Good replacment for BB OPA 2604/604

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Gaucho said:
That's to bad especially regarding the LM6172, the more hours I put on this op-amp the better I like it. I swapped in a cold LM6172 and can verify the very real sonic benefits of burn in.

😀

Gaucho said:
On a postive note I think the OPA2132 will certainly fix some of the problems you are experiencing with the OPA2604. Of all the places I tried it the 2132 performed best in my DAC.

Yes.

Gaucho said:
Carlosfm, is that 'better' a subjective judgement or based on the superior high frequency impedance spec, or both? Also have you tried using tantalums for bypassing? Thanks.

It has better specs.
I don't like tantalums.
 
moving_electron said:
CarlosFM,

I was thinking you were kind of down on Panasonic electrolytics do to some early reliability issues of leaky components in old equipment?

Might not coorelate with the newer Panasonic offerings though.

Sounds like you are giving them another chance.

I am, but those were SU series (don't know if they still exist), and those pinky Panasonics I also saw at Farnell.
Stay clear of those.
These are all 85º temperature rating, btw.
Moisture slips through their legs, even on not so old gear.

I like Panasonic FA series caps.
They were discontinued and replaced with FC series.
 
If you find a JRC4558 with a four digit stamp, I'll trade you for a MN3007 analog delay if you have ambitions to build a chorus or phlanger.

I do have some, bought almost all from the shelf couple of years back. would be glad to trade.

Sonicwise, its good ( I used it for my metalzone as well) but i cannot tell difference from reproduction issues. but if you still keen on it, drop me an email.
 
BTW I don't know if you remember but awhile back I forwarded your contact info to an aquaintence (Dennis), he bought a set of your mono-blocs and is very happy with them. I haven't been over to his place to hear them yet (he is haveing some problems with his turntable) but I look forward to it.

Peter, I finally heard your amps...very nice indeed! Beautiful craftsmanship too, the pictures don't do 'em justice.🙂
 
Have you ever heard the AcousTech PH1-P? Although a favorite with reviewers it suffers from similar sonic short comings I experience when using the OPA2132 by its self.

Funny but true; since my previous post a PH1-P owner contacted me about trying different op-amps. He complained about a dry top-end and a mid-bass prominence...it turns out the PH1-P uses OPA2134's!😉

Tomorrow we are going to try the following: LM6172's, AD823's, OPA2604's as well as OPA2132's. We are going to do the comparason's using my Oracle Delphi/Alphason HR-100S/Van den Hul Frog and his Nottingham Space Deck/Space Arm/Dynavecter 17D. Apart from the different op-amps, I'm also curious to see how the two turntables compare.😎
 
Gaucho said:
Apart from the different op-amps, I'm also curious to see how the two turntables compare.😎

I once made a listening session with my (diy) OPA637 class-a biased phono pre.
It was connected to a top-spec Linn LP12, with Linn Akiva cartdridge.
The purpose was to compare my humble phono pre with the Linn Linto.
The Linto was not better.😀
 
Tomorrow we are going to try the following: LM6172's, AD823's, OPA2604's as well as OPA2132's. We are going to do the comparason's using my Oracle Delphi/Alphason HR-100S/Van den Hul Frog and his Nottingham Space Deck/Space Arm/Dynavecter 17D. Apart from the different op-amps, I'm also curious to see how the two turntables compare.

The results in order of general consensus:

1.) AD823 (easy winner, unanimous)
2.) LM6172 (nice round mid-range, a bit noisy)
3.) OPA2132 (very quiet)
4.) OPA2134 (quiet, not quite as good at the freq. extremes as the OPA2132)
5.) OPA2604 (the only one that was really poor)

Also; The Nottingham Space Deck/Space Arm/Dynavecter is now for sale.
 
jean-paul said:
Thanks for the info, too bad you did not include AD826. I was curious how you would rate them against LM6172 and AD823.

We were going try the AD826 too, but I haven't heard anything good about it, apparently it has a very repressed mid-range, so we didn't bother. I do wish we had tried the AD8620, but that requires use of SOIC-to-DIP adaptors, also the 8620 has maximum +-13V rating, we could use it in the AcousTech but nowhere else. I would like to try the AD712, I've heard the 712 before but not in a proper piece of equipment.
 
Gaucho said:
The results in order of general consensus:

1.) AD823 (easy winner, unanimous)
2.) LM6172 (nice round mid-range, a bit noisy)
3.) OPA2132 (very quiet)
4.) OPA2134 (quiet, not quite as good at the freq. extremes as the OPA2132)
5.) OPA2604 (the only one that was really poor)

Also; The Nottingham Space Deck/Space Arm/Dynavecter is now for sale.

Very accurate.
Yes, the LM6172 is a little noisy to be used on a phono preamp.
Now, don't forget: this is your results on a phono preamp.
On a linestage it coud be slightly different, but anyway forget the OPA2604.
 
:whazzat:

Hopefully I'll have put sockets in my cd player soon, then I can compare the 2604 to others again...

I had friends around over the weekend, and while fairly impressed with music through this system, they obviously weren't blown away. So it has to improve 😀

A friend gave me filled Rod Elliot pre-amp boards on Friday, and they have the 2134 on them, so I have another place to try op-amps, and another op-amp available to try...
 
carlosfm said:
They must leave your house talking alone, and very unhappy.😀
Hehe. Comments were actually positive, such as "your hi-fi is sounding REALLY good..." (from someone who has a mini system) and "it's definately better than mine, the bass is leagues ahead" (someone who has nice mid-fi) and "hmm, it's always hard to judge, because it's so different to mine" (he has lovely sryupy transmission line speakers). I will not be happy until people can't hide the ear-to-ear grins when listening to their music on it. There's a way to go, and I wonder if that will ever be possible in the tiny room it's setup in :xeye:

Rome was not built in one day.😉
There's great wisdom in your posts, Carlos. In my gym, "Endurance wasn't built in a day" is painted on the wall 😉
 
carlosfm said:
I once made a listening session with my (diy) OPA637 class-a biased phono pre.
It was connected to a top-spec Linn LP12, with Linn Akiva cartdridge.
The purpose was to compare my humble phono pre with the Linn Linto.
The Linto was not better.😀

When looking for some reviews, I discovered the Linn Linto was Stereophile class A rated! Hummm...perhaps I should use a pair of OPA637s and try a MC version of El Cheapo. It shouldn't be hard to better my Rega MC🙂

It is also interesting to note the AcousTech (premium version)does not use regulators but rather extensive CRCR... filtering. After hearing the AcousTech I don't think I'll ever use regs again. Also it uses two dual op-amps per channel.
 
Very interesting thread. Thanks guys for sharing your experience. I'm looking for an op amp for an active xo. Very good, but not braking the bank like the 627/637.

Had a search for the AD823 at rs-components and found several versions. I would prefer dip8 and sockets because I'm not sure about soldering the tiny so8 versions.

Gaucho > What version 823 did you use. I can buy ad823AR and ad823AN, where the AR version costs about 25% more (no idea why).

How big are the differences we're talking about? I had a try at op amp upgrades in a cd player a few years ago, but wasn't blown away by big improvements (could have multiple reasons, I was completely clueless without knowing it... the worst kind 😉 )

Carlos. What would your professional opinion be on the ordering of the sound quality in case of a 'linestage circuit'?
I'm surprised to find out that 2132 and 2134 do not simply sound the same. Is there a general advantage in chosing a single opamp instead of dual?

Thanks.
 
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