ESS ES9008/9018 Sabre dac

[squeezethatbuffalo]

Hi Alex,

Still no email from UCC so I've just ordered 4 x 10uf 100v from the ebay link.

Hi Leo,

Great! Let us know how it sounds in your Legato!

I have a feeling that you'll receive the caps before I get my Buffalo II (the batch which was supposed to ship on the week of Sep 5). I guess the good folks of TPA are overwhelmed by the orders. Delivery was punctual back when I purchased my Buffalo32

Cheers,

[Dan Giovanni]

Hi Alex,

Maybe I'm mistaken - I also bought them from Valab and assumed they were the same brand as the 10uFs you were talking about. The 10uFs sound ideal to me, except I have a slight reluctance based on some cheap MKP caps sounding tizzy e.g. Solen.

Thanks,
Dan

Hi Dan,

I never knew 47uF MKP2000s existed! Are you referring to the 47uF Fast Power caps from the same company, or are those custom made?

Never tried MKP2000/Fast Power in crossovers, so I can't really help you there. I do know that they work well in power supplies though. Maybe you can use them in a tube amp!

Cheers,

[leo]

Hi Leo,

Great! Let us know how it sounds in your Legato!

I have a feeling that you'll receive the caps before I get my Buffalo II (the batch which was supposed to ship on the week of Sep 5). I guess the good folks of TPA are overwhelmed by the orders. Delivery was punctual back when I purchased my Buffalo32

Cheers,

Hi Alex,

Yes, I'll be sure to update how I find the MKP2000, hopefully their better than the other polypropylenes I've tried.

The XO,VD and core regs from Paul Hynes have arrived, I'm running them in on a jig for a few days before fitting them in the BII

[leo]

Hi Alex,

Maybe I'm mistaken - I also bought them from Valab and assumed they were the same brand as the 10uFs you were talking about. The 10uFs sound ideal to me, except I have a slight reluctance based on some cheap MKP caps sounding tizzy e.g. Solen.

Thanks,
Dan

Hi Dan,

I've also found a lot of polypropylene caps to sound tizzy and often quite synthetic/ plasticky so I'm hoping the MKP2000's are better

[squeezethatbuffalo]

Hi Alex,

Maybe I'm mistaken - I also bought them from Valab and assumed they were the same brand as the 10uFs you were talking about. The 10uFs sound ideal to me, except I have a slight reluctance based on some cheap MKP caps sounding tizzy e.g. Solen.

Thanks,
Dan

Hi Dan,

They're from the same brand, but seem to belong to different product lines. Since I haven't found a feasible way to compare them due to different capacitance/voltage rating, I can't tell whether they're the "same" caps with different names (they do look alike).

If you can provide more details of the intended application, I may be able to contact UCC and ask for recommended types/values.

Btw, I'm learning Japanese right now, so don't be surprised if I start recommending gadgets from Japan in a year or two.

Cheers,

[squeezethatbuffalo]

Hi Alex,

Yes, I'll be sure to update how I find the MKP2000, hopefully their better than the other polypropylenes I've tried.

The XO,VD and core regs from Paul Hynes have arrived, I'm running them in on a jig for a few days before fitting them in the BII

Hi Leo,

My BII is finally on its way! Unfortunately, the chance of finishing the DAC this weekend is quite slim, as it's still in the States as I'm typing this. But who knows, maybe EMS will outdo itself this time.

Still curious about your thoughts on transformers, but it seems like you don't want to talk about it

Cheers,

[leo]

Hi Leo,

My BII is finally on its way! Unfortunately, the chance of finishing the DAC this weekend is quite slim, as it's still in the States as I'm typing this. But who knows, maybe EMS will outdo itself this time.

Still curious about your thoughts on transformers, but it seems like you don't want to talk about it

Cheers,

Hi Alex,

It'll give you something to look forward to

A lot transformers are reported to suffer from things like phase distortion etc , this puts me off using them tbh . I may try some out sometime though if I can find decent ones

[squeezethatbuffalo]

Hi Alex,

It'll give you something to look forward to

A lot transformers are reported to suffer from things like phase distortion etc , this puts me off using them tbh . I may try some out sometime though if I can find decent ones

Hi Leo,

I understand what you mean. I've heard my fair share of horror stories about transformers.

To be honest, the main reason I went for transformer passive output was because IVYIII went out of stock and I didn't feel like waiting But I'm happy to report that it turned out more than fine. Going by memory, I enjoy my Buf24 more than my old Buf32s. Then again, the latter had no PH shunts on it, so the comparison isn't really fair.

I plan on comparing the transformers to the "stock" bipolars and other caps once I receive my BII + Legato. Unfortunately, my current amp is single-ended, so I'm not sure how helpful it will be to those with proper balanced equipment

Cheers,

[Dan Giovanni]

I have some Jensen 4:1 transformers that I'll be using with my Legato in the not-to-distant future. There's around 6-7mV dc offset on the balanced output of my Legato, which also drifts around with temperature. I need to check with Jensen to make sure this is OK (without coupling caps). The good thing about the Legato is that the buffers give very low output impedance. The Jensen data-sheets clearly show transformer distortion at it's best with very low driving impedance.

[squeezethatbuffalo]

Hi Dan,

Do you already have your Legato, or are you still waiting for it?

I agree. Low input/output impedance along with lower distortion are the main reasons I'm putting a Legato between the BII and my transformers. I'm also curious on how Legato sounds stock. Hopefully I'll be able to find out in a few days.

Cheers,