Интересный отзыв на связку Holo Audio May KTE + Holo Audio Serene KTE
I think it is important to know about my listening space to place things in perspective. I am fortunate to not only have a dedicated room, but also one designed and built just for listening to two channel music. Over the years it has been fine tuned through the use of acoustic treatments, speaker positioning, crossover settings and maximizing the listener room speaker interface to yield an ideal soundstage and frequency response ± 2.5 - 3dB below 200 Hz.
I do not use a house curve and find that a near flat response to sound the most natural with acoustic music. Although I listen to different types of music I believe that natural acoustic music to be the best guide in setting up a system.
When asked what is it that I value most in an audio presentation my answer is easy. I value everything and I want it all. But, if I had to pick one thing it would be that virtual soundstage the system creates. Instruments and voices should be true to scale within that illusion. There needs to be a total envelopment of the listener by the music where the speakers completely disappear. At no time should I be aware that I am listening to speakers at all. As large and imposing as my speakers look, they are not present when the music begins.
The May DAC arrived by UPS and I could go on with how well built this thing is, but until you have the chance to handle one yourself, you will still not truly understand. The Serene preamp was late and did not come in until the next day so I needed to run the May through a balanced in on my old SOtM DAC.
At first listen it sounded good, but not great, at least not to what I was lead to understand by the reviews. However, I had made a rookie mistake. I had bought the May used and so I knew it to be fully burned in and thought that leaving it in standby would be enough to get it warmed up, but I was wrong. I guess being a ladder DAC it takes a while for all those resistors to come up to the right temperature. After about 30 - 45 minutes my whole world began to change and change quickly.
I would not say that the tonal character was analytical, nor overly warm and smooth either. All I can think of to say is that it just simply sounded right. It sounded real. Speakers that had always done a disappearing act now really disappeared. Instruments and voices now had a more precise location within the soundstage with details previously missed with the SOtM. The air and illusion of space in width and depth had increased. The old analogy of now looking through a nice clean window opposed to one with a few streaks on it applies. I was brought closer to the music than I had ever been. I don’t know what else to say really. I mean how does one describe the sound of a live stand-up bass being played in front of you? It just simply is.
I spent many hours that day listening to a wide variety of music that I knew well. I was truly amazed at what I was hearing, because I had already been very pleased with how the system had sounded before with digital. I thought in some circumstances and recordings it even came very close to some of my master tape copies. I was expecting a nice change, but not to this extent. The Serene preamp was due to come in the following day. I knew it would go well with the May DAC, but what about my analog sources, LP and Tape?
The Serene showed up early the next morning by FedEx. This unit is built like a tank as well. I connected it to my system and took it out of stand-by. This time having learned my lesson, I allowed it to properly warm up for about 45 minutes. I also purchased this unit second hand and so it was fully burned in. I listened to the May first and what I heard were all the fine attributes I and other reviewers had described. The difference was that I heard more of them. For the speakers that had always disappeared, now they really, really disappeared. Forgive me here, but I need to paraphrase what another reviewer mentioned on YouTube. If before was like viewing the music through a clean window, with the Serene there is no window glass there at all. You now have a direct connection to what you are listening to.
I was very pleased to find that it was the same experience with LPs and Tape. There was a much clearer presentation with more detail being allowed through. There was also a small improvement in the bass from all three sources. It must be that with more detail present the bass was being better defined. I really don’t know. It is interesting to note that both the May Dac and Serene Preamp not only measure well, according to those that did measure them, but extremely well to the point that they may be among the best so far, if not the best. These units are direct marketed from China which allows their cost to be low.
At $5600 the May Dac is not exactly chump change, but it also is not 10 - 20K either. I have not heard a DCS or MSB DAC in my system, although I have heard them at other locations. I am comfortable believing that this Holo Audio May KTE can play in their league. I am not sure how to place the Serene since I have never experienced a Preamp quite like it before. I would be comfortable placing it head to head against the best out there and see what happens. At this level the lines are thin. What I can say for certain is that I am very pleased with my gamble on Holo Audio.