Gary's Visit

[Ali Tait]

Just wanted to say thanks to Gary for bringing his gear over yesterday.We had a most enjoyable evening,comparing his fully tricked-out Caiman to my 7510 and AN Dac Zero.

I'd wanted to hear the Caiman against the AN to see which was better to my ears.I found the Caiman to be good,certainly better than the 7510,but we both agreed the AN had superior soundstaging and a more realistic presentation,particularly on vocals.I commented that this was most likely down to the valve output stage on the AN,so I'd say there could be a substantial improvement to the Caiman with the addition of a good valve output stage,for those that like the valve sound at least.

Gary also brought his Cambridge amp,so we had a go with that,and I was pleasantly surprised with how good it sounded,with a nice relaxed presentation.I did note a flattening of the soundstage and a slightly splashy treble,but that apart the amp sounded very good.

One big change was putting the wallwart back on the 7510,after listening with the linear supply.This made a rather large difference,so a good linear supply is very worthwhile for these dacs IMO.

So,just like to say thanks again to Gary,I enjoyed the evening very much,hope to do it again sometime.

[Ali Tait]

Oh,forgot to say,thanks for the loan of the MG cable mate!

[Alex_UK]

Gary=Gazjam? I like to put a name to a face, I mean Avatar! :)

[Ali Tait]

Yep!

[Alex_UK]

cool! :)

[colinB]

What cambridge amp was it?

[John]

glad u had a great evening Also good to share music and play with some hifi

[Gazjam]

Just caught this thread..should stay out of the Drawing Board and look around a bit more!

Yup, great night at Ali's..
Loved Ali's 'statics..talk about soundstaging - wow.
I'd only heard a pair of Quad '57's many years ago, so my memory of how electrostatic speakers sounded was a bit vague - even putting my ear right to the speaker I couldnt hear where the sound was coming from - great stuff.

Comparing Ali's 7510 (with the Passive output mod and some MONSTER caps wired in) to my fully tricked out Caiman I was surprised at how close it got..I reckon the Passive Output mod levels the playing field somewhat: the Caiman is better, but not "night and day" better, especially when the 7510 is run from a linear supply at 13.5v...much better than the standard 12v.
Bit of a surprise for Ali I think!
The Audio Note Dac was better, particularly in the soundstage, but the Beresford didn't disgrace itself....cant wait to get a linear supply organised once a "best" solution is worked out in the Drawing Board!

I was very surprised at the improvement a linear supply made to the 7510...I'm sure a similar improvement will be there for my Caiman.
I demand a rematch though with my Dac hooked up to a linear supply at 15v! :)


Had the chance to hear a valve amp for the first time...great combination with the 'statics..very open fluid sound, quite different from my Cambridge.
Is this a feature common to Valves vs SS...dunno, sounds great though.

So yeah, great tunes, couple of beers, good hifi and good banter.
Listening to Sky Arts with an acoustic set of Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol was a great way to end the night..

Thanks to Michelle too for a great Rogan Josh!
My first meet up, and a good 'un.

[Gazjam]

What cambridge amp was it?

Hey Colin,
it was the 640A (version 1)

[John]

Generally valves help to create a very fluid sound and when intergrated right lots of dynamics and great sense of timing, this is why so many of us like them

[The Vinyl Adventure]

The Audio Note Dac was better, particularly in the soundstage...

Could you expand a little just on that particular comment as it relates quite interestingly to a current experience of mine... :)
Cheers

[Gazjam]

Nae worries Hamish...

With the AN Dac (which we played first) the vocals were obviously projected forward of the rest of the mix..BUT, the rest of the mix had a few layers of depth to it too...

It was Hotel California I noticed it with in particular, especially with the acoustic guitar and the drums being layered behind the vocals.

When we switched to the 7510 (but less so with the Caiman), the background mix seemed to sit on the one layer behind the singing....?
There WAS depth there...sure, just not as pronounced as with the Audio Note Dac.

With the cost difference though (The AN @ £800 stock + valve output stage and custom caps/I think?) maybe its not totally surprising...but the Beresfords DID get close.

As i said, I demand a rematch!
Changing the 7510 wallwart to a linear supply made a helluva difference.

[Ali Tait]

Glad you enjoyed the curry Gary,I'll pass the thanks along! The valve amp is a WAD 5881PP,which is pretty good but not great on the statics,I don't think it has quite enough power for them.A shame the 813 amp isn't working,I think you'd have liked it,much better than the WAD with my speakers as it's about 30w/ch.

A rematch is fine by me,anytime you like.You can come over again,or I could bring the MLTL's to you so you can hear what a full-range driver sounds like.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Nae worries Hamish...

With the AN Dac (which we played first) the vocals were obviously projected forward of the rest of the mix..BUT, the rest of the mix had a few layers of depth to it too...

It was Hotel California I noticed it with in particular, especially with the acoustic guitar and the drums being layered behind the vocals.

When we switched to the 7510 (but less so with the Caiman), the background mix seemed to sit on the one layer behind the singing....?
There WAS depth there...sure, just not as pronounced as with the Audio Note Dac.

With the cost difference though (The AN @ £800 stock + valve output stage and custom caps/I think?) maybe its not totally surprising...but the Beresfords DID get close.

As i said, I demand a rematch!
Changing the 7510 wallwart to a linear supply made a helluva difference.

That is almost exactly how I would describe the difference between caiman and majik ds ... Anyone else got any similar experience?

[Ali Tait]

I'd put the better soundstaging down to the valve output I reckon,though fitting the teflon SCR's did help on this respect also.

[Ali Tait]

I'd also agree with Gary,the Beresfords didn't disgrace themselves,in fact it showed how much you get for your money.The passive mod has indeed made quite a difference too.