Quad 405-2 monoblocks and smsl m8a dac
After Duncan( thanks again) had returned the restored board for one of the quad 405-2 mono blocks, about two weeks ago, i installed the two amps back into the system..
Source Bluesound Node 2 , direct into the quads and into the Yamahas NS-1000M.
Wide soundstage, nice separation of instruments, better controled and deeper bass.
After the initial excitement wore off, i started noticing a kind of metallic edge/ringing to some female vocals and instruments. Ever so slight, but once you start noticing. Irritating.
Living in rural France it's diificult to listen to other systems or try other eqipment in your system.
The Bluesound being the weakest link in the system, i decided to try another Dac.
Having heard a lot of good about the dac, and cause of the easy availability( Audiophonics), i ordered a smsl m8a dac and a linear power supply.
This really is a superb dac.Beatiful lifelike vocals, absolutely no harshness, very good separation, bass deep and controled.
Much more space. Reverbs very clear.
The greatest improvement came from the quads but he smsl m8a really put the icing on.
Very happy with my system now. Back to listening music again.
I never experienced the process of burn in as much as with this dac. Might be cause of the highly revealing system I have now.
It took the dac about 75 hours to come to rest. Before that especially the highs could change by the hour
The soundstage could shift to the left or right, even developped kind of a hole for a couple of hours.
The last two days it'stable, accurate and sweet sounding. Very natural sound.
