Greetings!

[Emwardo]

Hail to everyone! I'm new around here and share the audio addiction like the rest of you. Those who do not share this addiction just don't understand (like my wife.) Hope to keep learning and having fun...

[blackraven]

Emwardo, greetings from Woodbury Mn! Welcome to AR.

[Emwardo]

Emwardo, greetings from Woodbury Mn! Welcome to AR.

Thanks Black Raven! Say how do you like your TubeDac-11? Is it sounding better after extensive burn in? I'm thinking about adding a budget DAC to my system. Possibly a tube dac or maybe a SS dac with an analog sound like the Matrix Mini I.


Looking forward to spring in MN....

[blackraven]

I really like my DAC-11. It is well worth the money. I has a nice wide sound stage with great transparency. It took about 20-30hrs of burn in. It really cam alive when I rolled in a vintage early 1960's Amprex ECC88 made in Holland tube (non A Frame version). It added much more warmth, bass and depth to the music. I have used it both as a stand alone DAC and as a Preamp/DAC combo.

I am looking forward to spring here as well. Spring should come around June some time!

If you are ever going to be in the Woodbury area, send me a PM if you would like to stop by and hear my gear. You should also consider stopping by Frank Van Alstine with avahifi.com and give a listen to his gear. He lives about 3 minutes from me.

[Emwardo]

I really like my DAC-11. It is well worth the money. I has a nice wide sound stage with great transparency. It took about 20-30hrs of burn in. It really cam alive when I rolled in a vintage early 1960's Amprex ECC88 made in Holland tube (non A Frame version). It added much more warmth, bass and depth to the music. I have used it both as a stand alone DAC and as a Preamp/DAC combo.

I am looking forward to spring here as well. Spring should come around June some time!

If you are ever going to be in the Woodbury area, send me a PM if you would like to stop by and hear my gear. You should also consider stopping by Frank Van Alstine with avahifi.com and give a listen to his gear. He lives about 3 minutes from me.

Will do. I get down there occasionally. Will keep in mind trying your Amprex tube if I go the Dac-11 route (I am leaning in that direction.)
I heard GE Black Plate tubes and Voskhod 6N23P sound great as well. Hoping that even if I go the dac/buffer route before it his my Yamaha receiver in Straight mode and is passed on to the Emotiva amp that the tube will work it's charms.VOSKHOD 6N23P

[blackraven]

Will do. I get down there occasionally. Will keep in mind trying your Amprex tube if I go the Dac-11 route (I am leaning in that direction.)
I heard GE Black Plate tubes and Voskhod 6N23P sound great as well. Hoping that even if I go the dac/buffer route before it his my Yamaha receiver in Straight mode and is passed on to the Emotiva amp that the tube will work it's charms.VOSKHOD 6N23P



I just gave my Class D audio amp to my son to use (he is getting more use out of it than I was as it is a secondary system, I was using the GF as a preamp and DAC with it) and I am currently using the Grant Fidelity unit tube out as a tube buffer/dac between my CD player and a JVC 800VBK HT receiver and I can tell you that it adds warmth, depth, bass and a wider sound stage to the music with the vintage Amperex tube. If you decide to go the GF route, let me know and I will let you know where you can but the Vintage Holland made amperex tube.

[Emwardo]

I just gave my Class D audio amp to my son to use (he is getting more use out of it than I was as it is a secondary system, I was using the GF as a preamp and DAC with it) and I am currently using the Grant Fidelity unit tube out as a tube buffer/dac between my CD player and a JVC 800VBK HT receiver and I can tell you that it adds warmth, depth, bass and a wider sound stage to the music with the vintage Amperex tube. If you decide to go the GF route, let me know and I will let you know where you can but the Vintage Holland made amperex tube.

Will do Black Raven. Glad to hear your getting excellent results. Funny I read on some forums how some are claiming an external dac really doesn't make much difference compared to the dac that already exists in cd players and receivers. Everything I read from DAC-11 users tells a different story however. I guess this just gives me a good excuse to consider spending more money on another piece of gear...

[blackraven]

Will do Black Raven. Glad to hear your getting excellent results. Funny I read on some forums how some are claiming an external dac really doesn't make much difference compared to the dac that already exists in cd players and receivers. Everything I read from DAC-11 users tells a different story however. I guess this just gives me a good excuse to consider spending more money on another piece of gear...


I can tell you with out a doubt in my mind as well as others here can tell you that stand alone DAC's make a difference. When I first started looking at DAC's I had a Cambridge Audio 840c CDP that cost $1300 and was and still is highly rated, some compared it to CD players costing $5K. I brought it over to FranK Van Alstine's house with avahifi.com and compared it to all three of his DAC's SS, Tube and Hybrid SS/tube which is the one I finally went with and the most expensive at the time at $1600. All three of his DAC's blew the 840c out of the water. Not only that, Mr Van Alstine hooked the 840c up to a scope and did some measurements and said that while the 840c was the best CD player in terms of measurements to come across his desk it did not compare to his DACs bench testing. (note that I was also allowed to take all three DAC's home to play in my system). I was also able to compare the DAC's to the $1K marantz 8001 and 8003 SACD players, I still have my DAC! One note about the GF DAC-11. It sounds much better than my modified Music hall 25.2 CDP.

To make a long story short, the newer internal DAC's are getting better, even on sub $1K gear.

[Emwardo]

I'm curious how much you got your Amperex Bugle Boy for? I have a Mullard CV 4010 on hand that I'm hoping will work in place of the stock tube. I'm thinking I may be in need of something more "lush" to tame the brightness of the Klipsch speakers in my system. I love the detail in the Klipsch although I want to tame the shrillness without losing that detail. It's a go on the Tubedac. Plan on ordering this weekend.

Very accomadating of Mr. Van Alstine to let you demo the gear. Sounds like the Grant Fidelity is a budget version of the Van Alstine Ultra Hybrid Dac. Now that looks like a nice dac! The tubedac certainly should be an improvement over the DV-47Ai for redbook. The player is just great for multichannel DVD-Audio and SACD listening but not CD's. Go figure. I tell you Black Raven it's tough having Rockefeller audiophile tastes in a common mans world....

[blackraven]

I'm curious how much you got your Amperex Bugle Boy for? I have a Mullard CV 4010 on hand that I'm hoping will work in place of the stock tube. I'm thinking I may be in need of something more "lush" to tame the brightness of the Klipsch speakers in my system. I love the detail in the Klipsch although I want to tame the shrillness without losing that detail. It's a go on the Tubedac. Plan on ordering this weekend.

Very accomadating of Mr. Van Alstine to let you demo the gear. Sounds like the Grant Fidelity is a budget version of the Van Alstine Ultra Hybrid Dac. Now that looks like a nice dac! The tubedac certainly should be an improvement over the DV-47Ai for redbook. The player is just great for multichannel DVD-Audio and SACD listening but not CD's. Go figure. I tell you Black Raven it's tough having Rockefeller audiophile tastes in a common mans world....

I paid $20 for the tube. It was a used tube that tested as new. If you need names of my suppliers, give me a PM.

There is a lot of budget gear or bang for the buck gear that you can buy to put together a great sounding system. Van Alstine gear is bang for the buck but has gotten a little pricey lately. The Grant Fidelity is another great budget piece that performs way above its price level. A few other pieces that are great buys are the maverick tubemagic DAC/preamp which is similar to the GF. It needs the tube and an opamp upgrade to get the most out of it-

Maverick Audio - TubeMagic D1 DAC (http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tube_magic_d1)

They have a newer version called the D1+ which has totally new circuits.

These Class D audio amps are a giant killer as well-

Home page (http://classdaudio.com/)

[Emwardo]

I paid $20 for the tube. It was a used tube that tested as new. If you need names of my suppliers, give me a PM.

There is a lot of budget gear or bang for the buck gear that you can buy to put together a great sounding system. Van Alstine gear is bang for the buck but has gotten a little pricey lately. The Grant Fidelity is another great budget piece that performs way above its price level. A few other pieces that are great buys are the maverick tubemagic DAC/preamp which is similar to the GF. It needs the tube and an opamp upgrade to get the most out of it-

Maverick Audio - TubeMagic D1 DAC (http://www.mav-audio.com/base/product/tube_magic_d1)

They have a newer version called the D1+ which has totally new circuits.

These Class D audio amps are a giant killer as well-

Home page (http://classdaudio.com/)

Yea I have checked out the maverick gear and decided that the GF offered a better product for the money. According to what I read on threads anyway...
Tough to say of course unless you can actually sit down and A-B them in your own listening room. Anyway I'm looking forward to eventually doing a little "rolling." Might start out burning in the stock tube just to see how it sounds first and then swapping it out. I plan on upgrading the power cord too. Will PM you for sure when I'm ready to try a Amperex. A lot of nice tubes to check out.....

[blackraven]

Yea I have checked out the maverick gear and decided that the GF offered a better product for the money. According to what I read on threads anyway...
Tough to say of course unless you can actually sit down and A-B them in your own listening room. Anyway I'm looking forward to eventually doing a little "rolling." Might start out burning in the stock tube just to see how it sounds first and then swapping it out. I plan on upgrading the power cord too. Will PM you for sure when I'm ready to try a Amperex. A lot of nice tubes to check out.....


If you are planning on warming up your system with the GF, then you will want to up grade the tube fairly quickly. The stock tube is neutral to a little on the sunny side. It will need about 20 hours of burn in. I ran mine continuously for 20-25 hours to burn it in. Just set your system to play and turn the amp off.

[Emwardo]

If you are planning on warming up your system with the GF, then you will want to up grade the tube fairly quickly. The stock tube is neutral to a little on the sunny side. It will need about 20 hours of burn in. I ran mine continuously for 20-25 hours to burn it in. Just set your system to play and turn the amp off.

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking the same. I probably won't wait long to swap the tube. I am looking forward to hearing how much less sterile some of my old recordings sound with the GF. T minus two days to order...