Zero Distortion Digital Dangal: Jazzhead's System - Neodio Origine, Trinity, Aqua Formula, Stahltek

[bonzo75]

Ok I'm with you. The RK is the better recti and 101d is a greet tube by specs alone. But it seems my daxs don't like it lol. I did hear a gg1 setup For them it was Magic now doubt
Lucas says the 242 is the fastest slew rate of the set tubes so it makes sense it's fast and real
You were the first to push this tube but as you heard both gg Dacs Hated it. Both my Gg2 and pac love it and I asked Lucas to make both dacs sound great on the tube. I thank you for that a great tube

We moved on past the 101d for many years. All other tubes sounded better. Then suddenly, at audioquattr, it sounded great. And better than his stock KR 242

 

[Alrainbow]

It's why I keep so many tubes on hand.
As LAMPI improved its dacs on making its tube circuitry to meet tube specs better. More tubes sound great. We both know the older Dacs all had a tube used to voice it. This made it king. Both of my gg dacs were made for the 2A3 as such it ruled. Your dac and a few others were made for the 242 lucky you lol.
I heard a bal gg dac with 101d it was great really great and as I swapped tubes none got me to the 101d sound.
My new gg2 and pac all play all tunes very well.
The 242 magic you spoke of a long time now is in my room what a pleasure to it.
Also a vol pot on the dac for me is a must but some still feel less is more even if when maxed out it bypasses completely.

 

[bonzo75]

It's been 18 months since this report. Since then, Jazzhead has sold off his Stahltek 37k transport + 37k dac, Aqua formula, and Trinity. He got in the TAD Cd player, which he rates better than Neodio (I haven't compared here yet). I helped him source a Lampi Golden Gate from the used market at bargain price. He has now tried it with KR recti, KR PX25, and KR 242. Since the first note, he has been stuck on 242 - total transparency, see through, loads more energy, and distance increasing especially on classical (on amplified he says all his digital players are more or less equal). He called it a solid state tube - which is exactly how I would describe it.

He has now gone a bit mad and sourced himself a balanced Golden Gate and is getting the RK version of the tubes.

I will let him add, he doesn't access the forum much these days, if he wants to anything as the Lampi runs in (yes, it is stone cold after months of not being used, and the tubes are brand new so they will get better) and the compares of balanced and SE.

His one statement to me was "with 242 it's more direct unfiltered sound, so going back to the TAD it is like a step back from reality to recorded sound"

The Lampi is just put on the TAD. All his other gear is well cabled, isolated, and tripoint ground. He will get round to that with the Lampi. He is using the TAD for transport when playing the Lampi.

Downstream is Koda K15, Vitus SS 101 and Marten speakers

Lampi nation - Sorry I advised against the Pacific, hope you appreciate the rest, and I am sure he is mad enough to get round to the Pac soon.

Some more comments

Me: how's it going today
JH: insane.
This is unreal. Put PX25 in yesterday, no fun.
Me: it won't be. Now with 242 in, the dac is like Thanos. It will destroy anything in its path.


Yesterday, JH: playing rock now, gargantuan bass, woofers landing in my lap if I am not careful. On one track stool next to my chair was vibrating.

Separation of notes is outstanding with all this power
Me: yes, the 242 sees each musical line through
Him: yes, even in a dense mix

 

[Alrainbow]

This is typical providing the system can handle it.
Some are limited in speaker or amp power in this case they may prefer the slower px25.

 

[RogerD]

The only thing?

Tis a shocker I know, but the playback side has always been where the bottle neck occurs. I recently talked to a well known top recording technician in NYC and we both set up our electrical systems the same. The advantages of digital are that there is not any mechanical issues unlike vinyl. Digital is only electronic and if you provide clean power for the processor and signal path you get a excellent reproduction of the master tape. This also has an effect on the laser pick up.
I see Sony has increased performance of their 4K video players and lowered their prices to below a 1k Dollars. Only in the High End does the price of improved technology go in reverse.

 

[Alrainbow]

While great power is paramount it's the entire process inside that makes it 1k or 20 k sound

 

[RogerD]

While great power is paramount it's the entire process inside that makes it 1k or 20 k sound

Not necessarily true. Sony and Phillips developed the technology. I think it is telling that prices of new products show that digital players performance keep improving while prices keep dropping. In marketing that is a "mature" technology. Like I said the bottleneck is on the playback side...and only because of entrenched methods and understanding.

 

[Alrainbow]

I think my post was mistyped I mean the whole process of the playback dac.
In dacs I have found there to be three levels
Top is msb , dcs and the like these dacs sound good on there own even if a poor sourced is used
As in a tablet or desktop.
They rebuild the data stream to a point of making a server far less needed but do know it still matters
Next down is where the jewels reside it's where Lampi lives and others.
These dacs can approach the top tier and in some cases exceed them. But to achieve this a very well made sever is needed. I have building then for years and have found I can make a dac that is just. Few hundred sound good and this is at my place a war chest presentation of sorts no where to hind.
Lampi dacs rule here in that they tube roll even if it's just the recti.
Usb or network can be made great.
Next down is the bottom tier these dacs can't be made to play there level. All in all power is a must
But a server is where I feel I can challenge any level dac with some tier 2 dacs.
One such server is the ldms. And that guy makes heavens open. Anything I want to try he makes it happen. Coz of him it's better then it ever could be due to limitations of software and hardware haunting each other. Here is a link. Enjoy.

 

[Alrainbow]

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/ldms-server.27781/

 

[wisnon]

This is typical providing the system can handle it.
Some are limited in speaker or amp power in this case they may prefer the slower px25.

I prefer the PX25 and I have no practical power limits as ai can get 1300wpc into 0.3 ohms.
Speakers are 94db, 6ohm average.

 

[wisnon]

Not necessarily true. Sony and Phillips developed the technology. I think it is telling that prices of new products show that digital players performance keep improving while prices keep dropping. In marketing that is a "mature" technology. Like I said the bottleneck is on the playback side...and only because of entrenched methods and understanding.

So the use of liberal use of opamps dont matter? What about noise isolation? Noise that piggybacks on the music signal that is generated at connection points like USB receiver, for example?

Clean power is HUGE, but not the only thing.

 

[RogerD]

So the use of liberal use of opamps dont matter? What about noise isolation? Noise that piggybacks on the music signal that is generated at connection points like USB receiver, for example?

Clean power is HUGE, but not the only thing.

That’s always been my point...get rid of the internally generated noise in the signal path.

 

[bonzo75]

guys is it possible to take design discussions and streamer discussions to another thread? This is for jazzhead's system which has had among the best dacs in it and the Lampi is the Thanos. It is inevitable. We will now wait for more Lampi updates, then balanced vs SE, RK vs normal, and then his OCD will kick in and he might get other dacs to compare

 

[wisnon]

Its been more than 24 hrs. When can we expect updates? lol

 

[Alrainbow]

Is there any pics of jazz s room ? Love to see it.
What genre does he play ? Mono or stereo ?