Look what arrived in the mail today

[keith_correa]

<snip>But considering that chord built the quest around their supplied walwart,<snip>

I pictured the smart guys at Chord spending many man days designing and building a state of the art wallwart and then someone there saying, "What the hell do we do with this now? Oh, I know; let's now build a DAC to power with this and name the DAC Qutest...". And that's the story behind the Qutest!

 

[Kannan]

I pictured the smart guys at Chord spending many man days designing and building a state of the art wallwart and then someone there saying, "What the hell do we do with this now? Oh, I know; let's now build a DAC to power with this and name the DAC Qutest...". And that's the story behind the Qutest!

i guess @Yelamanchili manohar actually meant the other way around, the wart around he qutest

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

i guess @Yelamanchili manohar actually meant the other way around, the wart around he qutest

Haha... I surmised it would be obvious .

 

[corElement]

Well I connected both to the allo shanti, qutest on the 3a and wiim on 1a. TBH there's not that much of a difference. Atleast nowhere near the difference the qutest in itself was vs previous dac. Infact I could say there's any hardly difference at all. Maybe it needs to burn in?

 

[amit11]

Well I connected both to the allo shanti, qutest on the 3a and wiim on 1a. TBH there's not that much of a difference. Atleast nowhere near the difference the qutest in itself was vs previous dac. Infact I could say there's any hardly difference at all. Maybe it needs to burn in?

If you are saying that shanti has not brought improvement, over the original power supply... then it is quite possible for now. Many people say that original power supply is decent enough.

Wiim may see some improvement / change with Shanti... just like an raspberry pi .

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Well I connected both to the allo shanti, qutest on the 3a and wiim on 1a. TBH there's not that much of a difference. Atleast nowhere near the difference the qutest in itself was vs previous dac. Infact I could say there's any hardly difference at all. Maybe it needs to burn in?

The chord walwart is decent enough for the job I guess. Anyways, a lpsu is a decent upgrade for the money. But it is not a huge one ... Usually a reduction of back ground noise and better low level details is what I observed.

 

[corElement]

The chord walwart is decent enough for the job I guess. Anyways, a lpsu is a decent upgrade for the money. But it is not a huge one ... Usually a reduction of back ground noise and better low level details is what I observed.

I think that's a good way to put it. Because I think because of that reduced floor noise, I can hear certain transient/resonance of instruments which was not as prominent earlier. But in terms of a difference, The difference between the halide and qutest was like a 50% difference. The LPSU on top of it, I'd say that 50 goes to maybe 55%. Marginal difference. Not worth the upgrade. I'd return it but it's an Indian company that's being recognized globally so I want to support them. I'll use it regardless.

 

[corElement]

Congratulations.
You started rocking after return

Haha thanks, hows it going with you?

@corElement - hearty congratulations on your purchase, waiting for a lengthy impressions post



Also they are the only registered dealer in India on Chord website.
\View attachment 74941

Thanks, its hard to write a review when ones enjoying the music so much Do you have any questions?

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

I think that's a good way to put it. Because I think because of that reduced floor noise, I can hear certain transient/resonance of instruments which was not as prominent earlier. But in terms of a difference, The difference between the halide and qutest was like a 50% difference. The LPSU on top of it, I'd say that 50 goes to maybe 55%. Marginal difference. Not worth the upgrade. I'd return it but it's an Indian company that's being recognized globally so I want to support them. I'll use it regardless.

Happy to know you are keeping the shanti .

There are somethings I never sell even if iam not using them presently, because I find that I might need them in the future. Lpsu:s, isolation devices and cables come in this list for me. So I fondly hope you will repurpose the shanti somewhere else in the chain. A lpsu again makes a noticeable difference with network switches and routers ( if your equipment is plugged to the router). So you can get geeky and try replacing some SMPS with the lpsu and see . All the best, and enjoy your qutest to the hilt

 

[corElement]

I wonder if

Happy to know you are keeping the shanti .

There are somethings I never sell even if iam not using them presently, because I find that I might need them in the future. Lpsu:s, isolation devices and cables come in this list for me. So I fondly hope you will repurpose the shanti somewhere else in the chain. A lpsu again makes a noticeable difference with network switches and routers ( if your equipment is plugged to the router). So you can get geeky and try replacing some SMPS with the lpsu and see . All the best, and enjoy your qutest to the hilt

thanks

I'm currently keeping the shanti on top of a ups cuz iIgot no space, i wonder if that'll negatively affect the sound.

 

[amit11]

I wonder if

thanks

I'm currently keeping the shanti on top of a ups cuz iIgot no space, i wonder if that'll negatively affect the sound.

For now its ok i think.
And your initial concern that Shanti is not making great impact to Qutest....for that i would say let both units run some to many hours for some break-in period...... after that differences willl be noticeable..... qutest break in even more important.

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

I wonder if

thanks

I'm currently keeping the shanti on top of a ups cuz iIgot no space, i wonder if that'll negatively affect the sound.

I really don't know. Maybe better to wait for the electrical experts to chime in.

 

[corElement]

So I initially had the dac on the 3a and the wiim on the 1a and just wasn't happy with it even after 2 days. Something was wrong with the sound. Clarity was higher but certain bass definitions which were there were missing. So I swapped the qutest to 1a and wiim to 3a.

BOOM
Now I can hear the improved clarity with improved bass definition. Can make out lyrics better and tones have a clear audible definition which wasn't there without the Allo Shanti.

The song Blinding lights sounds wondeful on the setup.

Something to note is that the allo Shanti definitely drops the noise floor a degree. There's a pro and con of this.

You can make out details and words better thanks to lesser distortion but certain things which were exaggerated and rough before now sound smoother and less on your face now. It's a subjective thing because I actually enjoyed a little bit of the distortion influence tones. But overall it's a more refined sound, the clarity is really satisfying.

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

So I initially had the dac on the 3a and the wiim on the 1a and just wasn't happy with it even after 2 days. Something was wrong with the sound. Clarity was higher but certain bass definitions which were there were missing. So I swapped the qutest to 1a and wiim to 3a.

BOOM
Now I can hear the improved clarity with improved bass definition. Can make out lyrics better and tones have a clear audible definition which wasn't there without the Allo Shanti.

The song Blinding lights sounds wondeful on the setup.

Something to note is that the allo Shanti definitely drops the noise floor a degree. There's a pro and con of this.

You can make out details and words better thanks to lesser distortion but certain things which were exaggerated and rough before now sound smoother and less on your face now. It's a subjective thing because I actually enjoyed a little bit of the distortion influence tones. But overall it's a more refined sound, the clarity is really satisfying.

Excellent outcome

Happy for you. Your observation mirrors mine with changing smps to lpsu.

I infact revisited this thread to suggest trying a ifi ipower elite after seeing the below review on a sales site. I guess the ifi can wait for now .

 

[amrutmhatre90]

So I swapped the qutest to 1a and wiim to 3a.

BOOM

Did Chord Qutest benefit from this swap or Wiim ?
I am using with 3a too and 1a is to topping e30 DAC

 

[corElement]

Did Chord Qutest benefit from this swap or Wiim ?
I am using with 3a too and 1a is to topping e30 DAC

Honestly there are more combinations to try, so far I've made it to just 2.

But I can say this. The wall outlet for the chord is good enough to not have to buy an lpsu. The difference is marginal with one. It's the streamer that can use a better psu more imo. Even a tiny wiim.

 

[kumar_saurav]

Sbooster is one of the best LPS at its price range, Uptone LPS 1.2 is now out of stock but it was never designed for more then 1.1A anyways so was not useful for Qutest. Allo shanti is nice LPS for 10K INR and I use it with all my Pi based streamer like Digione Signature and to power my FMC for optical ethernet but if you get a chance try out SBooster.

 

[corElement]

Sbooster is one of the best LPS at its price range, Uptone LPS 1.2 is now out of stock but it was never designed for more then 1.1A anyways so was not useful for Qutest. Allo shanti is nice LPS for 10K INR and I use it with all my Pi based streamer like Digione Signature and to power my FMC for optical ethernet but if you get a chance try out SBooster.

I dont have ears good enough to hear the difference Sbooster will bring lol.

 

[Kumar101]

I'm considering getting Qutest but would need to get a decent Preamp to go with it. Are you using a Preamp or a integrated?

(Also: any suggestions on a decent Preamp for around 60K or less?)

 

[corElement]

I'm considering getting Qutest but would need to get a decent Preamp to go with it. Are you using a Preamp or a integrated?

(Also: any suggestions on a decent Preamp for around 60K or less?)

Integrated. I would recommend Lyrita Audio tube preamp by Viren Bakshi. Something special about all his creations.