DaVa FC-A1 a field coil contender

[christensenleif@msn.com]

what have I done!?
lured everyone into this fc cart pitfall....
but be calm guys...like Bill says...it´s worth the wait
was about to build the battery supply posted here earlier, but the battery I got was faulty, so new is on it´s way from Germany
like I told Bill reg the filling of the arm tower.......
I just loaded the plinth of a Micro Seiki DDX-1500 with 8kg of leadshots potted in Raytech Magic Rubber, more than doubling the plinth weight, and it´s absolutely inert and dead......this floating 2 component rubber is a potting compund to control vibrations in electronics...highly recommended
once mixed you have 10 mins.....

 

[Mike Lavigne]

You will be rewarded, Mike. Your patience is so worth it because it doesn’t sound like other carts imho.

Also it is good for you because you are a dedicated audiophile who knows how to tweak and extract. Setup is so important with this cart - everything counts. Once you get it perfectly set up, you’ll get this grainless and expansive view into the mix that isn’t found on fixed magnet carts ime - it is a different sound.

i'm into 'different sounds'. "grainless" and "expansive" are always targets. my active isolation can do 'a little' of that in certain ways especially with the Taiko Tana package. i think the low pressure, low flow CS Port tt & linear tracker arm does 'some' of that which sets it apart. obviously i've also ordered the FCL arm searching for more of it.

Not sure if you are familiar with field coil drivers per se - they have an electrostatic type stop/start speed and inner nuance. This property also finds itself in the DaVa.

i did hear the Goto drivers on Jeffrey Jackson's horns (field coil?...don't know) at the VSAC show back in 2008, which was a seminal experience.

Shows

Shows

www.jenalabs.com

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

Jeffrey had a nice mono WE setup in ETF in Belleme 2019
great guy and excellent music taste too

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Jeffrey had a nice mono WE setup in ETF in Belleme 2019
great guy and excellent music taste too

+1----Dave Slagle and Jeffrey are building my EM/IA phono corrector about to arrive in a couple of weeks.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

+1----Dave Slagle and Jeffrey are building my EM/IA phono corrector about to arrive in a couple of weeks.

Now that is one of very few phonos I would love to hear!

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Update 2x. Shielded wand cable + Black Gate Super E paralleled.

Initially I was hoping to do the shielded cable trick separate to the capacitor mod. (Unfortunately) I had to do them together for pragmatic reasons. So please take my commentary as a package. Please also note I only managed to use shielded cable on the wand itself because it is too thick to allow enough flex for tracking. I will install shielded from dc power supply to stage 1 filter next and join the screen to this one with a silver wire.

Anyway for those who want to jump to the conclusion. You must do this if you own a DaVa. You can expect a noticeable increase in ambience, decay, nuance, and staging space. No change to the musicality or tone. It isn’t subtle at all - very obviously improved!

For those more interested in how this manifests in music, I will write again on the matter after I clock more mileage. Meanwhile, see photos of the rhinoceros:

 

[Tango]

Update 2x. Shielded wand cable + Black Gate Super E paralleled.

Initially I was hoping to do the shielded cable trick separate to the capacitor mod. (Unfortunately) I had to do them together for pragmatic reasons. So please take my commentary as a package. Please also note I only managed to use shielded cable on the wand itself because it is too thick to allow enough flex for tracking. I will install shielded from dc power supply to stage 1 filter next and join the screen to this one with a silver wire.

Anyway for those who want to jump to the conclusion. You must do this if you own a DaVa. You can expect a noticeable increase in ambience, decay, nuance, and staging space. No change to the musicality or tone. It isn’t subtle at all - very obviously improved!

For those more interested in how this manifests in music, I will write again on the matter after I clock more mileage. Meanwhile, see photos of the rhinoceros:

View attachment 91351
View attachment 91352

You shielded the arm wand too? How many grams the shield put on the weight?

 

[Audiophile Bill]

You shielded the arm wand too? How many grams the shield put on the weight?

Hi Tang. I have used a shielded wire - uses 2 x 26GA silver conductors with a shield and 2mm outer jacket. I haven’t weighed the cable but would estimate it is a few grams more - certainly needed to redo VTF again.

 

[Solypsa]

Has anyone tried a 'phantom power' microphone style topology with a DaVa? Is the current requirement too high?

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Has anyone tried a 'phantom power' microphone style topology with a DaVa? Is the current requirement too high?

Not tried it - a quad balanced type configuration?

 

[Solypsa]

That is what I was thinking about / wondering. Mics use ( usually ) 48vdc. and a few hundred mA. Carts are a balanced connection so it crossed my mind. Of course tonearm internal wire is very thin so I wondered about the current needs of the DaVa. And also what the breakout circuit for power and signal from same wire require component wise...

 

[Audiophile Bill]

That is what I was thinking about / wondering. Mics use ( usually ) 48vdc. and a few hundred mA. Carts are a balanced connection so it crossed my mind. Of course tonearm internal wire is very thin so I wondered about the current needs of the DaVa. And also what the breakout circuit for power and signal from same wire require component wise...

Sounds a very sensible thing to consider imho!

 

[oeno]

Update 2x. Shielded wand cable + Black Gate Super E paralleled.

Initially I was hoping to do the shielded cable trick separate to the capacitor mod. (Unfortunately) I had to do them together for pragmatic reasons. So please take my commentary as a package. Please also note I only managed to use shielded cable on the wand itself because it is too thick to allow enough flex for tracking. I will install shielded from dc power supply to stage 1 filter next and join the screen to this one with a silver wire.

Anyway for those who want to jump to the conclusion. You must do this if you own a DaVa. You can expect a noticeable increase in ambience, decay, nuance, and staging space. No change to the musicality or tone. It isn’t subtle at all - very obviously improved!

For those more interested in how this manifests in music, I will write again on the matter after I clock more mileage. Meanwhile, see photos of the rhinoceros:

View attachment 91351
View attachment 91352

Hi Bill,

Quite impressive looking and I am sure more than impressive sounding!

Let me see if I have this right: you ran the 2 x 26GA + shielded wire to the Black Gates and then soldered or attached the shield to the wand? Then you soldered the original dc wire running from the two fc clips to the Black Gates?

Not sure what you mean by “join the screen to this one with a silver wire"?

And how will you run “shielded from dc power supply to stage 1 filter,” assuming that your stage 1 filter is the Audio Note Kaisei?

Also what are the values for the Black Gate Super E set?

Sorry for all the questions! I have my tube PSU coming from Darius at the end of the month and plan on implementing what you have done here....as long as I know what I am doing!

 

[Kcin]

In development:

My DaVa cartridge is backed up to September, however I immediately started on a damper diode EY-500a power supply.

Still some tweaking to do and as we say in research- incurred development costs with the iron as there is sometimes no way to tell until you actually piece it together. I modeled it in PSU designer -its so close but I have ordered some other pieces to dial it right in.

More to come eventually.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

In development:

My DaVa cartridge is backed up to September, however I immediately started on a damper diode EY-500a power supply.

Still some tweaking to do and as we say in research- incurred development costs with the iron as there is sometimes no way to tell until you actually piece it together. I modeled it in PSU designer -its so close but I have ordered some other pieces to dial it right in.

More to come eventually.

Fantastic! Keep us updated.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Hi Bill,

Quite impressive looking and I am sure more than impressive sounding!

> Thanks - yes indeed jt

Let me see if I have this right: you ran the 2 x 26GA + shielded wire to the Black Gates and then soldered or attached the shield to the wand?

> As of now, the shield is fully floating. It will be attached in the nexr

Then you soldered the original dc wire running from the two fc clips to the Black Gates?

> There are 2 very small wires from the black gates to the cart itself (a few cm)
> The shielded cable can only run the length of the arm wand because it is too inflexible to allow good bearing operation. Therefore there is a section of silver cable from the end of the wand to my first filter tower.
> The power supply itself feeds the first filter tower.
> Will post piccie later.

Not sure what you mean by “join the screen to this one with a silver wire"?

So I want to ground the screen of wand length above all as it is floating right now. But since I have to “break” the shield for the small flexible wiring to filter 1, I need a solution that takes the shield ground from that section of cable to the section that comes immediately from the power supply. I could just tie it to the negative but didn’t want tk

And how will you run “shielded from dc power supply to stage 1 filter,” assuming that your stage 1 filter is the Audio Note Kaisei?

> I will reterminate the power supply wirh

Also what are the values for the Black Gate Super E set?

> They are 0.1uf - there are 2 in parallel short leg to long leg as recommended
> Other caps might be great just you’ll need to find uktralow mass

Sorry for all the questions! I have my tube PSU coming from Darius at the end of the month and plan on implementing what you have done here....as long as I know what I am doing!

Enjoy!

 

[oeno]

> Thanks - yes indeed jt



> As of now, the shield is fully floating. It will be attached in the nexr



> There are 2 very small wires from the black gates to the cart itself (a few cm)
> The shielded cable can only run the length of the arm wand because it is too inflexible to allow good bearing operation. Therefore there is a section of silver cable from the end of the wand to my first filter tower.
> The power supply itself feeds the first filter tower.
> Will post piccie later.



So I want to ground the screen of wand length above all as it is floating right now. But since I have to “break” the shield for the small flexible wiring to filter 1, I need a solution that takes the shield ground from that section of cable to the section that comes immediately from the power supply. I could just tie it to the negative but didn’t want tk


> I will reterminate the power supply wirh



> They are 0.1uf - there are 2 in parallel short leg to long leg as recommended
> Other caps might be great just you’ll need to find uktralow mass



Enjoy!

Thanks, Bill, for the replies! I think I can manage the Black Gates or other tiny super low mass caps on my headshell without balance or excessive weight issues. I don't have any hum issues at current. Given the aural benefits you are hearing with the shield floating, I think I may skip a new wire and simply solder the Black Gates into the existing fc wire that terminates into the cart. As I have to do it in situ, it will be a nervous bit of soldering.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Thanks, Bill, for the replies! I think I can manage the Black Gates or other tiny super low mass caps on my headshell without balance or excessive weight issues. I don't have any hum issues at current. Given the aural benefits you are hearing with the shield floating, I think I may skip a new wire and simply solder the Black Gates into the existing fc wire that terminates into the cart. As I have to do it in situ, it will be a nervous bit of soldering.

Yes that makes sense. I had no hum issues either
This removes another layer of haze you weren’t aware was there until it’s gone.
I have learnt this weekend that the Black Gates are a of to burn in! I thought it was a myth but sure enough day 1 was astonishing, beginning of day 2 my bass seemed to go, then treble got a bit raw, and last night things were returning. Leif did warn me to try to pre burn them in but I was too eager. I would personally try to burn them in before using if you can.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

here´s my way of solving it
like the idea of being able to disconnect headshell including dc without messing on the cart pins

 

[Mike Lavigne]

you guys are killing me.

i'm led (and pushed) down the DaVa primrose path, my DaVa is now a few weeks away, and now it seems there is a whole level of DaVa optimization that is not an option for me as a non techie.

is there a plug and play work around to get my DaVa right? or is this stuff counting angels on heads of pins territory and don't worry about it?

ok, now i feel better.