what power is needed to drive my SP Tech 3.0 Timepieces

[Nick B]

Nick, Buffalo3 uses ESS9018 DAC chip, which removes jitter very well. My Sonos is fully tamed. Add exadevices USB input for even better jitter rejection with a computer source.

"Full Monty" is about $1500 for the parts, including a box. Uses excellent quality balanced and single ended transformer output and 5 Belleson voltage regulators. PM me if you want the recipe. All US sourced parts except passives and RCA jacks.

There is some discussion of its sound in the NC section from about a year ago, a DAC comparison meet at Carlman's house.

Thanks, Rich. PM sent

[Nick B]

I have been enjoying my McCormack DNA 1.0 Deluxe for a few months now and had a trip planned to So California. As I had just about saved the $$ for the gold upgrade, I called Steve McCormack and asked if I could drop off the amp. He is indeed a very nice guy and showed me exactly what he'll do to get it to gold+ status. I am also springing for the diode bridge upgrade as Steve had indicated it would be cost effective to also do that work during the gold upgrade. So at the end of August I 'll have this upgraded amp and my Time Piece 3.0s as my reference pieces and then figure out whether to get a preamp or a dac.

[BobM]

Good job Nick. I know you will love the upgrades. They take his stock amps to reference status.

[Nick B]

Good job Nick. I know you will love the upgrades. They take his stock amps to reference status.

Thanks, Bob. I'll have it in about 3 weeks      On a side note, Steve obviously loves his DNA 500 design and says he wouldn't change a change in it. He does custom jobs and has built the DNA 500 as a mono. Would sure like to hear that someday

[BobM]

I can take a hint ... Come on over any time 

[Nick B]

I wish I was closer to take you up on that. Bob, I read your posts all the time and am curious to know what 's the latest in your system

[Nick B]

A status on my DNA 1.0 Deluxe upgrade. I am back from my California trip and picked up my DNA 1.0 upgraded to gold level. Steve McCormack was out of town, but I spoke with his tech from the old McCormack days of many years ago. Kris is a great guy and did meticulous work on my amp. The sound is well ... WONDERFUL  Obviously, it is improved in all areas. I'd say the improvements I enjoy the most are the increase in the soundstage (it is a bit more forward as well) and the more detailed and realistic presentations of instruments. I've listened to my old favorite female singers like Nana Moskouri and Enya. Great stuff. The amp does fail in one area ... it won't make the digititis go away. Oh well    I don't think I'll be spending more to get to platinum level. That would mean over $500 for a Plitron transformer and $700 for the max capacitor upgrade. I don't know what caps he has in mind. I'll continue to break things in. Kris told me it has maybe 30 hours on it.
So, this has run me $1000 for the amp and $1865 to get to the gold level plus diode bridge.

Next on the agenda will be a dac. Long term I'm looking at a Bent TVC or maybe the Tortuga LDR which has me fascinated over at AC. 

[richidoo]

Welcome home, Nick!

[Nick B]

Welcome home, Nick!

Thanks, Rich. Things are sounding quite good.

[Nick B]

An update on the DNA 1.0 break in....  Things are sounding better. Have about 80-90 hours so far. Slight improvements in resolution .. mid range fullness... slightly less stridency. My system has always been on the edgy side. Rich has graciously consented to send his Buffalo dac to me for evaluation (via mule ... or was it railway express?..) So with the addition of that dac and Dave's cables, I am hoping to have a more analogue-like sound. The SP Techs are so revealing. Maybe too much so sometimes. We shall see.

[BobM]

From what I remember, the SP Tech's need power to come alive. The DNA should certainly be able to do that.

[Nick B]

Yes, that's what Bob at SP Tech told me. Per Steve McCormack, the DNA 1.0 puts out about 185w per channel.  It's the most powerful amp I've had to date, but not the heaviest. IIRC, the Metaxis was a bit heftier

[Nick B]

Update.....about 125 hours so far. What a great amp. It's not a fair comparison at all as no upgrades were available for my old CIA D100's, but the DNA 1.0 resolves so much better than the CIA D100's. I have Rich's "Buffalo" arriving today and Dave's cables on Monday. Hope my post 60 brain can handle all this new stuff   

[Carlman]

Cool, can't wait to hear how the digital front end works for you.  SP Tech's aren't known for being polite.  So, you should hear a difference when changing the source.
-Carl
PS What preamp are you using? Did I miss that?

[Nick B]

I love Rich's (now mine as I bought it) Buffalo dac. The McCormack amp and dac are a great combo. The dac resolves very well, but the sound was a bit edgy. That issue was resolved at least 80% by auditioning Dave's speaker cables and his wonderful DD IC's. Unfortunately, I wasn't in a position to buy his cables.
As to my preamp, it is a custom unit from Audience that I will be putting up for sale. For the last 5-6 years, I have been doing digital only, but will be getting back into phono. I am quite interested in a passive from either Bent or Tortuga.