Arion HS-500 With Duelunds

[bhobba]

My Arions finally cleared Customs:
http://www.arionaudio.com/HS_500.pdf

When they arrived I went down to hear them Wednesday but became too caught up in the new ML2 Limited Edition speakers they were attached to fully check them out - very transparent speaker - perfect for checking a new amp out. I went down again Thursday - this time to really give them a good listen and see what difference putting in a Duelund capacitor would make - its uses a Cardass Golden Ratio as the capacitor coupling the valve input stage and the digital output stage.  Its a good capacitor but the Duelund should easily best it. 

Using these new speakers me and a couple of other guys did a comparison to Mac 501's that system usually uses.  On some material we felt the Mac's were better, and on others the Arion's.  That was a consensus view - I personally preferred the Arion's on all material - more real sounding and organic to my ears.  Now the Duelund was put in.  Bloody hell - it now smoked the Mac's on all material - clearer, cleaner, faster, purer, but still very organic - awesome sound.  It exposed the Mac's weaknesses bare - the thought was it was the transparency of the new speakers that allowed it to be so easily heard.

With the Duelund no amp I have ever heard can touch this thing - and its not even run in yet - its supposed to improve considerably with run in.  In fact the guy that makes them doesnt even like people to hear them not run in for at least 200 hours.

Anyway they are being run in right now and can hardly wait until that finished - they should be AWESOME.

If you have $5K or more to spend on an amp get this thing (well at least check it out - not good to get stuff without hearing it first - but get a Duelund put in) - you will not be disappointed.  Simply the most clean, clear, pure, fast and organic sound you can imagine.  Like I said it smoked Mac 501's - and that's not an easy thing to do.  To me, with or without the Duelunds, it doesn't sound valve or SS - simply real.

Thanks
Bill

[rollo]

 Hey Bill congrats on getting the Arions. They will take 400 hours to sound their best.
   You are correct about the Duelunds. We offer them as an option. Did you use Cast or VSF cap ? The Cast is King IMO.
    Next up is JPS SC-3 speaker cable as the Arions are internally wired with such. ave fun Mate.
    Glad I turned you and Mike on to these Amps. BTW how is Mike, these days he disappeared.


charles

[stereofool]

Hi, Bill  !
Thank you, for this post, and all of your others  .

It is always neat to learn of others experiences with new gear...especially when they seem to offer potentially significant gains and improvements in the music to which we all enjoy immersing ourselves.

[DaveC]

That sounds like a nice amp design...

Man, I am tempted on those Duelund caps, the CAST copper foil coupling caps are all $199/ea at partsconnexion right now, and my amplification system only uses 1 set of coupling caps in the signal path... but that's $400 (!!!) for a pair of caps!

I'm currently testing out some new Feastrex caps I won at RMAF, they are very good and unexpectedly affordable considering they are hand made. They are keeping up with RelCap PCU copper foil caps that cost 2x the price pretty well. I wish I could hear what the Duelunds would sound like without spending $400!

[bhobba]

Hi Guys

Thanks so much for your kind words - its always nice to see people happy with what I post - much appreciated.

Got the VSF copper instead of the Cast.  Actually not much difference in cost but the size makes it a bit difficult to install - the VSF fitted nicely.

As usual Mikes always busy - whenever I visit him its the same story - phone rings hot during the day and has to do most of the work at night.

He recently had a guy that wanted a really radical pair of ML2's with all sorts of stuff like Cast capacitors and copper lining instead of steel so has been working on that.  He calls it his ML2 Limited Edition.  I heard it with the Arions and it blew me away - they are a quantum leap above any speaker Mike has made before.  I ordered a pair myself.

To be blunt you simply don't want to hear any of his other speakers after hearing this thing which is not good for your wallet - they are also the most expensive speakers he has made  

Thanks
Bill  

[Face]

Not that there would be anything wrong with it, but are they modified ICE modules?  

[bhobba]

A number of people have thought they were Ice modules but the guy that makes them is adamant they aren't.

Thanks
Bill

[Face]

Combing Class D, Duelund caps and 6H30 tubes sounds like a great combination.   

[rollo]

  The modules are designed and made in house . The power supplies are made by a military contractor who specializes in such. One would never guess it was a switching power supply. Extremely linear for such a beast. 
   Recently we trekked to GT audio works to to demo the Arions with his speaker. Very impressive. With 1000W into a 4 Ohm load it was quite something in the designers opinion.
   We demonstrated the Lenehan S2 at the DC Audiofest with the Arions. Very well received by all.
   We are dealers for Arion and Analysis products as well as Lenahan.
    charles

[bhobba]

Got a chance to compare it to my Trafomatic Experience 2 yesterday.

A really nice 8W 300B amp at about a few hundred dollars less than the Arion.  It has very good drive and will easily drive most speakers just fine.  Valve guys lust love it.  A number bought their favorite valve amp over and walked away with their tails between their legs.

It sounded really good with a divine transparent midrange but I have to say in every way the Arion was simply better.  As on guy said - listening to the Arion is just so addictive - its just so non hi-fi

Thanks
Bill