Solid-State Power Amp Adventures

Discussion in 'Power Amps' started by purr1n, Jan 24, 2017.

  1. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    I have put too much out here for my own good. Going silent now.
     
  2. mrflibble

    mrflibble Friend

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    It is a good thing that you have such obvious enthusiasm and passion for hi-fi! You probably just need to be more focused with your replies and not veer too far from the topic at hand :)

    Don't go silent for too long!
     
  3. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The DCX2496 has a chain of opamps from the AKM DAC chip outputs. Depending upon your preamp, you might be able to get away with passive / output stage bypass. Some people have hooked up line level transformers from the chip outputs. Others have used caps up to 6uF. The L+ / L- / R+ / L- outputs from each of the DAC chips can be obtained via the ribbon cable. I forgot which wire goes where. You can expect much more clarity and resolution. The stock unit sounds warmer and slightly veiled in comparison.
     
  4. ohhgourami

    ohhgourami Friend

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    Alright thanks. Looks like it's something worth pursuing then.
     
  5. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Hmm, I opened mine up and there's some hardened glue blobs holding down the ribbon cables, and there's already glued on foam pads under the boards (no leads touching the case as far as my eye can see). Looks like disassembling won't be an easy job here, so I just sprayed everything with deoxit and left it alone for now.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2017
  6. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

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    Marv: I would be curious of your thoughts of the Hegel with Maggies . I actually bought 0.7i based on the audition with a Hegel power amp ( not sure which model ) . I wanted panels and they needed to be small enough , the .7's have not disappointed but i do run a sub. I refurbished a Linn Klout for use as a power amp..dB
     
  7. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The Vincent SP-331 is very nice. Not going to say too much on it because I plan on writing up a more formal review. Not as good as the Hegel H2, but also not bright. The Vincent amp has warmer bloomier presentation which synergizes better with the Altec 511B horns. The H2 is still technically better, more precise, more refined, better microdynamics, but horns always seem to need tubes to take the edge off. The H2 was much better with the laid-back sounding Fostex BLHs, not so much with these.

    Altec 511B Horns and Vincent SP-331 med.JPG

    With the Code-X headphone, the Hegel H2 just had way too much gain, but it sounded really good. The Vincent SP-331 and Freya (JFET buffer) was a great combination. The Freya tube stage had too much gain and resulted in some noise. The SP-331 and Freya combination sounded way better than the Jotunheim, which by comparison sounded flat. The HE-500, HE-5, and HE-6 all seem to really like being fed from power amps. I can see a Schiit Saga and Vincent SP-331 as higher value proposition to the classic HiFiMan headphones.
    LFF Code_X Headphone.JPG
     
  8. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Agreed, I think I preferred it to the Hegel on the Code-X with banana plugs. Hegel had too much gain and was a bit brighter but still super smooth. But again that's with headphones, with speakers the Hegel is damn smooth and refined. Maybe matching it with some warmer sounding components to balance it out. The Gumbreya did that pretty well!

    EDIT: Ah I think my post crossed yours in the air @Marvey sorry for the redundancy but you know the plural of anecdote is data right?
     
  9. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Freya and Vincent seem like a great option for old Hifiman's and speakers. Definitely an option I'm considering. Waiting to see how Vidar stacks up.
     
  10. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    Oh man. This is getting good.

    I wish the Vincent had a balanced input.

    Even their limited edition Class A Anniversary Edition with VU Meters doesn't have balanced input.

    Flying to Germany in the morning to talk to the designers.......

    Have to tell them about the Freya....... and they have to get on the stick........ balanced input needed

    This is the amp that I wanted..... sat on toilet and looked at it in catalog for 4 years........;)

    $1,395.00 of 2ohm stable tube output stage smoothness....... peanut butter for the average audiophile
     
  11. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    I have a suggestion..... this is for amps with only SE inputs. Maybe using a Balanced cable with RCA outputs would work wonders. I have been messing around with some of this, and I have yet to finish testing all angles. What I do know is that you want the output of the Balanced Output of the Freya to go to your amp..... this is a high octane signal that you don't want to miss. They sell cables the have the balanced and rca on the other side. Or if you are a nutcase.... get some made by your favorite cable guy. This will assure that the signal going to the amplifier is what Schiit has intented for you to have. And it is some darn signal, that is a 100% for sure. Buy this thing (Freya). Make your amp choice as needed.
     
  12. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    Just make sure you don't clip your power amp's input.
     
  13. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    XLR to RCA cables are not a good thing... is it deriving the single ended output by floating one of the pins? Is it grounding one of the legs? Depending on the output stage of the dac or preamp, this could be problematic.
     
  14. Big D Design

    Big D Design RIP 2021

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    @Armaegis
    Thanks for the heads up on this. I didn't know that trouble could be had.
     
  15. Poleepkwa

    Poleepkwa Friend

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    I never gave the Vincent brand much thought, but now would like to try their headphone amps like the Vincent KHV-1, although that has a pretty high output impedance of 16 ohm.
     
  16. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Would be curious to know what you think of the Klout. It's been a while. Might actually be a better match with the 0.7s because the Klout has warmer full bodied sound.
     
  17. pedalhead

    pedalhead Friend

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  18. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

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    My take on it is similar to as you have described the Hegel - powerful, articulate, able to tease out microdetail, not get in the way = I don't get a sense of its own signature, I said to myself when I finally had the system set up "this is it". Having spent a lot of time with it now, I recognize it has omissions but I am not unhappy with the overall presentation. That said, I am also human :) and that curiosity always nags. I have been trying to get a sense of the Hegel design - looks like a class A and their web page says FET technology but who knows what all the marketing lingo actually means. The other amp I have looked at in the past was the plinius.

    ..dB
     
  19. jelt2359

    jelt2359 Friend

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    Been saying this for a while, speaker amps have a lot of gain but the quality of the sound is really good. I started with the HE6 but then now also have used them on my other planars. Use that same adaptor on your EAR and see how it sounds. :)
     
  20. Daveheart

    Daveheart Friend

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    I haven't quite been able to find an exact source on the H2 or H20, but their integrated amps are A/B. The heatsinks and general size of this amp would suggest the same. Of course I could be wrong, but generally, a 200wpc class A amp will require substantially more robust heatsinks than what I see in the H2.
     

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