Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 24, 2023 23:20:53 GMT
optical The cables I was thinking of were interconnects by Organic and speaker cables by Jorma. Still using a Gothic AES, purchased off Oli a while ago, but temptation is always around the corner with Shunyata. Plenty of Shunyata here if want some Dave, especially the newer ranges its a great cable compared to a lot opf the usual suspects, Oh there are all trade in's as well.
Oli,
Nice to see you chaps making good progess all round, are you using the Ali express regs in series to improve the current capability of just power two rails?
Chris
A good read thanks glad you enjoyed the day looking forrward to the return match.
Using a different PCB now T, so it's all good. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 24, 2023 23:26:28 GMT
Nice write up Chris/Kevin/Alfonso?? 😂 Now that you've pitted you're DAC against the Aqvox do you fancy giving it a go against my pimped Black Ice? Well it'll be one tube DAC against another. Am free most days so could do at yours or mine or both with exchange visits, as we're only down the road from each other. Oli, Maybe when you come down to see Chris you could get a 2 day pass from the boss and pop to mine to do some me a/b-ing in my rig? Will there be a forum meet up this year?? I'll see what I can do. |
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Post by antonio on Mar 25, 2023 6:34:33 GMT
@bigman80 " but then again people love Tannoys, Qual ESL57’s and valve amplifiers too…" I am calm and know it was a joke  but in the past you've 'loved' valve amplifiers  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2023 8:09:44 GMT
@bigman80 " but then again people love Tannoys, Qual ESL57’s and valve amplifiers too…" I am calm and know it was a joke but in the past you've 'loved' valve amplifiers I have, but the comment wasn't really aimed at the kit itself, more the fact that people are very happy to overlook what these things don't do, in order to enjoy what they are doing. That was how I felt about the silver BNC cable compared to the Airbow or the Neotech OFC. |
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Post by gninnam on Mar 25, 2023 8:59:00 GMT
Phew - good job I did buy the crisps as well as the popcorn after the read of the 3 descriptions of what went on at the bakeoff.......
Very interesting to read about the day and the outcome of what worked well and what didn't so thanks for that.
With the tweaking of the speakers to make the Aqvox shine sounds to me like the Aqvox is not quite there to be honest, especially if you then have to tweak if for playing vinyl?
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2023 9:05:23 GMT
Phew - could job I did buy the crisps as well as the popcorn after the read of the 3 descriptions of what went on at the bakeoff....... Very interesting to read about the day and the outcome of what worked well and what didn't so thanks for that. With the tweaking of the speakers to make the Aqvox shine sounds to me like the Aqvox is not quite there to be honest, especially if you then have to tweak if for playing vinyl? I thought that initially, but it turned out that tweakery could have been done at the digital cable level rather than the speaker crossover. The Airbow sounding harder made the treble feel a little synthetic. Now, with the speakers reverted to standard setting and the Neotech OFC sounding less hard, the Aqvox is absolutely spot on. The Aqvox is truthful. |
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Post by gninnam on Mar 25, 2023 9:07:29 GMT
Phew - good job I did buy the crisps as well as the popcorn after the read of the 3 descriptions of what went on at the bakeoff....... Very interesting to read about the day and the outcome of what worked well and what didn't so thanks for that. With the tweaking of the speakers to make the Aqvox shine sounds to me like the Aqvox is not quite there to be honest, especially if you then have to tweak if for playing vinyl? I thought that initially, but it turned out that tweakery could have been done at the digital cable level rather than the speaker crossover. The Airbow sounding harder made the treble feel a little synthetic. Now, with the speakers reverted to standard setting and the Neotech OFC sounding less hard, the Aqvox is absolutely spot on. The Aqvox is truthful. Good result then  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2023 9:08:59 GMT
I thought that initially, but it turned out that tweakery could have been done at the digital cable level rather than the speaker crossover. The Airbow sounding harder made the treble feel a little synthetic. Now, with the speakers reverted to standard setting and the Neotech OFC sounding less hard, the Aqvox is absolutely spot on. The Aqvox is truthful. Good result then Yeah, absolutely. I need another SAEC DIG4000....that is when the digital will be at it's best. |
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optical
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Post by optical on Mar 25, 2023 9:47:02 GMT
Phew - good job I did buy the crisps as well as the popcorn after the read of the 3 descriptions of what went on at the bakeoff....... Very interesting to read about the day and the outcome of what worked well and what didn't so thanks for that. With the tweaking of the speakers to make the Aqvox shine sounds to me like the Aqvox is not quite there to be honest, especially if you then have to tweak if for playing vinyl? Just goes to show how much the supporting cast (at this level), cables etc can make the step between pretty good and down right spectacular, and it's not a one size fits all solution. I have to say after the speaker tweak and the cable swap (Neotech AES from streamer to Mutec and SAEC dig 4000 from Mutec to Aqvox) the Aqvox is probably the best digital I've every heard. In fact, there's no question, it is. |
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Post by antonio on Mar 25, 2023 9:54:19 GMT
@bigman80 " but then again people love Tannoys, Qual ESL57’s and valve amplifiers too…" I am calm and know it was a joke but in the past you've 'loved' valve amplifiers I have, but the comment wasn't really aimed at the kit itself, more the fact that people are very happy to overlook what these things don't do, in order to enjoy what they are doing. That was how I felt about the silver BNC cable compared to the Airbow or the Neotech OFC. I know, but I've been in a mischievous mood this morning. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2023 10:11:06 GMT
I have, but the comment wasn't really aimed at the kit itself, more the fact that people are very happy to overlook what these things don't do, in order to enjoy what they are doing. That was how I felt about the silver BNC cable compared to the Airbow or the Neotech OFC. I know, but I've been in a mischievous mood this morning. I can see that lol |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2023 10:14:06 GMT
Phew - good job I did buy the crisps as well as the popcorn after the read of the 3 descriptions of what went on at the bakeoff....... Very interesting to read about the day and the outcome of what worked well and what didn't so thanks for that. With the tweaking of the speakers to make the Aqvox shine sounds to me like the Aqvox is not quite there to be honest, especially if you then have to tweak if for playing vinyl? Just goes to show how much the supporting cast (at this level), cables etc can make the step between pretty good and down right spectacular, and it's not a one size fits all solution. I have to say after the speaker tweak and the cable swap (Neotech AES from streamer to Mutec and SAEC dig 4000 from Mutec to Aqvox) the Aqvox is probably the best digital I've every heard. In fact, there's no question, it is. I'd love to hear some really expensive DACs in this setup and see exactly what happens in comparison. Anyone up for a DAC bakeoff here? The more esoteric the better. That's open to Lurkers of the forum too. Drop me an email. Would be great to see how much further digital could go! |
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optical
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Post by optical on Mar 25, 2023 10:24:27 GMT
Just goes to show how much the supporting cast (at this level), cables etc can make the step between pretty good and down right spectacular, and it's not a one size fits all solution. I have to say after the speaker tweak and the cable swap (Neotech AES from streamer to Mutec and SAEC dig 4000 from Mutec to Aqvox) the Aqvox is probably the best digital I've every heard. In fact, there's no question, it is. I'd love to hear some really expensive DACs in this setup and see exactly what happens in comparison. Anyone up for a DAC bakeoff here? The more esoteric the better. That's open to Lurkers of the forum too. Drop me an email. Would be great to see how much further digital could go! Yeah, gotta be some of those semi-retired consultant "lurkers" with a full TAD stack around here 😉 Come on gents, the gauntlet has been thrown down! |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2023 10:37:34 GMT
I'd love to hear some really expensive DACs in this setup and see exactly what happens in comparison. Anyone up for a DAC bakeoff here? The more esoteric the better. That's open to Lurkers of the forum too. Drop me an email. Would be great to see how much further digital could go! Yeah, gotta be some of those semi-retired consultant "lurkers" with a full TAD stack around here 😉 Come on gents, the gauntlet has been thrown down! Ha, not a gauntlet as such, just a request for that next level to be shown to me! |
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Post by misterc on Mar 25, 2023 12:13:14 GMT
I'm up for this no problem Oli I can bring two dac's along with pleasure, though the condition is a return match with the aqvox in another system that will give you a change to hear the aqvox in non headroom resitricted space how does that sound. Also at Chris as well that will prove a third space with a more tricky listening enviroment.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2023 12:53:28 GMT
I'm up for this no problem Oli I can bring two dac's along with pleasure, though the condition is a return match with the aqvox in another system that will give you a change to hear the aqvox in non headroom resitricted space how does that sound. Also at Chris as well that will prove a third space with a more tricky listening enviroment. Ok Tony, that sounds like a winner to me. |
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but in the past you've 'loved' valve amplifiers 
