Jerry's Hifi Blog - part the 2nd

[jandl100]

Using one of these with the output from my Acer Chromebook. Sounds very decent with the M40X phones but, sadly, struggles with the HD600

Still pretty good for £40

Ah, right - fair warning.
I guess I've only tried it with fairly easy drive headphones.

[jandl100]

New speaker cables arrived yesterday - Chord Epic Super Twin.
They have a hard act to compete with, as my W&M LS-06 are sounding great with the Hegel amp.
The W&M are a bit more relaxed and warmer sounding than my Tellurium Q Silver and DNM cables, which err on the 'excitingly forward' side of the balance sheet - the W&M is an excellent match with the Hegel amp, which also errs on the excitingly forward side to my ears.

I was intrigued by the excellent reports of the Chord along with its alleged smooth top end.

Hmm, quite thick [16mm] and fairly inflexible - a bit of a bugger to route round things, it only does gentle curves.

Stock image ...


A big boned and bold sound. And the top end suits the system even better than the W&M, a bit of tizz that I had barely noticed is now obvious by its absence.
Very fast, high rez sound - rapid runs on a lute are beautifully deliniated but not exaggerated, this is the best I have heard from this very familiar album.
Bass is deep, noticeably powerful and very well controlled [no, not the lute - big symphonic].

The only fly in the ointment atm is the imaging. Initially not as deep and 3D as the W&M, which imo excels in this regard. I've been tweaking speaker orientation a bit, so the MBLs are now pointing more forward, almost straight ahead, and that has improved things. Somewhat surprisingly for a mostly-omni speaker, I find that orientation makes a real difference.
More speaker shuffling to come, methinks.

[Rosewind]

I once tried a Hegel 12 Dac in my second system in the livingroom, an AVC6M all-in-one system, and the sound was way too clinical into Amphion 3L speakers. So not a good idea. Good to know that carefully matched cables can make a difference.

I love the idea of a final personal hifi system to end all personal hifi systems but I am with you in the assessment that the journey is the most interesting part. In that respect it is similar to the journey of life. We all know where that journey takes us.

[jandl100]

I once tried a Hegel 12 Dac in my second system in the livingroom, an AVC6M all-in-one system, and the sound was way too clinical into Amphion 3L speakers. So not a good idea.

Ah, interesting.

I'd been curious about Hegel amps for a while, then a few weeks ago I paid a visit to a forum friend who had a Hegel 360 amp. I had taken my Marantz HD-AMP1 along, and whilst the differences weren't vast, the Hegel definitely had its head in front in some ways.
Interestingly, he had VdH cables installed! - aka Bland and Dull ... well, I guess it's all about synergy!

I love the idea of a final personal hifi system to end all personal hifi systems but I am with you in the assessment that the journey is the most interesting part. In that respect it is similar to the journey of life. We all know where that journey takes us.

Indeed.
I'm in no rush to get to my final destination, in life or in my system!

[jandl100]

A mega-upgraded MF X10D V3 buffer.

According to the seller ...

Upgrades:

1) High grade 'Little Pinkie SE' power supply (this replaces the original MF wall-wart).
http://www.rock-grotto.co.uk/musical...er-supply.html

2) Matched pair of brand new and original Mu-Vista Valves/JAN 6112 Philips.
[The replaced ones are also ok! and included in the sale].

3) Complete X-10 v3 Upgrade Kit fitted.
www.rock-grotto.co.uk/x10v3mods.htm

4) 4x matched npn and pnp output transistors.

5) Heat sinks for new transistors. Heat transfer via Bergquist Thermal Pad, correctly torqued up.
[The temperature after a 3hr blast, measured an average 22C, well below the 150C max].

6) Strategically placed Sorbothane Domes beneath and on the pcb board, to absorb component vibration.

7) Vibration deadening pads inside the casework to minimise vibration.

8) Replaced standard signal output wires with stranded Kimber Cable.

[struth]

sounds a good set of upgrades.. i did the grotto upgrade on mine and it was a biggish lift.