Aye, hopefully get that up and running sometime soon.
Printable View
Aye, hopefully get that up and running sometime soon.
H’ok...
next step of the amp journey.
Taking all my findings here as relative...as it’s not through my final speakers...but the Dali’s I run at the moment are transparent enough to let me hear differences
in terms of amp drive, shifting air and general quality what I’ve got is good enough.
And I can carry the results forward when upgrading the speakers.
Up till now, for the last couple of weeks, I’d hooked up the recently serviced Densen DM30 power amp to my PS Audio BHK preamp.
Been enjoying the tunes on that setup for the last week or so.
My baseline for this comparison was against the Meridian 557 hooked up to the BHK Pre, which I ran for 6 months or so before that.
Different Pre’s hooked up to different power amps, only way to know what works with what is to listen, and trust my ears...ignoring cost, Brand name, what should work best “on paper”.
Have to say swapping in different power amps can make a noticeable difference in sound, I liked what the Densen power amp brought over the Meridian...a sense of ‘fun’ and groove about the music, but it lost something too...sounding a bit like hearing the music behind a glass wall.
You knew it was there but it seemed detached in that you observed it rather than felt it.
Too easy to engage the audiophile brain with all this stuff, (see what I mean? :D) so only trusting my ears in this.
So,
yesterday swapped in the matching DM20 Densen pre with it’s power amp sibling.
All Densen now, what’s the story?
https://i.imgur.com/uX5iC7J.jpg
Well, swapping out the BHK preamp what I LOSE, aside the general terrific sound quality of the thing, is a great built in headphone amp and fully balanced XLR connections between my Dac and power amp, using top end XLR cables.
The “on paper” part of my Hifi brain says don’t go there...
but I’ve decided to trust my ears with this.
Have various pre/power amp combinations and just want to listen, fit n forget and say amps now done, same way I have elsewhere in the setup.
Time to step off the roundabout and get on with just enjoying the music.
Densen’s sound awesome together. Wow.
From the get-go there was a sense of ‘life’ and boogie about the sound that drew you in.
Same on both vinyl, CD and digital (and even YouTube played through my Dac) there was a big, wide open valve sounding midrange that filled the room.
The amps had a warm character to them, but extremely crisp and detailed too.
At both extremes the low end was never too warm (with the implications that suggests) or the top end too detailed (with same..)
The combination just sounds “right” in a way that makes you forget about the Hifi stuff and the kit.
Well..almost.
Something in the mix is making the background hiss very slightly more than the BHK Pre setup, suspect losing the balanced connections may be a factor here.
Its very slight and it’s gone as soon as you play music, but need some time with it to see if it’s gonna be an issue.
The Densen Preamp was unplugged for months, want some time with it powered up before I make a call on what it can do.
Elvis Costello is currently playing an acoustic set in my room in a way I’ve not hear come together and sound “alive” as well before...so there’s always that to counter against it.
Enjoying the Danish supermodels for the next week or so, chilling out and letting them soak into my bones, then the final combination to try is swapping in the big beastie Meridian 557 power amp with the Densen big knobs pre.
I’ll know if any magics lost or if the British bruiser Meridian has a better chance to shine hooked up to the Densen Preamp.
Maybe lose the slight background hiss too...if it doesn’t vanish on its own with the Densen powered up for a few days from cold.
My Dacs got a lossless digital volume control, so another thing I can try is playing around with the amp setup’s gainn structure, see if that has an effect on anything.
See what happens. :)
Like everything in Hifi land, there’s always a trade off.
Getting there, and enjoying the journey, but nowadays looking to step off the kit rat-race and enjoy what I’ve got.
I'm confused, lol! :scratch:
Could you give us a précis, and outline the current state of play [your preferred option - the 'winner', as it were], as briefly and succinctly as possible, please?:D
Marco.
No winner yet matey,
until I’ve heard the last pre/power combination together, the Meridian 557 power with the Densen Pre.
So far,
Enjoying music more with the Densen combo most,
1 more combo to try, next weekend or next then I’ll make the call.
too many black boxes!
The games afoot Watson. :eyebrows:
Lolz - ah see yer thinkin' there, Batman!:D
Not surprised though that the Densies are dancin'.... They're renowned as boogie monstas!:dance:
Marco.
Yeah,
Talk about ‘air guitar’... :eek:
These Danish boxes are a bit special.
Got a thing for the record player: Origin Live Gravity One.
https://www.originlive.com/hi-fi/tur...d-weight-best/
Not a clamp, more a weight...but even that doesn’t really describe it as there’s next to no weight in it, about 70gms I think?
Im calling it a Damper.
No vibration from bearing or chassis with my deck, but always that from the record itself?
Took a punt one one of these after reading really good reviews and wondered if it would bring anything to the P10.
It absolutely does, good improvement across the board. Seems to bring out more of the deck’s “Magic Sauce”.
Very surprised.
Adds to the look of the deck too,
part of the deal along with the custom plinth I made for it, which is always cool. :)
https://i.imgur.com/CCN39ZT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pNAWa0J.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Iyfj8DN.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yHR7hfW.jpg
If it works it works, hence worth the money.
Still monkeying about with turntable isolation...
After this calling it done. Again. :)
Tried the original P10 rubber feet under the SDS plates, previously they sat directly on the glass surface.
https://i.imgur.com/qlQPHkW.jpg
So that’s:
Turntable plinth
. Isoacoustic Orea isolation feet
. Stiff ‘n light bamboo platform
. SDS isolation plates
. P10 rubber feet
The Rega feet are quite a clever design, have little “blips” at the top, further isolating what they sit under.
Rubber on glass works well I’ve found.
So,
original plan was to get the deck up off the glass surface, job done.
Been a fun wee project, and I much prefer the way the P10 looks on the rack.
it’s custom now, and has more size and presence to it.
Few visual nods here and there to other turntables I like, which is cool.
https://i.imgur.com/6cMFhcx.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4hfNSSn.jpg
Nice uptick in sound, can hear a bit more space around the instruments on a good recording.
Jobs a good ‘Un. :thumbsup: