Hello dear musical mystics,

I have spent some time with my system over the past few years…. I am looking to make final tweaks in order to obtain what I perceive to be last little bit of tonal soul, texture, glow, while retaining the expansive soundstage and presence which seems present in my current setup…

How to get the last bit of tone, texture, glow, and instrumental essence?

System:
Nagra Streamer —> Cardas Clear Coaxial —> Soulnote D1 DAC —> Silversmith fidium —> ZBit 2—> Silversmith Fidium —> Zrock 3 w/ telefunkten tube —> Silversmith Fidum —> Decware 300B w/ Telefunkten 12au7, Mullard NOS Voltage, Amperex E88cc D-getter power tubes, WE 300B —> Anticables Flex 4.2 Speaker Cables —> Mundorf SGO Cap —> Anticables Flex 4.2 to 15” Woofer and Horn.

I feel I have really maximized the soundstage and speed and extension… in my pursuit of texture and tone I’ve tried the following:

1: Duelund 16ga between my crossover and horn: Promising, but the soundstage and presence collapsed a bit

2: Duelund Tinned Copper Foil Cap in parallel with my main cap in the crossover … effect TBD as it is burning in…

3: VCap in place of Mundorf SGO Cap: I enjoyed the VCap with the Duelund wire to my horn, and have been going back and forth… the Mundorf begins to feel too soft at times, even though its sensuous and glorious

I and considering the following, please tell me what you all think of these strategies:

-Snake River Audio speaker and crossover-driver Wires: From what I gather this may be a lovely solution to keep the best of both worlds: texture and tone with space and soundstage and speed… what do you think of this? I am beginning to suspect the anti cables throughout is too lean and dry for my tastes / system

-Tube rolling… I have other gain tubes available, which I will roll….  Radio technique, RCA, Bugle Boy, Mullard NOS…. Any suggestions?

Thank you all for your advice!
r.

Yes, I am on the list now for a hopefully soon to manifest Dynagrid Jr. Glad to hear it adds tone ontop of the soundstage....

The power cable on the amp is the Decware v3 (for some reason now presently sold?). The amp is also running a graphene slugo on a swiss fuse box, and running through an Angela Gilbert young XF 300 conditioner, hooked up through a Shunyata CX Helic cord, through furutech rhodium outlets, on a dedicated curcuit. (writing out this sentence proves I've lost a few marbles...!)

The rectifier is a SOPHIA ELECTRIC 5U4XL Mesh Plate. Its a new version from them as my older Sophia Electric rectifiers arced...

What is the RS Audio CF-1 and MF-1?

thank you all for your brilliant insights!

Also, taking note of the +1 on Snake River Audio speaker cables.... do you think this is the right direction, and will be a big difference???

r.

Make your signal path as simple as possible and replace your amp’s caps with Miflex KPCU, source from Sonicraft and go for level 3 matching.

Much of this is pretty subjective. For example, I haven’t found any meaningful upgrade from SRA cables over basic Decware cables. I always think it’s best to focus on your goals and what you think you’re missing rather than someone else’s selection.

The complication of having a crossover in your speaker may be having a larger impact on what you are hearing than cable and tube choices.

I'm of a different philosophy system wise from some of these others recommending. I will add on tube types:  try Tung-Sol black glass 12AU7 and the GE "Smokey" 6DJ8. These give a rich sound especially together in my SEWE300B.

I think you'll really like the Dynagrid Jr. It really responds well to tuning and will influence the whole system. I think you are beyond the KISS status (I don't think that is a bad thing as I used to ascribe to that philosophy but really have found much more happiness beyond it) and can settle down to a listening world for a while before making further changes. You have solid bones.

It's very hard for ME to answer that definitively as IMO those characteristics are also contributed to by so many other factors and systems can be so different. But my gut says yes, there will be a positive influence on those characteristics, just as some rectifiers are better than others, and to me the JR. just feels like the best possible rectifier for the SEWE300B (I haven't tried it in another component) and I have tried probably a dozen rectifiers in that amp, now gathering dust. So as the JR. seems so transparent and dynamic it makes sense to me that the tone and texture of the input signal would be faithfully transmitted.

Hello all, love the comments.... some more info...

I had previously used a Holo Audio Spring 2 with Kitsune 3 upgrades, which was nice, but I realized it felt a little bit shrouded and muted in my system. I just got the Soulnote D1, which is much more energetic and have been enjoying it a lot...

I recently tried the following:

-Duelund Capacitor 0.01uF 630Vdc CAST-Sn/Cu Series Tinned Copper Foil WPIO
Burned in on a frybaby for 4 days, In Parallel with my main Crossover Capicitor

-VCap main capacitor in crossover (Mundorf SGO is just too shrouded and kind in my setup)

-Duelund 16ga from crossover to my horn

I must say, there is surge of much welcomed tone and texture.

The soundstage hasn't collapsed as it had when I last tried duelund wire. I think all the other changes I have been making (telefunkten gain tubes, the decware zrock 3 and zbit 2, and the amperix d-getter on the power tubes) have kept the soundstage nicely far and wide.


Do you think from this point, that the biggest step forward would be the Dynagrid, or the Snake River Audio Takeshita Speaker Cables and driver wire?

Thanks all,
Richard

Quote:


In terms of your ZRock…I would suggest your Mullard NOS.  I just replaced my Amperex Holland Pinched Waist 7062 tube with a NOS Mullard Blackburn 12AU7 and it was a nice change.  The 7062 puts out a bit more gain than the 12AU7, so on vinyl I enjoyed that added gain.  The 7062 was faster, detailed, great for the top end.  But… the Mullard gave me great beautiful midrange  with more realism and natural tone.  It was slower but not in a bad way.  

Now with my CSP preamp…I am running a pair of NOS RCA smoked glass 6SN7 output tubes.  This tube is very transparent with great dynamic range with that nice lush midrange and expansive soundstage.   Hopefully this helps a bit.

At 100 hours the ZROCK3 is just beginning to be all it can be. Give it a few hundred more and play with the gain output--that output control has unlocked a new level of system glory for me.

In my experience with Mullard they tend to sound a bit sullen for the first hundred hours of so and open up gradually--one that I have became a very good tube for the ZROCK2 in my audio/visual system when it finally bloomed.

so interesting.. I will (at some point in the future) give the mallard NOS some time to shake out its feathers and fly...

I am absolutely wet with anticipation for the snake river audio takshaka speaker and crossover cables....

... and absolutely drunk with delight at the victorian dynagrid jr that is waiting to get thrown down on a bench somewhere in IL.... it will be on stack audio auva feet, served juice through an Angela Gilbert young XF300 --> Shunyata Research Venom XC V10 --> Graphene Sluggo SFB with a SHUGUANG 845b...

and in the meantime... the duelund wire to the horn, the vcap with duelund cap in parallel... is delight... thank you Nina Simone and try giving Natalie Rose LeBrecht a spin... ethereal!!!

(I also am trying out the IFi Lan Purifier Pro Ethernet Noise Filter... thanks for the tip. I tried optical isolation before and it sounded brittle... hopefully this one will sound just right...

r.

So first upgrade... the IFI lan Ipurifier pro. It does sound ... brighter... but there seems to be some Sibilance introduced (so far just playing classical with vocals).

does the IFI lan purifier need some time to break in? Last time I tried an optical bridge it sounded brittle, shrill, and I took it out right away. The IFI sounds much better, but the Sibilance is a long term no no for my ears...

AI is suggesting that I switch my power cables, a shunyata helix back on my xf. I just switched a shunyata venom to my xf.

after a few hours playback, the initial sibilance seems diminished already. not sure but seems there is a slight reduction in the "tone"...

Is all this part of the nature of achieving a "cleaner" digital signal with less noise?

If so, hoping that the snake river audio cables brings in more tone.... and perhaps more tube rolling is in order...?

thanks,
r.

love it...


tried a few 12au7's between my amp and zrock3... and now lulling into the gorgeousness of a Brimar NOS in my amp's gain, with the Tung Sol Black Glass in the Z-Rock.

ITS DEVINE. though shrill at times... hoping after a few days the Tung Sol takes the edge off the highs (along with any burn in on the optical bridge)....


... LOVE the potential blossoming here.... and I find this so much fun... it's gorgeous....

r.

interesting lon.... black glass in both amp gain and zrock.... interesting....

we are both loon's

Did you ever realize, that your name is one O away from Loon?

r.

love all these comments.

speakers are pure audio project duet 15 horns. crossover is in parallel: VCAP  0.33uF Cutf CAPACITOR + Duelund Capacitor 0.01uF 630Vdc CAST-Sn/Cu Series Tinned Copper Foil WPIO

I've paid a lot of attention to my power...
Dedicated circuit 1: s-booster --> ifi lan purifier
Dedicated circuit 2: furutech rhodium --> decware pc v3 --> graphene slug --> 300b Sarah amp
Dedicated circuit 3: furutech rhodium --> shunyata venom --> Angela gilbert yeoung xf300 --> s-booster --> nagra, qsa discovery --> soulnote d1, anticable v3 --> decware rock 3, phono and turntable too....

the upcoming dynagrid jr will be on a graphene slugo off the xf300 with a shunyata helix pc.

and lon, the black glass in both amp and zrock is really really nice... thank you for the tip.

r.

room is needing to also function as a living room, though placement and selection of plants, bookshelves, couches, rugs, and bean bags for the kiddos in front of the speakers, seems to (according to some reading and ai consultation) add up to a room which is not that bad.

have the speakers 4' from the back wall of a 13' x 18' room, 6' apart, and toe'd in 1.5' in front of my head. I am 6.5' from the speakers. the toe in made a huge difference with the horns on the pap's...

r.

All good tubes. I've been sold on the 75C1 for a long time, they were perfect as regulation tubes for the input tube for my SE84UFO3 Monoblocks. . . and I continued to use them with the SEWE300B especially since Steve showed them in early pictures of the amp. They give a special texture to the sound is how I would express their character.

I've used those Amperex 6922 in the past, and the 7308 that are similar. I like their sound, I just found a more "realistic" sound with the GE 6DJ8 "Smokeys" that I really enjoyed and they have stayed in.

It is nice to see another Angela-Gilbert Yeung user here.

He is my favorite cross dressing, Chinese-Canadian audio designer out there!