Holo Serene vs Denafrips Athena (anyone compared these preamps?)

I wouldn't put a lot of stock into either of those two reviews.

As someone who owns the Serene, I'm just saying.

@jnds As someone interested in either the Serene or Athena I'm very interested to hear what you didn't like about the Serene, where you felt the two reviews listed above were incorrect and whether your thoughts have changed with more playing time on the Serene. 

There doesn't seem to be a lot of feedback on either of these pre-amps yet. From Srajaen's reviews he seems to like a very fast, detailed "Swiss  sound" even at the expense of body, weight, organicness etc. For this reason he slightly prefers the Kinki pre-amp over the Athena. He also slightly preferred the W4S STP-SE 2 over the Athena, saying that the Athena was slightly less overtly detailed and fast but had more body.

I've not been able to hear any of these pre-amps yet but reading between the lines my hunch is that the Serene's character would be closer to the Kinki and that I may prefer the extra body of the Athena. I am coming from a fairly neutral, non-tubey sounding tube pre-amp that is single ended only. I'm looking to move to a fully balanced pre-amp (as the Holo Spring DACs are known to sound better from their balanced output and my power amp is supposedly more dynamic from its balanced input) and also to reduce the amount of gain in the system (the Athena is unity gain). 

Although my tube pre-amp does not sound "tubey" in the sense of being lush, euphonic etc, it does have a wonderful 3D, organic sound with great presence. I'm hoping not to lose these traits but to perhaps gain a lower noise floor with the attendant increase in detail and dynamics but not a cool, lean, analytical, super fast type sound or lacking drive and dynamics. 

For these reasons I currently feel that the Athena may best suit my preferences/goals and have not pursued a fully passive pre-amp/attenuator or the Benchmark LA4,  Topping Pre90 or W4S STP-SE. I've noted that some people purchasing these options have missed their tube pre-amps and returned to them.

Serene is almost transparent (as if you connected your DAC directly to your amplifier).

Suits if:
1. You have a good DAC
2. You do other stuff to improve the signal.

I use it with the Holo May L2 and upsample with HQPlayer + NAA.

I have an Athena on the way from Vinshine. I'll report back.

Athena has become the ‘heart’ of my audio system.  Feeds a Hyperion and a Mystere PA11.  I’ve three or four sets of speakers I roll thru w/either amp.  It’s definitely a ‘quality’ piece of audio gear.  The other night, playing vinyl and using the Mystere feeding my ProAc 1sc, I came close to that ‘forever sound’.  Transparent, musical, open, deep, spacious.  The kind of session you don’t want to stop, as each slab of licorice made me wonder why I’d spent so much, time, effort, and money on digital playback.  And, I really enjoy digital!  Some of the recordings were just sublime.  That’s hard to do in digital, that feeling of really listening to something special, rare even.  It’s what makes the hobby so much fun, vs chasing snipes in the grass.  This thru a modest vinyl setup, nothing extraordinary, just well sorted.  I wish Athena had another rca input or two, but would be hesitant to give up the numerous balanced connections.  I wish the 4th, optimized balanced input, didn’t over ride, disable, the other inputs.  The things a beast.  The remote is as solid as the unit itself.  The matching power amps, if Hyperion is an indication, bring a powerful, richly textured, confident, smooth, deeply musical ‘body’ to both digital and vinyl playback.  Music has color and texture, deep tones, and rhythmic drive.  Not as see thru transparent as your SET, valve amps, but very good depth, a spacious warmth, tonal color and body that shows off good recordings but doesn’t shred your ears, ever.  It may take a bit of time for the Denafrips to show its best, it’s a seductress not a dazzler.  Built for the long run, it can rock, or unravel.  It may teach you what ‘breakin’ is all about, be patient.  When it all ‘opens up’, it is very, very, good.  It’s got its own sound and it is seductive, it doesn’t hit you over the head with the ‘hey look at me’, but it will thump you and get the bod a boppin.  Look forward to hearing how you set her up.  Good luck…

@regismc   Have you compared the Athena to the Serene or Kinki EX-P27 by any chance?