What did you do to your stereo rig today?

jdjohn

Tonight, I determined that my trusty Benchmark HPA4 preamp has serious issues with the two RCA inputs Initially, I feared that source components were the problem, but after testing with different components and cables, I have narrowed it down to the HPA4 RCA inputs themselves. The two XLR inputs still work fine, so I will be able to limp along until I figure out next steps.

I've recently been testing a couple of RTR tape decks through one of the RCA inputs of the HPA4, but now both RCA inputs are bad, so I don't really think the recent tape deck testing has created the problem.

jdjohn

Update to my previous post: I contacted Benchmark about the issue with my HPA4 preamp, and the next day I had a reply. Short version: after checking my S/N, they said my unit is still under warranty, gave me an RMA number, and off it went. It was delivered to their HQ in Syracuse, NY today, so I'll be waiting for their evaluation. Honestly, being Memorial Day week, I'm going to temper my expectations, and not be overly critical about progress.

In the meantime, I'm using my Benchmark DAC3/HGC as a preamp, and honestly, I don't feel like I'm 'settling' at all. IMO, they are amazing, and quite unassuming, little units.

dogwallop

jdjohn wrote: »

Update to my previous post: I contacted Benchmark about the issue with my HPA4 preamp, and the next day I had a reply. Short version: after checking my S/N, they said my unit is still under warranty, gave me an RMA number, and off it went. It was delivered to their HQ in Syracuse, NY today, so I'll be waiting for their evaluation. Honestly, being Memorial Day week, I'm going to temper my expectations, and not be overly critical about progress.

In the meantime, I'm using my Benchmark DAC3/HGC as a preamp, and honestly, I don't feel like I'm 'settling' at all. IMO, they are amazing, and quite unassuming, little units.

Benchmark’s customer service moves faster than some amps warm up… maybe they are magic boxes

jdjohn

dogwallop wrote: »

Benchmark’s customer service moves faster than some amps warm up… maybe they are magic boxes

True dat. I got notice yesterday that my preamp is now on its way back home That was a one-day turnaround, during Memorial Day week. Impressive! Since their roots are in professional/studio gear, I wonder if the competitive nature of that market has made them uber responsive overall.

HzTweaker

Memorial Day shenanigans:

The weather was gloomy, foggy and rainy. So I got to spend a lot of time playing with the chi-fi rig again . I decided since I had a pair of Dayton Audio B65s laying around that I'd do a little comparison between them and my PolkAudio LS-FXs. As I was warming everything up I noticed when I played with the bi/di pole switch the sound in the tweeters were scratchy or cutting in and out while in di pole mode (which was the mode I want to run them in). So I decided to remove the crossovers and use some of my audiophile quality CRC electronic cleaner on the switches and cycled them ~25 times each.

While the switches dried I listened to the B65s for a while and liked what I was hearing from the mids to the highs but came to the conclusion that they and the LS-FXs were needing to be paired with a sub. So I broke out a old PSW202 I had laying around and wouldn't you know it the plate amp $#*t the bed after only two song while paired with the B65s .

That's when I decided to put the LS-FX back together and give them a listen. Wouldn't you know it the issue with the switches were resolved! During the listening Sesh I had them in dipole mode. These little speakers are great! I couldn't believe how much bigger they sound than they actually are. They totally give Maggie vibes (on a much smaller scale) . I can't wait to pair them with a sub.

As for the POS PSW202 I'm going to order a new Dayton Audio plate amp (to continue the theme) for it as soon as the one I want is back in stock .

Some photos:







The T65s are now currently back in the rig.

SCompRacer

I like your sign!

JCL

Just installed a few things today.

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VR3

The coil close to it is 90 degrees so should be ok

JCL

I can always move the crossover to the other side of the enclosure. Seams to sound good though. Much better than the original crossovers.

VR3

The best coil configuration is a flat and a 90, you can get very very very close with minimal issues.

I think you should be fine

Rock N roll!

JCL

It’s not a big deal to move the board it will just take about an hour for me. I have the one in the other speaker mounted on the side opposite the inductor. That one was harder to find a spot where the 6 required mounting screws and spacers would miss the grooves in the box wall and still be able to get my tools inside to mount the boards. If I take them apart I may just mount the crossover to a separate board and then mount that board to the cabinet. That will be easier since I won’t have to worry about all the spacers.

Everything I read from the loudspeaker design cookbook is a minimum of 3” and 90 degrees should be good. I’ll probably just take the time this weekend and move it.

Dr_Wu

Finally introduced a tube component to the system, and am very happy with the pairing of a Joule Electra LA-150SE preamp with the Parasound A21. 95% of my listening is streaming Qobuz using my Lumin streamer as a preamp with its LEEDH volume control. I've been hesitant to put a preamp in the signal path for fear of losing clarity/resolution. Shouldn't have worried. If I've lost anything, I can't tell, and the fuller, richer, bigger soundstage I'm hearing now has me planted in front of the speakers and reluctant to move.
Thanks to Rich Brkich, the "Joule Doctor" - so generous with his time and patience. Great transaction start to finish!

treitz3

Well, I will say this. That's a fine sounding preamp. You choose....

Wisely.

Enjoy your new found sound. I don't know about others on this board, but I can't go without tubes in the main rig. I did that once, after having tubes in the rig for many years and couldn't stand it. It sounded like an all SS system. Anyhoo, congrat's to you on the aqusition of the Joule. Enjoy!

Tom

Dr_Wu

Appreciate your kind words, Tom. Your example, along with others here, convinced me to give it try. Glad I did, even if it took until now. Slow learner, I guess.

jdjohn

Testing the vintage Yamaha A-760 integrated amp that I gave to my daughter, via a pair of Infinity RS5 speakers, on my 'side system'.

Her former roommates cranked the volume to max on her system, which fried one of the vintage AR speakers she had, but we weren't sure about the amp. I *think* the amp is okay, but one of the AR speakers has toasted drivers. Right now, though, playing the amp through these Infinity RS5, it sounds mighty fine I love these speakers

newbie308

Another day and I will have my Musical Fidelity Tri-vista 21 back together. It was a lot of work, but I just finished replacing all of the Jamicon electrolytic capacitors with Nichion FG, all of the .01uf and .3pf ceramic capacitors with Wima MKP film capacitors, and all of the Chinese film capacitors with Wima equivalents. The NE5532AP opamps were removed and I installed sockets, so I can play with various combinations of OPA2134PA and LM4562NA opamps. I also replaced the RCA output jacks with Cardas CTFA and swapped the RCA input jack with Pomona BNC jack. I had some Siless matt leftover from my truck, so I put a square of that on the lid. I'm curious if these mods will alter or improve this DAC. I'm also interested in comparing the Tri-vista to the Lumin's on board DAC.

treitz3

Dang, you have come a long way...

Tom

newbie308

Definitely worth the investment and effort! The Lumin DAC is really very good, but in a side by side comparison... There really is no comparison. There's so much more detail revealed through the Tri-vista. Deeper and more impactful bass and there's a sparkle in the high frequencies that makes everything sound more realistic. The sound stage is so precise that I found myself looking for the instrument that caught my attention. Considering that with all the new parts the DAC isn't even "burned in" I anticipate it is only going to get better. I'm a happy camper!

bcwsrt

Took advantage of the rainy day to dust and detail everything, including the cables! Was overdue! Now it's time to sit back and enjoy for a while.

Conradicles

Testing some VR3 pads...

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motorstereo

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Congrats to you and it sure is a fine looking preamp. Looking forward to reading your impressions of it vs. the 2300.

Gardenstater

Tested my buddy Steve's new acquisition in my system, which is a Denafrips Enyo 15th DAC ($699 not incl. customs duties), Regrettably my Squeezebox Touch with the Enhanced Digital Output app installed, did not recognize the Denafrips and we just got the spinning wheel and "DAC Not Recognized".

But even using a 10 ft. USB printer cable from his HP 17 Laptop to the Denafrips and an iFi Gemini 1m USB cable to the Onkyo Integrated, it totally bested my SBT to iFi nano iDSD to Onkyo! I mean blew it out of the water! Even the bass was better. Low level cymbal details and resolution were incredible.

I would upgrade to this in a hot minute if it had worked with the SBT output. Regrettably, we did not try the coax on the SBT to the Denafrips. Not sure why that would've worked when the USB didn't but we have to try that too. He took it with him back home which is pretty bad manners lol.

https://www.denafrips.com/enyo

billbillw

Gardenstater wrote: »

Tested my buddy Steve's new acquisition in my system, which is a Denafrips Enyo 15th DAC ($699 not incl. customs duties), Regrettably my Squeezebox Touch with the Enhanced Digital Output app installed, did not recognize the Denafrips and we just got the spinning wheel and "DAC Not Recognized".

But even using a 10 ft. USB printer cable from his HP 17 Laptop to the Denafrips and an iFi Gemini 1m USB cable to the Onkyo Integrated, it totally bested my SBT to iFi nano iDSD to Onkyo! I mean blew it out of the water! Even the bass was better. Low level cymbal details and resolution were incredible.

I would upgrade to this in a hot minute if it had worked with the SBT output. Regrettably, we did not try the coax on the SBT to the Denafrips. Not sure why that would've worked when the USB didn't but we have to try that too. He took it with him back home which is pretty bad manners lol.

https://www.denafrips.com/enyo

That is odd the SBT didn't recognize the Denafrips. Is that box supported with updates through the LMS/Lyrion project? My Daphile streamer basically uses the LMS engine in a very light Linux OS. It immediately recognized my Denafrips (although, mine is an older Ares II version).
The difference when I upgraded to the Ares wasn't as obvious, but it did become noticeable after a few days. The low level detail and bass texture is what I picked up first. I think the change from the iFi portable DAC/Amp to the latest Denafrips Enyo is a bigger jump than it was from my Teac UD-301 to my Denafrips. They are definitely good quality products across the lineup.

Gardenstater

billbillw wrote: »

Gardenstater wrote: »

Tested my buddy Steve's new acquisition in my system, which is a Denafrips Enyo 15th DAC ($699 not incl. customs duties), Regrettably my Squeezebox Touch with the Enhanced Digital Output app installed, did not recognize the Denafrips and we just got the spinning wheel and "DAC Not Recognized".

But even using a 10 ft. USB printer cable from his HP 17 Laptop to the Denafrips and an iFi Gemini 1m USB cable to the Onkyo Integrated, it totally bested my SBT to iFi nano iDSD to Onkyo! I mean blew it out of the water! Even the bass was better. Low level cymbal details and resolution were incredible.

I would upgrade to this in a hot minute if it had worked with the SBT output. Regrettably, we did not try the coax on the SBT to the Denafrips. Not sure why that would've worked when the USB didn't but we have to try that too. He took it with him back home which is pretty bad manners lol.

https://www.denafrips.com/enyo

That is odd the SBT didn't recognize the Denafrips. Is that box supported with updates through the LMS/Lyrion project? My Daphile streamer basically uses the LMS engine in a very light Linux OS. It immediately recognized my Denafrips (although, mine is an older Ares II version).
The difference when I upgraded to the Ares wasn't as obvious, but it did become noticeable after a few days. The low level detail and bass texture is what I picked up first. I think the change from the iFi portable DAC/Amp to the latest Denafrips Enyo is a bigger jump than it was from my Teac UD-301 to my Denafrips. They are definitely good quality products across the lineup.

Unfortunately, the developer of the EDO applet is no longer in the Lyrion Community Forum so I won't hold my breath for any future tweaking of the code. I was advised that we could've also tried a USB hub (powered or unpowered) between the SBT and the DAC to see if it was tricked into working, in addition to the COAX digital output/inputs which is also supposed to be converted from an input to an output on the SBT by the EDO app.

So you are using a SBT with some software called Daphile? I think that the function of recognizing the DAC would be a matter of the firmware of the SBT and not the streaming software and should work when you only have those two connected and powered regardless of inputs to the SBT but I could be wrong.

I want to see if there is a list of known supported DACs by the EDO app and see if your old Denafrips is on the list. And yes I absolutely want one now, even despite the over $100 additional due to the tariffs, which that particular mfg. has decided they ain't gonna eat it.

billbillw

Gardenstater wrote: »

So you are using a SBT with some software called Daphile? I think that the function of recognizing the DAC would be a matter of the firmware of the SBT and not the streaming software and should work when you only have those two connected and powered regardless of inputs to the SBT but I could be wrong.

I want to see if there is a list of known supported DACs by the EDO app and see if your old Denafrips is on the list. And yes I absolutely want one now, even despite the over $100 additional due to the tariffs, which that particular mfg. has decided they ain't gonna eat it.

I actually use a little fanless thin client PC, which runs the Daphile software and connects via USB to the DAC. The playback is through using a phone/tablet browser. I've talked about it a few times in the Going Digital sub-forum. I wasn't sure if there was a connection between LMS/Lyrion and how the SBT functions, but I knew they were in the same ecosystem. Daphile uses the LMS/Lyrion engine.
I'd definitely look on the used market to avoid the tariffs. I think the generational upgrades from Ares II > Ares 12th > Enya 15th version have been pretty small overall. In fact, the Ares II received a software upgrade after the Ares 12th was release to give the same basic features. The 12th had a better case and power supply design, but otherwise, it wasn't a huge jump. I haven't really followed the improvements since that time. For me, I saved a few hundred going with the used Ares II vs the 12th which was the latest at that time.

audioluvr

Picked me up one of these today. Lightly used and in pristine shape. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet in the long run but I'll probably throw it into rotation just to try something different.

treitz3

Polished up what some folks here call, "The Bell".



Tom