Good idea.
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,882
I'm Martin.
Good idea.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,882
I'm Martin.
Well that was a good idea Grant.
Using the NAD as an integrated with the DAC on full output - no hum at all, absolutely dead silent - what's that all about? Actually sounds even better now, although I can barely get the volume pot off zero.
I wonder if this amp could be uprated with some 'judicious mods?' The basic circuit seems good, it's certainly clean and sweet and very pleasant to listen too. The beauty of the sound comes through, but 'rez' is not quite up there with the top tier.
Better caps, better potentiometer, better speaker cable binding posts etc?
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Super Moderator
Location: W Lothian
Posts: 99,005
I'm Grant.
sure it could be, yes.. firebottle might be able to help even if he has retired.. as for the hum, it shows it could be cables picking up something, or a slight loop hum.. both worth trying i guess. at least its unlikely to be the amp.. gain too maybe?Originally Posted by Macca
Regards,
Grant.... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse
I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work.... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -
Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?
“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".
“You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”
"You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”
“There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”
***SMILE, BE HAPPY***
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,882
I'm Martin.
Thought it might be cable interference but checked that and my dressing is immaculate, power cables are all well away from the signal cables. Some sort of earth/ground loop, must be. If it was a fault on the amp it would still be there with the pre-amp in circuit. But with that in use there is just absolute silence, not even any hiss.
Really hard to complain, this is the best sound I've had since the KSA50s packed in. It has the all-important sweetness to it, and it's slightly 'gentle'.
The sound reminds me a lot of the old Leak Stereo 30 except with real-world power output. Although it only gives 67 watts before clipping it's more than enough for the JM Labs as they are big and high efficiency.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,882
I'm Martin.
Was going to do nothing today but got bored with that so had a bit of a tidy up of the system area, everything meticulously cleaned with baby wipes, all on-site rubbish removed. Then set it all back up, cables properly dressed , the lot.
Audiolab 6000CDT
Topping E30 DAC
NAD C320BEE
ignore the EQ unit, it isn't connected but does raise the CD transport up to a convenient height.
Total cost of this lash-up - £1135 (including the speakers but not the cables which probably add another £300 or so, can't actually recall what I paid for them). The Technics tuner was a freebie.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Senior Member
Location: Glasgowshire
Posts: 9,663
I'm Gary.
Remember that Technics tuner from back in the day, Laskys I think...or Stepek.
Loved how it looked, still do!
(and take the cellophane off the Audiolabs display Sir!)
Last edited by Gazjam; 08-03-2021 at 19:07.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
Super Moderator
Location: W Lothian
Posts: 99,005
I'm Grant.
Eq looks a decent o n e. If judiciously used can be useful if room isn't perfect
Regards,
Grant
I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work.... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -
Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?
“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".
“You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”
"You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”
“There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”
***SMILE, BE HAPPY***
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,882
I'm Martin.
lol the cellophane is off it, it's just where it is catching the sun from the window opposite.Remember that Technics tuner from back in the day, Laskys I think...or Stepek.
Loved how it looked, still do!
(and take the cellophane off the Audiolabs display Sir!)
Think I might have cracked it with this little set-up. It's got that studio 'rawness' without sounding hard or hash. Whatever I did when I tidied everything up seems to have lifted a bit of a veil, although I've no idea what it was. The top end no longer sounds wrong.
Need to go down the shop then I'm going to have another session.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,882
I'm Martin.
Sansui. I've got a Klark Teknik too but I'm not using either right now.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Drunken Moderator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 37,882
I'm Martin.
March 2021. Can't see me changing any of this anytime soon. It's like 95 percent of perfect. On balance, I settle for that.
Note the room treatment on the wall next to the r/h speaker. Still not got around to ordering the special glue to put it all up. The big thing sticking out next to it is the subwoofer for the TV system. Been meaning to put that in for ages, just not got around to it. Not hooked up yet but will do that tomorrow
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote