[borkenarrou]

The V281 does look lovely, there is one for sale but it does not come with a DAC which is a problem for me.

I am requesting a demo of the V590, there is a £500 difference in price between the two, is there a compelling reason to get the Pro over the non?

Pro comes with Reed Relay volume control which is supposed to have better sound quality than the regular Alps potentiometer, but the pro does make some noise while changing volume but not after that.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Volume Control of an amp is as essential as having inputs and outputs. What sounds like sarcasm isn't, it's just that volume control is not only important for regulating the volume, it also defines the sound itself, beyond crosstalk and linearity. It's a complex topic but far more important than any cable could "remedy".

 

[Vitola]

Brothers, you can tell a little about the experience using v550 as a preamp for your speaker system and also for content such as movies, games.

 

[suchanewbie]

Morning all, I'm looking to upgrade my V550 with an improved DAC over my current Schiit Modius. I have managed (poorly) to reduce my choices to 6 different DAC's and was hoping someone may share any experiences they have with pairing any of these DAC's with their VIO? My phones are a pair of ZMF Aeolus, Audeze LCD-2 CB, Mezze 99 classic and DCA Aeon 2 Noire;
RME ADI-2
Schiit Bifrost 2/64
Graham Slee Majestic
Chord Qutest
Soekris 2541
Okto Dac 8

 

[o-MJ-o]

Morning all, I'm looking to upgrade my V550 with an improved DAC over my current Schiit Modius. I have managed (poorly) to reduce my choices to 6 different DAC's and was hoping someone may share any experiences they have with pairing any of these DAC's with their VIO? My phones are a pair of ZMF Aeolus, Audeze LCD-2 CB, Mezze 99 classic and DCA Aeon 2 Noire;
RME ADI-2
Schiit Bifrost 2/64
Graham Slee Majestic
Chord Qutest
Soekris 2541
Okto Dac 8

Schiit Bifrost 2/64

 

[ROMEROTECH]

Morning all, I'm looking to upgrade my V550 with an improved DAC over my current Schiit Modius. I have managed (poorly) to reduce my choices to 6 different DAC's and was hoping someone may share any experiences they have with pairing any of these DAC's with their VIO? My phones are a pair of ZMF Aeolus, Audeze LCD-2 CB, Mezze 99 classic and DCA Aeon 2 Noire;
RME ADI-2
Schiit Bifrost 2/64
Graham Slee Majestic
Chord Qutest
Soekris 2541
Okto Dac 8

If you are truly striving for that pure analogue sound very few manufacturers get right in solid state try the Graham Slee Majestic DAC. I have one and it is truly majestic. A solid state DAC with a very tubey flavour. Nobody does it like Graham Slee.

I also have a Graham Slee SOLO ULDE HPA that has the most gorgeous analogue sound of any HPA. Additionally i run two Harbeth SHL5's driven by Graham Slee 35w AB monoblock Proprius amps. Their sound is sublime, fed by the majestic.

If you love that pure analogue sound hook up some HD800 or RS1's to the SOLO HPA fed again by the majestic and you will have analogue nirvana. As you can tell i love Graham Slee audio and it doesn't cost the earth. Give the Majestic and audition.

BTW... I use the RCA pre-amp outputs from my V550 Pro into the RCA inputs on the majestic so i can control the DAC gain remotely using the Vio remote and it all sounds great.

 

[suchanewbie]

If you are truly striving for that pure analogue sound very few manufacturers get right in solid state try the Graham Slee Majestic DAC. I have one and it is truly majestic. A solid state DAC with a very tubey flavour. Nobody does it like Graham Slee.

I also have a Graham Slee SOLO ULDE HPA that has the most gorgeous analogue sound of any HPA. Additionally i run two Harbeth SHL5's driven by Graham Slee 35w AB monoblock Proprius amps. Their sound is sublime, fed by the majestic.

If you love that pure analogue sound hook up some HD800 or RS1's to the SOLO HPA fed again by the majestic and you will have analogue nirvana. As you can tell i love Graham Slee audio and it doesn't cost the earth. Give the Majestic and audition.

BTW... I use the RCA pre-amp outputs from my V550 Pro into the RCA inputs on the majestic so i can control the DAC gain remotely using the Vio remote and it all sounds great.

Many thanks indeed. The Majestic does seem like a great solution, even given the venerable Wolfson chip and relatively low USB resolution.

 

[ROMEROTECH]

Many thanks indeed. The Majestic does seem like a great solution, even given the venerable Wolfson chip and relatively low USB resolution.

If you have superman super hearing maybe you can hear much better than 16-bit 44.1Khz, but i can't for sure. The USB input will do 24-bit 48Khz which IMHO is more than anyone needs or could hear anyway.

I run a Cyrus CDXT-SE2 transport via coax only, the Majestic COAX inputs are rated to 192Khz 24-bit but the Cyrus is still 44.1Khz coax out so not really of huge benefit but nice to have. If you're looking for super hi-res sound stick to a digital offering, if you're looking for purity go for the majestic.

 

[suchanewbie]

If you have superman super hearing maybe you can hear much better than 16-bit 44.1Khz, but i can't for sure. The USB input will do 24-bit 48Khz which IMHO is more than anyone needs or could hear anyway.

I run a Cyrus CDXT-SE2 transport via coax only, the Majestic COAX inputs are rated to 192Khz 24-bit but the Cyrus is still 44.1Khz coax out so not really of huge benefit but nice to have. If you're looking for super hi-res sound stick to a digital offering, if you're looking for purity go for the majestic.

I run a Cyrus as well. Anyway, order placed today for a Majestic. John Cadman was very convincing. Many thanks.

 

[ROMEROTECH]

I run a Cyrus as well. Anyway, order placed today for a Majestic. John Cadman was very convincing. Many thanks.

John Cadman is a lovely guy, been dealing with him for years. Did you order it with the Enigma PSU? When i first bought my Majestic it came with the PSU1, i upgraded it couple of years ago, did an exchange. Now i run the Enigma, gives the sound more heft, bigger shoulders so to speak, but still very clean. Enjoy your purchase, i love mine, never going to sell it even if i manage to get hold of a Holo Audio May KTE.

 

[suchanewbie]

John Cadman is a lovely guy, been dealing with him for years. Did you order it with the Enigma PSU? When i first bought my Majestic it came with the PSU1, i upgraded it couple of years ago, did an exchange. Now i run the Enigma, gives the sound more heft, bigger shoulders so to speak, but still very clean. Enjoy your purchase, i love mine, never going to sell it even if i manage to get hold of a Holo Audio May KTE.

I did order with the Enigma and a set of balanced interconnects TRRS to XLR. Very glad to hear of your experience. Your recommendation was a key decision factor. Many thanks.

 

[ROMEROTECH]

I did order with the Enigma and a set of balanced interconnects TRRS to XLR. Very glad to hear of your experience. Your recommendation was a key decision factor. Many thanks.

I've got all their proprietary interconnects as i've got the amps and HPA, it's all super high quality stuff. Enjoy the experience. Let us know what you think.

 

[suchanewbie]

I've got all their proprietary interconnects as i've got the amps and HPA, it's all super high quality stuff. Enjoy the experience. Let us know what you think.

Will do, thanks. By the way...what exactly is the purpose of the digital mute switch?

 

[ROMEROTECH]

Will do, thanks. By the way...what exactly is the purpose of the digital mute switch?

It completely mutes all the digital inputs (coax/optical/usb) so when you're running analogue there's no chance of any kind of interference whatsoever from those and it's nice to be able to turn them off when not in use. The Majestic has a very clean sound, no noise, no LCD to create noise, just two tiny LED's, every bit helps.

 

[dpeterfy32]

hpa v550 what class amplifier?