Author Topic: Are you Obsessed?  (Read 12173 times)

Offline mresseguie

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #15 on: May 04, 2018, 08:29:47 AM »
Don’t hold back, Rich. Would you say you like this amp? :rofl:

What has it got for the internal PC or does it have a dedicated PC?



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Offline Nick B

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2018, 09:03:03 AM »
Well, that’s high praise indeed. I heard Gary’s Pass Aleph 30 watt stereo amp recently and it was quite good. A richer sound than my McCormack. And I have an offer for a trade for monos for the McCormack. But i really dont want more devices and power cords than i need. It would also be great to get another amp and make a profit on the deal. I was also thinking about the Arion 250 watt stereo amp that Charles really likes.
So I’d like to hear that Mivera, but looks like no interest for a mini tour so far.

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Offline richidoo

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #17 on: May 04, 2018, 10:14:09 AM »
Yeah, I like it. :D

The amplifier board has a built in switching power supply. The amp is dead silent on my 92dB speakers, and it weighs like 12 pounds in the case.

Class A is fun, but it's too colored for me. I find it hard to ignore the sound of it.

The only "coloration" of this amp if you can call it that is the dynamics are more pronounced than what I'm used to, because there is no shortage of current to move the drivers all the way out. So it's a more confident authoritative sound, typical of any high powered amp. But they don't usually have pristine high frequency like the ICEedge does, at least not for $1k.

Offline TomS

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #18 on: May 04, 2018, 09:08:31 PM »
Michael,

I have a TWL Obsession (all NCF connectors) going from a Furutech GTX NCF wall outlet into Dave's latest upgraded PI UberBuss with Furutech NCF IEC inlet and 3 GTX NCF duplex outlets. From there I use TWL 7+ PC's to 2 stereo ICE 1200AS2's identical to what Rich has (no, NOT Mivera), in Takachi cases with all Furutech connectors. These 2 amps drive a pair of JBL M2's, bi-amped with active XO. I also have a PS Audio BHK preamp and PS Audio DirectStream DAC, with TWL 12 and TWL Digital American PC's respectively.

It does take a while for all that NCF and Uber magic sauce to settle down, but yes, it all sounds very purdy  8)

Tom
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Offline P.I.

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #19 on: May 04, 2018, 10:44:39 PM »
Michael,

I have a TWL Obsession (all NCF connectors) going from a Furutech GTX NCF wall outlet into Dave's latest upgraded PI UberBuss with Furutech NCF IEC inlet and 3 GTX NCF duplex outlets. From there I use TWL 7+ PC's to 2 stereo ICE 1200AS2's identical to what Rich has (no, NOT Mivera), in Takachi cases with all Furutech connectors. These 2 amps drive a pair of JBL M2's, bi-amped with active XO. I also have a PS Audio BHK preamp and PS Audio DirectStream DAC, with TWL 12 and TWL Digital American PC's respectively.

It does take a while for all that NCF and Uber magic sauce to settle down, but yes, it all sounds very purdy  8)

Tom
Welcome to the world of NCF rhodium.  It is a lot like climbing to the top of Mount Hood.  It takes a while, you need to weather the storms and then you have to go back down.  Takes a while, for sure.  After you weather that the rewards can be very satisfying.

A few years ago I hated rhodium.  Sounded hard, harsh, shrill and brittle to me and Gayle.  After some arm twisting I tried the Furutech versions and they sounded better, but still hard out of the box.  I left the system running on a two week trip with an old Purist Audio break-in disc running 24/7.  When we got home the world had changed.  The system sounded smooth, detailed and very clear with lower noise.  I was shocked.  That is when I started trying different brands and polishing up the connectors on what I was already using.

What I learned is that highly polished connectors sound way better than mill finished.  Polished connectors are essential for low noise connections because of micro-arcing.

The heavy-revy was that rhodium sounds incredible IF your system is not too bright to begin with in repro.

Expensive?  Yeah.  Too expensive for many. There are alternatives that are less expensive.  Bottom line is that rhodium and Furutech NCF in particular is close to magical

YMMV
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Offline mresseguie

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #20 on: May 05, 2018, 02:23:12 AM »
Michael,

I have a TWL Obsession (all NCF connectors) going from a Furutech GTX NCF wall outlet into Dave's latest upgraded PI UberBuss with Furutech NCF IEC inlet and 3 GTX NCF duplex outlets. From there I use TWL 7+ PC's to 2 stereo ICE 1200AS2's identical to what Rich has (no, NOT Mivera), in Takachi cases with all Furutech connectors. These 2 amps drive a pair of JBL M2's, bi-amped with active XO. I also have a PS Audio BHK preamp and PS Audio DirectStream DAC, with TWL 12 and TWL Digital American PC's respectively.

It does take a while for all that NCF and Uber magic sauce to settle down, but yes, it all sounds very purdy  8)

Tom
Welcome to the world of NCF rhodium.  It is a lot like climbing to the top of Mount Hood.  It takes a while, you need to weather the storms and then you have to go back down.  Takes a while, for sure.  After you weather that the rewards can be very satisfying.

A few years ago I hated rhodium.  Sounded hard, harsh, shrill and brittle to me and Gayle.  After some arm twisting I tried the Furutech versions and they sounded better, but still hard out of the box.  I left the system running on a two week trip with an old Purist Audio break-in disc running 24/7.  When we got home the world had changed.  The system sounded smooth, detailed and very clear with lower noise.  I was shocked.  That is when I started trying different brands and polishing up the connectors on what I was already using.

What I learned is that highly polished connectors sound way better than mill finished.  Polished connectors are essential for low noise connections because of micro-arcing.

The heavy-revy was that rhodium sounds incredible IF your system is not too bright to begin with in repro.

Expensive?  Yeah.  Too expensive for many. There are alternatives that are less expensive.  Bottom line is that rhodium and Furutech NCF in particular is close to magical

YMMV
Michael,

I have a TWL Obsession (all NCF connectors) going from a Furutech GTX NCF wall outlet into Dave's latest upgraded PI UberBuss with Furutech NCF IEC inlet and 3 GTX NCF duplex outlets. From there I use TWL 7+ PC's to 2 stereo ICE 1200AS2's identical to what Rich has (no, NOT Mivera), in Takachi cases with all Furutech connectors. These 2 amps drive a pair of JBL M2's, bi-amped with active XO. I also have a PS Audio BHK preamp and PS Audio DirectStream DAC, with TWL 12 and TWL Digital American PC's respectively.

It does take a while for all that NCF and Uber magic sauce to settle down, but yes, it all sounds very purdy  8)

Tom

Tom and Dave,

Thanks for the information.

I guess I just wasn’t ready to move up to this level until very recently. Now that I’ve got what are (hopefully) end game components, the time has come to get serious about cords, cables and connections.

Tom,
I’d wondered if Obsession to Uber followed by 7s to amp and pre were the way to go, or if Obsession directly into amp or preamp, or some other combination were the preferred or ideal connections. Have you tried any other connection combinations?

Will Pete’s burn in be enough or do I need to burn the cables another few hundred hours?

More later.
Daedalus Audio Apollos; Fritz Loudspeakers LS/5-R
SW1X NOS DAC III BAL/SPL; Holo Spring3 KTE
Don Sachs Model 2 preamp
Don Sachs dual mono 300b; Nuprime Evolution STA
Hapa loom
PI Audio UberBUSS, DigiBUSS, Uber-MiniBUS

Offline TomS

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #21 on: May 05, 2018, 06:43:15 AM »
Tom,
I’d wondered if Obsession to Uber followed by 7s to amp and pre were the way to go, or if Obsession directly into amp or preamp, or some other combination were the preferred or ideal connections. Have you tried any other connection combinations?

Will Pete’s burn in be enough or do I need to burn the cables another few hundred hours?

More later.
I decided to use what should be the best cord out of the wall, where the most current is drawn, then into the Uber, which made the most sense. I just have no desire (or time) to A/B all the other permutations knowing what I have is very good already.

My Obsession was a resale with a lot of time on it, even so, it has taken some extra play time. Or... probably my ears adjusted, or whatever other voodoo happens. It all sounds quite good to me.
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Offline mresseguie

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #22 on: May 05, 2018, 09:02:39 AM »
I may well change my mind 5 times between now and two weeks from now, but I think I’ll operate under the assumption that my Obsession will need another couple (a few?) hundred hours of burn in. I’ll hook it up to my Nuprime IDA-8 and Adelphos speakers, and run it 24/7 for about ten days. Meanwhile, I’ll plug the 7s from wall to D Sachs amp and preamp.

That’s the plan for now. Perhaps I’ll actually stick to it.  :thumb:

Then, I’ll experiment with different combinations until I find bliss.

Daedalus Audio Apollos; Fritz Loudspeakers LS/5-R
SW1X NOS DAC III BAL/SPL; Holo Spring3 KTE
Don Sachs Model 2 preamp
Don Sachs dual mono 300b; Nuprime Evolution STA
Hapa loom
PI Audio UberBUSS, DigiBUSS, Uber-MiniBUS

Offline mresseguie

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #23 on: May 12, 2018, 08:13:26 AM »
Nick,

I asked Mike about using the Takachi loaner for a tour. Mike's response was essentially "Pay me the $900 and I won't care where it goes."

If you want a basic 1200as amp, this is it. I had a foam cocoon made to protect it in transit that cost me about $50.00. Add shipping and it's going to be close to $1000. I don't know how much shipping would be.

If no one offers to buy it, I'll ship it back to Mike. He's got my Standard amp (upgraded with an internal DPS-4 PC sitting in his house as ransom for the loaner. [No. He didn't say this, but it's pretty obvious.] He won't ship my Standard until he either gets his $900 or gets the Takachi amp.

We fly back May 16th, so time is running out. I'll probably wait until Monday, the 21st to ship it to Mike.

Michael



Daedalus Audio Apollos; Fritz Loudspeakers LS/5-R
SW1X NOS DAC III BAL/SPL; Holo Spring3 KTE
Don Sachs Model 2 preamp
Don Sachs dual mono 300b; Nuprime Evolution STA
Hapa loom
PI Audio UberBUSS, DigiBUSS, Uber-MiniBUS

Offline Nick B

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #24 on: May 12, 2018, 09:16:08 AM »
Nick,

I asked Mike about using the Takachi loaner for a tour. Mike's response was essentially "Pay me the $900 and I won't care where it goes."

If you want a basic 1200as amp, this is it. I had a foam cocoon made to protect it in transit that cost me about $50.00. Add shipping and it's going to be close to $1000. I don't know how much shipping would be.

If no one offers to buy it, I'll ship it back to Mike. He's got my Standard amp (upgraded with an internal DPS-4 PC sitting in his house as ransom for the loaner. [No. He didn't say this, but it's pretty obvious.] He won't ship my Standard until he either gets his $900 or gets the Takachi amp.

We fly back May 16th, so time is running out. I'll probably wait until Monday, the 21st to ship it to Mike.

Michael


Michael,
That’s a bit disappointing. He’s an interesting, innovative guy making interesting products. His new dac will use a similar methodology to the MSB $90,000 dac. I’ll make another post to continue my thread elsewhere on the forum. I’m also sending you a PM.
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline mresseguie

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #25 on: May 15, 2018, 08:59:09 PM »
Update:

In a twist of fate (?) I have purchased the Takachi in exchange for getting a refund on my already paid for but undelivered Standard. There is no extra room in our luggage (thanks to my wife's heroic efforts to pack EVERYTHING imaginable), so the Takachi will remain in Taiwan until our return in November. Its future use will be determined by several different factors.

I have boxed it up and reconnected my ST-10. Once again, at low to reasonable volume, I notice little or no difference between the ST-10 and the Takachi. I know....what is reasonable?...My system is in my small office (9'W x 10'L x 8'h), so there's no need for so much power. 

Once I'm settled back into my home in Corvallis, OR, I'll try out my Mivera SE. Then, I'll post impressions.

Flight leaves in just under 12 hours....Ciao!

Michael
Daedalus Audio Apollos; Fritz Loudspeakers LS/5-R
SW1X NOS DAC III BAL/SPL; Holo Spring3 KTE
Don Sachs Model 2 preamp
Don Sachs dual mono 300b; Nuprime Evolution STA
Hapa loom
PI Audio UberBUSS, DigiBUSS, Uber-MiniBUS

Offline Nick B

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #26 on: May 15, 2018, 09:08:50 PM »
Update:

In a twist of fate (?) I have purchased the Takachi in exchange for getting a refund on my already paid for but undelivered Standard. There is no extra room in our luggage (thanks to my wife's heroic efforts to pack EVERYTHING imaginable), so the Takachi will remain in Taiwan until our return in November. Its future use will be determined by several different factors.

I have boxed it up and reconnected my ST-10. Once again, at low to reasonable volume, I notice little or no difference between the ST-10 and the Takachi. I know....what is reasonable?...My system is in my small office (9'W x 10'L x 8'h), so there's no need for so much power. 

Once I'm settled back into my home in Corvallis, OR, I'll try out my Mivera SE. Then, I'll post impressions.

Flight leaves in just under 12 hours....Ciao!

Michael


Ciao, Michael and a safe flight. Get settled and then let’s get some first hand impressions on the new icepower amp.
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline rollo

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #27 on: May 16, 2018, 11:30:52 AM »
  The Obsession is a wonderful PC. Personally I feel a waste for the Uber. I would try the 7+ feeding Uber  [ we have had great results at home and shows ] and Obsession for components. Especially the amp or preamp. Digital Americans for digital or HO for digital.
The NCF outlets take 400 hours to sound their best. I almost gave up with the hardness and Hi Fi sound. Not any more. This break in shit is getting annoying as I use MOS tubes. For that kind of money they should be burned in at factory.
I have broken in more gear, outlets, power conditioners than most as a Beta tester and Audiophile. Thousands of hours to date while listening has taught me everything takes a minimum of 200 hours and most likely 400 to 500 for components and conditioners.
Give it a try.

charles
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Offline P.I.

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #28 on: May 16, 2018, 05:28:01 PM »
  The Obsession is a wonderful PC. Personally I feel a waste for the Uber. I would try the 7+ feeding Uber  [ we have had great results at home and shows ] and Obsession for components. Especially the amp or preamp. Digital Americans for digital or HO for digital.

Give it a try.

charles
I agree with Charles on the 7+ being the best cable to supply the UberBUSS.  The design criteria for the Uber was to create as neutral as possible, low impedance, low noise high current system supplies as possible.  The 7+ is also that voice.  Put the two together and the result is a stable supply of system power that can be sculpted after the fact to match components to the supply as well as each other.  The Obsession is stunning.  Putting it in front of the Uber "may" kill a bit of the magic that that cable has in spades.  My experience as well as many of my customers is: 7+ > UberBUSS > Obsession > everything else  + killer real.
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Offline TomS

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Re: Are you Obsessed?
« Reply #29 on: May 17, 2018, 06:59:44 PM »
  The Obsession is a wonderful PC. Personally I feel a waste for the Uber. I would try the 7+ feeding Uber  [ we have had great results at home and shows ] and Obsession for components. Especially the amp or preamp. Digital Americans for digital or HO for digital.

Give it a try.

charles
I agree with Charles on the 7+ being the best cable to supply the UberBUSS.  The design criteria for the Uber was to create as neutral as possible, low impedance, low noise high current system supplies as possible.  The 7+ is also that voice.  Put the two together and the result is a stable supply of system power that can be sculpted after the fact to match components to the supply as well as each other.  The Obsession is stunning.  Putting it in front of the Uber "may" kill a bit of the magic that that cable has in spades.  My experience as well as many of my customers is: 7+ > UberBUSS > Obsession > everything else  + killer real.
Now ya tell me  :roll:
PS Audio Directstream DAC, PS Audio BHK Signature Preamp, Nagra Classic Amp, Focal Sopra No 2's, SVS SB16 Ultra