philodox

DAC1 is poop...

I understand and respect aerius' point, but I don't look at it the same way myself. I never thought head-fi was a place to get information to make a decision... I always relied on the opinions of people I respect for that. For me it has always just been a place to find out about new things and show off your own stuff. If I can guide someone with my 'wisdom' that is great... but I am not expecting others to guide me. I'll agree that there are more newbs than there used to be though, and I can see how that would rub some people the wrong way. I just ignore any threads that don't grab me with their title look for the little arrows that tell me I've posted there before. It really does come down to what interests the individual though... and what intimidates them. People who are new to the hobby are really only interested in portable gear as they dont have the money or need for a home setup. I've noticed at a few of the recent toronto meets that it was basically 95% portable audio, and that is where the newbs gathered and that is what they talked about. Other than a few curious people, I basically had to bring them over to listen to my [non portable] setup. That one at the tranzac that we both went to wasnt bad, but the bunch that came before it were brutal.

Sweet! I've always wanted one of those... and now I have two!

But I thought it was exactly like your CD player? [j/k] Just checked and mine does have the orange rectangles... whatever they are.

Good idea, though I think we are pretty much done here. I just don't like when people cut something up based on taking a glance at it when they have no real world experience with it.

Missed the edit window: I would also like to point out that half the reason for going with the zapfilter in the first place is so that I can have discrete balanced outputs. It just happens to be the most cost effective way of accomplishing this as most CD players with this feature stock are insanely expensive. In any case, all of this aside, we will just have to wait until everything is in place... then you can have a listen and see what you think.

It turned the Zhaolu from a piece of crap into a source significantly better than my CD-E5 or Lavry DA10. I would call that exceptional. What chips are we talking about here? The zapfilter is not OPAMP based. I'm confused. Have you ever actually heard a zapfilter Eaphan? I'm sorry, but "It won't nail down tone, decays, and low-level details as well" sounds like you are talking out of your ass... Also, what exactly is the output stage in Biggies modded player? Is it tube based, transistor based, or something else? I've heard it and it does sound great, but there isn't exactly a lot of info about the FabAudio stuff. I think he mentioned that they have closed up shop as well?

Yeah, I was just being a bitch. I am sure it sounds great.

Its all about synergy as you well know. It is not really surprising that your system tweaked for the PS-1 [sounds amazing with them] is not a great match with my K340s. Likewise, my system lacks bass with your PS-1s. ...transformer output? Icky.

Oh, I see... well if you get a chance again, I would try them without the foam inserts. They go from boomy to balanced when you remove them.

Take out the foam inserts and give them a chance to burn in...

Your amp sucks balls with my K340s. As for the output stage in your CDP being better than the zapfilter... that is all relative. I'm pretty sure your output stage is single ended only?

Well, it is not about squeezing the tube sound out completely, it is about designing the amps so that the minute variations between various tubes do not have a large impact. Peter's amps still sound like tube amps, never fear. And no, I am not worried about him designing my amp because he does not believe in tube rolling on his circuits. Why would I be?

Well, I told him the difference the sylvania 6GU7's made in my amp and he didnt argue or anything... but I think he is still skeptical. Perhaps they wont make a difference once he is finished... you never know. Back on topic, I agree with aerius that the top end Grado's really improve with a good amp.

You just wait until I get my Zapfilter in [it just arrived] and Peter finishes my amp. [hopefully Renato and I will pay him a visit next weekend]

Sorry, I've promised not to. No idea... hopefully we will get more info as the mod becomes public. Looks like mid February is a more likely time that it will be complete.

I would expect it to be $300-500 personally, but a $200 pricetag would sure be nice. As for the sound signature of the drivers... meh. You can make the MS-1 sound bassier than an HF-1 with a simple tweak that costs nothing. I would imagine that there are many ways [enclosure, driver tweaks, etc] that the MS-Pro driver could be made to sound more HP1000 like.

No, the sound as well. Not sure how much I can say, but the builder has reason to believe that the MS-2i uses the same driver as the MS Pro's... and I don't know that they are necessarily going to look like the HP1000. Definitely aluminum construction though, and will be trying to create a similar sound.

I think if I built an electrostatic setup I would go for the Gamma Pro's... was talking to Peter McAlister recently and he likes his over his Omega I's for many types of music.

I know the head-fi'er who is doing this personally, and while it has taken some time to get off the ground, I am very excited to hear the finished product. If it is coming out this month I am surprised I haven't recieved a request to whip up a meet. Might have to send him a PM and see what's up.

Bad business 101 when dealing with knowledgable customers... I do understand your other points though. Labour would be more costly, but I don't think it is actually all that difficult or time consuming. Given what the Plitrons cost I would imagine there would be significant savings. What I don't know is if hand wound transformers would be better or even equal the Plitrons...

I really am interested... The reason I ask is that if there is no strong reason to use the Plitrons versus a hand wound transformer, Mikhail could wind his own or get one of his workers to do it and possibly pass cost savings along to his customers.

I did... but I am not a bad debater, I don't want to debate to begin with. I am stating my opinion and allowing others to have their opinion rather than trying to convince everyone that I am right and they are wrong. If I was really passionate about this subject perhaps I would make the effort to convert you, but I'm not. And I did see your appology. Peace.

What is it that makes these transformers so amazing versus a custom hand wound transformer? [sorry grawk, I had to]

Basically I meant, "This is my opinion and I don't feel like arguing about it". Is that ok with you?