Reversound

[Audiogeek]

nothing fancy nor much to say about my . . .

[kabubi]

nothing fancy nor much to say about my . . .

no pre-amp!

that good, huh.

[Audiogeek]

thanks kabubs.

no pre-amp!

yup no preamp. but look closely at the luxman's hifi audio transformers,
combined with a tube output circuitry.

that good, huh.

you bet.

actual studio recording are not being monitored via a full scale audio set-up but
via a most advanced headphone. D107U has one of the best internal preamp
for headphone listening. tri-end to me is like listening to your headphone from
the floor with no alteration, buffer, enhancement, or coloration. my way of listening
nearest to a true recording is therefore directly from the source, not from the another
preamp.

[Nelson de Leon]

I'm also using the same configuration. Cdp ---> amp ---> speakers. Iba nga ang raw sound coming directly from a cdp minus the refinements and coloration of a preamp. One think i noticed in my system is the lacking of better image. But the details are so so present.

[boombastig]

Ibang level na ito! I know that the best amplifier is a straight wire with gain! Kelan kaya mangyayari yung from cdp to speakers? Minimal components in the signal path!

[Audiogeek]

the configuration is not just a three-way combination to create a two-hop,
free flow of audio signal from source to speakers. the tri-end's frequency
spectrum should be fullband and go like this (see below the ability of 845 to
pick up and amplify all audio signal and noises, good or bad in audiophile
parlance, originating directly from the source, and throw the same signal
onto the fullband speakers):

D107U (fullband 5hz-20khz) ------>GT40 (845 wideband 5hz - 50khz) -------> KEFQ7 (fullband 37hz-25khz)

[dieya!]

Sirs, how do you control the volume?

[Audiogeek]

Sirs, how do you control the volume?

via D107U's remote, from 50db to -0db attentuation. not applicable to other
players. good question actually dieya. several cds were actually badly encrypted,
recorded or reproduced. i dont know if that is a reflection of the master tape.
gains are mostly not uniform or standard. some balance are not perfect. that's
the way it is. if you don't like it, there is only one solution - preamp.

[Jon Agner]

Did the same configuration using a 2A3 SET amp when it was still w/o a pre amp, but installed a volume control pot on the amp itself.

As for the CD recordings, a bad recording can be faulted to the master, but there are cases that it's during production that good recordings get ruined (even adding a pre amp will not help). There was an old discussion on this somewhere in the forum.

[Audiogeek]

Did the same configuration using a 2A3 SET amp when it was still w/o a pre amp,
but installed a volume control pot on the amp itself.

Thanks jon for sharing. glad to hear it from you.

this was also my original plan before, to put a volume pot on the face of the gt40. but i decided to
exclude it. there is a big difference if it is coming from one constant source.

incidentally, mang rod has a tube phonostage with volume control and separate power supply. i tried it
and was really fascinated by it. This might put me back in to the analog world. an analog direct set up
using the gt40's 2nd line input, one volume control. and . . . . no preamp.

segurado matindi ang side-by-side comparison nito with the digital source with just one click of a
line switch.

As for the CD recordings, a bad recording can be faulted to the master, but there
are cases that it's during production that good recordings get ruined (even adding a pre amp will not help).
There was an old discussion on this somewhere in the forum.

thanks for the info. i probably have come accross too with that old discussion. but surely forgot it
already. malimutin na pag tumadanda. i hope it's the same with what i currently have - a fullband
set-up, so i get more tips.

enjoy.

[Jon Agner]

Nice Yup, you can easily do a comparison, provided that equal yung input signal voltage for both your digital and analog sources. Sometimes, its in the differences in the gain of the input signal itself that can influence your comparative evaluation.

By the way, di ba gumawa na si Mang Rod ng volume control na similar sa TVC? Baka puwede mong gamitin yun

[Audiogeek]

Nice Yup, you can easily do a comparison, provided that equal yung input signal voltage for both your digital and analog sources. Sometimes, its in the differences in the gain of the input signal itself that can influence your comparative evaluation.

agree. i will play a one song both on digital source (cd ver.) and analog source (lp ver.) at the same time
and same parameters. then, listen to which one really gives the fine details. im pretty sure i can hear one
or two blindspots.

By the way, di ba gumawa na si Mang Rod ng volume control na similar sa TVC? Baka puwede mong gamitin yun

im sure if that's the one he has now, na may control, pero non-tvc. got to check it with rod. but that's a good
suggestion. dapat na nga pala mahiram.

[Nelson de Leon]

Sirs, how do you control the volume?

via D107U's remote, from 50db to -0db attentuation. not applicable to other
players. good question actually dieya. several cds were actually badly encrypted,
recorded or reproduced. i dont know if that is a reflection of the master tape.
gains are mostly not uniform or standard. some balance are not perfect. that's
the way it is. if you don't like it, there is only one solution - preamp.

Question sir. Was the volume controlled digitally through the DAC or may motorized pot?

Did the same configuration using a 2A3 SET amp when it was still w/o a pre amp, but installed a volume control pot on the amp itself.

As for the CD recordings, a bad recording can be faulted to the master, but there are cases that it's during production that good recordings get ruined (even adding a pre amp will not help). There was an old discussion on this somewhere in the forum.

Same here. May gain pot din ako. Same amp din sir. Have you tried yun resistor based pot? Mukhang masmaganda daw sir eh.

[Audiogeek]

Question sir. Was the volume controlled digitally through the DAC or may motorized pot?

glad you ask that question nelson. my volcontrol btw attenuates from -70db to -0db range,
(not -50), so ideal for headphone listening, and it centrally controls both the variable rca and
headphone output (not similar to the luxman d-105u which also has no audio trannies).

the dac of my d107u is 2x AD1860 – SM5813AP, a high model in the late 80s. and im sure that
the volume is thru it, and not by a potentiometer. here's the reason why i did omit a pot on
my gt40: it will deteriorate in due time where one channel or contact point will fade out or
used up than the other channel due to repeated rotation. so a balancing act problem occurs.

i decided to have one constant volume control. meaning that the attentuation is controlled
internally by the dac without any carbon contact. hence, the balance is quite perfect. in musical
translation, the vocal and instruments presentation are always on focus. my experience with pot
is not pleasant. the pot volume will always deteriorate either thru loose contact, misalignment or
dust accummulation.

one time i was listening to a song by female singer (with my current volume set-up and surely the
other gears arranged properly into place) and i noticed that her voice was moving center to right,
and center to left. i thought something wrong on the balance. but then i realized that it is the
recording and, by imagining watching her singing, if she looks towards her left, the voice moves
to right speaker, and if she turns and looks towards her right, her voice moves to left speaker.
could it be the microphone used multidirectional? is it the dac? or the pot if i have one. your guess.

remember the 100K worth hi-end sony 9000es preamp in the late 90s? it has a digital volume control,
not analog. it was abandoned by sony because when they were about to launch the sacd format, that
digital volume will not work with an analog based sacd format. so they released the 777ES (7.1ch) in
1999/2K which i still have now, with the same features plus 5.1ch analog and 'analog direct' options.

so in redbook listening, i still prefer the dac volume from my d107U for perfect balance than a pot.
enjoy.

[Audiogeek]

Minimal components in the signal path!

jimbo, di ba as the saying goes "The Best is Less. Less is the Best."

[Audiogeek]

did a little variation - dac vs. tvc volume control comparison from 2 line out of D107U.
plus unattenuated CDP x5000. amazing. can hardly distinguish any obvious difference.
which means the tvc is neutral, doesnt really influence, alter nor induce any color to the
audio signal. in essence, the entire musical tone is retained. will install a tvc on fixed
line 2 from now on, vis-a-vis the variable line 1, without preamp.

[boombastig]

Wow! It may be cheaper just to put a TVC instead of a preamp. Saves enough money to buy audiophile CDs and Vinyl.

[Audiogeek]

Wow! It may be cheaper just to put a TVC instead of a preamp. Saves enough money to buy audiophile CDs and Vinyl.

right jimbo. talking about preamps, i have actually 3 left idling in the corner.
but the best one was recently sold. it's actually a matter of choice. many are using
it but few aren't. in my case, i just developed the taste of listening directly to the
source, because of the 845. so with tvc's showing of clarity and neutrality, the next
thing that came to mind is setting up an analog direct [tt + tubephono + tvc]. no
preamp.

[Jon Agner]

[

Did the same configuration using a 2A3 SET amp when it was still w/o a pre amp, but installed a volume control pot on the amp itself.

As for the CD recordings, a bad recording can be faulted to the master, but there are cases that it's during production that good recordings get ruined (even adding a pre amp will not help). There was an old discussion on this somewhere in the forum.

Same here. May gain pot din ako. Same amp din sir. Have you tried yun resistor based pot? Mukhang masmaganda daw sir eh.

@Nelson,

I haven't tried the DACT nor any similar stepped attenuators (Not even the TVC). Just used a simple ALPS Blue back then.

[JoeyGS]

If you have tried and liked TVC, you will even more like the lightspeed attenuator

Wow! It may be cheaper just to put a TVC instead of a preamp. Saves enough money to buy audiophile CDs and Vinyl.

right jimbo. talking about preamps, i have actually 3 left idling in the corner.
but the best one was recently sold. it's actually a matter of choice. many are using
it but few aren't. in my case, i just developed the taste of listening directly to the
source, because of the 845. so with tvc's showing of clarity and neutrality, the next
thing that came to mind is setting up an analog direct [tt + tubephono + tvc]. no
preamp.