Audiophilepure

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“And I’ve saved the best for last. The price of this preamp is $8000. To say the C2700 is far greater in value than the sum of its parts is a vast understatement. The C2700 is a bargain in a world full of over priced, under performing audio products. To replicate or best its performance through separates would easily reach well into the five figures, plus the cost of interconnects and power chords.

McIntosh could have never imagined a product like the C2700 way back when it was amplifying Muzak to listen to while waiting for the Zenith customer service agent to pick up the line. Despite all McIntosh has had to weather through the years, it is no accident they are here and now offering the C2700 preamp. Staying true to the initial mission, McIntosh knows good sound, knows its customers and has delivered on that promise made long ago spectacularly with the C2700.”

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Chord Electronics’Chord Electronics’ Hugo TT2 is a wonderful piece of equipment. It’s beautifully finished with superb craftsmanship and its sound is nothing short of spectacular. The only thing I would have liked different is in the use of headphone outputs. I know Chord Electronics says a balanced output is not needed for their products, but just for the ease of use it would be great to replace the 3.5 and one of the 6.35mm outputs with one 4-pin XLR output. Although for headphones I still stick to my dedicated amplifiers, as they take the TT2’s sound just a bit further.
This has been a long journey, but such a great one. Over the last months I have gotten to know the Hugo TT2 inside and out. From the start it has made its place at the very top of my DAC list clear. I can absolutely see why people would call it quits after getting the Hugo TT2. Personally, I could be so very happy with just the Hugo TT2 and my Kef LS50 system.
It hurts me a little to say this, but since the Hugo TT2 has been installed as my main two-channel DAC I have somewhat questioned my headphone inventory. Don’t get me wrong, I still like to listen to my full-sized headphones at home, but I deeply enjoy listening to my LS50’s a whole lot more now. The Hugo TT2 has given me a perspective on the speaker set-up that I didn’t think I could get in our small living-room in the apartment. Chord Electronics’Chord Electronics’ TT2 has transformed my listening experience at home drastically. The Hugo TT2 is by no means a cheap product, but I don’t regret having spent a single Cent. In fact, it made me very curious to hear what the Hugo M Scaler would do to the sound. The chase of the white audio rabbit continues…”

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“McIntosh Laboratory’s C1100 is a captivating-sounding preamplifier, and a worthy successor to the C500 and C1000. Designed to be the center of any high-quality audio rig, the C1100 offers myriad analog and control connections, MC and MM phono stages, exemplary build quality, luxurious yet intuitive ergonomics, and a rich, inviting sound. Moreover, the C1100 is very competitively priced; at $14,000, it costs $3000 less than the C1000, and to get the same level of functionality from other preamplifiers of this ilk, you’d likely have to pay more. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the C1100; it spoiled me every time I touched it, and captivated me every time I listened to it. Highly recommended.”

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“The Huei is not without criticism, but the criticism is functionality-led rather than performance-led. The polychromatic colour-coded controls are a clear indicator of set-up but do require a look-up table to determine precisely what ‘orange’ denotes in terms of loading. Also, even though they can be dimmed, this means the often fit-and-forget phono stage is potentially the most illuminated and colourful part of a whole system. Finally, there’s the power supply. In fact, Huei has a secondary switching power supply internally to create the operating voltages from the external supply, so whether you use linear or switch mode external it doesn’t matter; although changing the power supply will void the warranty! Not many people realise, and it’s not clear anywhere, really, that the main power supply is inside the unit and Chord just uses the external brick to feed ‘raw’ power into the product; the external power supply doesn’t directly power any of the audio electronics. However, the fact remains that audiophiles are allergic to ‘wall-warts’ and I hope this doesn’t put people off what is a stunning phono stage.”

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“It took a little while for me to understand and acclimate to how music was now being re-created in my room, but the more I listened and the deeper I dug, the more I liked what I heard. While the soundstage was a bit smaller, bass a smidge less pronounced, and images a tad freer, the DV2 was now better at limning the boundaries of the recording venue, refining the textural nuances of various bass instruments, and presenting images with the finest balance of precision and warmth I’ve heard in my room. “Hold On,” from McLachlan’s Mirrorball (16/44.1 FLAC, Nettwerk), had an uncanny sense of liveliness chock full of inner details and nuances I hadn’t heard before. For example, at the beginning of the track, as McLachlan plucks her acoustic guitar, I could better hear the crackle of applause and, as the audience quieted, one intricately delineated person still clapping on the left, who before had been barely audible, was now obvious. The senses of definition and distance that were communicated were uncanny, and they continued throughout the track, letting me further relish the taps of Ashwin Sood’s brass, their long decays, and the fervor with which McLachlan melodiously imbues every note she sings.”

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“Recording after recording, music through the Commander Level II was at all times without noise or artifacts. I never felt that this preamp was coloring the signal in any way. All of the desirable tubal tonality was there, but it was never overly lush or burnished, as is heard from other tubed models. There was also tremendous extension and detail at both frequency extremes, with no bottom-end bloat or top-end glare.”

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If the Ultima flagship is a costly ‘technology demonstrator’ then these Ultima 2 offsprings are a textbook illustration of trickledown in action. Frankly, if you were enthralled by the debut Ultimas and have been saving ever since then cash in your chips now, buy the Ultima 2s instead and spend the excess £40k on new floorstanders and music. Yes, the Ultima Pre 2 and Ultima 2 really are that good.”