[ahossam]

I have WA5 LE pair with Yggdrasil Analog 2.

How are the synergy between the Yggdrasil and Abyss 1266?

 

[CreditingKarma]

Anyone here has experience with NOS dacs with the abyss?
Am curious about the NOS sound and am looking at the metrum onyx/pavane, denafrips, and holo spring.
I've not heard any NOS dacs before but I've read the NOS sound is warmer and soundstage is bigger, with better bass extension than OS dacs. Seems like it would add some more goodness to the Abyss?

I used to have a metrum onyx with my abyss. I really like the metrum. The sound was bit more dense to me and some might find the bass and lower mids to be fuller as well.

I sold mine to upgrade to the TT2. I find the sound stage larger with the chord. The imaging is also more accurate as well. I would really like to hear the pavane I actually had one on order but something happened with the order and I ended up getting the TT2 instead. I have also heard great things about the terminator as well.

 

[JLoud]

I have WA5 LE pair with Yggdrasil Analog 2.

How are the synergy between the Yggdrasil and Abyss 1266?

I have that combination and feel they pair well. The 1266 can retrieve a lot of details and the Yggdrasil provides them. I feel both a generally neutral in presentation.

 

[ken6217]

Anyone here has experience with NOS dacs with the abyss?
Am curious about the NOS sound and am looking at the metrum onyx/pavane, denafrips, and holo spring.
I've not heard any NOS dacs before but I've read the NOS sound is warmer and soundstage is bigger, with better bass extension than OS dacs. Seems like it would add some more goodness to the Abyss?

Yes. I have a Metrum Pavane Level 3 DAC. Love the sound. I sold my dCS Debussy for it.

 

[Drewligarchy]

Demoing then Superconductor headphone cable with my Abyss TC on a XI Formula S/Powerman fronted by Dave/MScaler.

I just listened for one night for a number of hours. Mids are thicker, treble is sweeter, background is blacker. Can’t determine if I am getting the same depth as with the stock cable as lower mids are more forward.

While this cable is clearly better and more refined overall, the one surprise was the dynamics seem lessened and the bass seems to have a bit less punch (than stock cable). Trying to determine if this is intrinsic to the cable or a product of the synergy of the cable with this amplifier.

Overall I really like the textures and any slight glare and fatigue in the treble is gone. That said, I think the TC probably already improved significantly in this area over previous models. Curious as to whether others have the same experience with this cable/amp pairing - or different experiences with other amps.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Demoing then Superconductor headphone cable with my Abyss TC on a XI Formula S/Powerman fronted by Dave/MScaler.

I just listened for one night for a number of hours. Mids are thicker, treble is sweeter, background is blacker. Can’t determine if I am getting the same depth as with the stock cable as lower mids are more forward.

While this cable is clearly better and more refined overall, the one surprise was the dynamics seem lessened and the bass seems to have a bit less punch (than stock cable). Trying to determine if this is intrinsic to the cable or a product of the synergy of the cable with this amplifier.

Overall I really like the textures and any slight glare and fatigue in the treble is gone. That said, I think the TC probably already improved significantly in this area over previous models. Curious as to whether others have the same experience with this cable/amp pairing - or different experiences with other amps.

Jay at Audiobacon said the same thing about the bass having less punch than the stock cable. However, I do not notice that with my setup. In fact, I feel like the bass is even more punchy with the SC cables. I'm using the WA33 amp, which may be the reason, I don't know.

 

[Drewligarchy]

Jay at Audiobacon said the same thing about the bass having less punch than the stock cable. However, I do not notice that with my setup. In fact, I feel like the bass is even more punchy with the SC cables. I'm using the WA33 amp, which may be the reason, I don't know.

Standard Wa33 correct? I’ve been considering it. I only heard the Elite however in the Woo room at CanJam last year. TT2 is possibly a little thicker than DAVE as well, but more likely the amp.
I need more listening. I don’t think the bass bleeds into the mids as some have said - it sounds more cohesive to me. Rather the kids are slightly recessed with the stock cable so the bass sounds more disconnected - but not necessarily in a bad way - it’s just preference. Again I only listened for about 4 hours so need some more time.

 

[Delacaff]

I agree, not sure why Jay had that perception? My expereince is the same as yours...

I have the TC with SC cable powered by full XI audio combo. Before the SC cable, I had the stock cable. I experienced this sensation of having more impactful / lower bass with the stock cable (and flying highs BTW). My explanation is that the stock cable lacks medium and balance. This then leads to highlighting the bass more than it should. The SC cable is far much balanced than the stock one IMHO, conveying richer tones and bringing back the mids upfront. The bass then takes their "right" place, neither being highlighted nor absent. The stock cable is a nice cable to demonstrate the abilities of Abyss in terms of frequency range (bass especially) but I didn't find it very involving.

 

[commtrd]

Anyone used TC with the new GSX Mini amp? Currently at Hugo 2 and GSX Mini, wondering how the Abyss performs with that chain.

 

[matthewhypolite]

Standard Wa33 correct? I’ve been considering it. I only heard the Elite however in the Woo room at CanJam last year. TT2 is possibly a little thicker than DAVE as well, but more likely the amp.
I need more listening. I don’t think the bass bleeds into the mids as some have said - it sounds more cohesive to me. Rather the kids are slightly recessed with the stock cable so the bass sounds more disconnected - but not necessarily in a bad way - it’s just preference. Again I only listened for about 4 hours so need some more time.

Please note that if you demoed the wa33 or Elite with stock tubes, they are not very good. After getting a wa33 the very next step should be to upgrade the tubes.

Re: SC cable, in my experience I found the SC made evrything better.

 

[Ciggavelli]

Standard Wa33 correct? I’ve been considering it. I only heard the Elite however in the Woo room at CanJam last year. TT2 is possibly a little thicker than DAVE as well, but more likely the amp.
I need more listening. I don’t think the bass bleeds into the mids as some have said - it sounds more cohesive to me. Rather the kids are slightly recessed with the stock cable so the bass sounds more disconnected - but not necessarily in a bad way - it’s just preference. Again I only listened for about 4 hours so need some more time.

Yeah, standard WA33. I've never heard the Elite version, but some posters on here say it's considerably better than the standard edition. The standard edition sounds so good though. I can't imagine how it could be improved.

 

[ken6217]

I only have the Superconductor cable and so I can’t compare. I love bass and I think any more bass than this wouldn’t sound natural. Also, if the stock cable would also bring with it too much in the treble region, it would be unlistenable for me.

Just important to the conversation is everyone’s related equipment and other cables. Some systems could benefit by a cable that will give it more bass.

 

[Jon L]

I've not heard any NOS dacs before but I've read the NOS sound is warmer and soundstage is bigger, with better bass extension than OS dacs. Seems like it would add some more goodness to the Abyss?

If you've not heard NOS DAC's (usually the R2R NOS package), I strongly advise you to seriously audition some good ones, especially in your system if possible, before committing real money.
It boils down to personal preference in the end, but personally, I prefer components to pass along as much original information as possible without adding anything that was not recorded, even if it may be pleasing smoothness, girth, warmth, which good R2R NOS DAC tends to...eh add.

 

[MacedonianHero]

That's good to know actually.

I would ALWAYS recommend a DAC that is bang on neutral and pulls all of the detail from a recording...always!

 

[MacedonianHero]

Anyone used TC with the new GSX Mini amp? Currently at Hugo 2 and GSX Mini, wondering how the Abyss performs with that chain.

Brilliant pairing! Simply brilliant!