Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 6, 2018 20:21:09 GMT
I dislike onmi's as a breed, so best I don't contribute to that... Honestly, Dave, I’d be really interested in hearing about your experiences. It doesn’t matter one jot if you hated them all. Other than the Planets, I cannot say what I feel about Omnis as a breed because I haven’t heard a single other example. If you’ve heard a few different types and feel they have a common type of sound, it would be really interesting to,see if I can make any sense of the Planets in that context. As it is, I have no yardstick to judge them by. They may be typical or completely atypical. From the experience of the black pair I had in the U.K. I don’t think they will be universally successful. They seem to dislike room boundaries, for one thing. It’s hard for me to know much more because I’ve accepted them as the norm now and I haven’t tried a conventional speaker since. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 7, 2018 19:08:22 GMT
I picked up a little treat on my latest trip, not sure when I will get to hear it, but I bought it on the strength of the makers name and its rarity. Never seen one fir sale before and may never do so again. Will it beat the Byron? Not a clue but if it doesn’t I will probably sell on. I don’t love to keep it but I don’t like large box counts and extra wire so unless they earn their keep.  |
|
|
|
Post by dsjr on Aug 7, 2018 19:26:49 GMT
I'm sorry I can't see what the bloody thing is other than it's another Sonneteer box... the script is too fine and the angle of the photo not suitable for my tired eyes.
Oh, it's a DRYDEN??
Actually, it'd be nice for their site to have a proper list of products and vintages and.... MORE IMPORTANTLY!!!!! Maybe it's time for Bigman to try a Sedley at home??? I mean, it shouldn't be a bums rush as a product, it's beautifully and simply presented, and doesn't appear to be stupid money! |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 7, 2018 19:30:05 GMT
I'm sorry I can't see what the bloody thing is other than it's another Sonneteer box... the script is too fone and the angle of the photo not suitable for my tired eyes. Actually, it'd be nice for their site to have a proper list of products and vintages and.... MORE IMPORTANTLY!!!!! Maybe it's time for Bigman to try a Sedley at home??? I mean, it shouldn't be a bums rush as a product, it's beautifully and simply presented, and doesn't appear to be stupid money! It’s a Dryden DAC. Same case as the Sedley. I have no idea what DAC it uses or anything else. Those guys really don’t believe in marketing. They didn’t make many Dryden, so I count myself extremely lucky to find one. |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Aug 7, 2018 19:41:29 GMT
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 11:14:07 GMT
I took the lid off today. It’s simply the Byron DA board and transformer in a separate box. I can’t see it sounding any different as the Byron has another transformer for the transport. I now have three options: Sell it on, which I’m reluctant to do because of the rarity. Mod it using a second transformer. The case is already equipped to take another. Issue is, I don’t want to take a rare item away from stock. Keep it as is and maybe play with transports. As I don’t like lots of boxes and wires, this isn’t really attractive either. Decisions, decisions, decisions.    |
|
|
|
Post by dsjr on Aug 8, 2018 14:57:48 GMT
How much was it? Made in the far east today, that'd retail for £300 or so with huge markups for the distributor. I bet it was a good few hundred when new?
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 15:55:57 GMT
I dunno, Dave. The Sonneteer stuff went up quite a bit over the years and I don’t even know the dates this was produced. The Campion started out at £599 and headed up to £1299 in it’s last incarnation iirc. Same happened to the Byron. I think it went from £799 to £1499 or thereabouts. How much the Dryden cost would probably depend on what years it was made from and to.
It could have been made cheaper by being in a half width case. The cases are very substantial and weigh more than you’d expect. The lids are really heavy on their own. Halving that would have saved cash but then I guess it wouldn’t match.
I don’t really understand the costs associated with DACs. Some of those DPAs I had were £3k new and they didn’t appear to have a lot inside. TBH I’d far rather have a one box player, as I hate extra boxes and wires. Phono stages seem to have even less in them and even more dubious value, so I struggle to see the merits there too.
I really should give this DAC a try. Maybe the simple fact that it’s separately located from the Byron (used as a transport) with its own mains supply will make it sound better. If it does, I will be very surprised but it won’t be the first time;)
|
|
|
|
Post by antonio on Aug 8, 2018 16:32:33 GMT
When does the Eastern Electric Minimax arrive?
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 16:33:51 GMT
A question for those with more technical,knowledge than me.......In other words anyone  Then transformer has a secondary winding. If I get another transformer and use it for the secondary, whilst devoting the existing one to the primary, would it be likely to do anything good? I have no clue, so any advice is welcome. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 16:34:58 GMT
When does the Eastern Electric Minimax arrive? Might be with my mate already. I will need to ask him. I’d forgotten all about it tbh. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 16:43:39 GMT
Apparently the Minimax has arrived,,,l.lwith a problem. Power toggle is broken and is suck in the on position. It will be going back as it was sold as working and with no issues.
|
|
|
|
Post by dsjr on Aug 8, 2018 17:39:13 GMT
A question for those with more technical,knowledge than me.......In other words anyone Then transformer has a secondary winding. If I get another transformer and use it for the secondary, whilst devoting the existing one to the primary, would it be likely to do anything good? I have no clue, so any advice is welcome. As I understand it, the primary is for the input - in this case 230V approx. mains and can be single or dual, the dual windings then configured for 110 or 230V to taste. The secondary's can be anything you or the manufacturer specifies.
For example, my home made DC supply for the cheapo dac has a single 230V in on the primary. The seconday's are twin, but in this case paralleled up to provide a nominal single 12 - 14V to the cheapo supply, which then rectifies and regulates the (adjustable) DC output to 5V in this case... the ones NVA use are wired more normally for international products and the two secondary's are separate and tied together at '0,' there being two primaries allowing for US or European mains voltages without swapping out the transformer and the twin secondary's are in this case configured as PLUS and MINUS AC voltages to the bridge rectifier and with a centre '0' to the earth plane.
Gawd, I hope I've explained it right.... I basically wire as instructed without thinking too much and it all works - cough... The Vigortronics details usually give the circuit around the transformer and which colour wires do what...
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 17:54:59 GMT
I’ve asked Haider. He sometimes takes a while to reply but I know I can be sure that if another transformer can add anything, he will have already tried it. He may also be able to advise whether the DAC will add anything good.
|
|
|
|
Post by macca on Aug 8, 2018 18:13:23 GMT
A question for those with more technical,knowledge than me.......In other words anyone Then transformer has a secondary winding. If I get another transformer and use it for the secondary, whilst devoting the existing one to the primary, would it be likely to do anything good? I have no clue, so any advice is welcome. If you're confident of doing that yourself then you know a lot more than I do. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 18:37:50 GMT
I wish I was. I’m just a bit gung ho I’m probably using the wrong terms anyway. It’s the two secondaries I’m talking about separating. The transformer basically suplies 2x 15v to the PCB as far as I can tell. I’m looking to use 2 identical transformers rather than one. I do have a mate I would ask to check my wiring before switching on. The wiring code is on the transformer.  |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Aug 8, 2018 18:53:26 GMT
My theory for a long time has been that the best way to improve digital kit is to improve the power supplies. But I don't know enough to know what 'improve the power supplies' actually means in terms of doing stuff to electronics. I asked my double E mate if he would upgrade the power supply on a cd player for me but he wants a circuit diagram of what it should look like before he starts.
So I'm interested to see how this turns out.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 20:30:50 GMT
Naim players all have big power suplies and it seems to work fir them. I’m with you. I think they are the most important element.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 21:05:38 GMT
Apparently the Minimax has arrived,,,l.lwith a problem. Power toggle is broken and is suck in the on position. It will be going back as it was sold as working and with no issues. Having now seen the packing, I can see how this happened. The amp was just stuffed in a box with not enough bubble wrap and no hard packing. Having a protruding toggle switch, it was perhaps always going to end badly. That said, it would still take negligent handling to cause such damage. But then it was sent via Royal Mail: Clowns without makeup, as Alan Partridge once said. The valves just had random bits of cardboard wrapped round them and I’m surprised they survived. The paint on the transformer housing is also bubbling up on the front and back, which is a clear sign of rust underneath. The broken toggle switch is a nasty affair and the selector switch and volume pot feel really poor too. The whole amp has an air of shoddiness about it. Compared to the Sonneteer stuff, it just feels like junk. Sorry to any owners, but this is a grand when bought new and it looks more like £300 worth to me. |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Aug 8, 2018 21:46:42 GMT
That's a shame. Pretty basic engineering though so easy to fix. Well, relatively easy.
|
|
|
|
Post by dsjr on Aug 8, 2018 22:24:43 GMT
I kind of follow Nick Gorham's posts and sometimes little nuggets come across.
Westie, that transformer appears to have one primary at 230V (the white wires as printed and shown) and two 16V secondary's. The DAC board appears to be well regulated in which case a larger transformer may not do what you hope it might. The Sonneteer chaps do seem to know what they're doing, so hopefully you'd get an honest reply on a long obsolete model as to what could be done or not.
So, I'd await an answer from the designers to see what they'd suggest. Unlike some UK companies I could mention, they seem to get it right first time and don't mess with their designs every few months or so (Meridian were awful for this and so were Linn for a while in the mid 90's). This dac may have had a short life purely because nobody wanted it - it's extremely plain and one or two inputs?... Nothing to do with performance or sonics at all!
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 8, 2018 23:07:32 GMT
I kind of follow Nick Gorham's posts and sometimes little nuggets come across. Westie, that transformer appears to have one primary at 230V (the white wires as printed and shown) and two 16V secondary's. The DAC board appears to be well regulated in which case a larger transformer may not do what you hope it might. The Sonneteer chaps do seem to know what they're doing, so hopefully you'd get an honest reply on a long obsolete model as to what could be done or not. So, I'd await an answer from the designers to see what they'd suggest. Unlike some UK companies I could mention, they seem to get it right first time and don't mess with their designs every few months or so (Meridian were awful for this and so were Linn for a while in the mid 90's). This dac may have had a short life purely because nobody wanted it - it's extremely plain and one or two inputs?... Nothing to do with performance or sonics at all! Haider answered my question about the Dryden vs the Byron. Although it has the same DAC, he recalls it sounding better, largely for having a separate chassis. He was candid in saying his recall wasn’t complete, but suspected the transformer was a little bigger. I asked about using a second tarnsformer, so I will see what he says. He did say it had been a long time since he’d seen or heard of a Dryden being available for sale. The stuff never seems to change hands. I’m leaning towards keeping it as stock unless Haider feels it’s worthwhile going dual transformer. Even then I will seek an identical one. There were a few minor marks on the top, so I am having it sand blasted and powder coated to make it perfect again. I really like what my Iso does, but I will probably keep a look out for a bargain Sedley. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2018 23:27:12 GMT
There is no reason I can think of why two separate mains transformers can't be used instead of a single with dual secondaries (apart from space of course).
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 9, 2018 7:44:12 GMT
There is no reason I can think of why two separate mains transformers can't be used instead of a single with dual secondaries (apart from space of course). The great part is that the case is already drilled and formed for two identical transformers. I assume either the Sedley (which uses the same case) has two, or it was an option that they never pursued with the Dryden. I believe it might offer an improvement and the wiring is about as simple as anyone could hope. Also Antrim transformers are pretty common on the used market. All I have to do I say find one with the right spec. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 9, 2018 11:55:10 GMT
Haider got back to me and it sounds like I may not get a great deal,of benefit. I will keep,as stock for now but I will keep my eyes peeled for an identocal Antrim transformer and have a go when I get one. It’s not a big job and it can’t do any harm.
Hers what he said:
Hi Andrew,
“Changing the transformer will always make it sound different. We can always rationalise why it’s better after we get there. Most of the time it’s just an accident. If I recall the separate rails are separating the analogue and digital rather than offering a plus/minus supply. SO theoretically you are not offering a great deal more by separating them.
I hope that helps.
Haider”
|
|
|
|
Post by dsjr on Aug 9, 2018 12:32:52 GMT
Separating the analogue and digital side transformed my QED Digit Opto, BUT, this board is AVI (Martin Grindrod) drawing out of the basic Philips bitstream board, so nothing special to start with...
Forgive my being totally dense... It seems the Dryden has single rail supplies, but one secondary is obviously for the analogue and the other for the digital? Maybe locating a similar second transformer, paralleling the secondary's up and having one transformer per function, may well add a little and if the wiring's done neatly and the transformers match up (why not ask Haider if he has any, or the makers if they can make an identical one), why not - it can't make it worse surely?
Thing is, power supplies are rather more than 'just' the transformer I gather and what works a treat for NVA may be irrelevant in other makes...
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,430
|
Post by Bigman80 on Aug 9, 2018 13:47:04 GMT
Your understanding mirrors mine, Dave, I’ll Live with it for a few weeks then see if I can crib one off Haider, or even see if I can get him to install one. It would have to be identical for me to be happy doing it, I do t like taking things away from stock, but doubling up an existing arrangements would be fine by me,
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2018 13:55:31 GMT
This is rather reminiscent of the power supply upgrades manufacturers offer and of course aftermarket examples.
My argument is that if you need to up-spec the power supply to get optimum performance, then the original was inadequate and should not have been the item provided.
|
|
|
|
Post by dsjr on Aug 9, 2018 14:10:04 GMT
I know where that's coming from, but in the case of Naim, had the regulation been individually on the board next to the gain blocks, the whole upgrade path would have been null and void.
Cyrus originally offered a XPS for the Cyrus 2. This was basically a larger supply to replace the one in the amp, which then powered the phono stage only. I must admit the upgrade kept it competitive with the newer amps coming along in the mid 90's but perhaps it should have been a full width box with the larger supply in from the word go and a separate regulated rail provided for the phono section - the amp was basically a power amp with passive volume and switching beforehand...
|
|
|
|
Post by macca on Aug 9, 2018 15:44:24 GMT
I've always thought Naim and Cyrus were taking the piss with those add on power supplies. The stuff is over-priced to begin with and then you have to splash out some more money to get an optimal power supply? No thanks.
|
|
