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Hotrod your Hermes

I've owned the new 24/192 Kora Hermes for several months now. Right after I got it, I commented on one of the threads about the excellent performance of this DAC, especially at it's price point. I promised to provide a more thorough review of this DAC after it had some time on it. Unfortunately, I failed to do this. Reason being, I began modifications on this unit after observing the open architecture inside it. Since then, I have done the following:
1. Replaced the stock tubes with Seimans gold pins (Be careful doing this. The current Hermes has pin type tube sockets with springs inside them. Lose a spring, and your tube won't make contact. No warnings in the manual about this. This happened to me. Luckily, JC Audio exchanged my "missing springs" DAC for a brand new one. Great customer service!! In the future, Kora plans to change these sockets)
2. Top Hat tube dampers
3. Audio Magic 99.999 silver wire on all inputs and outputs
4. Shakti on-lines on the circuit board
5. Shielded the two transformers from each other and the circuit board using non-magnetic MU metal
6. Replaced all caps with a mixture of MIT, Hovland, and high precision oil caps
7. Shakti stone on the transformers
8. Replaced input and output jacks with WBTs
This turned this already excellent DAC into....A MONSTER!! Why? There is only one way to describe the performance of the Hotrod Hermes. IT'S ALIVE!!! The silence of the background is stunning. The images are more palpable and more full bodied. The soundstage is deeper and wider. The background is blacker, and details you never believed were on redbook CDs are now clearly audible. Yet this DAC remains extremely musical. This is by far and away the best DAC I've heard. Not an analytical bone in it's body. A friend of mine also modified his this way, and will add to this thread about his impressions. Jerry Ramsey of Audio Magic suggested many of these mods, and did the serious ones. He does excellent work if you need someone to do it for you. If you own a Hermes, you must consider doing all or some of these things. The potential to make an already excellent DAC into a world beater is huge with this thing. And the cost of the DAC and mods keeps you under $2500.
glreno
rayhall
393 posts
 
I have just bought on Audiogon an unmodded Hermes 24/192 without the Jena wire or Auricaps. Which brand/type of tubes and which power cord work best with the Kora? What are the preferred digital interconnects? I had bought Glreno's Audiomeca Enkianthus, which I found to be an extremely smooth yet beautifully detailed sounding unit, although a little soft on dynamics, attack and bass. It was a little too "delicate" sounding for my taste. I will be interested when I receive the Kora to see if and how it exceeds the Enkianthus.

Thanks,
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
I own the new Kora Hermes with the Auricaps, JenaLabs cryo wiring, etc., and I was wondering besides the obvious tube rolling, if you folks think my DAC could benefit from some of the mods mentioned here. I'm not technically savy enough to attempt any of these mods myself, but you've definitely caught my interest. Thanks.
twilo
357 posts
 
http://www.audiomusings.com/KoraHermesDAC.htm
sjberg
8 posts
 
which at the time retailed for almost 4k and was considered "worth it." Considering this and considering that the 24/192 DAC is an improvement over the original and considering the price drop (especially for those of us lucky enough to get one when they were $1,500 or less) this DAC has to be one of THE best audiophile bargains on the market. I would also bet that upgrading to some nce NOS tubes will do more to enhance the sound than any of these mods but, that's just my opinion.

And no I haven't tried the mods but my dealer whom I trust - and who can do the mods and make some dough off of me - fully believes that the mods are a very minor iprovement and the tubes are a major one.
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