DaVa FC-A1 a field coil contender

[christensenleif@msn.com]

a special picture for you Tango

 

[spiritofmusic]

Leif, you can lead them to water...

 

[Solypsa]

'The Peak' arms are not made any longer, correct?

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

I´m uncertain if he´ll redo a series...think the buyers are there....but it was a PITA project as I understood him...
anyway 2 is enough...

 

[dwhistance]

Can I ask how people feel about the DaVa's now they have been using them for several months? I have held off purchasing one as my income tends to be very seasonal, even more so now with the effects of Covid, but with April (and therefore work and hopefully income) approaching I'm starting to plan my expenditure. Is everyone still happy with the conical stylus or should I go for an elliptical? What about power supplies, is the valve one still the one to go for? I have a 1:40 SUT which should work I think? Any other thoughts/things I should know?

Lastly has anyone compared the DaVa to a Decca or an Audio Note Io Ltd just so I have a point of reference?

Many thanks for your help.

David Whistance

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

hi
I´m even happier and have both DaVa mono and stereo in separate identical arms:
Tube regged psu is way to go....I needed x50 SUTs because I run TVC "pre", which implies my sources are driving my poweramps, but normally 40 would do nice
I´ve had Deccas, I have a cantileverless Rowland Complement/IKEDA and nothing is to be missed in resolution, musicality or anything else...on the contrary

 

[flyer]

Can I ask how people feel about the DaVa's now they have been using them for several months? I have held off purchasing one as my income tends to be very seasonal, even more so now with the effects of Covid, but with April (and therefore work and hopefully income) approaching I'm starting to plan my expenditure. Is everyone still happy with the conical stylus or should I go for an elliptical? What about power supplies, is the valve one still the one to go for? I have a 1:40 SUT which should work I think? Any other thoughts/things I should know?

Lastly has anyone compared the DaVa to a Decca or an Audio Note Io Ltd just so I have a point of reference?

Many thanks for your help.

David Whistance

Hi David,

I am very happy as well with my cartridge. Has been in my system for 8 months now. Yes, tube PSU is a nice upgrade.

Regarding Audio Note field coil, a friend of mine had it and bought the DaVa stereo and did direct comparison. He still has his Audio Note FC ... for sale!
He also has the mono cartridge from DAVA since a few months.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Hi David,

I am very happy as well with my cartridge. Has been in my system for 8 months now. Yes, tube PSU is a nice upgrade.

Regarding Audio Note field coil, a friend of mine had it and bought the DaVa stereo and did direct comparison. He still has his Audio Note FC ... for sale!
He also has the mono cartridge from DAVA since a few months.

Hi Flyer,

Which arm did you settle on with the DaVa? What tube based supply are you using?

I have a mono DaVa on the way to add to my stereo DaVa together with a massive tube dual output field coil supply that he has made.

Best.

 

[dwhistance]

Many thanks to both of you, I'll order in early April once I see some funds starting to flow!

David

 

[flyer]

Hi Flyer,

Which arm did you settle on with the DaVa? What tube based supply are you using?

I have a mono DaVa on the way to add to my stereo DaVa together with a massive tube dual output field coil supply that he has made.

Best.

Hi Bill,

Primary Control FCL arm (Field Coil Loaded Tonearm (primarycontrol.nl). The high weight of the cartridge does not impact the unipivot system as uniquely implemented by Bernd from Primary Control.

I also have their Reference tonearm, works very well as well, despite the high weight of the cartridge, but not in the same league as the FCL of course.

As a visitor (yes, the one with the DaVa's himself) recently told me, it sounds as if we are listening to a R2R tape.

So, i have two field coils on my turntable, one for the arm and one for the cartridge

Best

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

my faith in this guy/Darius also made me order "The Reference"

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Hi Bill,

Primary Control FCL arm (Field Coil Loaded Tonearm (primarycontrol.nl). The high weight of the cartridge does not impact the unipivot system as uniquely implemented by Bernd from Primary Control.

I also have their Reference tonearm, works very well as well, despite the high weight of the cartridge, but not in the same league as the FCL of course.

As a visitor (yes, the one with the DaVa's himself) recently told me, it sounds as if we are listening to a R2R tape.

So, i have two field coils on my turntable, one for the arm and one for the cartridge

Best

Wow that is very nice. Mik (108CY) has the field coil primary control arm and likes it very much. What TT have you mounted these 2 on?

What was the tube PSU you are using btw? I am still using my selenium one but getting the big tube one soon.

best.

 

[flyer]

Hi Bill, I have the Kinea direct drive turntable which evidently fits either arm perfectly.

For the DAVA, I used to have the ss PSU and got the tube PSU a few months back. A nice upgrade effectively but the cartridge itself already plays very good with the standard PSU. In other words, I would not regard the tube PSU a must, rather a nice-to-have.

kind regards,
Michel

 

[Audiophile Bill]

Hi Bill, I have the Kinea direct drive turntable which evidently fits either arm perfectly.

For the DAVA, I used to have the ss PSU and got the tube PSU a few months back. A nice upgrade effectively but the cartridge itself already plays very good with the standard PSU. In other words, I would not regard the tube PSU a must, rather a nice-to-have.

kind regards,
Michel

Hi Michel,

Thanks. Sorry for all questions lol - what tubes are in your psu?

enjoy.

 

[flyer]

Hi Michel,

Thanks. Sorry for all questions lol - what tubes are in your psu?

enjoy.

I have no clue to be honest. I know i put them in when the PSU arrived but long forgotten what it or they were ...

 

[djsina2]

If anyone wants a DaVa today see my ad in the classifieds.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

My stereo DaVa singing beautifully in the Horning Sati Transreference + Peak. Excuse the temporary beech arm board lol.

 

[leyenda]

Have the Dava since January. A very high performance cart that certainly is not plug and play (think spu). Alignment needs to be perfect and tonearm/drive mix and matching is required. On tube PSU - is everyone using Darius psu? Any DIY attempt? What does tube psu bring to the table? Also has anyone tried a different psu cable yet? I believe the supplied wire is silver, not normally my preferred choice and I think I hear it a bit.

 

[christensenleif@msn.com]

Have the Dava since January. A very high performance cart that certainly is not plug and play (think spu). Alignment needs to be perfect and tonearm/drive mix and matching is required. On tube PSU - is everyone using Darius psu? Any DIY attempt? What does tube psu bring to the table? Also has anyone tried a different psu cable yet? I believe the supplied wire is silver, not normally my preferred choice and I think I hear it a bit.

since I´ve had DaVa stereo in operation for a year and the mono for some months and don´t quite recognize the description, a listing of the rest of your analogue chain and even amps and speakers would be helpful
best
Leif

 

[leyenda]

Hi Leif, i tried the dava with many arms from fr24/64 to schick12 to sme3010/3012, mounted on modded slate lenco and sp10mk3. The dava plays very well with idler paired with either fr64 or 3012r and mounted on schick graphite headshell. My phono/pre is all custom jfet designs - i basically have lots of fets in my system and zero tube I find the cart very sensitive to alignment (less sensitive to loading) - a bit off then sibilance kicks in. Would be interested to see what tube psu does to the sound. Darius uses the word honey