Any Digital Impressions of the Caiman yet?

[therockst4r]

Martin, have you tried using your Caiman as a preamp? I am wondering how it compares to your Pass Labs Preamp.

[Covenant]

Cheers Jerry, in no big rush (need to concentrate on my impending house move), but I would appreciate your views.

Well the Wolfon 7520 has been playing for a few days and has improved a lot during that period. Very important to me and mentioned by others is its vice like grip on the bass so that problems I had attributed to room proportions and use of floorstanders in a small room have evaporated. Soundstage, clarity, detail etc have improved. In a word the sound is now assured.
The 4032 op-amp may play a part in this but I am very termpted to try other op-amps to get a little more decay to the notes hopefully without inducing that one note bass that I have striven to remove. I guess what I am after is just a little more warmth. Initially I think I will try putting back the 4562 and look to doing the MCL5/6 in a way that I can solder the caps back if required. Then maybe try a metal cap jobby. All good cheap fun.
Sorry this isn't a great help Steve but as usual equipment room and general set-up will make a big difference. I could easily live with the Wolfson 7520/4032 but that ol niggly 'what if' keeps popping into my mind.

[StanleyB]

The sad fact is that the THOR switch box with the LCD display was also designed by me. Note the almost identical size and styling.
However, I never got to reap the rewards and expand that range. I got made redundant from that company, and that is how I ended up setting up my own business. Due to legal issues I can't use the THOR LCD text display and the underlying technology to adjust the displayed text. But it doesn't stop me from getting someone else to write their own set of code for me. Maybe one day...

STan

[MartinT]

Martin, have you tried using your Caiman as a preamp? I am wondering how it compares to your Pass Labs Preamp.

It wouldn't work out as the rest of my system is fully balanced and I need analogue inputs for my SL-1210 and Ayre players. The pass drives my Chord in balanced mode and I discovered some years ago that the Chord sounds much better driven this way.

[therockst4r]

Martin, ok I understand. I was just wondering if I should replace my nice integrated amp with a better power amp and a Caiman acting as a preamp.

[MartinT]

The sad fact is that the THOR switch box with the LCD display was also designed by me. Note the almost identical size and styling

Wow - congrats on another superb and functionally focused design. I love that Thor box as it was the exact solution I needed for a Sony Bravia with only one HDMI input. I used to switch digital sound with it too but have run them all into the Caiman now to keep to single runs.

By the way, Stan, if you ever design a 'Super Caiman' with balanced outputs, I'll be the first in the queue.

[therockst4r]

Wow - congrats on another superb and functionally focused design. I love that Thor box as it was the exact solution I needed for a Sony Bravia with only one HDMI input. I used to switch digital sound with it too but have run them all into the Caiman now to keep to single runs.

By the way, Stan, if you ever design a 'Super Caiman' with balanced outputs, I'll be the first in the queue.

Are there any DACs on the market with balanced outputs? I have never seen one.

[Labarum]

Martin, ok I understand. I was just wondering if I should replace my nice integrated amp with a better power amp and a Caiman acting as a preamp.

I drive my Quad power amp directly from the Standac.

Works well. You have no analogue input option, of course.

When I had the Quad 405 refurbished I had the input sensitivity adjusted. I can use the fixed output of the Standac and rely on the 24bit digital volume control in the Squeezebox. Provided the volume control is 85% or higher, with the 7510 the fixed output is a little clearer. I have not made the comaprison with the Caiman, which claims cleaner analogue circuits.

I don't do this routinely because the Virgin Cable box does not have it's own volume control.

[MartinT]

Are there any DACs on the market with balanced outputs? I have never seen one.

My six year old Assemblage DAC3.0 has balanced outputs.

[therockst4r]

@Martin: I just wasn't aware that this was an offered feature.

@Labarum: So do you think that the Caiman is comparable to a budget preamp, or would there be a big improvement if I use a dedicate preamp?