Denafrips Hades & Thallo Amplifier Review



The Denafrips Ares II and Pontus II DAC are exceptional. I evaluate the new Hades preamp and Thallo power amp, fed by the Pontus II. Find out how good is an all Denafrips system?

Link to global distributor website
https://www.vinshineaudio.com/

Link to my Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/abritishaudiophile

Time stamps Intro 0:00
Design & features 1:52
Technical insights 4:18
Sound quality 8:53
Setup & partnering equipment 13:22
Conclusion 15:31

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46 thoughts on “Denafrips Hades & Thallo Amplifier Review”

  1. Great video taren,
    My second system is a Audiolab m dac pre/dac and myryad power amp 150 watts per channel on a pair of triangle bro 2.
    It sounds quiet good but not enough gain it feels like a 50watt per channel. Pisses me off.

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  2. Very interesting Taran, I've got a friend here in Melbourne Victoria who is the local dealer for Denafrips.
    He is bringing the Terminator + and Gaia ddc down next weekend for me to evaluate and listen to in my rig.
    He is using the preamp you featured in this video and has great things to say about it. (which course is to be expected lol)
    So very soon I'll be able to get acquainted with all of this stuff myself which I'm looking forward to.
    Great video mate, very promising comments from you.
    You've only peaked my interest further now.
    🎧🙂👍

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  3. Bi-polar power transistors common, or preferential? Would MOSFETs be any better? Great work. I really apreciate you take time to point out, and explain the electronic components internally: it just helps inform me as to 'what does what, and why', and why they were chosen.

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  4. Hi interesting.The Denafrips combo sounds somewhat" surgical."
    I am using a Vincent sa31 hybrid line level pre amp with a fully re tubed (with Gold Lion )Prima Luna prologue 5.I was amazed at the improvement the GL tubes made.I buy them from Upscale Audio They re test/inspect them in grades.The "platinum " grades are very closely matched and selected for quality@ a higher price One reason high end tube gear (eg MacIntosh) may sound so good is the manufacturers are very meticulous with the tubes they install.
    A re tube of a PL Prologue 5 with top tier GLs (kt88) costs around 500 US.(370 pounds)
    The Dutch designed/China fabricated PL amps are exceptional for the price and can be substantially upgraded with better tubes.

    I am looking to add a Pontus soon per Taren. et al,

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  5. A couple of years ago, I upgraded my trusty, long serving Rega Elicit integrated amp to the Kinki Studio preamp monoblocks combination. I had watched and read multiple reviews of the combo, all brimming with positivity. I expected the difference to be night and day. It wasn’t. Not even dusk and dawn. I was initially very impressed. Clarity, speed and detail were on the next level. But as the weeks went by and I accumulated more and more hours of attentive listening, I realised that something was lacking. The sonic picture lacked acoustic mass. Harmonic richness and bass weight. It sounded, well, disjointed, staccato!

    As a reference point, I plumbed my trusty old Rega back into my rig. Musical nirvana was restored. I removed my Rega, reinstalled the Kinki monoblocks but, instead of the Kinki preamp I used my Audiolab CDQ. The combination just worked. Much more to my listening preference. Richer tonality, fuller acoustic mass and a tight but weighty bass.

    I conveyed my experiences to Alvin at Vinshine. He explained to me that what I was hearing with the Kinki combo was in fact the ‘Kinki sound signature’. He advised that if I was looking for a fuller, richer sound, I should try the Denafrips Hestia preamp with the Kinki monoblocks. He said that it was a combination that had excellent synergy and he felt it would better suit my listening preference. He very kindly sent me a Hestia. He was right. It worked, beautifully. The fullness, richness and bass authority of the Hestia with the speed, clarity and bruit horsepower of the Kinki monoblocks. I now enjoy a deep and wide soundstage. A rich harmonic multi layered tonality, a smooth, flowing, legato musical reproduction with enough headroom to accommodate a full orchestra and no loss of tonality at low listening volumes.

    But, of course the journey doesn’t end there. I am now looking to upgrade my DAC to the Denafrips Venus 2. My Denafrips Hestia is obviously the entry level preamp in the Denafrips catalogue. I’m thinking that perhaps in order to fully appreciate the qualities and virtues of the Venus, I should consider upgrading the Hestia to the hades. Your review has given me cause for deeper consideration.

    You did ask for peoples experiences with preamp/power amp combinations, well that’s mine. That old Rega of mine is not plumbed in. But is still sat proudly in my rack. If someone has been a loyal and dependable friend for almost 30 years, you don’t abandon them when new friends come to stay!

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  6. Excellent review! Inside and out 👍 and very precise breakdown of the sound characteristics.👍 And price.👍 What more could someone ask from a reviewer? Maybe someone will correct me or add to the list, but I thoroughly enjoyed this review . Being able to watch you from Northern Michigan, USA is pretty cool too. 😉 If I was in the market for a new piece of equipment in this price range, I would so very much appreciate your review of it even more. Ok. Thanks

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  7. I regularly use a Naim preamplifier with a non-Naim power amp that has vacuum tubes in it. And a non-Naim power supply (or the preamp wouldn’t otherwise work) The horror, the horror! Sounds lovely to me, though, in the context of my system.

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  8. OK- As instructed: I have a DK Design (The LSA Group) Signature amp which has had its capacitors and other internal components upgraded by a hi-fi engineer, the tubes have been 'rolled" -I'm currently using Telefunken. I paired this with an Esoteric X-5 CD player and Hyperion 938 speakers which have had their internal components upgraded (by the same bloke!); Lastly a Velodyne 8 sub-woofer which can be cranked up for rock music. The system is linked with Chord Signature speaker cable and Audioquest and Tellurium power chords.
    I mostly listen to jazz, prog. rock (it's an age thing!) and World Music.
    I think the strength of the system is the clarity and soundstage however the mid-range is quite light.
    (The room is 25" by 18")

    I did try the Franco Serblin Ktema speakers which sounded terrible in the bass and lost the soundstage; Naim CD which was thin and reedy; Cyrus 8 CD which was muddy; Proac speakers which were pleasing in the mid-range…but I think the compromise I have now is the best I can achieve without spending silly money.

    Pleased to hear your suggestions or feedback…

    Reply
  9. Denafrips sounds like a ‘HiFi’ amp combination rather than a musical system. It will be loved by some and ignored by others. A very interesting review.
    I use an Auralic Altair to Burmester with no problems at all. The clarity of the Auralic’s signal and pre are managed effortlessly by the bomb proof Burmester. I enjoy music, rather than listen to the HiFi.

    Reply
  10. Nice review, Tarun! I have an old, entry level, piecemeal system: 20 year old Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Pianos ( I love ‘em), Little Dot Mk III pre, and Electrocompaniet AW220 power amp, with entry level Van Den Hul and Cambridge Audio interconnects and Chord Odyssey IV speaker cables. I’m loving the subtle textures and refined leading edges the AW220 gives me compared to my previous integrated amp (Plinius 8150). And the Little Dot is airier than my first pre-amp, the passive Creek OBH12.

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  11. There's not many content creators who can just pull off the top and explain the components with knowledge and expertise! Absolutely love it 👍

    I've been contemplating purchasing an external DAC, but my reluctance comes from the fact that I might actually be degrading the sound of my setup. I have that arcam avr20 hooked-up to the arcam pa410 4 channel power amp which are running my sonus Faber sonettos (front stage) and knowing the avr20 is using the ESS 9026 pro audiophile DAC I'm just wondering, if I was to purchase an external DAC… would I be doing the right thing 🤔

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  12. Hello Tatum, thank you for very informative video. I always use XLR (Balanced ) connection for all my components, and make sure any components I intended to purchase has XLR connection and also make sure they are truly balanced design. To my ears there is a lot of different between XLR connection and RCA connection. One need to have a very revealing system to appreciate the difference. Same applies to component matching, recently I purchased two components, a well reviewed 805 tube amplifier with balanced connection, but it did not integrate well with other of my components, same applies to a SACD player I purchased recently. But for majority did not have system mismatch problem, I have all top of crop products and I also have top tear Denafrips products as well as Audio Research Ref preamp but I have not run into many system synergy problem’s, I suppose it mainly to do with XLR interconnected usage. Looking forward for my PS Audio SACD transport to be delivered to be matched with Denafrips Terminator 2 via i2s connection, one reviewer commented it will be a match, that will get me closer to the master tap of recording.

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  13. If you’re based in the UK then you might be interested to know that we (Musicraft based in Derby) are a Denafrips Audio and Kinki Studio Audio dealer. We currently have in store and on demo/display the Ares II, Pontus II, Terminator II, IRIS DDC and GAIA DDC as well as other DAC’s from dCS, PrimaLuna and EMM Labs/Meitner Audio 🙂

    We also have in store and on demo/display Kinki Studio Audio’s EX-M1+ High Speed, Wide Bandwidth, High Current Dual Monaural Integrated Amplifier, EX-P27 Class A Pre Amplifier, EX-M7 High Speed, Ultra Wide Bandwidth 0-2.5MHz!, Ultra High Current Dual Monaural Power Amplifier and EX-B7 High Speed, Ultra Wide Bandwidth 0-2.5MHz!, Ultra High Current Monaural Amplifiers 🙂

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  14. Hi, Tarun. My sincere apologies for misspelling your name on post below, the iPad spellcheck has a mid of it’s own. Oh another thing you were wondering if Denafrips produced CD players to go with the remote. They do and it is called Avatar and it very very good, and yes they had issues with early release ones it has been rectified. But Vinshine audio does not support it so you have purchase it through Aliexpress. I have had my unit for 6 months now, and has never never missed a beat. In fact the combo of Avatar, Athena and Terminator 2 has made me to, retire my much loved and very well reviewed Ayon CD 5s. I do not know why Vinshine is hell bent on promoting Jays Audio, just compare the internal components of Jays Audio and Denafrips Avatar starting with twin transformers and impressive build quality. But hurry only a handful left, I think it is well worth the money. I might even become audiophile collection piece. One more thing I have two set up one solid state and one tube just for the hell of it.

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  15. Interesting review Tarun….
    I'm interested in this combination as a long term replacement for the Musical Fidelity X-150v3 integrated driving my Magnepan LRS.
    Since you only used mini monitors, could the mid bass issues be centered around the LF rolloff limitations of the speakers?
    (I also run an LS50 system;-)
    Hope Alvin lets you keep the amps a while to run in & test with other speakers and cables!
    Greetings from a Brit audiophile in Mt USA
    🎶🤫🎶

    Reply
  16. I run an Eastern Electrics Minimax Pre into a pair of vintage Musical Fidelity MA50 mono blocks, and then into a set of Martin Logan Spires. I have to say I like the slightly forward presentation of the power amps, but I probably need to audition newer amps to answer some questions. They, along with the Spires built in D class amps are the only part of my playback system that don’t contain valves

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  17. i recently changed my amplification from a CLASSIC NAIM pre power combo to their new Integrated XS range , i know most people go the other way and upgrade to a pre and power combo……..however my EARS preferred the newer model and i needed something with an LFE output. Has anyone else gone thru that process, pre power combo to Integrated ?

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  18. At least through “mid-fi” prices, 6,000 to 9,000 USD, I think it’s best to stick with integrated units for the reasons you have pointed out. I would include units that have integrated streaming capabilities. I think the levels of performance and cost benefits of integrated at these price points are just overwhelming.

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  19. I bet this would pair well with JBL L100 or L112, speakers with a full mid bass. What other speakers are "bass heavy" that would benefit from an amp with a lighter mid bass.

    As for system matching, Schiit makes a unity gain preamp, the Saga and it works pretty well with the various amps I've used it with. I keep it around because it is a very neutral, utilitarian piece of electronics that doesn't add anything which is useful when swapping things around. Other than that, I haven't had much experience with different preamps except a brief period where I used my old Marantz 2230 as a preamp going into an Parasound amp. Worked well enough but the Saga was more revealing. I really like high end integrated amps since there's a lot of choices out there and you don't have to fiddle with perfect pairings.
    ,

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  20. I've no previous experience with matching preamps with power amps but my current system does everything I want… I've got the IOTAVX SA3 (previously run in integrated mode) feeding a class D power amp, the Audiophonics MPA-S250NC RCA (which uses the Hypex Ncore NC252MP module). My speakers are KEF LS50 Meta with an ELAC SUB 10.2 subwoofer. Volume setting on the SA3 is pretty much the same as it was in integrated mode but bass authority is much, much better through the Hypex Ncore amp and I'd say that instrument separation is rather better too.

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  21. Saw your podcast with Cheap Audio Man where you mention about reviewing these combo. Voila.. Here it is!! Great review! I was wondering whether Audiolab 6000A in combination with Pontus DAC would be a better choice over these Denafrips combo. Any suggestion please? Again thanks for your honest and great reviews Tarun! I really enjoy.

    Reply
  22. I use a Mogami unbalanced to balanced interconnect between my Cary SP-98P pre (single-ended) and my Parasound A-23 fully balanced power amp. It made a huge difference when I swapped i the Mogami over the prior Monster Interlink II I was using (all RCA). Unfortunately for me, I don't know if it was the result of using the Mogami over the Monster or switching from the unbalanced to balanced connections on my power amp. Oh well. Anyway, you might want to try picking up an unbalanced to balanced cable to try using your Exposure pre with the Denafrips power amp. Just a thought. Wonderful review, as always.

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  23. I just recently put a used Rogue Audio Magnum Super 99 preamp in front of my Willsenten R8. As they both use 6SN7 tubes in the gain stage, I figured I was probably safe with the synergy of the two devices. I'm very happy with the results. I loved the R8 by itself, but the Magnum added even more separation and significantly more depth to the soundstage. I could tell it was a successful upgrade immediately.

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  24. Given all the other good products from denafrips having a $2000 amp that feels under powered is somewhat of a fail in my book. I wonder how it would perform with a very sensitive speaker system like 96 db. Using an 85 db speaker does seem like a 120 watt amp would struggle.

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  25. Thank you Tarun for another excellent review. I'll state again how useful I find your comparisons, not just raving aout the latest product under review.
    I agree that most of the time using a pre and power combination from the same manufacturer yields the best results. However, many years ago I had a Marantz integrated with a blown power stage. Couldn't afford to fix it but got a great deal on a refurbished Heathkit tube power amp. The Heathkit had volume controls. Using the variable pre-out with the Heathkit's volume pots was an interesting way to change the sound of the system. This technique was shown to me by a professional in the Sound Reinforcement business.

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