BrownMagic

I dont think these are in the same price range as the Holo May.

I signed up using VPN and a US credit card and never used VPN. It works like a charm. In fact we have a 6 person family plan so all 6 of us are using with no VPN.

@Startman I am in Singapore as well. PM me and I can help connect you with some good auditions.

I had the Aria 936 paired with a CX80 and then a peachtree nova 300. The Arias are due for a refresh. Do not consider them. If you like the Kantas, the NAD M33 will be a better match than the naim. The NAD is more relaxed than the nails and also has everything that you will need for a long long time.

The supernait 3 is the better amp compared to the Nova. The Nova is more for someone who’s main aim is simplification. You can easily build a better system with the money. But the question is do you want to and also deal with it the millions of variables that come with the later. Quite frankly I didn’t like the nova and the kanta combo. They are both good devices individually but in my opinion both the sound was just too forward. It can be fatiguing for longer listening. Naim pairs better with neutral to warmer sounding speakers. And a warmer amp is a better match with the focals . D

You only need VPN to sign up. Rest of the time you don’t need to be connected to VPN. And Just noticed you have the Primare. I was told by the primare tech that you can use the Qobuz app to stream to Primare via Chromecast at 24/192. Have you tried this? For those of us who don’t need roon, this is a blessing.

This is a deal breaker for me. I want to get out of Roon and my experience after trying BluOS, Naim and Roon, none of them are as slick as using the Qobuz app and hence my search for something that can do Chromecast at 24/192 and can’t seem to find anything other than the Primare. Thanks

Thanks this makes sense. From a PC, I would think the USB is the better input. However the NP5 only has a Coax out. It’s a bluesound node like device without the DAC.

Thanks @Hydrology Are you able to use the Qobuz app to stream 24/192 to this device? Any idea how much it is? The Primare NP5 is about 800 aud. Have you tried to stream Qobuz at 24/192 to any device using the Qobuz app? I do not want to use Roon or any other streamer software. Thanks

This is now updated to 24/192. However it is not gapless. For some people gapless is very important. What is your transport? Does your transport have both Coax and USB?

Yes. That is correct. I checked with Primare, and this is what they had to say “if you don't need the other features Roon provides then you won't need it and can save yourself time and money getting it all setup. Sound quality will be very much the same, and possibly better, using Qobuz with Chromecast, as you avoid a lot of computer processing required by Roon that if not installed and set up well can cause some degradation in sound quality. To avoid the up-sampling and have all the files played back at their native sample rates, select Native and 192 in the Audio Sett

This seems to be the review of the Chromecast Device.

I moved to Qobuz from Tidal recently and I want to move out of Roon as well eventually. Roon has served me very well but I have now decided to only use Qobuz as far as my streaming solution. I do not have any local files that I have to stream. So the solution that I was looking something like Spotify Connect. Qobuz seemed to have a Qobuz Connect plans in the past but they told me that they no longer have any plans. I then chanced up Primare NP5 ( on this website) and it seemed like a very neat device. I was in touch with their team and they told me that they support 24/192 pass through via Chr

@Little_Joe How’s your Primare NP5? I was reading this thread. Just wanted to check if you are aware that to get Masters on Tidal, you need a dac that is MQA certified

They want to put all the dollars on the sound quality. And I hope it stays that way. From my experience, even the likes of Mytek which can act as a preamp are better of being just a stand alone dac.

6SN7 and CV181 can be replaced. Same pins.

Have you tried the Psvane CV181 MK2? These are a warm and romantic and will give a bright system the much needed wetness and warmth. Still pretty tight on the bass and airy highs.

Never turn off the Ares II or any Denafrips DAC. Always keep it running. The caps need to be fully charged for the DAC to sound its best.

@Marc - Any news if there singapore will get Qobuz? I signed up for a trial using VPN and it works well. You do not need VPN for it to work otherwise. With the limited A/B with Tidal, I find Qobuz to be more relaxed/natural sounding while Tidal seems to be boosted.

@Grizaudio and the fact that the digital game is changing every 3 months, its a better idea imho to stick to a pi based solution 🙂

I am not surprised because a lot of streamers actually only use an RPI3 or an Asus tinker board. I know someone who feeds his Pi to a Denafrips Iris and feeds to his DAC and he claims it is better than a lot of big name transports.

@Grizaudio - You can message him on FB. Very responsive. The rates I got for the May Level 2 is 31500 HKD including shipping to Singapore. That is about 5275 AUD.

I am not sure if people are aware that Kitsune is not the exclusive distributor for Holo May. People in Singapore buy from Wildism in HongKong who have been selling May products for a long time and costs about 50% less than what Kitsune quotes. We have no local dealer either.

So here is part two of my LM journey. After a 3 month wait, The amp was finally delivered by Robert and immediately it made a big visual splash. There is something about the big tubes and those Vu Meters. A lot like the red sox and their pin stripes! Quickly fired the bad boy and there was immediately a difference in how this sounded differently to the LM88. The LM88 was warmer(tubey) and the LM150 sounded more neutral maybe with a hint of warmth overall. I did not want to do any critical listening whatsoever and wanted to give the amp good time to settle in. Played it for about 8 hours a day

You can also check out the Line Magnetic LP33 Tube Phono. Its listed at 3k AUD.