I don't have the Syren BL. But I can imagine it works fantastically in the Tidal chain. For my preference, I still like to run a full Tidal suite. I buy their philosophy and am convinced by its neutrality. Once you understand the Tidal transducer/electronics are merely lens for you to peep into the recording - all else become not important. We can try to change the shortcomings of tube based gears by tube rolling which I enjoyed very much in the past. But can I change the nature of 833 tubes? The answer is no.
Going back to the syren, it is the only tube based preamp which I feel it can retain the full pacing of any lyrical lines without altering the overall tonal balance. For God's sake, PT's syren BL uses only Philips JAN tubes inside and he doesn't bother to change it because both me and PTsang felt there is no such need at all.
Ray, you are right that there's no need to change tubes for the Syren BL cos the sound is voiced base on the stock tubes.However, owners of the Zanden CD combo should change the stock tubes, or you're not getting the best out of it.
Will you get the Syren black label preamp? I am a big fan of western electric philosophy and hence a hardcore fans of Da Vinci. This syren preamp from the UK is really something special.
The Kondo M77, frankly, is a so so preamp, slightly better than the PR-T1 in terms of tonality. By no means, it is worth what it is asking in terms of sound quality. I listened to it many times, constipated dynamic with a warmer than usual tonal color. You can argue change of tubes can do this and that but it is not a preamp that excels in control, pacing and pitching. The PR-T1 sound more dynamic and open but the control is still not adequate in most music including just one single violin.
If I were you, I will just dump the M77 and get a full blown Tron Syren black label.
Ray, you are right, I should have dumped the M77 long time ago. The pre I'm now using regularly is a home-brew WE44A using 102G and 205D WE ball tubes, all WE transformers, I love this preamp very much.
Da Vinci turntable partners with Tidal flagship system. Mr.DV visited my Sunray system two weeks ago for two hours. Later on, he said to me, "I thought only Da Vinci can reproduce tonality of piano to my standard. The reproduction of Piano by Sunray really surprises me."
Comments
Have you got Syren BL? If yes, how do you find it working with Tidal?
Going back to the syren, it is the only tube based preamp which I feel it can retain the full pacing of any lyrical lines without altering the overall tonal balance. For God's sake, PT's syren BL uses only Philips JAN tubes inside and he doesn't bother to change it because both me and PTsang felt there is no such need at all.
Will you get the Syren black label preamp? I am a big fan of western electric philosophy and hence a hardcore fans of Da Vinci. This syren preamp from the UK is really something special.
Puyi
The Kondo M77, frankly, is a so so preamp, slightly better than the PR-T1 in terms of tonality. By no means, it is worth what it is asking in terms of sound quality. I listened to it many times, constipated dynamic with a warmer than usual tonal color. You can argue change of tubes can do this and that but it is not a preamp that excels in control, pacing and pitching. The PR-T1 sound more dynamic and open but the control is still not adequate in most music including just one single violin.
If I were you, I will just dump the M77 and get a full blown Tron Syren black label.
Ray