I think tubes handle all frequencies differently to solid state. It isn't colouring the sound. A modern tube in a good circuit can do 80K+. It is the way a DHT makes the music flow maybe? I don't know the technicalities. A FET is a switching device correct? The faster it switches the better the sound, maybe why Class A can sound best. But I leave it to the engineers, I am just saying what I hear. I have spoken to so many who have the same view, and so many who don't. So I guess it is up to the individual to decide. Going back to the Lampizator subject, many Lite 7 v Big seven owners have remarked how the tube regulated PS seems to be doing something good in the Big 7. Is it the tubes?
Golden Gate DAC arrives.
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I think tubes handle all frequencies differently to solid state. It isn't colouring the sound. A modern tube in a good circuit can do 80K+. It is the way a DHT makes the music flow maybe? I don't know the technicalities. A FET is a switching device correct? The faster it switches the better the sound, maybe why Class A can sound best. But I leave it to the engineers, I am just saying what I hear. I have spoken to so many who have the same view, and so many who don't. So I guess it is up to the individual to decide. Going back to the Lampizator subject, many Lite 7 v Big seven owners have remarked how the tube regulated PS seems to be doing something good in the Big 7. Is it the tubes?
I don't do leaps of faith. I did once and bitterly regretted, so that was the exception to the rule.
I was able to do a direct comparison with what I had at the time, hence my decision to adopt the Kassandra. The other Aries Cerat stuff I have and sell has all been evaluated against their peers or what I had and they each time won... I do not sell what I am not myself utterly convinced of, not because it is such or such brand. Only after adopting the preamp and power amps did I become an AC distributor.
You actually can get a demo in the UK but I would kindly ask you to pm me about that. Just last week I was in the UK, awaiting there is an Aries Cerat distributor there.
i visited a guy about a month ago who had the full Audio Note stack (incl Audio Note 5 Signature) and switched it all to Aries Cerat. And no, he is not an AC distributor
So yes, there is more to come in life.The only tweaking you can do with the Kassandra is adjust the tube bias as I just happen to do yesterday for the first time as the unit is now fully burned-in and i wanted to slightly adjust its sound to my system and sound preference. It is now exactly where I want it to be.
Will look into the AOIP... whatever that means
I have found that in a Dac, DHTs blow away the small signal tubes.
I have no idea of the current, but my GG before upgrades had a max output of 2.5volts.
Audio over IP???I don't do leaps of faith. I did once and bitterly regretted, so that was the exception to the rule.
I was able to do a direct comparison with what I had at the time, hence my decision to adopt the Kassandra. The other Aries Cerat stuff I have and sell has all been evaluated against their peers or what I had and they each time won... I do not sell what I am not myself utterly convinced of, not because it is such or such brand. Only after adopting the preamp and power amps did I become an AC distributor.
You actually can get a demo in the UK but I would kindly ask you to pm me about that. Just last week I was in the UK, awaiting there is an Aries Cerat distributor there.
i visited a guy about a month ago who had the full Audio Note stack (incl Audio Note 5 Signature) and switched it all to Aries Cerat. And no, he is not an AC distributor
The only tweaking you can do with the Kassandra is adjust the tube bias as I just happen to do yesterday for the first time as the unit is now fully burned-in and i wanted to slightly adjust its sound to my system and sound preference. It is now exactly where I want it to be.
Will look into the AOIP... whatever that means
Apparently the Empire has struck back:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/829639/usb...-usb-ethernet-chain-beats-all-at-least-for-me
If someone says on one dac I heard a bit of hardness, while on the tube dac I heard slight more harmonics and pleasantness, I can understand that this can be interpreted, in some cases, as a color, and is generally what happens with some preamp shootouts.
Lampi is different. Put it against another dac, and you will have much larger soundstage, sideways, depth wise, and in front. The dynamics and bass will increase multifold. And there will be a drive, much like putting a Krell on a 1ohm Scintilla as opposed to a SET amp. If you play complex syphonies like Scheherazade 4th movement, Mendolossohn's Elijah, etc, the various instruments will stand out more clearly and with distinct tones, while the other dac will bury some instruments because it will not be able to cope with the simultaneous soft/loud aspects of different instruments. The instruments with the Lampi will be layered across the height and breadth and depth of the room while the other dac will seem flatter.
Now, does this come from a the power stage, analog stage, or the DHT? The difference in resolving complexity jumped drastically when Lukasz moved from his Big 6 to the Big 7, his first DHT. Did he change other things in it w.r.t Big 6, I do not know.
Back to tubes, taking the Lampi as a constant - the various tube shootouts show that colored 300b tubes like the Elrogs add color and reduce some other things, while neutral ones like the KR 242 reduce noise, make every note stand out more clear and gripping, and dynamics, stage, and drive increase over those like Elrog. Not all change in tubes creates a change in tone/color on the Lampi. Some are just increasing the bass, dynamics, stage, drive.
I can understand how that might be the case. Maybe the bigger tubes that are really power tubes normally in a power amplifier but in the GG and Big 7 running well inside spec, would have a huge reserve of dynamics and basically be 'ticking over'. Is this the reason maybe?
I moved away from the 'tubes are tone controls' discussion many years ago simply by spending more time with modern tube hear. Yes the 50's stuff was coloured, but the PS were simple, basic, the way they were designed was different IMO. Maybe some classics and standouts, but vernally warm, mushy and rolled of with lumpy bass. That has since been resoundly crushed by more modern designs, even though many of those modern amps and DACs use NOS tubes! Listen then learn, what I always say. I have a solid state power amp which I love, and a solid state electrostatic amplifier for my Stax gear. Not saying SS is worse or better. But I seem to prefer a tubed unit in the chain to get closer to reality.
Here is a theory reg tubes in our lampi dacs
Pcm has bite as it samples now newer dacs like lampi does calm this down while keeping in fast
Dsd is more like analog out of the box
Tubes smooth this out even further by doing so it remarks more like analog that does not sample and just has a continues flow.
For me it's now about warmth I don't like changing the sound scape but I do like he eq effect they have. This can add or detract what's good or bad by freq and how it makes music for us.
Some use the term mech while a lampi is not. Tubes create the bridge to it for me.
Pcm has bite as it samples now newer dacs like lampi does calm this down while keeping in fast
Dsd is more like analog out of the box
Tubes smooth this out even further by doing so it remarks more like analog that does not sample and just has a continues flow.
For me it's now about warmth I don't like changing the sound scape but I do like he eq effect they have. This can add or detract what's good or bad by freq and how it makes music for us.
Some use the term mech while a lampi is not. Tubes create the bridge to it for me.
I would differ on that. PCM bite is different from DSD, I agree, but the irritating part of the bite exists on some dacs and not on some, nothing to do with tubes alone. There is a natural part of the bite that should stay. The flow is a different attribute, and yes, analog has more flow.
I too like the bite of pcm just not so much it makes me jump lol. I own a Stevie Ray von box set on sacd I ripped them
Be it the cd layer or dsd part it's way over the top. My guess is acoustic sounds did not have an anolog master but a pcm one. My point is I could not play it loud on any dac I own not even my msb stack. The new lamp r2r and its tubes calmed it down and still left it pcm.
I can play it so loud that I can hear the Amps in the studio hum on quite parts lol.
Be it the cd layer or dsd part it's way over the top. My guess is acoustic sounds did not have an anolog master but a pcm one. My point is I could not play it loud on any dac I own not even my msb stack. The new lamp r2r and its tubes calmed it down and still left it pcm.
I can play it so loud that I can hear the Amps in the studio hum on quite parts lol.
Good points there Alrainbow. I dunno what tubes do. I said that FETs are switching devices, as far as I understand the tech (not much Ha Ha). But the bias on a FET in class A is constant right? Does this mean it can switch super fast i.e. more analogue. Maybe, not sure. Are tubes constand current devices (no switching) and is that the difference? Whatever the tubes DO handle all frequencies differently, I can hear it.
M
y favourite phono stages are all tube. My favourite DACs are all tube. Some of my favourite power amps however are solid state. Power amps I find needs lots of control and power, and flee powered SETs can struggle somewhat. Massive simplification by me there, sorry, and yeah 103dB horns can fly on SETs. But what I heard to date. I haven't heard the ultimate SET power amps like an Ongaku. But I used to have SET 300b mono blocks, so know the flavour.
But Alrainbow, I totally agree with you, some tubes in the chain is great IMO. My 009s and Carbon amp would probably be too much if I didn't have a tubed DAC which is also R-2R. It was with the C1, and the MSB Platinum IV.
I had a mid range Audio Note analogue setup to about 18 years ago. I bought it all used. I sold it to move to digital, and then the problems began! The digital journey, many have been on that one.
My SETs were Audio Note Conqueror Silver. Speakers were Kef 107s (disaster with the SETs), then Audio Note AN-E (borrowed), Avante Garde home demo (can't remember the model but was new out in 2009) then Zingali Overture 2s, then Zingali Client Name Evo's. I found the SETs were very organic and easy to listen too, but with decent tubes fast and detailed enough. The thing in the end I am a bit of a bass head, play loud and like the drama of music. SET was possibly a bit too intimate for my taste. My Plinius sounds tube like (yes that sounds wacked I know) but also has the drive and bass foundation and iron grip SS can give. It is also a warm sounding amp. I also got fed up with power tube costs and hassles. That and my lifestyle didn't fit having tube power amps I can't leave on. t don't get on well with colder sounding electronics, whether tube or SS, just my thing I guess. I do like detail and feeling the music is alive, but not in exaggerated way. My journey through DS DACs didn't go well.
Does that answer the question? Might sound rambling, but my audio journey was all over the shop I found. Buying used is quite good IMO, and you can always sell on at not so much of a loss. Buying new may be more problematic if you shift gear on an ongoing basis. Right now (finally) I feel grounded, very happy and the system sounds right to me. It is not so much a DAC here is better than that one there. I is also the synergy of how they interact together with the rest of your system (and your room). I have heard many top flight DACs that sound just awful with another top flight amplifier or speaker. It is not a sure thing, just like relationships Ha Ha. What I am trying to say is, some gear is just made for each other, and finding that is the fun in this hobby IMO.
Thinking a decent headphone setup may fit my lifestyle, in 2010 I bought a Stax SRM-717 amplifier and 007 HPs (Mk2s). I loved using them late at night when speakers would be a problem. I got hooked quite quickly on the fast and transparent electrostatic sound. It had something new about it that I found addictive. Later I had a DIY KGSShv built, then another one for a second system, then a KGSShv Carbon and bought the 009s. The sound from that is incredible, does something I have not heard in 200K speakers. So I run both the 009s and the Zingalis from the same source and a passive with output select. Works well. Funny, I stupidly thought headphones would be simpler right? No room acoustics to worry about. Wrong. The way the amplifier drives the HP seems even more critical. And they need a good source or they will remind you of it on a regular basis.
Apologies, I need to put this in systems or another thread probably. Will do that.
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Astro,
I am playing around with these for the next few days:
http://precide.ch/eng/eergo/ergo.htm
and
http://precide.ch/test/ERGO/e_enduser test_ERGO AMT.pdf
The Ergo AMT can be driven by your Plinius power amp.
I am playing around with these for the next few days:
http://precide.ch/eng/eergo/ergo.htm
and
http://precide.ch/test/ERGO/e_enduser test_ERGO AMT.pdf
The Ergo AMT can be driven by your Plinius power amp.
That is correct. It is good to post on other forums as well I find, talk to new folk.
@bonzo75
@astrostar59
just to say hallo to you folks, having shared thoughts on GG, AN, 845/211 and Zingali recently...
My set up with YG Anat II reference professional speakers preferred the GG with Elrog 300b or Kron 242 tubes, the Elrog 300b was used with the Lampi Edition of Kron 5U4G , which was a nice match, but I preferred the Psvane WE274b for the Kron 242 .
Having added Zingali Client Name Evo 1.5 to my set up, I changed the DAC to the Canadian ANK level 5 5.1 DAC in a unique 3shunt silver edition version with 2 Kron Lampi Edition 5U4g tubes. This DAC has a little less resolution, but a very organic and powerful way of playing music.
Sonically it is like playing Kron 242 tubes in the GG without having the potential problem of the high output .
@astrostar59
just to say hallo to you folks, having shared thoughts on GG, AN, 845/211 and Zingali recently...
My set up with YG Anat II reference professional speakers preferred the GG with Elrog 300b or Kron 242 tubes, the Elrog 300b was used with the Lampi Edition of Kron 5U4G , which was a nice match, but I preferred the Psvane WE274b for the Kron 242 .
Having added Zingali Client Name Evo 1.5 to my set up, I changed the DAC to the Canadian ANK level 5 5.1 DAC in a unique 3shunt silver edition version with 2 Kron Lampi Edition 5U4g tubes. This DAC has a little less resolution, but a very organic and powerful way of playing music.
Sonically it is like playing Kron 242 tubes in the GG without having the potential problem of the high output .
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