HeadphoneAddict

Well, the chassis appears to be floating and there is no continuity between the ZDT PSU and Amp. With the wire I installed between the ZDT and WES still in place there is continuity between those two amps, as well as between my phono preamp, PWD DAC and the Travagans Red amp that is connected to the WES loop-out. But the ZDT PSU seems to be totally isolated from everything else. I suppose I'll have to phone Craig and see if this is intentional and/or a problem.

I will check that later tonight or tomorrow. Didn't Craig just create a new amp that has a floating chassis and someone said that was a feature, and then others chimed in saying it was not such a great idea? Anyway, this is straying off topic except that the issue was discovered by connecting two amps to the PWD. If I find the chassis might be floating I'll contact Craig about it, and post a brief note about what he says we should do. Nikongod, thanks for the explanation.

Hearing how good your B22 + K1000 sounded right next to your BH/O2 Mk1 at our mini-meet, I figured you'd sell the BH eventually. I still have your O2 Mk1, and I like them better on the WES. Sorry. I figure it's when you sell the K1000/B22 that we'll have to get your head examined. So, what did you do with your other stats (Jade)?

I just meant in terms of not the wiring not looking like a street map like the Woo amps. I agree it's not really like Mikhail's work, and all the solder points looked nice. But I just thought it would look a little neater. Yes, the ZDT has an external PSU. I found that without the wire between the two amps, that if I touch one of the screws on the cable plug between the PSU and the ZDT that the hum/noise gets much quieter.

Right, I suspect the problem is the ZDT, because if I connect my Travagans Red to the PWD with the WES the noise isn't there. I have crappy iPhone photos of the inside of the ZDT that I took a while ago, after I lost a screw at RMAF. I didn't post these before out of courtesy to Craig, and because sadly I thought they looked closer to Mikhail's work than Woo's. If anyone can see an immediate problem let me know. Dan, I am in your debt for helping me.

Well, the wire fixed it for sure. The PWD is now silent with black background, even at max volume on the ZDT/HD800 with the music paused. Thanks guys!

It might be better than banking online with First Bank (bunnies).

Thanks guys, I'm gonna head down to the basement tonight to try the wire between amps, after I comfort my son to sleep without his cat. He's one of those "can't sleep without the cat" kids, and we've been drugging him with Benadryl at night while hoping that the cat comes back soon. It's only been a week but my wife mentioned possible "kitty heaven" to him tonight and sent him off the deep end. If the wire doesn't work I'll contact PS Audio about a possible XLR ground lift adapter and whether that should be next.

Had to investigate a cat sighting today, and this cat could have been Boo's sister, but she wasn't him. My son is laying in my bed right now crying over and over, "I want my kitty, I want my kitty". It's heartbreaking.

That should be easy, as these amps are covered in screws. I'll report back after I pick up kids from school. Thanks!

Thanks. If we put food out we'll get mice, foxes, coyotes, mountain lions and bears (in that order). The cat's being going outside for 4 years and likes to chase the foxes and eat the mice, but we've never seen the coyotes in the area until last week. I hope one didn't get him. The mountain lions were caught 4 houses down last summer.

I'm hoping somebody can help with with a problem doing this with my PWD. I am getting hum and noise (not a clean hum) when both my Woo WES is connected via XLR and my EC ZDT is connected via RCA at the same time. It's only when listening to the PWD when both amps are connected, and if I unplug the WES XLR interconnect the ZDT becomes silent, and if I unplug the ZDT RCA interconnect the WES becomes silent. If I switch the ZDT to input #2 with my phono preamplifier it becomes silent, but I haven't tried the phono preamp on the WES because the WES is the balanced only demo unit. It doesn't make it go away if I unplug an amp's power cable, only if I unplug the interconnect. It seems to be a combination of ground loop and RFI, because it changes as I move the headphones around farther and closer to the amps. It actually improved a little when I unplugged my Synergistic Research active shielded coax cable from the wall. But the noise is still there even with no digital cables plugged into the DAC (only power and interconnects). It doesn't matter if the PWD is set for COAX, TOSlink or USB input, the noise is there. I've even removed the Coax and USB and optical cables from the rig and put them far away, so they don't act like antennas. But, if I switch the PWD inputs to I2S then the noise goes away (I have no I2S cable or source connected, but I just got an HDMI cable to plug into it and see if that makes it noisy). My Digital Link III and Apogee mini-DAC have never had this problem with hum/noise when both amps are connected to the same DAC, using these same power cables and interconnects. I was up until 4AM last night trying to find a way to eliminate it, and the best thing I can do is to unplug the interconnects from one of the two amps. Sometimes I can touch an amp with my hand and quiet the hum/noise but not completely, and sometimes touching one it makes it louder. It's not always the same amp that I have to touch to lower the hum/noise, because that changes depending on how I swap or route my cables differently. It's definitely worsened or improved if I move my ZDT PSU around, and it also changes in volume if I move my headphones closer or farther from my rig (HD800). Right now, by moving the ZDT PSU to the granite shelf behind the rig I have the hum/noise reduced to about 70-80 dB below the music levels (a guess), if I sit in the right spot and not too close to the rig. But it still bugs the hell out of me that I can't get silence without unplugging the WES when listening to the ZDT, or unplugging the ZDT when listening to the WES. My interconnects are anti-cables IC's, and I plan to see if my ALO SXC IC's in the bedroom rig have better shielding. In the photo attached, the DLIII is completely unplugged and disconnected, not doing anything, but the ZDT PSU hasn't been moved yet. My power cables are a Shunyata Viper on the ZDT and a Tributaries cable from a local hi-fi shop on the WES. I've tried swapping the power cables, and plugging them into an APC battery backup or just a simple power strip with no change. I'm thinking of trying my Belkin home theater noise filter power strip that I use in the bedroom rig, but I'm not convinced those things really work all that much, nor that it would help in this case. Because everything becomes silent when only one amp is plugged, in I don't think the APC is giving me noisy AC power. Any suggestions? Ranging from simple to hard, I'm game?

Our "Boo Kitty" went missing on 3/2 and we're really upset about this. The cat went outside about 6AM and about an hour later two coyotes were wandering through the backyard. My son went out to get the cat after the coyotes moved on to the neighbors yard, and then my wife let the dog out to scare off the coyotes which also scared off the cat. She didn't know my son almost had the cat in his hands, and that was the last time we saw him. We've discovered how many black cats live in the area, and after posting signs all over we've had about 15 calls in a week. But none were our cat, or we couldn't find the cat after were told where he wandering in people's yards. He has a collar with our address and phone, and he's been chipped by the Humane Society who haven't had him come through, but they called today about a "found cat ad" in the paper which could be ours. But the cat is not with the people who posted the ad, it's been getting fed by the neighbors who are planning to move soon and take the cat with them. So now I have to try to speak with the "cat feeders" and see if they have our cat.

Pico Slim, no special knob color request...

Poor Stretch. Same thing happened to me at RMAF with GES vs WES driving the O2, and there was no going back.

audionut, that's great information. I want to add that for the year that I owned ESP-950 with stax cable (bought from Spritzer) that I never had any squealing issues when used with SRM-1 Mk2 Pro, Woo GES, SRD-7 Pro, or E90 with adapter. It only seems to be some ESP-950 that do this, but not all of them. I really wonder why that is?

PS Audio Perfectwave DAC, thanks Mike!

I'm in the same boat with a pair of their Rocket Onyx subs. It's a shame, but if Mark really did what they accuse him of doing then he deserves what he gets from the court.

I'll bet they'll jack up the price when it ships, and wont honor the $15 price.

Actually, the UE11Pro demo at CanJam did not have as much bass as my fully fitted UE11Pro, which I suspect is just the way they sound when used with universal fit tips. He said they told him that after being fitted that "they would have twice as much bass", and I agree with that. The UE11Pro do have more bass than the JH13Pro or ES3X, being at or above the level of bass from the W3 with universal tips (W3 with UM56 tips actually tames their bass a little). I've not heard the Super.fi 5 EB so I can't comment on that. But I think the UE11Pro will probably be enough bass for him.

Happy birthday!

I get so much f'ing crap from someone here when I suddenly have money for something I couldn't afford before, that I try to make sure he knows I wasn't lying about not having the money without selling something. Can't please anyone I suppose.

I love that clip. Bitchin' speakers, I have a pair myself. Not.

Thanks, I appreciate the feedback on it. Mike isn't sure if he is selling yet, but he is considering it. I sent an email to Paul McGowen at PS Audio to make sure I that still have a warranty if Mike decides to sell and I buy it. I have over half the money now for a new one, and the rest will be here between the 23rd and 26th with our tax refund. Having already sold the Pico and Predator really helped raise funds for this. I'm keeping the Apogee mini-DAC for my bedroom rig, and not sure what I'll do with the DLIII (and I'm still getting the Slim). If I do get this PWD I will have to forget about a phono preamp for a while, so I can still get an implant for the cracked molar that I needed removed. I did think the PS Audio DLIII in 96K up-sampling mode sounded exactly like a Stello DA100 Signature in a 2-3 hour side-by-side comparison, although I still prefer my Apogee mini-DAC/S11 PSU. I'm not sure I would have called DLIII mediocre, except that the jitter with Apple TV was bad and the Cullen stage IV that someone brought to RMAF sounded a bit better (more refined and spacious, less edgy).