Chandz Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 I sold my Hegel h590 and now looking to get some tubes for the cornwalls. I have a wilsenton r8 with a pair of heresys in my other listening area and love it I did a comparison of the hegel h590 vs the r8 with heresys and I have to tell you….. what a night and day comparison. The Hegel is a lot more reserved and laid back vs the r8. With the tubes the heresys came to life. The Hegel really seemed to play it safe while the r8 seemed alive and fun. I can’t believe I enjoy a 2k tube to a 14k solid state. my question is does anyone have experience With the wilsenton r800i? Seems like it will be an upgrade from the r8 im currently running a bluesound node to the r8 but looking to get something for the cornwall system. I’m Thinking about a denafrips Aries 2 or Pontus 2 paired with a streamer. does the streamer have much to do with audio quality or is it the dac that determines that? any feedback is appreciated thank you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fido Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 The dacs in the node 2 are good but I think the music sounds better using my Pontus DAC.. the Node is a very nice sounding streamer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 I think both streamer and dac are important. I went from a Node to a Lumin and it was a noticeable improvement. As @Fido mentioned, the dac in the node is decent, but a Pontus II will be much better and worth the $$. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandz Posted December 2, 2022 Author Share Posted December 2, 2022 13 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said: I think both streamer and dac are important. I went from a Node to a Lumin and it was a noticeable improvement. As @Fido mentioned, the dac in the node is decent, but a Pontus II will be much better and worth the $$. Thanks. What about steamer? I was thinking of just grabbing a wiim mini or pro when it comes out. But I’m not sure if that will sacrifice sound quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 Look to Lumin, Auralic, or Aurender for streamers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idontknow Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 8 hours ago, Chandz said: I sold my Hegel h590 and now looking to get some tubes for the cornwalls. I have a wilsenton r8 with a pair of heresys in my other listening area and love it I did a comparison of the hegel h590 vs the r8 with heresys and I have to tell you….. what a night and day comparison. The Hegel is a lot more reserved and laid back vs the r8. With the tubes the heresys came to life. The Hegel really seemed to play it safe while the r8 seemed alive and fun. I can’t believe I enjoy a 2k tube to a 14k solid state. any feedback is appreciated thank you I'm not one bit surprised. That's the difference between solid state amps and tubes. Solid state always sounds muffled, except for the First Watt amps. R8 is very bright though because it uses the modern tube sound. Ares II is awesome btw. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the real Duke Spinner Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 I have no problem with the sound of my Quicksilver pre With Crown K2 power Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandz Posted December 3, 2022 Author Share Posted December 3, 2022 9 hours ago, Idontknow said: I'm not one bit surprised. That's the difference between solid state amps and tubes. Solid state always sounds muffled, except for the First Watt amps. R8 is very bright though because it uses the modern tube sound. Ares II is awesome btw. Highly recommended. I have a chance to get a Pontus II for 2k cdn or and Aries II for 850 cdn. Is the pontus worth the upgrade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 I have not heard the Ares, but you’ll want to upgrade eventually so why not get the better dac out of the gate? I have thought about the Venus a couple of times, but even people who have owned both say the Pontus is the sweet spot and the Venus is only a marginal step up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandz Posted December 3, 2022 Author Share Posted December 3, 2022 2 hours ago, Shakeydeal said: I have not heard the Ares, but you’ll want to upgrade eventually so why not get the better dac out of the gate? I have thought about the Venus a couple of times, but even people who have owned both say the Pontus is the sweet spot and the Venus is only a marginal step up. I was thinking the same thing. I should pull the plug on the Pontus. The only thing that’s holding me back is I’ll be the third owner of it. It shouldn’t matter but I was hoping to get the unit off of the original owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 Well they hold their value pretty good, so a used one is only going to save you a couple hundred bucks. If you feel that strongly about it, buy one directly from Alvin at Vinshine. He is great to deal with. I bought mine new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 4 hours ago, Shakeydeal said: I have not heard the Ares, but you’ll want to upgrade eventually so why not get the better dac out of the gate? I have thought about the Venus a couple of times, but even people who have owned both say the Pontus is the sweet spot and the Venus is only a marginal step up. I shouldn’t comment as I use the RME dac and never have heard a Denafrips model. I say this from my seeming constant watching the USAudiomart sight. I have seen many Ares model on the secondary market. Many — Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 8 minutes ago, richieb said: I shouldn’t comment as I use the RME dac and never have heard a Denafrips model. I say this from my seeming constant watching the USAudiomart sight. I have seen many Ares model on the secondary market. Many — Yeah, it’s the entry level drug. People get hooked and want to move up right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the real Duke Spinner Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 2 hours ago, Shakeydeal said: Well they hold their value pretty good, so a used one is only going to save you a couple hundred bucks. If you feel that strongly about it, buy one directly from Alvin at Vinshine. He is great to deal with. I bought mine new. Some people like to try new stuffthats all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idontknow Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 I've 10 hours ago, Chandz said: I have a chance to get a Pontus II for 2k cdn or and Aries II for 850 cdn. Is the pontus worth the upgrade? I've never heard the Pontus II so I couldn't say but based on comparisons I've made with DAC's costing several times the price of the Ares II, I just don't find the difference in the sounds of DAC's remotely compares to the cost differences. In my opinion, the differences are so subtle, the amount of extra money they cost is better spent on something that really changes sound, like an extra set of different speakers, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 like an extra set of different speakers, etc. Or some better speaker cables? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 11 minutes ago, Idontknow said: I've I've never heard the Pontus II so I couldn't say but based on comparisons I've made with DAC's costing several times the price of the Ares II, I just don't find the difference in the sounds of DAC's remotely compares to the cost differences. In my opinion, the differences are so subtle, the amount of extra money they cost is better spent on something that really changes sound, like an extra set of different speakers, etc. If you don’t hear the difference, consider yourself money ahead. But some do and are willing to pay for that difference. It’s that last five per cent that costs you and you may not be the guy that cares about it. It’s ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idontknow Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 6 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said: like an extra set of different speakers, etc. Or some better speaker cables? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 Wow. Someone saying all cables sound the same. What a revelation…. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idontknow Posted December 3, 2022 Share Posted December 3, 2022 2 minutes ago, Shakeydeal said: If you don’t hear the difference, consider yourself money ahead. But some do and are willing to pay for that difference. It’s that last five per cent that costs you and you may not be the guy that cares about it. It’s ok. How about we put it another way. There are other things that cost a $1000 extra that could be spent on making far more than a 5% difference. I'm not saying there's no difference. I'm just saying the differences are so subtle, I think money could be far better spent on things that really do make a noticeable difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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