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Will cost-effective DACs / digital kill boutique HiFi

Monad said:
havent settled on a preamp direction. i have 2 going to tech this week so I do need something.
Click to expand...
sorted a preamp a few months ago and totally happy with it.. with my tube amps, i prefer it to my quicksilver line stage, with solid state, I prefer the quicksilver LS.

http://www.thehornshoppe.com/the_truth_pre_amp.html

I don't really understand the tech but it uses a photovoltaic vol pot, like many out there StereoCoffee.. but it's not passive.

Mine is the fully upgraded model w silver wiring and some other bits. It runs dead quiet and works best, imo w high current amps. So far I've had it feeding a class A Proceed AMP5, Adcom 565 monos and Quicksilver V4 monos.. Probably my favorite pairing is with the V4 but man that Proceed amp.. best value I've found in a solid state amp, EVAR ;D

From the Hornshoppe site:
  • It has an input impedance too high to measure, output impedance is a couple ohms, bandwidth is to 60Mhz, slew rate is a couple hundred V/microsecond.
  • There are no capacitors or resistors (other than the photocell) in the signal path. There is no potentiometer in the signal path.
  • It uses photo cells to control the volume. It does not use optocouplers.
  • The Truth has a balance control that is not in circuit and the balance does not shift with volume changes.
  • It is an "active" device and suffers none of the "problems" that "passive volume control or pre amps" have. It can drive long (30 feet) cables with ease.
  • It can run 2 outputs.
  • I've had parts of this circuit run for 17 years without a buffer failure failure.
  • The Truth was first built in 2010. It is tried and true.
  • As far as I know there is nothing like it available for any price.....I could be wrong but I doubt it. I looked "pretty hard and long".
  • The price in a black aluminum enclosure is $975 shipping included for single input . 3 inputs is 1020.
  • Please call me with any questions........also, there are a couple threads on my forum which may be of interest
 
Fun DAC story..

While I like my Joldida DAC, after more than a year, I've been considering an upgrade. I'd made some changes to my system, including adding a $treamer and some new ICs.. I removed the EITR when I got the streamer just to see what was what.. figured I'd let the streamer do the relocking and heavy lifting for a while.

When i put the EITR back in line and switched off the streamer upsampling, the SQ changed. I heard that change as an improvement.

I was using .5m Wireworld Starlight 7 USB/AB and 8 Coax to connect, in between the streamer and DDC.. here's the fun part >>

I saw a used Wireworld Silver Starlight 7, 1m coax cable on the nets for $89.. which is about what I paid for the coax non-silver 7. The silver 7 is 2 steps down from Wireworld's TOTL- Platinum, with Gold in between.

I've tried silver in speaker cables and RCA and didn't really like them, thought they robbed the sound of joy.. Every time I tried one, it came back out quickly. . ... but it seems that, on the source side, in between streamer and DAC.. silver is golden. I popped that Silver Starlight 7 coax in there, from DDC to streamer and it felt like I had a new DAC.

I've never made an IC change to my system that's delivered a better uptick in SQ. The difference between the non silver 7 and silver seven was more dramatic than switching from solid state preamp to tube as far as impact on sound.. it might be the best value v $ i've found IRT SQ improvement.

So, if you hate your DAC or are pining, like I am, for a US made, (Minnesota) Audio Mirror Tubadour III, before you unwind some slips from you wad of ducats, look at how your feeding your DAC. Imo, a few $ in ICs and the addition of a DDC could save thousands, compared to buying a new DAC and possibly deliver better performance, as all DACs, IMO, struggle without good IC and DDC inline.
 
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I'm still going to get the Audio Mirror Tubadour III at some point, when I can afford the SE option $2500, with Duelund caps and other upgrades but with that silly silver cable inline, the 'need' is not so dire and pressing. ;D
 
Monad said:
From the Hornshoppe site:
  • It is an "active" device and suffers none of the "problems" that "passive volume control or pre amps" have. It can drive long (30 feet) cables with ease.
  • It can run 2 outputs.
Click to expand...

Interestingly my DACGEAR LDR Pre Mk2 has no problem with either of these despite being passive. On the other hand a lot of that could be due to the fact that my Abbas Audio DAC and phono stage have very strong signal output. I've not heard better though from everything I've read the Truth pre may just equal or better it. Nonetheless I'm already a very happy camper.
 
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