What did you do to your stereo rig today?

pitdogg2 · January 5

I also put my phone inside and tried calling it. I would not ring after many attempts, so the Farady effect is superb

I find it funny that you thought you could. Shoot, we have a farm store that is wrapped in metal siding, walk in the door look at your phone signal and watch the bars drop at every step. Six steps in foogetaboutit, you're off the grid.😂

HzTweaker · January 8

I cleaned all the components and their associated cables in the rig. I also rearranged them.

The old setup went from left to right: turntable, amp/pre(stacked) and the hd turner/cdp(stacked).

The new setup goes from left to right: amp/pre(still stacked), hd tuner/cdp(still stacked) and the turntable.

All of this was done in preparation of listening to the SR component PC, and because the rig needed and cosmetic change. Not to mention it'll make it easer to swap out the PCs.

treitz3 · January 9

Unplugged it. Nasty storm rolling through with high winds and a tornado watch.

It's a shame too, as I get to work from home today. Bummer.

Tom

HzTweaker · January 9

treitz3 wrote: »

Unplugged it. Nasty storm rolling through with high winds and a tornado watch.

It's a shame too, as I get to work from home today. Bummer.

Tom

That's a shame!

Here in the Appalachian mtn of NC the winds aren't as bad as I thought they were going to be but the ice is a real worry.

Non the less I'm still getting ready to burn in the SR PC! The rig has been running since 1030 now.

bcwsrt · January 9

It’s cold and snowy/raining here, so I’m DeoxIT-ing more tube pins! Seemed like a good wintery thing to do.

billbillw · January 10

Trying a ladder DAC in my rig. First major change to my digital playback in a long time. Unfortunately my head is all clogged up, so the ears are not hearing too good today. Hopefully that clears up soon so I can hear what all the fuss is about with these things.

treitz3 · January 10

U gon' like it bro...

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Tom

jbreezy5 · January 11

billbillw wrote: »

Trying a ladder DAC in my rig. First major change to my digital playback in a long time. Unfortunately my head is all clogged up, so the ears are not hearing too good today. Hopefully that clears up soon so I can hear what all the fuss is about with these things.

The following video will show you how to switch between the various sampling modes, once your sinuses clear up.

https://youtu.be/-5vENPkk1DI?si=nOn_q2CqaTV_7HRX

newbie308 · January 12

I found this Nikko NT-790 tuner at a local thrift store for $30, so I added it to my rig. I like having the option to listen to FM, and I think it looks good with the other components

xschop · January 12

Nice find... No static at all...

pitdogg2 · January 12

Nikko made some nice stuff.

billbillw · January 12

jbreezy5 wrote: »

billbillw wrote: »

Trying a ladder DAC in my rig. First major change to my digital playback in a long time. Unfortunately my head is all clogged up, so the ears are not hearing too good today. Hopefully that clears up soon so I can hear what all the fuss is about with these things.

The following video will show you how to switch between the various sampling modes, once your sinuses clear up.

Thanks, but I already knew that. I have tried all three variation of NOS, OS Fast and Slow. OS Fast seems to be my preferred, but I've got a lot more listening to conduct and I'm making some cabling changes at the same time, so I might be switching it often.

I have to say, after only one night listening, there is not a great difference between this and my Teac UD-301. I guess that goes to show the old Teac was pretty good for its time. I did notice more pronounced low bass with the Denafrips, but I'm not sure the imaging and 'air' is as good as with the Teac. After I get my extra XLR cables delivered, I should be able to have both the Teac and the Denafrips hooked up on different inputs to my preamp, and if Daphile works the way I expect it to, I should be able to compare both without too much time in switching.

I could tell some things were different, some good, some meh...
I definitely noticed some low level background sounds (from the recording) that I didn't hear before. Not "noise", but stuff picked up by the mics in the studio, like people bumping around, setting instruments down, etc. I also felt that I could enjoy the music more at a lower level while still getting enough detail. Overall, it will be an interesting comparison to come.

jbreezy5 · January 12

billbillw wrote: »

jbreezy5 wrote: »

billbillw wrote: »

Trying a ladder DAC in my rig. First major change to my digital playback in a long time. Unfortunately my head is all clogged up, so the ears are not hearing too good today. Hopefully that clears up soon so I can hear what all the fuss is about with these things.

The following video will show you how to switch between the various sampling modes, once your sinuses clear up.

Thanks, but I already knew that. I have tried all three variation of NOS, OS Fast and Slow. OS Fast seems to be my preferred, but I've got a lot more listening to conduct and I'm making some cabling changes at the same time, so I might be switching it often.

I have to say, after only one night listening, there is not a great difference between this and my Teac UD-301. I guess that goes to show the old Teac was pretty good for its time. I did notice more pronounced low bass with the Denafrips, but I'm not sure the imaging and 'air' is as good as with the Teac. After I get my extra XLR cables delivered, I should be able to have both the Teac and the Denafrips hooked up on different inputs to my preamp, and if Daphile works the way I expect it to, I should be able to compare both without too much time in switching.

I could tell some things were different, some good, some meh...
I definitely noticed some low level background sounds (from the recording) that I didn't hear before. Not "noise", but stuff picked up by the mics in the studio, like people bumping around, setting instruments down, etc. I also felt that I could enjoy the music more at a lower level while still getting enough detail. Overall, it will be an interesting comparison to come.

Definitely agree, the Denafrips doesn’t give the airiest presentation; it is more on the warm side of the spectrum; image density and 3D presentation with good trailing and low-level details are other enjoyable attributes. In a word, I’d describe it as very natural sounding.

Interested to hear how it compares with the TEAC once XLRs in place. Haven’t heard that one.

TEAforONE · January 13

I have multiple pairs of speakers I rotate thru two systems. Thursday evening I moved the Shinjitsu’s up to the main system, and hooked up the Great Horned Heils in the pit. The Great Horns haven’t been run in about 8-9 months. I noticed it took about 5hrs for them to settle in. I find it interesting that there is still break in after speakers sit for a while. Now that I’m retired, I have the time to tackle meaningless tasks like this.

bcwsrt · January 13

Messed around with toe-in a bit. I used to think the RTA 15TLs sounded best with very little toe-in. Used to really zap the bass to me, but just for fun I spent some time going in 1/4” increments today to see what happened. I feel like I’ve ended up with a more complete and detailed soundstage after just a few tweaks. Enough that I’m gonna let it soak for awhile before I go any further. Apparently, nowadays the subs are taking care of any bass issues I was having, previously.

The new amp stands and cable organization exercise I did a week or two ago and now this have been interesting. I guess sometimes you don’t need to spend much, if any, money to get an improvement in SQ. Just rearranging what you have can get some surprising results.

I’m good with that!

treitz3 · January 14

Well, I'd be lying if I said that I did this "today". This past Friday, I got in a cheap little Pangea Amp stand. I think it was about $100 to $120.00. Nothing special at all. I got tired of the ANK DAC sitting on an unused receiver directly on the floor, with the granite slab sitting on top of the receiver.

You can still see the imprint of the receiver on the carpet.

So, anyway.....I did that and also added the other ANK DAC on top of one of the external crossover boxes, with isolation footers and then set the master clock and one of the LPS's (also with isolation footers) on top of that.

This was the only change I have made to the rig as of late. I was amazed at how such a small change affected the sound. Almost as if I could "hear the stand", if you will. The system cleared up a tad bit and once again, lost some of that digital edge that I didn't even know was there. But it's more fluid now and natural in it's presentation.

I could be off base here but I believe it boils down to vibration isolation(s). The tubes that are in the DAC are now isolated from floor vibrations (that amp stand now weighs in at about 130 pounds with everything on it) and also, the isolation footers for the LPS and the master clock helped with vibrations within those two units. Probably more so with the clock, than the LPS.

All I have to say is that it was a pleasant change, one for the better and it got me to listening to the rig for about 30 hours straight (minus a nap in the wee hours of the night).

bcwsrt wrote: »

The new amp stands and cable organization exercise I did a week or two ago and now this have been interesting. I guess sometimes you don’t need to spend much, if any, money to get an improvement in SQ. Just rearranging what you have can get some surprising results.

No doubt!

Tom

invalid · January 14

That stand looks perfect for a DAC. I built my amp stand, because it had to be 24" deep to accommodate my amp.

treitz3 · January 14

That's a big amp! What amp are you sportin'?

Tom

invalid · January 14

A krell ksa 300s. It sounds great with a tube preamp and tube DAC, it was a little harsh with upstream solid state equipment.

bcwsrt · January 14

treitz3 wrote: »

… the ANK DAC …

… the other ANK DAC …

Two DACs? How are those utilized?

treitz3 · January 14

One of them is specifically dedicated to the streaming setup. The other one is dedicated specifically for the CD/SACD player.

Tom

bcwsrt · January 14

Is that because they have limited inputs on each, or is that for signal isolation?

treitz3 · January 14

Differing sound signatures and the ability to tune each independently, mainly. Streaming music seems to have different needs (tube wise) to physical music IME/IMO.

This way, I can tune each source to where I want them to be.

Tom

bcwsrt · January 14

Outstanding! You answered a few questions I’ve had bouncing around in my head for a while. While I hear those source differences in my own system, I don’t believe I’ve heard of running dual DACs to address it before. Only makes sense, though.

That is awesome ... and serious. Thanks for the explanation.

VR3 · January 14

I plan to try running dual dacs soon, one for the bass and one for the mtm. Eventually I would like to try 4 dacs, 8 channels of amplification for a fully digital active setup... But that is a far away goal!

Just installed the second dac to try by itself and will playa round with the bass and mtm separation later!

Abbas 2.0 and abbas 2.4se

GlennDog · January 14

I confess, I've never heard of a 1 box performing dual DAC function. . . . Call me GREEN (I hope that's not offensive)

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=188120.0

the cat/seller calms "independent DACs" . . . new technology? again, color me newbie

audioluvr · January 14

I had a girlfriend once that wanted me to have two DACS...

billbillw · January 17

audioluvr wrote: »

I had a girlfriend once that wanted me to have two DACS...

haH...
Actually, the last thing I did to my stereo (over the weekend) was to wire up two DACs. I took delivery of another two pairs of XLR cables and I was able to wire my Denafrips and the older TEAC to my preamp at the same time. The pathway for both is full balanced now. My Daphile thin client has no issues streaming simultaneously to both DACs which was a surprise to me. I though I would have to stop/start streaming for each DAC, but I can play the same music on both at the same time and just switch inputs on the preamp. I haven't had a chance to sit down and compare yet because of visitors and I'm still clearing this stubborn head cold. Hopefully I can find some time with clear ears in the next few days. I can already tell there is significant sound signature difference when I was doing the quick checking, but I didn't listen long enough to tell if I prefer one or the other. I have a feeling it will vary with music type, or maybe not...

dromunds · January 18

audioluvr wrote: »

I had a girlfriend once that wanted me to have two DACS...

At least your girlfriend didn’t have a DAC

treitz3 · January 18

I hope you start feeling better, Bill. You have had this for some time now...

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

BTW, that little cheap amp stand, along with the other isolation things I did made more of a difference than I had originally thought. I like what I heard at first but the more I have listened to songs I am familiar with? The more I notice just how much of a positive change this made.

I would say that the biggest change is that it makes the music more fluid. Like there is an "ease" to the music now. Many selections are clearer now and there is less of a digital glare/edge. What a pleasant surprise!

Tom

What did you do to your stereo rig today?

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