Well, as predicted roughly this time last year, 12 months with a pair of Obelisks has resulted in an order for a pair of Diapasons. Current system is CDS2/NAC52/NAP300. The NAP300 drives the Obs extremely well. Any thoughts on what is needed for Diapasons? What other suggested amps are there out there?

Hi Jonathan,

Glad to hear that the Obelisks worked out well for you, as I seem to remember that you had to take a leap of faith and buy blind (deaf?).

The amps which you should definitely consider are the Dynavectors which are actually designed using Shahinians. Although they have been very hard to come by for the past couple of years, the new range of DV amps is currently in production and I heard from a reliable source that the first batch of amps has just been shipped to Pear Audio (the UK distributor).

The HX1.2 power amp is generally held in high regard and I believe that people often use a bridged pair with Diapasons. When I spoke to John Burns at Pear Audio last year he told me that a pre-production sample of the new HX75 power amp was pretty close to an HX1.2, so presumaby the new HX1.2 is going to be significantly better than the old version.

While you are at it, I would strongly recommend replacing your NAC52 with a DV L300 - this is a move which I made two years ago and I've no regrets.

Best Regards,

Adrian
P.S. Are you still in China? I've now relocated to Japan, so if you're ever in Tokyo on business I might be able to give you a DV/Shahinian demo

Thank you for the invite, Adrian. I do come through Tokyo periodically. What was your motivation/experience switching from the 52 to the Dynavector pre?
Dynavector and Plinius amps were suggested last time around as worthwhile considerations for drivings the Obs as I recall.
Has anyone tried Densen amps?

NAP300s (a pair) work, Densens (monoblocs) work, Dynavectors (a pair of HX1.2s) work best IMO.

How would you use a pair of NAP300s or HX1.2s? One for the bases and one for the modules? This would presumably require an active crossover?

What was your motivation/experience switching from the 52 to the Dynavector pre?
I was looking for a better phonostage than the Stageline/HI-CAP which I was using with my 52 at the time. I had planned to try a Dynavector P75 with the 52, but Jason Hector suggested getting a demo of the L300 with internal P300 phono stage. I'm very glad that I did. To my ears, the L300 blows the 52 into the weeds - much wider bandwidth, higher resolution of detail and more "natural" sounding.
Another big plus point over the 52 is that it has a switch-mode power supply which will run on anything from 85V to 265V AC - ideal for people who move internationally on a regular basis. Finally, it cost me almost nothing to upgrade, as I was able to raise enough cash from the sale of my 52, SUPERCAP, Stageline & HI-CAP to cover the cost of a new L300...

How would you use a pair of NAP300s or HX1.2s? One for the bases and one for the modules? This would presumably require an active crossover?
As I understand it, a pair of HX1.2s would be used in "bridged" mode whereby each stereo amp effectively becomes a monoblock, i.e. one amp per speaker.
Going "active" with Shahinian Diapasons wouldn't be practical due to the number of drive units - 16 per speaker, if I'm not mistaken!

I always fancied a pair of Diapasons and 32 HX1.2s.

Here's a thought: a pair of NAP300s plus Snaxo plus PS for the Snaxo roughly equals the same cost as a single NAP500.

And here's another thought: a pair of HX1.2s costs less than a single NAP500 (and some say that a single HX1.2 betters a NAP500...)

I preferred the HX1.2 to the big Naim,and I did buy one,a super little amp.

Little amp ! Never heard it called that before.

Well I sold it for a pass labs so in comparison to that it was small,good though!

What is a pass labs?

Click here: Pass Labs (http://www.passlabs.com/)

A bit "bling" compared to Dynavector...

Are they recommended?

Ask coops, I believe he has owned both a HX1.2 and a Pass amp.

I bought the Pass, because of the extra watage over the Dynavector, the Pass did have mte control over the bass, in retrospect I should have been looking at current delivery rather than just nominal wattage, I didn't just buy it for the bling factor, using an ASR Emitter now which is super duper imho.

I think I am going to stick with Naim for the time being. Once it arrives, I shall use the NAP300 and am prepared for ordering a NAP500 and then take it from there. Presumably I could invest in a SNAXO and use both too?

You do not need a SNAXO. The Hawks and the Diapasons can be passively biamped using two stereo amplifiers without any extra boxes. One controls the bass sections the other the mid and treble tops. Each bit has the relevant crossover inside so biamping is easy. I have never heard of anyone using different amplifiers on each section though and would suggest you run the very real risk of losing the consistency and integration of the speaker.

Cheers

Jason

Just to repeat, you can get a pair of HX1.2s for the cost of a NAP500 and have change; surely, it warrants consideration.

Oh, but can you? I thought Dynavector amplification was more or less unobtainable at the moment?

I coudln't find anyone selling these fellows when I searched around. However, Naim is easy to buy and easy to sell if it doesn't work out. So, decision made, plunge taken. I even ordered some new front end. If nothing else, all the boxes will match on the Fraim.

You could also try Bedini amplifiers.

I believe Bedinis are even more elusive than Dynavectors....

Current system is CDS2/NAC52/NAP300. The NAP300 drives the Obs extremely well. Any thoughts on what is needed for Diapasons? What other suggested amps are there out there?


I believe some Shahinian users have Exposure XVI (16) mono amplifiers, these might be difficult to find but shouldn't cost an arm and leg...

There was an HX 1.2 on Ebay the other day. It reached £1750 which was below the reserve. Here are the details:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280101813290&rd=1&rd=1

I own an HX1.2 myself, one that used to belong to Alex S. It is awesome, the best power amp I have heard, and blows the Naim 135s I had before it out of the water. I have never listened to a 500 but I can't believe it would be so sonically superior to justify the huge difference in price.

Paul

I believe Bedinis are even more elusive than Dynavectors....

Now available, I think. www.bedini.com

Can;t think why you would want to drive the buggers passively. Suresly it only makes snes if you give the base units a clean signal?

I think the Plinius designer is a big Shahinian fan, and uses them as has his test speaker.

I haven't heard Plinius kit for 20 years, but it was OK then, and they have a new UK distributor, so might be worth a listen.

Can;t think why you would want to drive the buggers passively. Suresly it only makes snes if you give the base units a clean signal?

Not necessarily. The resistance of the coil(s) in the LF section of the crossover may be part of the bass alignment. It's possibly you'd need to insert a resistor in the feed to the bass bin if you take out the passive xo.

Your thinking, I suspect, has been shaped by Naim's way of doing active and passive speakers. Naim develop their speakers (or at least used to) by running them active firsdt and then trying to replicate the slopes of the active xo in a passive version. It's a major reason why Naim speakers tend to sound significantly better in active mode. Other manufacturers design a speaker passive only. Finding an active set-up that keeps the tonal balance and the bass alignment, plus any baffle step correction where present, may well be very difficult.

I did find a convincing analysis which suggested that avoiding the passive bass/mid-treble crossover through a bi-amping active amplification would deliver the optimum rewards

A Dynavector HX1.2 (one of only seven in the US, according to the seller) just sold on ebay for a touch under $1700. Seems someone got a bargain.

The Link (http://cgi.ebay.com/DYNAVECTOR-HX-1-2-Stereo-Power-Amplifier-SUPERB_W0QQitemZ180106568169QQihZ008QQcategoryZ397 83QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Has any one tried the DV HX1.2 with a Naim pre amp? Other than getting a 4 pin din to 2 phono cable are there any other issues.

Would you that a HX 1.2 was better than a NAP300, or some one has eluded that this power amp was better than a NAP500, or have I just read that one wrongly.

have 2 hx 1.2 for sale bought through j burns excellent condition live in dublin £1500 each excellent condition+working order

Hello
I run an L300/P300 pre. Use active PMC AML1s. Sonic Frontiers Transport 3 and Processor 3 digital front end. LFD grainless cabling - all balanced. No TT yet. Its on the to get list. Set-up sounds fantastic. Nevertheless I'm keen to see if we can do a deal on your HX 1.2's - are they latest versions, are they new casework design etc... might go full range speakers again; Zu definition or Shahinian Hawk. I sold pair of Wilson Benesch Chimera's I ran for a year to a gentlement in Korea - they were just too big for my listening room / lounge.
Kind Regards
Martin

Have someone heared direct comparison between an Exposure IV DR MkII and several Bedini, Plinius, Dynavector on a Diapason?

Having met a chap in Lancashire last year.

He was running the Shahinians with two pairs of Exposure XVI monoblocks, a very fascinating sound and a XIV and IX pre PSU combination.

Having only heard them that once I was informed by the chap, that John farlowe, founder of Exposure had created these amps using the Diapasons. Can't really tell you much more than that, as I was taken away by the largest speaker I had seen in a hime system for some time.

With that in mind, I would assume that these amps, would work extremely well with these speakers.

Correct me if I am wrong but the Diapasons are 3 way???? If this is correct and my brain serves me right, then John Farlowe had actually created a six pack set up, consistinng of 3 pairs of XVI monoblokcs with a dedictaed cross over that John had built himself.


Like I said could be wrong, but for some reason it did ring a bell.



Regards


Cliff

Correct me if I am wrong but the Diapasons are 3 way????

They have a high/mid-unit and two separate bass units. The bass unit is a stereo sub in its own, indeed.
So you can drive it in bi- or tri-amping. But you can´t separate mid from the highs and super-high-tweeters.