O.K. Jac
- I know I'm no calligrapher, so I did a Google search and I still don't know if I should be pleased or p'ed. 
.I think the Bal/SE is worth pursuing but that might deserve its own thread to avoid complicating this one. Let's see if we can drag Dario in for his opinion as it applies to the FEs.
Different Strokes
Hi Geoff,
The INA and THAT are a good way to go in that they have the whole circuit built in. I chose to go with a normal opamp and a circuit of my own creation. It allowed me to choose my own resistors, high frequency compensation capacitors, and opamp. What I seem to be finding in my listening so far is that having the ability to "roll" the opamp is good thing because each opamp contributes it's own sonic signature. In other words, the ever present DIY, "I want to do it my way."
Enjoy your audio projects.
Hi Geoff,
The INA and THAT are a good way to go in that they have the whole circuit built in. I chose to go with a normal opamp and a circuit of my own creation. It allowed me to choose my own resistors, high frequency compensation capacitors, and opamp. What I seem to be finding in my listening so far is that having the ability to "roll" the opamp is good thing because each opamp contributes it's own sonic signature. In other words, the ever present DIY, "I want to do it my way."
Enjoy your audio projects.
O.K. Jac
I think the Bal/SE is worth pursuing but that might deserve its own thread to avoid complicating this one. Let's see if we can drag Dario in for his opinion as it applies to the FEs.
Bob,
Font is a combination of a slip of the typing fingers and too much short cut. Let's just call you a fountain of wisdom, OK?
I'll be happy to take this to another thread if desired, but my thought was this was a good place to talk about if it is possible to drive an FE from a balanced line and how it sounds. I'm not intending a long discussion.
Jac
Balanced Listening
I've been busy with some intense listening and comparing. The truth is, what differences that I find could be for several reasons, not just because of the balanced signal.
In my case, the biggest impression of the balanced system is moving from 5 rows back in the concert hall to the front row. The soundstage is taller, wider, and deeper in balanced than single ended. There is more detail and more space between the instruments. The difference is on the same order of magnitude as the difference between a fair cap and a really good cap in C13.
At the same time, there is a small downside in my system. I would have to say that the sound is sometimes a little too bright, even slightly harsh once in a while.
I think what I am hearing is the sound signature of the opamp. Other reviewers of the AD797 suggest that it is very detailed, but a little bright and sometimes harsh. That means that I have found yet another way that a DIYer will need to play with different components to get the sound he wants. I will wait to see how the whole system sounds once I get the preamp and subwoofer in place, but I think I will be rolling a few opamps in future.
If I'm lucky, I'll get to keep some of the soundstage improvement and some of detail while smoothing out the top end and enhancing the mid-range.
Now the big question. If I had a single ended system, would I go to the trouble of converting everything to balanced. Like me, it might be an interesting learning experience, but it is probably not worth the cost just for sound quality. I suggest that you give yourself permission to buy a few more expensive components and stay single ended. An FE single ended still sounds very good to me.
This concludes my side trip into balanced .vs. single ended FEs.
Jac
I've been busy with some intense listening and comparing. The truth is, what differences that I find could be for several reasons, not just because of the balanced signal.
In my case, the biggest impression of the balanced system is moving from 5 rows back in the concert hall to the front row. The soundstage is taller, wider, and deeper in balanced than single ended. There is more detail and more space between the instruments. The difference is on the same order of magnitude as the difference between a fair cap and a really good cap in C13.
At the same time, there is a small downside in my system. I would have to say that the sound is sometimes a little too bright, even slightly harsh once in a while.
I think what I am hearing is the sound signature of the opamp. Other reviewers of the AD797 suggest that it is very detailed, but a little bright and sometimes harsh. That means that I have found yet another way that a DIYer will need to play with different components to get the sound he wants. I will wait to see how the whole system sounds once I get the preamp and subwoofer in place, but I think I will be rolling a few opamps in future.
If I'm lucky, I'll get to keep some of the soundstage improvement and some of detail while smoothing out the top end and enhancing the mid-range.
Now the big question. If I had a single ended system, would I go to the trouble of converting everything to balanced. Like me, it might be an interesting learning experience, but it is probably not worth the cost just for sound quality. I suggest that you give yourself permission to buy a few more expensive components and stay single ended. An FE single ended still sounds very good to me.
This concludes my side trip into balanced .vs. single ended FEs.
Jac
Personally, I think the risk is small because the caps are low enough cost and available so that it wouldn't be worth faking.
What you probably will find, especially if you try Russian teflons, is that a few of the caps may be out of spec. Even significantly out of spec. This is the typical risk of new old stock where some have age failures. When that happens, I ask the supplier to refund me the cost of the bad ones and they are happy to comply.
I don't want to over emphasize this. I have had no out of spec parts in Polystyrene, PIO, and wax paper caps. I have had less than 1 in 10 out of spec in the small teflon FT-3, but no problem in the big FT-1.
I have purchased from several suppliers. If you want a completely reliable supplier, go to ebay and look at valtek_2005. He is in Romania (European Union), has good selection, excellent service, and good prices.
As you can tell, I like the Russian caps. If you can afford them, the Audyn True Copper are the favorite of many for C13. After that, the Russian K71-4 sounds very good, especially at the price. Dario finds one cap solutions more coherent and I respect that, but I have been enjoying K75-10 with an Amtrans AMCH 1 nF bypass.
Have fun sorting out your choices.
Jac
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I think so, but the FE has such a low noise floor that it is hard to tell for sure. My thought is that I am often turning up the volume because noise/distortion is lower. I find my self playing music with the volume 10 or 15% louder in balanced than in single ended. Also, the quiet places in the music seem darker, quieter, but that is pretty subjective.
Of course, I was careful to keep the loudness constant when comparing single ended to balanced.
My DAC (Yulong D18) has both balanced and single ended outputs. Other reviewers of the DAC find the balanced output has a bigger soundstage, more detail, and darker silences. I was happy to find similar results when feeding an FE,
Jac
Thanks for advise Jac.
I have plan settled- to get every bit from best parts available except C9 C13 and C101 C201. Remaining caps will order after my holidays in may (going to Canadian Rockies ! ) together with trannies.
Ivan
I bought my k71-4 caps from valtek. The shipping was reasonable and fast to the US. I bought two sets and they were very closely matched. The set that I am using for the FE build measured .999uf and. 998uf. They measured the same after soldering too I am hoping to have some listening impressions soon.
I am hoping to have some listening impressions soon.Attachments
Ok, conclusion.
Everything is sourceable except r10 (Riken).
C7- wima if no luck with kp1834
C9 - STD is available at Hificollective if no better parts
C13 K71-4 ordered for now, eventually try Audyn true copper
C30 C32 AMCH if no luck with Russian
C101 will be Mundorf if I decide to go straight to better quality. It will be my very last purchase in order along with amch , cause is the same source from hificollective...
Everything is sourceable except r10 (Riken).
C7- wima if no luck with kp1834
C9 - STD is available at Hificollective if no better parts
C13 K71-4 ordered for now, eventually try Audyn true copper
C30 C32 AMCH if no luck with Russian
C101 will be Mundorf if I decide to go straight to better quality. It will be my very last purchase in order
along with amch , cause is the same source from hificollective...
Dear comrades, I've no data against balanced connection to unbalancer -> My_Ref.
Parts Connexion should have them available.
Ask Umut101 on eBay (he's also a DIYAudio memeber)
I cant's see BG STD available on hificollectve...
Since the STD is unavailable, I suggest getting the Riken and the BG PK at PartsConnexion. The PK is only $0.95 each.
For your background education on Russian caps, please check out this thread;
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes-valves/115744-russian-pio-caps-should-i-use-them-2.html
Jac
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