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Musetec (LKS) MH-DA005 DAC

Some history: I was the OP on a four year old thread about the Chinese LKS MH-DA004 DAC. It achieved an underground buzz. The open architecture of its predecessor MH-DA003 made it the object of a lot of user mods, usually to its analog section, rolling op amps or replacing with discrete. The MH-DA004 with its new ESS chips and JFET analog section was called better then the modified older units. It has two ES9038pro DAC chips deliberately run warm, massive power supply, powered Amanero USB board, JFET section, 3 Crystek femtosecond clocks, Mundorf caps, Cardas connectors, etc., for about $1500. For this vinyl guy any reservation about ESS chips was resolved by the LKS implimentaion, but their revelation of detail was preserved, something that a listener to classic music especially appreciated. I made a list of DACs (many far more expensive) it was compared favorably to in forums. Modifications continued, now to clocks and caps. Components built to a price can be improved by costlier parts and the modifiers wrote glowingly of the SQ they achieved.

Meanwhile, during the 4 years after release of the MH-DA004, LKS (now Musetec) worked on the new MH-DA005 design, also with a pair of ES9038pro chips. This time he used more of the best components available. One torroidal transformer has silver plated copper. Also banks of super capacitors that act like batteries, solid silver hookup wire, 4 femtoclocks each costing multiples of the Crysteks, a revised Amanero board, more of the best European caps and a new partitioned case. I can't say cost NO object, but costs well beyond. A higher price, of course. Details at http://www.mu-sound.com/DA005-detail.html

The question, surely, is: How does it sound? I'm only going to answer indirectly for the moment. I thought that the MH-DA004 was to be my last DAC, or at least for a very long time. I was persuaded to part with my $$ by research, and by satisfaction with the MH-DA004. Frankly, I have been overwhelmed by the improvement; just didn't think it was possible. Fluidity, clarity, bass extension. A post to another board summed it up better than I can after listening to piano trios: "I have probably attended hundreds of classical concerts (both orchestral and chamber) in my life. I know what live sounds like in a good and bad seat and in a good and mediocre hall. All I can say is HOLY CRAP, this sounds like the real thing from a good seat in a good hall. Not an approximation of reality, but reality."

melm
jc4659
524 posts
 

Good morning Musetec DAC owners. Any of you running your DAC into a Holo Serene or Musetec preamp and willing to share your opinion?

 

gryphongryph
352 posts
 

I used to think a pre was all about purity of the signal, but now being in this game for nearly forty years I feel the most important is the tone and decay of instruments and voices, not sure a solid state pre can achieve that actually, I am using a tube pre and the tone is just beautiful, also the space around instruments is extremely nice. 
Do you guys know the price of this pre ?

jc4659
524 posts
 

@gryphongryph The Holo Serene KTE version sells for about $3200 and the Musetec preamp about $5500 I believe.  I've not heard either.  May I ask which tube pre you are using?

yyzsantabarbara
4,526 posts
 

@jc4659 I used to own 2 Musetec 005’s and I currently own the Holo Serene preamp. I never put the 005 and Serene together. I used the Benchmark LA4 preamp and the CODA 07x with the Musetec. The 005 worked great with the straight wire with gain LA4. The Serene is almost identical to the LA4 except for a miniscule bit of warmth. I think the 005 and Serene would work great together.

With my 07x preamp, which is the warmest preamp of the 3, I think I found it too warm for my more neutral tastes. I sold the 07x some time ago to get the Serene and LA4. Both are exactly what I want in a preamp,

I wish I had the 005 today during a test I was doing with the Benchmark AHB2 amp + Holo Serene + Yamaha NS5000 speakers. I think the 005 would have been a better match over the Schitt Yggi+ LIM DAC.

sirnui
81 posts
 

The best sounding headphone system I've built some time ago included the Ferrum Oor headphone amp with hypsos power supply, Holo Serene L1 preamp, and Musetec 005.  The Oor was configured to bypass its volume control and the volume was set to 0.0 on the 005. The Serene was used to control volume. I can say in my experience, the Serene is the best sounding preamp I've tried and it mated very well in the system I described above.  Other pieces of gear played their roles in that system but I want to say the Serene and 005 played their parts very well. 

I sold off most of that system but I've recently repurchased the 005 (black this time) and the Ferrum Oor. I now use a Lumin streamer for digital volume control which in some systems can obviate the need of a dedicated preamp.  I would love to try the Serene again with the Oor and 005 but the Lumin LEEDH digital volume control is keeping me satisfied for now. 

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