corElement
Well-Known Member
Old Chain (2012-2023)
Halide Dac HD with Eichmann Bullets
Cambridge Audio 840a v2
Jamo Concert 8
New Items to Shootout
Triode Wire Labs 7+ Power Cable
Furutech e tp80 power strip
Triode Wire Labs 7+ Digital > Allo Shanti LPSU > WIIM Mini Streamer
Custom AD1862 DAC / CHORD Qutest
Acrotec 6N-A2050 Interconnects / DIY IC with Eichmann bullet clone connectors
Naim Supernait 3 / Lyrita Audio 2a3 SET / Yogibears DIY 6bg6 SET Tube amp (1.25L INR)
Supra Ply 3.4 speaker cable / DIY Speaker cable
Jamo Concert 8 / Dynaudio Confidence C1 Mk II
For many years I’ve been annoyed with how content from before the mid 80’s have this certain “cold/flat” signature to them on any device I heard them on. From James bond movies to Micheal Jackson thriller, and Billie jean songs, and Indian songs as well. Others may disagree, but to me, it’s always been an annoyance. For most of my music journey, which actively started in 2009, it never really occurred to me that there was something I could do about it. I always figured it’s just the recording itself as the same cold/flatness was there on any source or recording I played such content on. At the end of the day, I was never truly satisfied with this outcome. Fast forward to 2023,I decided to upgrade my sound and decided to see if there was something I could do about it.
As you can see above in the list, I got my hands on some pretty cool gear this year. I mixed up the chain and listened to various combinations for extended periods and finally split the chains up to meet two objectives, one chain for listening to music without that flatness, another chain for reference grade sound which would reveal whatever the recording was meant to sound like.
Chain 1
Triode Wire Labs 7+ Power Cable
Triode Wire Labs 7+ Digital > Allo Shanti LPSU > WIIM Mini Streamer
CHORD Qutest
DIY IC with Eichmann bullet clone connectors
Naim Supernait 3
Supra Ply 3.4 speaker cable
Dynaudio Confidence C1 Mk II
Chain 2
Furutech e tp80 power strip
WIIM Mini Streamer
Custom AD1862 DAC
Acrotec 6N-A2050 Interconnects
DIY Speaker Cable
Yogibears DIY 6bg6 SET Tube amp
Supra Ply 3.4 speaker cable.
Jamo Concert 8
Outliers
Halide Dac HD with Eichmann Bullets (Kept for its uniqueness)
Lyrita Audio 2a3 (Up for sale)
Cambridge Audio 840a v2 (Up for sale)
Results:
Chain 1:
Great balanced rich full sound. The Qutest and Naim SN3 combo on the jamos were not a satisfying combination. They were both a bit too crisp and forward with the jamos which in itself has a tendency to be revealing of everything on the chain and unforgiving. Too much of the same, not balanced.. However with the C1 everything fell into place. Music felt natural, nuanced and very well balanced. In fact any genre of music I played sounded natural. The c1 gets all the credit here. If anything it reminds me of harbeth compact 7 on steroids. More accurate, faster, tighter, just as natural, and able to handle nuance better. It delivers a fantastic natural rendition of whatever content you play. In some regards it sounds as good as much more expensive setups I’ve heard. However the c1, SN3, and qutest are not quite at the level of 100k USD gear performance of revealing the ultra fine details. Which should not be surprising given this chain sits around 15k USD in terms of original price points. In other words it sounds exactly what you’d imagine a setup of that price bracket should sound like. Which was not the case when hooked up to the Jamo Concert 8.
Chain 2:
This chain is all about the synergy between the DIY AD1862 DAC, Jamo Concert 8, and Yogibear’s DIY 6BG6 SET 7 watts each channel, dual MonoBlock tube amp in particular. I’ve heard the Jamo Concert 8 on various amplifiers over the last decade and I’ve always known I’m not hearing what it’s capable of. I think the best vocals I’ve ever heard from it was on the Lyrita 2a3 SET + ad1862, sweet and beautiful, not tube or solid state like. AD1862+SN3+Concert 8 combo gave a similar, more transparent but flatter performance, without the sweetness. This made me realize how well voiced Virens Lyrita 2a3 truly is. Not an easy feat. Unfortunately neither of these two combos were reaching the goal I set out for this chain. To bring evident body to old recordings through the Jamo Concert 8, The c1 is without a doubt a higher caliber speaker and gave a meaty well balanced performance, but my goal here was to get the best sound out of the Concert 8, because it’s something I’ve wanted to hear for 12 years. Chain 1 was definitely very close to the kind of performance I was seeking and exceeding it in some regards, it sounded like a 15k USD setup by all accounts, but something in me gravitated around the Jamo concert 8. Around Sep/Oct I got my hands on Yogibears 6bg6 (similar to 807 tube but with top anode plate) Tamura Power Transformers and Hashimoto H 507S Output Transformers based pure Class A full dual monoblock power amp in single chassis with individual gain controls. My initial impression after turning on the amp and playing at low volume was actually very underwhelming, harsh, unrefined, flat - I hated it. However Yogi said to be patient and let the NOS Soviet military grade tubes burn in for at least 50-100 hours. So I let the amp play. That night I went to bed thinking this amp was a gone case and I would need to return it or well be forced to sell it. For about 2 days I played the amp on and off. Paid no serious attention. On the 3rd day, I noticed I was hearing something different. I turned up the volume, my reaction was kind of like……“hmm” I was questioning what I was hearing. The harshness was gone, and what remained was… a sound I had never heard before. It was thick, rich, lush, dynamic, organic, nimble. But something was still off the mids and lower mids had the body but was missing the definition. Yogi said to switch from the 4 ohms tap to 8 ohms even though my speakers are rated 4. Something about transformer saturation. After doing so, I was in disbelief what I was hearing. It was as if classic songs suddenly got plucked from the past and transported into the present. If Chain 1 was a lion, this chain was a tiger. I had never heard the Concert 8 roar into life like this. The highs were smooth, and mids - liquid, bass going down to subwoofer levels. With some of the other setups I needed to use a rel subwoofer but since this amp had no sub out, it was pure stereo, and what a stereo it was! Even my cabinet glass started to rattle from the lows. But that wasn't the interesting part, the most interesting thing to me was classic songs from the pre 80s didn't sound old on it. I was listening to what I was in search of for so many years. I’ve heard other tubes amps priced much higher than yogis 6bg6, but none of them sounded like this, It somewhat reminded me of KT88 and gm70 tube amps, it sounds BIG, but without the hardness of kt88 and more refined than the gm70, a bit gentler, notes linger in the air a little longer. Every time I was playing a track with parts which on other setups are often unbearable at high volumes, including chain 1, I would squint my eyes to get ready to be assaulted, but on chain 2, that assault never happens, instead of being hit by the wave, I was riding the wave. It may not have the transparency and clarity of much more expensive setups, but I wasn’t looking for that, I was looking for something out of a dream, something that doesn’t exist. Something like a time machine. And this amp was doing exactly that, it was transporting me in time to an experience that never existed. According to yogibear (Who likes to make diy stuff as a hobby) he said he was sad to let this amp go and missed its sound. I can understand why. And how lucky I am to be the recipient of such a killer amp, something that makes real something out of imagination. Yogi said everything is point to point wired with top quality parts viz Nichicon KZ, Wima MKP10, Vishaya, Ohmite, Sikorel and that he was playing around with the amplifier to bring out the maximum sonics and tonality of the tubes rather than the components affecting the sound. I had a look under the hood and he wasn’t kidding, there’s practically nothing in the amp, tubes transformers, wires and a few small parts. I love minimalist designs and I approve.
It has been a couple of months now, I’ve pushed about 200 hours on the amp, It has been a journey of rediscovering old songs I’d avoid because I hated how flat they sounded on everything. For the first time in my life I could enjoy classic and very old songs in a fullness and fluidity that makes it feels as if the music has been pulled from the past and into the present. For the first time it feels like an experience and not “listening to music for the sake of it”. The experience is visceral. In place of hyper detailing there is tactile information. In the track hotel California which so many are familiar with. I can make out the tactile motion of the guitarist moving his hands in a circular motion. This is something I have not experienced in any setup, anywhere, even setups at 100k USD.
After the initial euphoria of old music sounding like it's in the present faded after a month or so. I tested the chains with some modern songs and this is probably where my AD1862 DAC drew the line more than the amp. I can make out the AD1862 lacks the ability to reveal all the information in modern recordings. However where it excels is the ability to deliver what it can deliver - in a very tactile, material, revealing way. Which is something I don’t find easily with modern DACS unless one spends 2-3x more. Funnily enough I hooked up the Qutest from chain 1 to chain 2 and something strange happened. The grand scale of music diminished, and in typical Qutest fashion, it revealed a reference grade, high resolution, dynamic sound. In a way taming the tube amp. This made me realize how important synergy is, and that synergy matters. And that means my Jamo Concert 8 will forever be paired to this 6bg6 power amp until the day we are parted.
So now, when I want reference grade sound I listen to chain 1, and when I need some escapism, I listen to chain 2.
Hope this review helps others on their audio journey.
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