Yaqin CD3 buffer

ROHfan

I've been reading up on some reviews here about the earlier version, the CD1, and I just ordered its older brother, the CD3. I've been experimenting with my 2ch stuff and I wound up going from my Oppo BDP103 to the Parasound 750 and to my SDAs. The sound is really impressive so it will be interesting to see how much improvement it will be. Does anyone have experience with this unit?

pitdogg2

I got one...

ROHfan

pitdogg2 wrote: »

I got one...

What are your impressions and how are you using it?

gudnoyez

I think you can go from amp to preamp where everything in your system benefits or from preamp to a paticular source. It just so happens that I have been eyeing one of those. I decided to just get a preamp instead, I see they are around a $170 do you like it well enough or are you already looking for a tube preamp, or amp?

boston1450

Love mine.... I am running a Yaqin Cd2 w/Voskhods/Mullards & other tubes i got right here on CP. Im using it between the amp&pre & it adds some tube flavor/warmth to it. Im not good at explaining.. I also just got the Silk Audio from Ray & the stock ones sound pretty darn good & ive ordered some different Mullard EF95's & they should be here any day now. This one is between the amp&pre also..... I have used CD1&2 beween receiver & cd player & also out/in on vintage Marantz.They sound very good & for cheap money you can roll some tubes & decide which ones you like. Thats the fun of buffers

gudnoyez

So Randy do you think I should give one of these a try between my Adcom amp and Pre, to just get a taste of what tubes bring to the table? I have read good and bad about these Buffers your impression is that good perhaps I should just buy one to check it out, what tubes should I get beside the Chinese ones that come with it?

I was about to drop a lot of money on a Vincent or something else this just might do me over a bit as I promised my Grandson a canoe and me a new mountain bike. So if you guys think it's worth a shot I will just order one today along with some extra tubes and go mountain bike shopping.

pitdogg2

Mine is used a little different. My Carver C16 pre-amp it has a processer loop for say an EQ that is where mine is plugged in. That way I can put it in and out of the signal to actually see which sounds better, and also so when the wife uses the stereo I do not have to worry about her over driving my pre with the tubes NOT on. I had the cd 2 and sold it to Brian (erniejade) and sold some nice tubes to Randy (boston1450) those voskhods are very nice the best I had besides the Western Electric 403b's both top tier. I went with the cd3 to see what flavor the 6sn7 tubes brought to the party. There are to many nice and available 6sn7 tubes to mention and that is one reason I switched, not to mention Ray at Silk Audio made me an offer I could not refuse. I highly recommend Silk Audio they stand behind everything they sell and are a great company to do business with.

Randy go out to eBay and look at the 6ak7 tubes out there there are a great deal of very nice tubes I looked hard for when I had my cd2 hytron comes to mind I hear they are very nice. There are also some Mullards that have a bottom getter I had never seen as most Mullards are now Russian and you can tell by the UFO getter on top. I never had any luck with the Russian Mullards.


ROHfan
If you get the cd3 take that cage off it makes it too difficult to switch out tubes. I took it off and put the screws and Teflon spacers back in. You can also switch out some of the caps inside that takes the cd3 to another level Google it I did it is out there. I have not done the cap upgrade yet but will at some point.

gudnoyez

So if you have it hooked through your amp and preamp will the buffer still let it pass a signal when it is not on, or does it always have to be on when you have it hooked up that way?

pitdogg2

gudnoyez wrote: »

So if you have it hooked through your amp and preamp will the buffer still let it pass a signal when it is not on, or does it always have to be on when you have it hooked up that way?

Yes but you will need to crank the volume way up. Hence in my post of my wife "overdriven" my pre-amp. The reality is they will need to be on.

boston1450

I put it between the amp n pre so all my sources can benifit from the buffer. Thanks again Pit. Those tubes are still going strong. I got some (M8100 i think-not home now) Mullards & others from Mike & they sound very good too. Ray is a great guy. He answered alot of questions i had & the whole dealing was great..... Cant really go wrong with the price. I wanted a decent tube preamp to put with my McIntosh & i gave up a fight on the Bay. Id rather spend my money now on new gear vs over priced old stuff

erniejade

I still have the cd2. Yes put it between the adcom and the pre @gudnoyez I did that on a mcintosh 6900 I had and it did wonderful in that position.

Btw pit rocks. He helped me out also on the cd2 with tubes and is a nice guy to chat with.

motorstereo

I had a yaqin buffer that I bought here. The reason it was for sale was the seller couldn't hear any difference with it. My results were the same as his. No matter how I patched it in I could not detect a change in the sound. So I sent it on it off to someone else and within a month I saw it was for sale once again. I'm thinking that fellow had the same results as the first 3 owners.
If you're looking for tube sound my advice is to avoid these gimmicky things and save your money for a quality tubed pre.

ROHfan

Got the unit last night and gave it a test drive. Definitely hear a difference with it in the chain as opposed to just running the Oppo to the Parasound. I'm gonna A/B it when I get the new Sylvania 6SN7s I just ordered.

98Badger

My experience is similar to motorstereo. Had one of the earlier versions in a couple different rig configurations. Very little change for the most part with the stock tubes. Tried some Electroharmonix tubes too. I remember liking how it smoothed out the highs, but hated how it muddied the bass in one of the setups I tried.