Supreme Sound Audio discrete Op-amp upgrade

[AlfaGTV]

Well, I decided to take the plunge too, since I was not chosen for a free trial. 4 Dual V5's on the way for evaluation in my Karan KA L Pre...

[Qwin]

Parts arrived from Burson, so no op amps at all on the active crossover boards now, all 10 are discrete modules. Based on the other sets, they will take 50 hrs to run in, but even after 5 hours they are sounding much better than the last of the op amps they replaced.

AlfaGTV - how you getting on with them Mike?

[AlfaGTV]

As a matter of fact they arrived day before yesterday and got installed yesterday evening! (Sorry, no piccies)

The short version of why im trying these;
The Karan KA L, while an excellent pre amp by all accounts, reputedly sounds "much" better in its Mk III incarnation. Judging from pictures only the Mk III only differs in having four discrete Karan amp modules replace a pair of OPA2604 and one pair of OPA2134.

The problem is the £900 fee for the four discrete modules from Karan...
So i thought i'd try and get close by using these Burson OPA-V5 at around 20% of the cost!

The modules have been powered up and running in for about 20hours now and i am very much enjoying the differences in sound quality.

I am experiencing an increase in gain which often fools me into believing i am liking it better! I am also enjoying an increase in resolution which so far is not always better, but right now i think is more honest to the source material or is this a graininess which i havent heard before?
The bass is faster, tighter and more tuneful. Initially there was less of it but a few hours in i didnt miss anything. For some reason i also experience a calmness and less strained performance from most source material?

Basically, very satisifed!
And, there you go Burson, all praise even though i had to pay for the modules!

[Qwin]

That's good news Mike.
In my active crossover filters I found they go through 3 different run in stages.
They initially sound a bit sibilant, after about 5hrs this reduces and they sound very bright and bass'y with a recessed, muddy mids (esp vocals) and seem to have more gain/loudness, very punchy sound.
After 20 hours the mids start to clean up and come through,changing the tonal balance, sounds less loud, less punchy.
At around 50 hours everything sounds more transparent and the detail level increased, a very balanced and natural sound which has the right amount of sparkle and deep Grunt when needed.
I couldn't detect any changes beyond this point.
On the three pairs of duals I have run in they all followed the same pattern and the changes happened within a small window, at around the intervals indicated. YMMV.

[Puffin]

As a matter of fact they arrived day before yesterday and got installed yesterday evening! (Sorry, no piccies)

The short version of why im trying these;
The Karan KA L, while an excellent pre amp by all accounts, reputedly sounds "much" better in its Mk III incarnation. Judging from pictures only the Mk III only differs in having four discrete Karan amp modules replace a pair of OPA2604 and one pair of OPA2134.

The problem is the £900 fee for the four discrete modules from Karan...
So i thought i'd try and get close by using these Burson OPA-V5 at around 20% of the cost!

The modules have been powered up and running in for about 20hours now and i am very much enjoying the differences in sound quality.

I am experiencing an increase in gain which often fools me into believing i am liking it better! I am also enjoying an increase in resolution which so far is not always better, but right now i think is more honest to the source material or is this a graininess which i havent heard before?
The bass is faster, tighter and more tuneful. Initially there was less of it but a few hours in i didnt miss anything. For some reason i also experience a calmness and less strained performance from most source material?

Basically, very satisifed!
And, there you go Burson, all praise even though i had to pay for the modules!

i think is more honest to the source material or is this a graininess which i havent heard before?

Yes! a bit of a pain at times, but certainly shows up poor recordings/engineering. I had a "Prince" day yesterday and some if his stuff is a bit harsh but overall I think the V5's are brill.

[AlfaGTV]

Completely agree Puffin!
Its not tearing lesser recordings apart though, still enjoyable. Besides, most of my music sounds markedly better. Due to changing two operational amps for discrete amps, who would've thunk?
Basically, my Karan has gone from very good, but a bit laid back, to a neutral, dynamic and very expressive preamp that improves each and every source component.
All this while maintaining its blackness, literally and otherwise!

Now, how big an improvement would changing the other two pairs of OPAs make?

[Puffin]

More is not always better. I discovered to my cost when starting to tweak components that if you go too far you end up chasing your own tail. You think...Mmmm these sound great, lets replace all the op-amps or caps or resistors with "audiophile quality" replacements. It can work, but you can waste money.Of course you can always put the old op-amps back.......BUT the demons of all audio will have altered the originals beyond all recognition so that when you turn it on it sounds nothing like it did before

A bit of an exaggeration, but I have torn my hair trying to get back to what I had.

[Qwin]

"More is not always better."

Finding this on my 3-way active crossover, which now has a full compliment of 10 dual channel V5 modules fitted.

I'm still fiddling with levels etc trying to optimise things, it's amazing how the high frequency output effects the perceived upper bass content and punch.

I'm finding certain op amps sound good in the HF filter and impart a richer feel to the upper mids and are tonally more like the original passive crossover, but at the cost of being a bit more resonant/sibilant and not quite as transparent.
You can drive yourself mad with the endless tweaking.

[Puffin]

You can drive yourself mad with the endless tweaking.

Don't remind me......Please!

[AlfaGTV]

Hmm, i sure hope i suffered some bad luck... Other than reliability issues, that is...
One of the discrete Bursons has developed a fault. Causes crackles and pops intermittently... Burson has been contacted accordingly.
Damnit, i was so pleased with the results!
:<