Which cables for Bartók + Diablo 300?

[Lele80]

HI,
after many tests and 7 preamplifiers tried, including Essence and Padora, I say with extreme certainty that even with a Rossini APEX (I tried that too), the dCS DACs are not sufficient to be used in place of a preamplifier.
Without it there is no openness of the soundstage and less harmonic release and musicality.
Impedance and voltage matching between pre and power is essential.
The bass becomes more controlled and articulated and the mid and high frequencies more pleasant and musical. However, due to lack of budget, I currently continue to listen without a preamp and it’s still a great listen.
Tyr2s are excellent cables.
They were very fast and go in the direction of a clear and bright, but not fatiguing, sound.
I think the most balanced Nordost cable is the Valhalla 2, everything is correct and musical. All frequencies are balanced and there are no more highs, mids or lows, with huge harmonic release. They only have one huge flaw, the price!
Personally I decided to wire everything with Italian artisan cables, Faber’s cable. Great harmonic release, more convenient price and from the basic line to the top of the range, they do not have different timbral settings, going up only changes the opening of the soundstage and the harmonic release that increases.
With the same cable, between Bartok and Essence stereo I undoubtedly preferred the XLR connection, which is much more defined.
In various tests, I preferred 2 V. 0.6 V returned less dynamics, a much flatter sound.

Listening in DXD, DSD tends to close the upper part of the scene, limiting its harmonic release. I have noticed this in all systems with dCS Bartok or Rossini, even APEX.

The filters, I found these settings correct, also recommended in the manual, again because they were the ones in which they cut the scene the least at about 2 meters in height.
44.1 Hz → F5; 32, 48, 88.2, 96 Hz → F2 176.4 - 384 Hz → F6

I forgot to tell you that after comparing the Diablo 300 with the Essence power amplifier alone, I decided to buy the Essence and sell the 300.

The Essence, even if it is declared with “only” 50W, has more driving capacity even with large speakers.

In particular, it is much more transparent, a lot more details pass through and offers a more correct and neutral tone, compared to the 300 which was a bit amber, “warm”.
Everything seems to be more fluid, precise and 3D. This is a real leap forward, even compared to the Daiblo 333.
It is certainly more expensive and requires more cables and a preamp.
But I love the Essence, even after making numerous comparisons with other stereo power amps.

[TylerDurden]

@Lele80

Listening in DXD, DSD tends to close the upper part of the scene, limiting its harmonic release. I have noticed this in all systems with dCS Bartok or Rossini, even APEX.

The filters, I found these settings correct, also recommended in the manual, again because they were the ones in which they cut the scene the least at about 2 meters in height.
44.1 Hz → F5; 32, 48, 88.2, 96 Hz → F2 176.4 - 384 Hz → F6

I forgot to tell you that after comparing the Diablo 300 with the Essence power amplifier alone, I decided to buy the Essence and sell the 300.

The Essence, even if it is declared with “only” 50W, has more driving capacity even with large speakers.

In particular, it is much more transparent, a lot more details pass through and offers a more correct and neutral tone, compared to the 300 which was a bit amber, “warm”.
Everything seems to be more fluid, precise and 3D. This is a real leap forward, even compared to the Daiblo 333.
It is certainly more expensive and requires more cables and a preamp.
But I love the Essence, even after making numerous comparisons with other stereo power amps.

Thank you very much for your very detailed answer.
Your experience is very instructive for me.
For my part, my trials over the last few weeks have led me to choose a Kubala Sosna Emotion XLR cable, between the Bartok and the gryphon diablo 300. I even preferred it to the tyr 2, my second-best choice. Kubala Sosna totally transformed my system when the Tyr 2 was musical, but as if invisible, totally transparent. I had to choose between transfiguring my stereo and simply adding a totally neutral, invisible cable. Installing this new Kubala Sosna Emotion cable made me realize that 2v output on the bartok was not the right choice for my system. It took some getting used to at first, but 0.6V is definitely the best solution.
I hope you will tell us which preamp you will choose. It seems the Essence preamp is not as good as the amp.

[TylerDurden]

@Lima

I had a full loom of TYR2 but my amp is a darTZeel 8550MKII. I Then went to Valhalla 2 and in my opinion the TYR2 is the best value for money, then the SQ improvement does not get in line with the price. I had an Odin power cord from the wall to the power block and i then was trying the Odin Gold and its crazy money. I try the top of the range of synergetic research SRX full loom with the SRX power filter its far better than the Odin Gold.

I use the XLR connection and in the past use 6V but its a matter of taste that i think most is psychological because you get lot more loud for the same volume but you just have to see if the power input of your pre or integrated amp allows the voltage.

Meanwhile I’ll do a post of my experience testing the Odin Gold Vs the Synergetic SRX.

Thank you very much for your experience !