Back to tubes

[rud3dawg]

Woah!! congrats!! Mammoth of a power amp!!! niiiice!!!

 

[captrajesh]

Looks wise quite similar to Anilva's Pass DIY F5. Hope to listen during my next visit to Hyderabad.

 

[sidvee]

Thanks Rud.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

Looks wise quite similar to Anilva's Pass DIY F5. Hope to listen during my next visit to Hyderabad.

Capt. though I am not familiar with this amp., on a recent visit to US I had the opportunity of spending some time with some Pass labs xa60.5/xa100.5 monoblocks driving a pair of B&W802d and consequently those were high on my list. I however feel that the kraft is a much better amp. Other amps. I considered at this level were the Plinius sa-reference and the ayre acoustics vx-r. I have heard plinius in the past (at shows), they are very good but no dealers in India, and Ayre uses the cardas binding posts which wont work with my kimber select 3033 bananna plugs. So the kraft was a no brainer and I couldn't be happier. Secondly since I had the rg7, sonically I knew this amp. would work harmoniously with my other equipment which was my most important requirement.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[captrajesh]

Coming at those prices I'm sure they must be sounding fantabulous.

Cheapstakes (like me) will continue to scout around for basement bargain deals. :lol:

 

[sidvee]

Coming at those prices I'm sure they must be sounding fantabulous.

Yes Capt., all of them sound good in their own way, but what I have noticed is as one moves higher up the amp. chain, synergy with other equipment takes front seat to all other requirements. This is critical since we are getting diminishing returns on SQ as we move higher so nuances really matter, and these details can be easily obscured by wrong partnering equipment. Actually in a way it does take a lot of hard work at this level to change or upgrade equipment as one has to put in a lot of effort into the auditioning process (which in India is like finding a honest politicianhyeah. Consequently my upgrades from now on are going to get more sporadic. I am beginning the hunt for a new DAC and speakers.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Nikhil]

Congratulations Sid! The SL sound is something else and your Kraft 250 is probably on another level altogether!
Would be very interested in having a listen sometime.

About your DAC search: Do have a look at the NOS Mini DAC Octave. I was given the info recently FMs prem and square_wave and I am in the process of ordering. Its been well reviewed on 6moons as well. They also have a newer model called the HEX which would also fit in nicely with your setup.

 

[pdhanwada]

Re: Back to tubes (or hybrid)

Here is the latest update to my system. The mighty Symphonic Line Kraft 250 amp. This beast weighs 45kg and pumps 2x250 watts into 8 ohms, 2x400 watts in 4 ohms and a staggering 2 x 1kilowatt into 1 ohm load all highly biased into class A so it runs hot. Specs. aside, how does it sound? My amp. is just breaking in with about 10 hours or so (recommended break in by Rolf - very, very loooong - about a year's worth of listening:sad, and even though it is new, it sounds divine. Easily, the best amp. I have ever had in my system, and probably the best I have owned. Also, another sublime buying experience from Odyssey(Sridhar) of ARN Systems.
Some future upgrades that I am contemplating:
1. DAC - Prism Orpheus or Dcs debussy or Ayon Skylla
2. Speakers - Planning a long audition process for offerings in the range of $10 - $15k
3. Isolation accessories
Cheers,
Sid

Sidvee,

Congrats on a big purchase. Our meet has been long standing. Would love to hear your system. I admire your perseverance, staying in india you still are able to change your equipment.

Good for you.

Thanks
pandu

 

[sidvee]

About your DAC search: Do have a look at the NOS Mini DAC Octave.

Thanks for the link, Nikhil. I, however will buy only upon direct audition and/or audition in my setup, a luxury, as you know is not easily afforded to us poor residents of one of the world's few Trillion Dollar economies.:indifferent14:
Also the DAC in the Ayon Cd2s which I am using now is excellent and it will take a real good DAC to beat it, so the search is on.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

Re: Back to tubes (or hybrid)

I admire your perseverance, staying in india you still are able to change your equipment.

Thanks Pandu - and yes it takes it little bit of grit, blood, sweat, tears and rupees, (not to mention a strong back :lol to be an audio enthusiast here. I miss the days, where all I had to do was advertise in A'gon, find a buyer quite quickly, pack the equipment, print a fedex label at home, and drop off the equipment at the nearest manned Fedex/kinko's location (which btw was 3min away where I lived) and then move up to the next purchase, the dealer for which incidentally would be close by and offer home demos. And hence my upgrades now to "destination products" which will remain in my system for long time.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[ranjeetrain]

Re: Back to tubes (or hybrid)

Here is the latest update to my system. The mighty Symphonic Line Kraft 250 amp.

Congrats Sid! What a journey you have been on. In last two years you have been through, how much, like INR 3-4 million, worth of gear. Amazing!

 

[ranjeetrain]

Oh btw, I just went through this entire thread. The pic of all your speakers lined up at one place was mesmerizing. I am a huge speaker junkie myself been through a number of them. But due to space constraints never had more than 3 pairs at any one time. Your listening room must have worn a mini museum look at that time :clapping:

 

[sidvee]

I am a huge speaker junkie myself been through a number of them. But due to space constraints never had more than 3 pairs at any one time. Your listening room must have worn a mini museum look at that time :clapping:

Thank you kindly Ranjeet. Yes I have been through a lot of speakers, and I strongly believe that the speaker is the voice of any hi-fi/Ht system and consequently act on it accordingly. My Harbeths took a journey of 3-4 years to acquire, not simply because of availability or affordability, but mostly due to acoustics and placement concerns. As you can see I have paired these with upstream gear that cost many multiples of their price - they are that good! - at least to my novice hearing ability. Now I am on a mission to see if they can be bettered, only sound quality wise and not price, as we, unfortunately, are playing a game of diminishing returns here. And as you stated earlier, the journey itself does cost a bit, as a lot of fellow esteemed HFV members, as yourself, will attest to.
BTW your M&K speakers - that are currently on sale - are probably amongst a handful of the best HT speakers, money can buy. I have spent time in some amazing HT's with the very same speakers. Hopefully someone can take advantage of this opportunity.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[jai1611]

Congrats Sid! Good luck with the future upgrades.

If you are passing through Mumbai, you are welcome to give my Lampizator DAC a listen.

 

[sidvee]

Congrats Sid! Good luck with the future upgrades.

If you are passing through Mumbai, you are welcome to give my Lampizator DAC a listen.

Thank you kindly Jai for the invite. Surely will consider this option, and I can club it with an audition of some Magico Speakers - which seem to be available for a possible audition in Mumbai per their Indian distributor.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[ranjeetrain]

I strongly believe that the speaker is the voice of any hi-fi/Ht system

Can't agree more. My signature sums up 60-80% of what I have learned about HiFi in 3 decades and second point says "start with the speakers". Because it's the speakers that set the tone of a system. Buy the speakers that you like the most and rest of your system will only add to that pleasure.

My Harbeths took a journey of 3-4 years to acquire, not simply because of availability or affordability, but mostly due to acoustics and placement concerns. As you can see I have paired these with upstream gear that cost many multiples of their price - they are that good!

I heard them with simple gear (Marantz and Luxman). They still sounded wonderful. I can only imagine how they would feel paired with upstream components such as SL Kraft 250.

Every once in a while there comes a product that punches way above it's weight. SHL5 is definitely amongst them.

BTW your M&K speakers - that are currently on sale - are probably amongst a handful of the best HT speakers, money can buy. I have spent time in some amazing HT's with the very same speakers.

Exactly. I was delighted when I heard them first and ecstatic when they were set up in my living room. If I didn't have to move, I'd never sell them. May be upgrade other components, but I'd have happily lived with the speakers for a long long time.

I am hoping to sell them to someone who will be as attached to them as I am. So that I can still go and watch a movie with them once in a while :lol:

 

[captrajesh]

Re: Back to tubes (or hybrid)

Yes Capt., all of them sound good in their own way, but what I have noticed is as one moves higher up the amp. chain, synergy with other equipment takes front seat to all other requirements. This is critical since we are getting diminishing returns on SQ as we move higher so nuances really matter, and these details can be easily obscured by wrong partnering equipment.

OMG Sidvee, you hit the nail bang on the head. Having gone through a few upgrades myself (though not as exotic as yours) I sure get the feeling of Dj vu reading your post.

Thanks Pandu - and yes it takes it little bit of grit, blood, sweat, tears and rupees, (not to mention a strong back :lol to be an audio enthusiast here.

I sure can empathise with you.

 

[GeorgeO]

Hats off to you Sid, definitely a trip to Hyderabad for meeting and auditioning and golf is going to happen.

BTW what happened to the Bangalore trip that we talked about?

 

[sidvee]

I heard them with simple gear (Marantz and Luxman). They still sounded wonderful. I can only imagine how they would feel paired with upstream components such as SL Kraft 250.
Every once in a while there comes a product that punches way above it's weight. SHL5 is definitely amongst them.

Absolutely Ranjeet, there is a feeling amongst many audio enthusiasts that these speakers really do not need high end upstream equipment to sparkle (especially upon first audition), which is partly true - and I felt the same when I auditioned them - but they really start strutting their stuff with great equipment and morph into an entirely different animal. I know I have an uphill battle on my hand trying to top these. My plan is to audition the new Magico S1, the evolution acoustics mmminione and the YG acoustics Kipod II main module and take it from there.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

Hats off to you Sid, definitely a trip to Hyderabad for meeting and auditioning and golf is going to happen.

BTW what happened to the Bangalore trip that we talked about?

Hi George, Welcome anytime. I have been to Bangalore a few times but the trips were super busy, just office, hotel, and back, with absolutely no time even for a round of golf at KGA (though my office is 15min away). Anyways KGA was looking super for the Indian Open and what a playoff that was between Thaworn Wiratchant and Richie Ramsay!
I will plan a weekend trip for a round of 18 at KGA soon.
Cheers,
Sid