In audio stuff, USB3 is not needed... but when you are designing the hardware, you find out that USB3 is ubiquitous and cheap.... asking for USB2 hardware is actually more expensive nowadays.
And USB-C is a superior interconnection. I hate micro USB connectors.
Breaking in the Teflon Caps upgrade.
Re: Breaking in the Teflon Caps upgrade.
You are absolutely correct and I also like the USB C connector with no need for specific orientation. However, almost all usb connectors on audio hardware is the good old fashioned USB A connector type, whether the it support USB A, B, or C protocol.
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Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
Re: Breaking in the Teflon Caps upgrade.
They are moving to USB-C.
The professionals and computer oriented audio devices are moving that way... the "High End" digital components are stuck in the past: low volume production requires big expenses on R&D they can't afford.
To be honest, I've always thought that High End DACs were a joke. I've always looked towards the semi-pro World... they were out there with Firewire and 24/96 when the "High End" Audio were stuck with synchronous USB1 and Redbook...
What I particularly like about Burson is that they are one of the very few outfits that have split their analog electronics from their DACs. You can update the opamps nicely while the DAC stays current.
But then you got stuff like RME which blows away all the "High End" audio products.
BTW, the Nuforce DDA100 and DDA120 that we used in our home offices only support 24/96. Which is actually fine. I got a Nuforce uDAC-3 that does DSD... amazing little beast. These products are like five years old today... and still sound outstanding.
The professionals and computer oriented audio devices are moving that way... the "High End" digital components are stuck in the past: low volume production requires big expenses on R&D they can't afford.
To be honest, I've always thought that High End DACs were a joke. I've always looked towards the semi-pro World... they were out there with Firewire and 24/96 when the "High End" Audio were stuck with synchronous USB1 and Redbook...
What I particularly like about Burson is that they are one of the very few outfits that have split their analog electronics from their DACs. You can update the opamps nicely while the DAC stays current.
But then you got stuff like RME which blows away all the "High End" audio products.
BTW, the Nuforce DDA100 and DDA120 that we used in our home offices only support 24/96. Which is actually fine. I got a Nuforce uDAC-3 that does DSD... amazing little beast. These products are like five years old today... and still sound outstanding.
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Big Dog RJ
- Ultimate
- Posts: 2361
- Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:30 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Breaking in the Teflon Caps upgrade.
Nice one T-bone! Keep up the good work mate.
BTW, how are those Pass Aleph amps going?
Just bumped into a long lost mate whom I hadn't seen in a decade ... he'd been upto his old audio gig. So I visited the other day and there low and behold one excellent system with a very good match: Aleph Class A amps (original but slightly modded with new parts) driving a pair of Apogee Duetta Sigs! Preamp and phonostage CJ's CT5 and TEA2SE (same two I'm currently using) with a Rega RP10 and Ortofon Candenza Black. Very very nice! Ended up listening till 3am, had to head back home, didn't want to leave!
Those Alephs when partnered with the right gear, are really good. Another top Pass Labs amps that he had but not yet connected (still being set up) were the XA60.8 monoblocks. I'm seriously thinking of these...as they fit in nicely to drive CLX's. I tried them out and they're fantastic! After having tried out the Vitus SS-103 (another superb Class A design), there's something more in those Pass Labs XA series Mos-Fet output stages that sounds closer to tubes. The warmth, that expansive soundstage depth, plus musicality, it's all there. I wouldn't say the Vitus SS-103 is lacking, just different and a hell of a lot more expensive! Anyway, that move to Pass Labs is not happening now but in due time.
Sorry for the digress... just thought I'd post a note.
Do let us know how those Alephs are going and which preamp you prefer as a match. I'm sure that ET3SE would prove worthy.
Cheers, RJ
BTW, how are those Pass Aleph amps going?
Just bumped into a long lost mate whom I hadn't seen in a decade ... he'd been upto his old audio gig. So I visited the other day and there low and behold one excellent system with a very good match: Aleph Class A amps (original but slightly modded with new parts) driving a pair of Apogee Duetta Sigs! Preamp and phonostage CJ's CT5 and TEA2SE (same two I'm currently using) with a Rega RP10 and Ortofon Candenza Black. Very very nice! Ended up listening till 3am, had to head back home, didn't want to leave!
Those Alephs when partnered with the right gear, are really good. Another top Pass Labs amps that he had but not yet connected (still being set up) were the XA60.8 monoblocks. I'm seriously thinking of these...as they fit in nicely to drive CLX's. I tried them out and they're fantastic! After having tried out the Vitus SS-103 (another superb Class A design), there's something more in those Pass Labs XA series Mos-Fet output stages that sounds closer to tubes. The warmth, that expansive soundstage depth, plus musicality, it's all there. I wouldn't say the Vitus SS-103 is lacking, just different and a hell of a lot more expensive! Anyway, that move to Pass Labs is not happening now but in due time.
Sorry for the digress... just thought I'd post a note.
Do let us know how those Alephs are going and which preamp you prefer as a match. I'm sure that ET3SE would prove worthy.
Cheers, RJ
Re: Breaking in the Teflon Caps upgrade.
I'm currently running the ET3"SE" into a number of Pass designs... with DIY upgrades... mono Aleph 2, Aleph 5, First Watt SIT3, F4 and F5. Have also run extensively the PV9 with the teflon caps and Svetlanas.
I've heard the XA60.8 and XA100.8... huge beasts... they sound great, but honestly, I was not so blown away by their sound, at least compared to what I got at home... they are "standard" Pass MOSFETs with lots of parts. Perhaps it was the preamp the dealer had set up... some uber expensive solid state jobbie, not a Pass unit.
( Preamp wise I'm into tubes or getting into autoformers with solid state current followers... ).
The Alephs sound tremendous, a little bit of 2nd harmonic distortion, just enough to really make the sound sweet and realistic. The A2 have lots of power, the A5 will drive most anything to sane levels. The F4 is an amazing amp.. current driver only and the CJ preamps I got, PV9 and ET3SE both s swing enough voltage to drive the F4 to ~35wpc. Amazing amp.... a line with gain. F5 sits on the shelf. Great amp, really great amp, but 25 wpc... been pushed out by the SIT3... which is an incredible amp. I'm having a new one built, a clone SIT4, which is sort of based on (kind of) the XA25 (clone name is XA252) circuit but with SIT output. No more power than the SIT3 but different sound. We'll see.
Of all the amps, I'd say the A2s drive with incredible drive. They have prodigious bass output with all that power. Even at low levels, in the Maggie 1.7s, you can "sense" the bass lines.
The FW SIT3 is the best in the midrange. By far the best, but it will only drive Maggies to 8/10s. It drives my little Audio Notes, with Entec woofers, to very satisfying Rock And Roll levels without ever breaking up... the soundstage stays put... it's your ears that give up before the amps...
Comparing vintage Aleph with the new DIY designs.... the newer designs are based on the vintage units, BUT, they have updated power supply filtering and they don't look like the Borg, At least mine were build on big black boxes with handles and a switch/blue LED on the front panel. By now, all vintage Alephs should be sent to the factory for a check up and likely component swaps. Pass Labs still supports them
If you can... really, really, try listening to a FW amp... specially the SIT family. I know they are very rare, and even the DIY units use the unobtanium NOS Tokin THF515 transistors... or perhaps an early Sony VFET. I realize you guys are driving big speakers which need big amps... but, but... given your CJ front ends... you ought to try an amp with real subtlety.
Heck, try an F4.. it will floor you. You will hear the preamp in all of its glory, the amp gets out of the way.. a true wire with gain... unity gain, no feedback, no degeneration...
Oh, I know where a clone FW F5 turbo v2 lies... the owner might sell it.... same power output as the A2 but with better subtlety. Owner is running it into Maggie 3.7s but it's not enough power, He wants Aleph 1.2s.... or something DIY based on them. It will take four chassis to build that.... the biggest problem is getting enough heatsinks to that beast to keep it from melting. I think each channel will require 800 watts of heat dissipation!
I've heard the XA60.8 and XA100.8... huge beasts... they sound great, but honestly, I was not so blown away by their sound, at least compared to what I got at home... they are "standard" Pass MOSFETs with lots of parts. Perhaps it was the preamp the dealer had set up... some uber expensive solid state jobbie, not a Pass unit.
( Preamp wise I'm into tubes or getting into autoformers with solid state current followers... ).
The Alephs sound tremendous, a little bit of 2nd harmonic distortion, just enough to really make the sound sweet and realistic. The A2 have lots of power, the A5 will drive most anything to sane levels. The F4 is an amazing amp.. current driver only and the CJ preamps I got, PV9 and ET3SE both s swing enough voltage to drive the F4 to ~35wpc. Amazing amp.... a line with gain. F5 sits on the shelf. Great amp, really great amp, but 25 wpc... been pushed out by the SIT3... which is an incredible amp. I'm having a new one built, a clone SIT4, which is sort of based on (kind of) the XA25 (clone name is XA252) circuit but with SIT output. No more power than the SIT3 but different sound. We'll see.
Of all the amps, I'd say the A2s drive with incredible drive. They have prodigious bass output with all that power. Even at low levels, in the Maggie 1.7s, you can "sense" the bass lines.
The FW SIT3 is the best in the midrange. By far the best, but it will only drive Maggies to 8/10s. It drives my little Audio Notes, with Entec woofers, to very satisfying Rock And Roll levels without ever breaking up... the soundstage stays put... it's your ears that give up before the amps...
Comparing vintage Aleph with the new DIY designs.... the newer designs are based on the vintage units, BUT, they have updated power supply filtering and they don't look like the Borg, At least mine were build on big black boxes with handles and a switch/blue LED on the front panel. By now, all vintage Alephs should be sent to the factory for a check up and likely component swaps. Pass Labs still supports them
If you can... really, really, try listening to a FW amp... specially the SIT family. I know they are very rare, and even the DIY units use the unobtanium NOS Tokin THF515 transistors... or perhaps an early Sony VFET. I realize you guys are driving big speakers which need big amps... but, but... given your CJ front ends... you ought to try an amp with real subtlety.
Heck, try an F4.. it will floor you. You will hear the preamp in all of its glory, the amp gets out of the way.. a true wire with gain... unity gain, no feedback, no degeneration...
Oh, I know where a clone FW F5 turbo v2 lies... the owner might sell it.... same power output as the A2 but with better subtlety. Owner is running it into Maggie 3.7s but it's not enough power, He wants Aleph 1.2s.... or something DIY based on them. It will take four chassis to build that.... the biggest problem is getting enough heatsinks to that beast to keep it from melting. I think each channel will require 800 watts of heat dissipation!
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Big Dog RJ
- Ultimate
- Posts: 2361
- Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2014 6:30 am
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Breaking in the Teflon Caps upgrade.
Yes, that's a fair point. In fact partnering the XA series amplifiers with the right kind of preamp is most important. One of my very good mates, who also has CLX's, drives them full range with just a single XA30.8 and uses a Leben tube preamp. It's fantastic! That's when I ventured out towards the XA series having more Class A bias.
I've also auditioned the big XA160.8's and really admired those but price vs performance, I firmly believe the XA60.8's are a perfect combination of very high quality Class A bias at a decent price tag. Compared to the Vitus SS-103, which is superb and then my favourite is the Dartzeel NH series stereo amp but the Dartzeel doesn't have that full "grip" factor on the bass. I found the mids & highs were superb on the Dartzeel and LF detail was all there but not quite the heft & weight of the other two. LF agility is tops!
So my quest continues... until then I'm just enjoying those fine tunes with the CJ monoblocks, that's the finest for me so far. It was a special custom mod done on them, solely intended to handle full range stats. So I'll be keeping the CJ amps. The SS gear is just something to look forward to as another option when the time comes.
Thanks for your detailed post, some very useful info indeed.
Cheers, and have a good one now.
Woof! RJ
I've also auditioned the big XA160.8's and really admired those but price vs performance, I firmly believe the XA60.8's are a perfect combination of very high quality Class A bias at a decent price tag. Compared to the Vitus SS-103, which is superb and then my favourite is the Dartzeel NH series stereo amp but the Dartzeel doesn't have that full "grip" factor on the bass. I found the mids & highs were superb on the Dartzeel and LF detail was all there but not quite the heft & weight of the other two. LF agility is tops!
So my quest continues... until then I'm just enjoying those fine tunes with the CJ monoblocks, that's the finest for me so far. It was a special custom mod done on them, solely intended to handle full range stats. So I'll be keeping the CJ amps. The SS gear is just something to look forward to as another option when the time comes.
Thanks for your detailed post, some very useful info indeed.
Cheers, and have a good one now.
Woof! RJ