The gold preamp is just more transparent in my opinion.The tubes might be imparting a certain warmth but i prefer a more analytical sound. PSA has some real winners with the gold series. Sucks about the exchange rate. Are there any high end makers in australia?
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I remember a few years ago when one AUD$ = USD$1.10!! Not great for our exports but terrific for imports. A truly high end amplifier called Halcro is Australian. https://halcro.com
I also found this suprisingly long list of Australian speaker manufacturers: Australian Speaker Manufacturers List |ļ»æ Speakers, Soundbars and Subwoofers
Letās hope some sanity prevails in world politics and countries prefer to trade with each other than blow each other up.
Iāll see if I can audition the gold preamp one day. Thing is, the hi-fi shop where Iāve bought some of my gear doesnāt set up the listening rooms well.
Wishing Ted a speedy recovery - does he have an apprentice to learn his craft?
Iām curious, what amp, speakers and cables are you using?
Ayre MXR Twenty Monoblocks driving Pure Audio Project Quintet 15 open baffles with the Voxativ Field Coil as mid/igh driver. Premium Mundorf crossover components. Believe it or not, I,m running Anticables speaker cable from amps to crossover to drivers. Just pure heavy awg copper and nothing else. I,m running Shunyata XLR cables from MK2 or Mytek Manhattan II to the amps.
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Nice system, thanks
Nice system, indeed!
OMG please try some iconoclast speaker cables instead of the anti cables. Galen is a freakin genius!
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Two months ago TAS said a review of the MKll would be in their next issue. Last month no reviews whatsoever. The newest issue dropped today and still no MKll review. Instead we get a review of the dCS Bartok APEX DAC upgrade.
The Iconoclasts are a fine choice for the PAP speakers as are the Fidelium ribbon cables. The latter offered and endorsed by Zeāev of Pure Audio Project. His thought regarding the Iconoclasts were they thin the sound out a bit. Others that have installed the Iconoclasts love them. My opinion is it comes down to the the specific speaker configuration as they are highly customizable. I considered the Fidelium, but my configuration makes an internal wire upgrade tricky for either cable, Iconoclast being too rigid, and Fidelium ribbons difficult to route in the available space.
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I can vouch for the Fidelium cables, which were transformative!
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I hope we see a TAS review soon.
A lightly used pair came up recently at half price with bi-wire jumpers included. I hesitated, probably for the better, as they sold rather quickly. Routing the ribbons to the back of my PAP Trio Classics is tricky due to the rear caver, an interference fit, and the orientation of the cross-over which also provides for the speaker terminals. Two 90 degree bends required within a span of less than 12 inches.
I will check into it. I like the fact I can run the anticables all the way from amp to drivers. So many speakers designs cheat on the internal wiring. I had a set of Music Wave Reference cables and the anticables just plain sounded better.
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Anticables are overachievers.
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I will probably add the Fidelium cables to my bucket list. Thanks for the testimonial.
They just work.
my observations were in line with yours.
Yes, the physical configuration of the Fidelium āribbonsā seems to be the key limitation for some. I had some hesitation, mostly from my expectations of my wifeās reactions. She did cry out, āwhat are THOSE?ā when she first saw them, then acknowledged that the sound was a big jump and now accepts and even doesnāt mind them. I just could not send them back! Thankfully, routing was no issue for me.
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Pulled the trigger yesterday on a new DSD Mk. II. Will be running it into a Luxman integrated amp, so plan on a fixed volume of 100. Hopefully it will come with Massive preinstalled, but I downloaded it onto a thumb drive just in case. Coming from a Mk. 1 DSD, so hoping for a nice upgrade. Any suggestions on ways to get the best out of the Mk. II? Steps to mitigate any noise or other issues?