what DAC are you going onto next?

I'm about to pull the trigger on a Cambridge Audio 840C on my next trip South .

Quote:

Originally Posted by OG10 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice system rack btw where did you get it?

Wal-Mart I think.
It's a molded plastic stackable shoe rack. I had a couple of veneered IKEA kitchen cabinet doors which happened to be exactly the correct dimensions and thickness. They dropped right in and spruced it up while making it much more solid and functional for electronic gear.

I am however, highly tempted by the Salamander Designs A5 unit:

 

[OG10]

I am getting a bit worried now.. the paypal monies have cleared and firestone audio have not yet sent me a confirmation email to say that they have received the order. Has anyone actually ordered from their own site.. Lets hope this goes well..

 

[pp312]

I ordered from the Firestone site. I seem to remember I got a notification about placing the order but not that it had been sent. The product actually arrived very quickly; however, I would confirm the order if I were you, just in case

 

[IceClass]

I ordered from audiophileproducts.com and it was shipped very quickly.

 

[OG10]

Bah, I am seriously getting worried, still no email confirmation yet. The money has definitely gone from my paypal. I know they are like 12hrs ahead so, i'll have to see if I get a response tonight. I am getting anxious, I should have used audiophile products like you ice.

 

[OG10]

Phew... Just had confirmation

thanks guys for the words of comfort. Now just have to wait for it to come.

I read on the site that the opamps are changeable, any sites that are good for getting a selection of these for me to play with?

 

[IceClass]

I wouldn't get too worried. A lot of people on here have ordered through Firestone direct and have not been disappointed.

For North American customers though I really would recommend dealing directly with Todd and the gang at audiophileproducts.com. They are very helpful, take time to explain the gear, their shipping charge is less than ten bucks and is fast.
Great company to deal with. Now where are those pesky Firestone Monoblocks at??

 

[OG10]

All of the stuff got delivered today..

Such quick international delivery a double thumbs up for firestone audio. One other thing is the quality of the packaging. Gorgeous stuff.

The cute beyond headphone amp trashes my project headbox

in many ways. I'll review the rest after putting the rig through a few tests tonight.

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OG10 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I read on the site that the opamps are changeable, any sites that are good for getting a selection of these for me to play with?

Electronic Components and Semiconductors - Main Page

 

[OG10]

Sorry this took so long to post. Anyway I have had some really good burn in and then finally can give a good impression on it.

Equipment:-
Optical -> Spitfire (PSU) -> Cute Beyond.

The optical is from the PC, all files apple lossless. Stock cable from CB to headphones HD600.

Music used:-

Various Dire Straits songs on Brothers in arms Re-mastered
Johnny Cash – Various
Alexander Nevsky - Prokofiev (DG)
Sinatra – Re-mastered (Various)
DG – Various CDS (Deutsche Gramophone)
Thrash / Heavy metal (Pantera / The haunted )
Sigur ros / Various

So we first need a base of comparison, my initial set up was my PC straight to the Pro-Ject Headbox SE. The sound was pretty damn good, but the Headbox lacked the power to drive the demanding headbox.

So after reading various threads on here, I decided to take the plunge and buy the Firestone audio kit. The total for all of it was USD 555.00. Which was an okay price considering what I was getting.

First impressions where of how solid the units were. I expected some quality but nothing like what I got. The quality was just amazing. The building quality is so tight and clean. Even the painting on the front is gorgeous.

Now for the review.
One of the first things I realised with the set up was how much more aggressive it was to music. This was with no burn in. The sound was just amazing for dance music and trash metal. War nerve by Pantera is a great example. I just felt so aggressive because of the wonderful push it gave to the track. The sound was lush and well separated. The bass was gorgeous and well tamed. This track was particularly troublesome on my old set up, where the sound was rather tiny and underpowered.

After 70+hrs of burn –in, certain characteristics became clearer, the drums which feature so heavily in the music became a bit tighter. With classical music the change was rather drastic. The dynamics of the Scythian suite changed dramatically. The force of the music was far more emotive and made me shake my fist a few times like a conductor. The Alexander Nevsky album is brilliant in its own right and sounds good on most decent systems, but The battle on ice is what I consider to be the “TEST” track. This track is gorgeous and powerful, but on the pro-ject headbox I felt like it was being held back. Almost as if the music was being tethered back.

My Naim integrated amp builds a wonderful soundstage on the speaker set up I have, and to hear it come through the spitfire was even more thrilling. I used the headphone rig to listen to this track after burn in, and wow I melted in its prowess. The menacing wind section was given air to breath, the strings became scarily accurate, the bass became thunderous. I was being treated to a musical entertainment of a calibre that made me stop everything I was doing.

I sat down and turned the lights down, and was waiting to be filled by the joys of Prokofiev’s genius. Though not as good as the speaker / sub combo I have, it certainly gave a rip-roaring performance which left me slightly breathless. The key differences were the subtleties, the speaker combo gave more dramatic highs, where as the headphone experience was far more intimate and like a nightmare. The “in your head” sound was certainly there. The dream like quality provided by the headphones made it just a joy to enjoy.

The same experiences were revealed on Wagner and Berlioz. I must emphasize though, cheap recordings will not cut the mustard for this set up. It picks up far too many flaws. It does not smooth over things.

There are other tracks where this set up was good, but when it comes down to Jazz etc the set up couldn’t manage the rhythmic sound the pro-ject headbox gave. This isn’t an issue for me as Jazz isn’t my main line of musical taste.

Other factors could be the cable that I am using and the lack of a PSU on my cute beyond. Other than that I am not sure of a reason why it would be lacking in Jazz.

As for modern music like Massive Attack and Sigur Ros the set – up is great at opening up the sound stage. I know that the cute beyond does not have a cross-feed circuit, but I am not sure if it really needs one at the detail it delivers.

One note is that the Cute beyond is marginally better when connected directly to the PCs o/b soundcard. But it only comes to life when connected to the spitfire. As for the PSU differences the PSU makes a bit of a difference on the DAC, but not on the head amp. As far as I can tell anyway.
If there are other things you want to know about the rig, please ask