Author Topic: DAC-off at richidoos  (Read 22443 times)

lonewolfny42

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #30 on: June 11, 2007, 02:26:06 PM »
Mike....
If FedEx is on schedule, the DAC's should arrive tomorrow....remember....I said "no rush"...listen as long as you like and compare everything. (and tell it like you hear it....good or bad). 8)

                                Chris

miklorsmith

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #31 on: June 11, 2007, 02:31:40 PM »
Thanks and you betcha!   8)

I'll have the Altmann back this week too!  Wheeee!!!

lonewolfny42

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #32 on: June 11, 2007, 02:39:05 PM »
Thanks and you betcha!   8)

I'll have the Altmann back this week too!  Wheeee!!!
Yeah....You'll be "all dac'ed out" now....

lonewolfny42

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #33 on: June 11, 2007, 02:48:20 PM »
So....who's who ?



By the way....thanks for the photo's....

WEEZ

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #34 on: June 11, 2007, 02:53:54 PM »
Nobody's leaning on the speakers.... >:(

Offline Inscrutable

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #35 on: June 11, 2007, 03:24:32 PM »
Quote
Tone is THE thing for me, all else may be important but if the tone ain't right, I'm not happy.
You are going to be very happy

Offline Inscrutable

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #36 on: June 11, 2007, 03:31:06 PM »
Quote
So....who's who ?
OK, I'll take a run at ti, since everyone else is chicken cuz they probably can't remember   ???

L > R

Steve, Roger (testing the plant diffusion effect), Richard, Rich (host, monopolizing sweet spot  ;) ), Richard - apparently anyone not named Richard was not allowed on the couch - and me.

And if I screwed up anyone's name
1. I apologize, all those guys who start with 'R' look alike, and
2. As you will note, I have an excuse in my hand  ;)

Witness protection Shane out of frame ... Carl probably stealing a battery out of a neighbor's car.

Offline richidoo

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #37 on: June 12, 2007, 05:56:15 AM »
That's Roger, Rich and RichardS on the couch.

Thanks for your comments about my system, Shane. I agree with you about the shouties, as you can read from my posts a couple months ago when it was far worse. I think I noticed that the JPS cables reduced it a lot. Playing the loud symphonic stuff seemed effortless with the JPS in the system - do you guys agree?  But the whole front end and cables were different, so no telling what fixed it, everything helped, I guess. What did you guys think about the sound of the system, was is still a little shouty at the end with all the goodies installed? When I listened the next day with the anticables back in I felt that shouting come back in contrast to the previous nights sound. I would love to tame that. I will be building some diffusors and finding ways to get more bass absorbtion in there per Brian's persistant and patient advice. I put 10 6" and 4" thick panels in corners for the meet but not sure how long it will remain - no wise cracks from Julie, yet. But a little shoutiness still remains, so I'm beginning to think it is a function of the system's voice and I'm eagerly looking to fix it.

The pace improved so much with the Altmann over the SB analog outs that I didn't notice any futher improvement when the JPS cables went in, I was tapping my foot and air conducting a a little while listening. Last night playing vinyl with tips offered by WEEZ and Wayner I had the same feeling of great pace again. But pace is not as good on the SB analog.

I did try the Haley power conditioner at the last meet, it had a strongly negative effect on my tube amps, mildly negative effect on the Monads, but no negative effect on the Mac 402, Mac C220 pre or source devices. I'm pretty happy with my power quality from the 20A dedicated outlet, but I do need to install a few more dedicated outlets. Maybe for the next meet.
Thanks
Rich

Offline Carlman

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #38 on: June 12, 2007, 07:00:34 AM »
As to power, what you have is sufficient for your system... it's when you introduce 3-5 more pieces of gear that it can suffer a little... and why I think the Haley would've helped regulate and prevent 'cross pollenation' of the current a little better...

OK... now comes the painful part... Please don't take this as offensive... trying to be constructive in a voiceless/toneless medium:

Your speakers have a lively or energetic sound that could use a little taming.. and the tubby and slow JPS cables sound helped. ;)  I think the sound you are aiming for is 'clean and alive' which the Altmann delivers.  I think the Altmann amp may be the right answer if that's the case... Especially if it was an integrated.  The Snappers have a tubey harmonic distortion that leans just a tad to the grunge side, rather than the clean side to me.  They do finesse as well... and therefore are good all-around amps... But I think you're attracted to half the amp's personality....

There is a balancing act of amp-to-cable-to-speaker in tone and detail and edge... etc.  I would go with Grover Cables on less transparent systems... and Reality's on more 'lively' sounding ones.  Right now I do a mix of Grover from tube DAC to preamp and Reality from preamp to amp. 

The Squeezebox is a very nice little device to me, especially unmodified... but even modified I wouldn't use it for my hifi primary listening... But, that's for other reasons as well... When you have 2,000 albums, a single-line display isn't fun to me.  Getting bitperfect data out of a PC is easy for me via USB or spdif but that's me.  I prefer to attenuate analog rather than digital signals also for reasons you've recently heard... bits just get tossed... and you CAN hear it, big time in my opinion.  The TacT is the only device I've heard that did a really good job attenuating digital... that was like magic.

If it were me, and I were you... the AR is the right sound for what I thought you'd like in a preamp.  Every AR I've heard sounded fairly similar to Steve's... but with varying degrees of resolution/transparency.  I know more about active pre's than passive's.. and I know you're eyeing the passive route... and I'd encourage you to go for it... because then I'll get to hear what a good passive can do. ;)

I've gone astray a bit now... let's see... what was my point?  Oh, you're on a journey, and quest for the sound you want... what you think you want today will change in a year.  What was good last year isn't good enough this year.  It's like an 'audiophile paradox'... haha... I keep this in mind so I'm OK with making major changes.  One day I'll fall out of love with Piega's... It seems like blasphemy just to type that but who knows.... I don't know how many times I thought I was done.  OK, I'm rambling again.

Finding the balance to get to your goal without breaking the bank is one of the hardest things I've ever done... But it was fun and rewarding in the end.  I've found my happy-place with what I have... So much so that we're building a house around the core concept.  So, it can also be motivating... ;)

Thanks and hope this was somewhat helpful.

-C
I really enjoy listening to music.

Offline richidoo

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Re: DAC-off at richidoos
« Reply #39 on: June 12, 2007, 02:34:59 PM »
OK... now comes the painful part... Please don't take this as offensive... trying to be constructive in a voiceless/toneless medium:

I welcome your advice, thanks for offering. This is too expensive to figure out by trial and error. But just wait til I come over to your house next time ;)

I agree with much of your observations. I prefer 6550 ARC/VTL sound, but those models that can handle my speakers are dear. Snappers are a superb design in every way, except the voicing preference of the manufacturer's president. They are built around EL34 and cannot swap to other types. Like the speakers, they are great for rock. I like classical and jazz that is ballsy like rock, so exists a dysfunctional relationship until something better comes along...  :lol: They are mostly serving as replacement for the little Cary, which was desperately needed, but I am not devoted to them, and why I am considering the Altmann amp too. With speakers fixed and room somewhat tamed, I can get back to the fine tuning I stopped 6 months ago. I can hear the faults, but don't know what parts are causing it, or what products I can afford that will fix the problems. That's where my more experienced audio friends come in! 
Rich