Audionet Scientist Series: Humboldt Integrated vs Stern and Heisenberg Separates : Having Your Cake and Eating it Too?

audio1

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Jul 5, 2016
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Ok that means the Mscaler is really worth the investment.
The Mscaler definitely is worth the investment. It takes good recordings to another level, but also really improves poor recordings, making them much more natural and enjoyable.
 

Thieliste

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Aug 31, 2014
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The Mscaler definitely is worth the investment. It takes good recordings to another level, but also really improves poor recordings, making them much more natural and enjoyable.
Yes the big plus is to be able to listen to poor recordings like early Dead can Dance albums for example.
 

KPC

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Dec 4, 2019
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The Audionet Humboldt is my end game preamp+amp. It plays with the +$100k big boys for only (gasp) $55k. The best bang for buck price performance without sacrificing sound quality.
 

musicfirst1

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KPC

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Other Humboldt reviews

TAS Matthew Clott:

TAS Greg Weaver

 

musicfirst1

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I missed Matthew Clotts remarkable review. It is a classic and should be a model for other reviewers out there.
 
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nirodha

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Aug 11, 2010
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Heard the Humboldt today and I was stunned :oops:. I can be enthusiastic by our shared hobby but this time I was shocked: a new class of audio has been born. From now on we have solid state, tubes and Audionet Humboldt. I know that the Heisenbergs have to be better still but I just cannot imagine how. WOW
 

heihei

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Heard the Humboldt today and I was stunned :oops:. I can be enthusiastic by our shared hobby but this time I was shocked: a new class of audio has been born. From now on we have solid state, tubes and Audionet Humboldt. I know that the Heisenbergs have to be better still but I just cannot imagine how. WOW
Interested to know what the rest of the system was, and most importantly, if you're buying??
 

nirodha

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Aug 11, 2010
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Interested to know what the rest of the system was, and most importantly, if you're buying??
Hi, I took my Nagra CD-player with me and a Furutech nanoflux NCF power cable. Don’t remeber the interlinks or speaker cables. PC cable on the Humboldt was an Audioquest from the top line (don’t remember which one). Loudspeakers werd Focal Scala Utopia Evo which have aprox the same specifications as my own Kef 207/2. And your question: yes, if all works out (trade in / of sale of my own amps etc.) I am going to buy it next Month. It simply is too good to pass. When I got home yesterday I just could not bring myself to connect my cd-player in my own set. Hopefully I will “manage” that today. The Humboldt should even be better at my place connected to the Furutech pure power 6 E NCF and Elrod Master Diamond loudspeaker cables. Can’t wait. Big thank you to W&W audio for giving me the opportunity to hear this beauty. They left me to it for two hours without any interruption (only to refill my cup of coffee).:)
 

Thieliste

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Aug 31, 2014
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Hi, I took my Nagra CD-player with me and a Furutech nanoflux NCF power cable. Don’t remeber the interlinks or speaker cables. PC cable on the Humboldt was an Audioquest from the top line (don’t remember which one). Loudspeakers werd Focal Scala Utopia Evo which have aprox the same specifications as my own Kef 207/2. And your question: yes, if all works out (trade in / of sale of my own amps etc.) I am going to buy it next Month. It simply is too good to pass. When I got home yesterday I just could not bring myself to connect my cd-player in my own set. Hopefully I will “manage” that today. The Humboldt should even be better at my place connected to the Furutech pure power 6 E NCF and Elrod Master Diamond loudspeaker cables. Can’t wait. Big thank you to W&W audio for giving me the opportunity to hear this beauty. They left me to it for two hours without any interruption (only to refill my cup of coffee).:)
Great choice! i also think it's the best integrated on the market today and i've heard most of them including Vitus SIA-030.
Hopefully i can afford it one day.
 

christoph

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Dec 11, 2015
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Heard the Humboldt today and I was stunned :oops:. I can be enthusiastic by our shared hobby but this time I was shocked: a new class of audio has been born. From now on we have solid state, tubes and Audionet Humboldt. I know that the Heisenbergs have to be better still but I just cannot imagine how. WOW
Did you directly compare the Humboldt against other amps?
And if yes, what were the other amps?
 

heihei

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Jul 24, 2017
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Did you directly compare the Humboldt against other amps?
And if yes, what were the other amps?
Not a Humboldt comparison, but the Heisenbergs were the first amps I heard that bettered my Berning Quadrature Z's, and by a significant margin. When choosing the Bernings, I listened to a lot of amps (CH, D'Agostino, MacIntosh, Dartzeel, Ayre, Vitus, Burmester).
Similar on the pre-amp side of things - the Stern was only bettered by CH L1 + X1, comparing to VTL, Vitus, Bespoke, Mayer, Soulution etc.
 
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Diasoft5

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I wish I had the 42000,- Euros I paid for my Vitus SIA025+SS025 biamping combo.......without counting the XLR - connecting cable from Göbel between the two.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Hi, I took my Nagra CD-player with me and a Furutech nanoflux NCF power cable. Don’t remeber the interlinks or speaker cables. PC cable on the Humboldt was an Audioquest from the top line (don’t remember which one). Loudspeakers werd Focal Scala Utopia Evo which have aprox the same specifications as my own Kef 207/2. And your question: yes, if all works out (trade in / of sale of my own amps etc.) I am going to buy it next Month. It simply is too good to pass. When I got home yesterday I just could not bring myself to connect my cd-player in my own set. Hopefully I will “manage” that today. The Humboldt should even be better at my place connected to the Furutech pure power 6 E NCF and Elrod Master Diamond loudspeaker cables. Can’t wait. Big thank you to W&W audio for giving me the opportunity to hear this beauty. They left me to it for two hours without any interruption (only to refill my cup of coffee).:)
That is big news!!! Many congrats and best wishes!!! I look forward to reading about how they fare in your system when they arrive!!! I have spoken with numerous people about the Audionets, and have heard nothing but superlatives from people whose ears I trust.
 
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nirodha

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Aug 11, 2010
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That is big news!!! Many congrats and best wishes!!! I look forward to reading about how they fare in your system when they arrive!!! I have spoken with numerous people about the Audionets, and have heard nothing but superlatives from people whose ears I trust.
Thank you! If all goes well, it will be picked up at the end of next week:D
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Wow! FAST! That is even better news! I have to say Audionet is very high on my list on designs to hear: Audionet Scientist Series, Boulder 3000 series, CH 10 series
 

heihei

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Jul 24, 2017
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Wow! FAST! That is even better news! I have to say Audionet is very high on my list on designs to hear: Audionet Scientist Series, Boulder 3000 series, CH 10 series
The Audionet is easy to arrange! Paul thinks you'd like them ;-)

More seriously, a compare to the CH 10 series would be interesting. I much preferred Stern / Heisenberg to CH L1 + X1 & M1 monos. The Audionet was considerably more dynamic so always made listening to music an event. It gave up very little by way of other hifi attributes despite the lower cost either.
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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The Audionet is easy to arrange! Paul thinks you'd like them ;-)

More seriously, a compare to the CH 10 series would be interesting. I much preferred Stern / Heisenberg to CH L1 + X1 & M1 monos. The Audionet was considerably more dynamic so always made listening to music an event. It gave up very little by way of other hifi attributes despite the lower cost either.
Hi Heihei,

I have a lot of respect for Paul's ear...he knows his trade very well. And he is utterly committed to super-elite level performance.

As for CH 10, yes from everything I have ever read, heard or been told directly, the 10 series excels at tonal density which is particularly intriguing to me. Interesting comment about Audionet dynamics relative to L1/X1/M1...adds some further insight into other comments I have heard from owners of the L1/X1/M1 series.
 

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