Hifi+ 140 Pro review

[Sailor4W]

Hmm, just started reading the review and I see that the reviewer sums up the changes made by the ‘Pro’ upgrade and ‘Core Infinity’ board upgrade all under the same moniker of ‘Core Infinity’ while for me this is just the ‘streamer board (which also holds other things like ASRC’s and DSP logic). Just making this distinction because in my previous post I really meant the fitting of the CI board. The Pro upgrade was done one or two years earlier. I did not notice the brightness issue back then, rather the opposite if I remember well.

Good point, that struck me too! I also thought the CI board would be for streaming. But the reviewer makes the point that the CI board digitizes the amp’s voltage with 10 bits, rather than 8 bits in previous versions, that translates to less distortion. That made me think if there‘s more to the CI board than just the streaming issue?

Maybe someone is savvier than me?

Well I mentioned it but only because I did not feel or experience the brightness after the Pro upgrade. Of course nowadays one can only buy a ‘Pro CI’ model and I suspects (close to all) all Pro’s are now also outfitted with the CI module so I don’t blame Alan Sircom.

The 8 to 10 bit class A processing upgrade BTW is done in the ADH processing core/CPU and that’s on the mainboard. I quickly searched for the press release but could just find some Export Pro reviews/news articles (from 2016) that mention it.

Good to know you didn’t perceive sound brightness after upgrading to the Pro. Nevertheless, I see if the dealer can provide me with a 140 Pro loaner. The upgrade is about 4500 Euros, so Iwant to make sure it‘s worth the money.