Latest addition to the setup..

[mightymonoped]

Freshly delivered from Belgium today, a Xiang Sheng DAC 01a (no, I don’t know which flavour) :-)

For the princely sum of just over £100, I thought it might be interesting to try a bit of noodling:-

Using the Audio Analogue Paganini as a transport first, then..

Swapping out the Allo Boss DAC on the RPi for an Allo DigiOne into the Xiang Sheng.

Cant do anything until the cables arrive though [emoji13]

Also have a NOS Reflektor 6N3P-DR en route to try out (can’t spring for a WE right now).

To be continued...

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180605/b903875c6a4433e42eb40c9c808b2774.jpg


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[brian2957]

I'm using one of these in my system just now and it's excellent IMO . The Reflektor valve is a marked improvement over the stock Chinese valve , however the WE is well worth fitting into this DAC .

[walpurgis]

Coincidentally, I'm working on a couple of my walpurgis 'Del-Boy' CD to Dac digital interconnect cables. Wanna trial one Tony? It'll match or better anything else you'll come across at a sane price! :)

[mightymonoped]

Sounds good to me! :-) Will DM you.
T

[steve-z]

I tried the Reflektor valve in my XS Dac 01 and it did improve on the stock 6n3 chinese valve but I found the General Electric JAN5670w to be even better.


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[Bigman80]

I've just procured a lightly used one of these. On its side due to space issues [emoji23]

For the price, it really is very good. I have a Telefunken ECC88 thanks to Firebottle doing some mods. It's worth every penny I paid for it, plus it works with Windows 10 lol. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180606/447c3c5cbb2b547d157ce43e6a2c709d.jpg

[User211]

It is a glorious DAC for the money. No two ways about it. Not flawless, but hey.

Jerry then I have been trying to tell you all.

I have a couple of these really high quality Sylvanias for sale if anyone wants one, but the killer valve is WE 396A. Repeat killer.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180606/88b100a1194d86ed25577d3723ddae14.jpg

[mightymonoped]

Thanks for all the feedback gang, it’s all appreciated.

Sounds like I’m going to have to get hold of a WE once I know the DAC is basically ok.

Anyone have any experience or feedback on comparison of the Allo Boss vs The Allo DigiOne/XS Dac 01a?


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[Shadowbox81]

Hi Tony

I'm interested in getting one of these myself and was wondering from which seller you acquired the XS as I see there are several on the bay that ship from Belgium?

[mightymonoped]

Hi Tony

I'm interested in getting one of these myself and was wondering from which seller you acquired the XS as I see there are several on the bay that ship from Belgium?

This was the seller I bought from

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180611/45a30c414282582b9a7ef04db82ed3a5.png


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[Shadowbox81]

Many thanks Tony

[mightymonoped]

I tried the Reflektor valve in my XS Dac 01 and it did improve on the stock 6n3 chinese valve but I found the General Electric JAN5670w to be even better.


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Started proper listening to the XS DAC 01 tonight using a GE JAN5670w valve using one of Geoff (Walpurgis) homemade coax, kindly sent to try out.

First things first, the homebrew coax is very transparent and very well made. It has already made it obvious that this system needs some running in yet, as it has shown obvious improvements in clarity and separation on each listen so far.

Initial impressions of the DAC itself are very positive too. Early days yet, have had an initial listen comparing SS and Valve output against both each other and the output from the same tracks via FLAC using the ALLO Boss 1 as a comparison.

Not a strictly controlled session by any means as I’m really just looking for rough impressions at this point.

Had an initial listen to some selected tracks from the following:

Frank Sinatra - Best of the Best
Alt J - An Awesome Wave
Lisa Hannigan - At Swim
Paul Simon - Shining Like A National Guitar

Listening was done primarily through the headphone output of the Icon Audio Stereo 20PP using Audio Technica ATH-MX40X headphones.

Initial impressions are that this thing has bags of potential. At the end of the session I found myself leaving the unit on it’s valve output in preference to the SS which I found to be less engaging. The valve output grew cleaner and more informative as the session went on.

Looking forward to more listening on the speakers next time.

One thing that is already clear is that the CD player is no longer embarrassed to be in the company of the rest of the kit!

To be continued...


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[Mr.Ian]

Hi Tony

How has the listening progressed over the last 12 months. I am giving serious thought to a Rpi/Boss combo, if you had to choose between the XS dac 01 with the GE tube and the Rpi/Boss, on a sound quality only basis what would you go for? did you ever try adding the isolator and LPS to the Rpi/Boss combo? if so did it change the decision?

[mightymonoped]

Hi Tony

How has the listening progressed over the last 12 months. I am giving serious thought to a Rpi/Boss combo, if you had to choose between the XS dac 01 with the GE tube and the Rpi/Boss, on a sound quality only basis what would you go for? did you ever try adding the isolator and LPS to the Rpi/Boss combo? if so did it change the decision?

Hi Ian,

The XS (GE tube) never really got a look in after initial comparisons to be honest, I found the RPi/Boss better in every aspect even in a fairly simple setup using a powerbank to supply and no isolator.

Since then I have upgraded the the RPi/Allo setup to a Katana + Isolator and found the sound to be a significant improvement without losing any of the Boss’ good points.

Currently running with a powerbank on the clean side and standard ps on the dirty side but planning on getting a Allo Shanti dual power supply soon.

I think that’s me done on the source side of things for the foreseeable future. I’m happy streaming Tidal HiFi through the Volumio native interface on the Allo, seldom even refer back to my FLAC collection, let alone CD or Vinyl.

Tony


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[Mr.Ian]

Thanks Tony, that is a big help, pretty clear that I need to try an rpi/allo combo

Ian