Golden Gate 2 Reactions

Legolas

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Dec 27, 2015
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Stop talking poop Ked.

You need to upgrade to an actual system, which I will assess for you.

Oops. but funny....

Bonzo, I actually enjoy your write ups regardless. But what IS happening with your system, it is going to materialise?:roll eyes:
 
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abeidrov

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Dec 17, 2015
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Golum

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Jun 7, 2018
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abeidrov

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Dec 17, 2015
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Seems to me you are fighting the same issue as I have with the small kids ;). We'll need to look into your solution...
Yes, this wooden playpen came very handy;)
 

Zero000

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Jul 28, 2014
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Shinkoh good but Audio Note Silver Tantalums much better though take ages to break in like most silver components.
Never was a fan of the WBT nextgeb AG. :):)

Well the 2W silver tants are in with the WBT Ag. I didn't use the CMC Teflon's in the end, the Lampi bracket in my DAC won't take it.

So basically, according to PQ at AN, I have the best UX4 socket in now: https://www.hificollective.co.uk/content/audio-note-ux4-chassis-mount-silver-plated-base.html

Is this DAC turning into an Audio Note:D??:)

So I have just spent about three hours with the mods. Sounding pretty bloody great. I can't believe those resistors can get any better there's certainly no hardship at the moment. The DAC is now at level sounding better than Ked's GG ever did, LOL.

Ked's GG sounds better than a Pacific according to Ked, so I must be at level Pacific++.:)

Joking aside, it does seem to sound significantly better than before. Music flows better and there's a great sense of ease to it. Superb clarity without strain. Excellent, natural imagery, or at least more natural than it was.

Apart from where it won't make a difference. it is now a struggle to find better parts to put in it. Maybe that knowledge alone makes it sound better:D

Needs a few more days evaluation but it does seem like money well spent. It is hard to be sure, though, been a few weeks using a different and far less capable DAC than the state this one currently seems to be in. Which seems excellent.
 

bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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Sorry you heard my GG two tree years ago.
 

Sablon Audio

Industry Expert, VIP Donor
May 22, 2015
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Good work User211! What coupling caps do you have fitted? I would recommend Duelund Hybrid or the new tin ones. Also do you have a decent iec inlet and fuse? Lampi dacs are very responsive to clean power.
 

Zero000

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Jul 28, 2014
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Good work User211! What coupling caps do you have fitted? I would recommend Duelund Hybrid or the new tin ones. Also do you have a decent iec inlet and fuse? Lampi dacs are very responsive to clean power.

It is fed by a mains regenerator.

I have Jupiter 2.2uF and Dueland 0.47uF copper foil dual output stages in it. Both go through the separate WBT Ag RC output jacks and silver non-magnetic 2 Watt AN tants. Dual cap output is my idea.

So the two sets of RCA output jacks are conneced to separate inputs on my preamp, and I can listen to Jupiter or Dueland outputs caps at a push of the input select button on my preamp remote.

Cool.
 

Trab

Well-Known Member
Apr 3, 2017
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Hi Ingemar,
I’ve been on that road and finally sold my Intona, usb and ethernet regens along with second usb and ethernet cables. I found premium usb cable (costs a lot, but not much more that the price I got for mu used gizmos) doing a better job. Till now I don’t know how this can happen
But today I would think twice as usb cable might be no longer used within few years. So I’d better spend that money on premium ethernet cable. But only when you hear a difference in your setup, of course.
Just my two cents.
 

ingemar

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2013
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Gothenburg(Sweden)
Hi Ingemar,
I’ve been on that road and finally sold my Intona, usb and ethernet regens along with second usb and ethernet cables. I found premium usb cable (costs a lot, but not much more that the price I got for mu used gizmos) doing a better job. Till now I don’t know how this can happen
But today I would think twice as usb cable might be no longer used within few years. So I’d better spend that money on premium ethernet cable. But only when you hear a difference in your setup, of course.
Just my two cents.
Thanks for your thoughts but i've tryed with a sonore rendu but did not like it so i,ll continue with usb!
Kindly/Ingemar
 

Sablon Audio

Industry Expert, VIP Donor
May 22, 2015
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Hi Ingemar,
I’ve been on that road and finally sold my Intona, usb and ethernet regens along with second usb and ethernet cables. I found premium usb cable (costs a lot, but not much more that the price I got for mu used gizmos) doing a better job. Till now I don’t know how this can happen
But today I would think twice as usb cable might be no longer used within few years. So I’d better spend that money on premium ethernet cable. But only when you hear a difference in your setup, of course.
Just my two cents.

Candidly, I think usb will be round a fair while longer as very few high end dacs presently offer ethernet input and, even then, the quality of the server will greatly influence the preferred choice of input protocol.

Similar story with all the usb gizmos - and I often see customers running rather complicated arrangements of say various SOTM boxes together with linear psu - if you have a low noise and well clocked server then these peripherals become superfluous.
 

ingemar

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2013
57
18
320
Gothenburg(Sweden)
Candidly, I think usb will be round a fair while longer as very few high end dacs presently offer ethernet input and, even then, the quality of the server will greatly influence the preferred choice of input protocol.

Similar story with all the usb gizmos - and I often see customers running rather complicated arrangements of say various SOTM boxes together with linear psu - if you have a low noise and well clocked server then these peripherals become superfluous.

Exactly what i'm thinking as well,to many boxes and cables,in my mind is simple better.
Ingemar
 

abeidrov

VIP Donor
Dec 17, 2015
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Moscow
Hi,
I received the Takatsuki recti 3 days ago. It is brand new, but the initial impression is quite positive. I would say, it is more neutral in comparison with RK recti.
After further listening to 242 vs RK 300B, I found, that I can hear some distortion on vocals with 242 tube. Maybe, it's a side effect of the tube higher resolution combined with my room with lots of glass and without any acoustical treatment? Has anyone else experienced similar effect with 242?
Thanks.
 

bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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It can happen on some highs if it overloads the pre. For RK 300b buy the Ayon 5u4g recti
 

Zero000

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Jul 28, 2014
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Yeah 242 output is very high. You need some extra resistance on the RCA output jacks to attenuate it if you are using an active preamp.

You can by some Rothwell attenuators - try the 10DB ones first.

I did try a stronger value and cannot recommend that.

If you are set on using 242, and I personally don't think anyone should be if it doesn't work by default, I would get the AN 2 Watt non-magnetic tants installed I talk about earlier. I think they are amazing, certainly better than Takman resistors I had installed.

Bear in mind if you optimise it for 242, you will un-optimise it for everything else. That's just life, and I would personally just get it vaguely in the right ballpark so that 242 becomes usable and doesn't distort, but doesn't require huge preamp gain on tubes with lower output.

My resistors are 470K. 242 is usuable in my DAC at that value.

Another option is to get the passive Lampi volume controller installed and use that. Or use a passive instead of active pre.
 
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abeidrov

VIP Donor
Dec 17, 2015
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It can happen on some highs if it overloads the pre. For RK 300b buy the Ayon 5u4g recti
Have you or anyone compared Ayon to Tak with RK300b?
 

bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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Have you or anyone compared Ayon to Tak with RK300b?

No but the Ayon did work with the normal KR valves (and I compared Tak to KR with some of those valves at Al's). The Ayon had a special synergy with the RK 300b in a system we heard it in making it sound very different from the RK recti. So the whole tonality and balance changed
 

abeidrov

VIP Donor
Dec 17, 2015
695
340
443
Moscow
Yeah 242 output is very high. You need some extra resistance on the RCA output jacks to attenuate it if you are using an active preamp.

You can by some Rothwell attenuators - try the 10DB ones first.

I did try a stronger value and cannot recommend that.

If you are set on using 242, and I personally don't think anyone should be if it doesn't work by default, I would get the AN 2 Watt non-magnetic tants installed I talk about earlier. I think they are amazing, certainly better than Takman resistors I had installed.

Bear in mind if you optimise it for 242, you will un-optimise it for everything else. That's just life, and I would personally just get it vaguely in the right ballpark so that 242 becomes usable and doesn't distort, but doesn't require huge preamp gain on tubes with lower output.

My resistors are 470K. 242 is usuable in my DAC at that value.

Another option is to get the passive Lampi volume controller installed and use that. Or use a passive instead of active pre.
Thanks a lot for the advice! I will try Rothwell attenuators. I guess a "source" option would be a better choice, as I will be able to connect them to the output sockets of the DAC and it will not affect other sources.
 

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