Hi all,
Just compared Gainclones with CARY 300b SE Monoblocks and......
First a few things that I should mention about the system that the comparison took place.
Turntable: TL Acoustics custom design, Main Platter made from 70mm delrin resting on 18mm polished Tungsten carbide splindle working in phosphor bronze oil bath. Rega RB900 tonearm and Lyra Lydian Beta cartridge.
Phono Stage: DACT CT-100 Module, Custom PSU with Jensen capacitors.
Preamp: Tsakiridis Devises 6SN7 based CF design.
CD Player: BAT Balanced Audio Technologies VK-D5.
Amplifiers: Cary 300B SE monoblocks.
Speakers: Impulse Ta'Us, three way horn design, 94db, Upgraded external crossovers using Mundorf supreme M-caps and 12 AWG Mundorf foil inductors. Forget about ''horn sound'' from these. They are a great ''tool''.
Ultimate Gainclones, Monoblock, Non inverting LM3875 BrianGT's PCBs, 225VA toroidal mains transformer with electrostatic shield held in place by a 5mm thick bronze disk, Fairchild ISL9R460P2 4A 600V Stealth Diodes, 10uF Elna Silmic caps on power supply PCB, 1000uf Elna Silmic capacitors on main PCB, Riken carbon film resistors everywhere, a solid block of bronze is used as a heatsink and last the chasis is made of 10mm Corian sheets.
Here are some pics, more later, I have to go to work now🙄
Just compared Gainclones with CARY 300b SE Monoblocks and......
First a few things that I should mention about the system that the comparison took place.
Turntable: TL Acoustics custom design, Main Platter made from 70mm delrin resting on 18mm polished Tungsten carbide splindle working in phosphor bronze oil bath. Rega RB900 tonearm and Lyra Lydian Beta cartridge.
Phono Stage: DACT CT-100 Module, Custom PSU with Jensen capacitors.
Preamp: Tsakiridis Devises 6SN7 based CF design.
CD Player: BAT Balanced Audio Technologies VK-D5.
Amplifiers: Cary 300B SE monoblocks.
Speakers: Impulse Ta'Us, three way horn design, 94db, Upgraded external crossovers using Mundorf supreme M-caps and 12 AWG Mundorf foil inductors. Forget about ''horn sound'' from these. They are a great ''tool''.
Ultimate Gainclones, Monoblock, Non inverting LM3875 BrianGT's PCBs, 225VA toroidal mains transformer with electrostatic shield held in place by a 5mm thick bronze disk, Fairchild ISL9R460P2 4A 600V Stealth Diodes, 10uF Elna Silmic caps on power supply PCB, 1000uf Elna Silmic capacitors on main PCB, Riken carbon film resistors everywhere, a solid block of bronze is used as a heatsink and last the chasis is made of 10mm Corian sheets.
Here are some pics, more later, I have to go to work now🙄
Attachments
Those look lovely, and i am sure sound great.
A word of warning about heatsinking though, Brass/Bronze is quite a poor choice for a heatsinking. It is about half as conductive as aluminium and more like a quater a good as copper.
Take a look here:-
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tables/thrcn.html
A word of warning about heatsinking though, Brass/Bronze is quite a poor choice for a heatsinking. It is about half as conductive as aluminium and more like a quater a good as copper.
Take a look here:-
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tables/thrcn.html
100% correct these chips dont need much heatsinking really , certainly not in a typical application. I built copper heatsinks for mine and it was completely overkill.
Fil
Fil
filholder said:
My gainclones at first were build into some generic 1U rack size aluminum enclosures and I used aluminum heatshiks also.
Sound was ok but nothing special and they probably stayed that way if I never placed them on that Corian shelfs at a friends house. The improvement was so dramatic (better low level resolution, highs more clear without that "TIZZ" and a more open three dimentional soundstage) that the second pair of Gainclones were build into Corian enclosures. The change from aluminum heatshiks to Bronze was also a nice improvement and they just get warm even when you drive them hard for a long time.
I don't know what you guys think but I feel that those chips are very sensitive when it comes to enclosure and heatshink material.
Listening to both pairs you don't need a pair of ''golden ears'' to hear the difference. The Corian/Bronze combo sounds more natural, open, controlled and have the abillity to ''untagle'' the frequency spectrum. Both pairs are identical at passive parts.
Back to the ''review''.
We listened to many kinds of music from folk to solo piano and from jazz to rock and classical.
Listrening to the Cary 300B what at first grubbed my attention is the musicality (or this is because I know they SHOULD sound like this 🙄 ). Listening to solo piano or classic quitar was quite an expirience, BUT, from my point of view (and ALL the other "reviewers" agreed) that was the ONLY point that the Carys beat those "humble" Gainclones.
Listening to a ''salvo'' of a full classical orchestra is not the forte of a single 300B, the gainclones "placed" the groups of the instruments at the right place in the "scene" where the Cary placed them so close together that it was very difficult to understand where is what.
Diana Cral have some wonderfull recordings and listening to her through the Carys lets you get down her throat where the Gainclones with their better resolution lets you see what she had for lunch!!!
And this goes on and on for all music kinds.
Overall the Gainclones had better resolution without been harsh, (the cash mashine in the "Jazz at the Pawnshop"1st side, 1st track, sounds very clear, with the Carys you just have to know that is actually there to hear it) better control over the bass notes and loud passages and more "speed". The mids are a bit more forward but without been in "your face".
Yes, I would happily trade the Gainclones for those Carys but only because I can build ANOTHER PAIR 😉
Regards
P
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