My_Ref Fremen Edition - Build thread and tutorial

.... in my system my impressions are exactly the opposite. Of course my system is different than yours. .....the audyns overcompensate the bass in an un-natural way. ....I am just happier with the Zs presentation. again no cap war, maybe a relay based protection circuit in place of C13 would save much discussion:D

I agree that the Audyns respond differently in different systems. At the beginning, I also felt that bass was a bit much in my system with the TCs. Something to try with the Audyns is cap orientation. Some caps have very little difference, but I thought the TCs got a lot better for mid to bass balance when flipped. I wish I understood why that can happen.

Whatever you decide, it will be the best for you and that is cool.
 
Hi Koldby

TP do a balanced version using the LM4780 which is 2 LM3886 on one chip. I’ve not heard it so can’t say about SQ.

What speakers are you using?:)

Hi All

A quick update.

I’ve been running the Isotek full system enhancer for about 30 hours but not continuously as I like to keep an eye on new builds for a while.

So just a few hours per day and I must say that it seems to work well.

The sound has changed quite a lot over the time that I’ve been using the Isotek disk sounding a little dry at one stage in the process. But it seems to have settled down a little now (black gates?) with good overall improvements.

So I’ve had time to play with my TP DAC’s which both sound really good through the MY REF FE but both different.

The OPUS IV3 Volumite sounds great if a little ‘’digital’’ compared to my buffalo Legato’s smooth more analogue sounding OP.

So no problems with the MYREF FE’s resolving power.:cool:

Both where used directly into MYREF FE using the DACS inbuilt volume controls.

The MYREF FE made the differences in both front ends very obvious in my system.

Both sound really good used that way.

And then I had a play with my Glasshouse AVC and DCB1 (Goldpoint switcher).

Well I was quite shocked at how good the DCB1 sounds with buffalo/MYREF FE/PMC. It really fleshed out the mids and bass with no detectable loss in clarity. The soundstage is now very spacious which is nice (unusual for a SS amp) so well done on that front.:drink:
Sounding quite lovely.

The cap comparisons have been interesting

It’s really nice to read people finding their own preferences and not having to put up with the usual arguments that can sometimes get in the way of good discussion.

One thing that would be useful is if people could mention their front end and speakers just to give a handle on how their system may sound. That would make things a little easier for me to assess their comments regarding C13 (and other) changes.

Myself:geezer:

I still have the Mundorf Supreme at C13 and Kendeil tank caps but things are sounding so good I’m in no rush to change things.

I may try some Mundorf silver oils (birthday coming up) and will definitely be having some Mylitic’s which I’ve used before so know what they can do. But that’s for later one the FE has settled fully.

Just a word on DC coupling.

My take is that we have some first time builders who would be wise to build to the recommended boom and have C13 in place first. Then if people feel the need to experiment then that’s personal responsibility time. People need to read round the threads for any potential risks and make informed choices.

Myself well errrr

I’ll be trying DC coupling at some point just to hear for myself as I have 0.2Mv on the Legato’s OP.
Having one cap in the signal path does allow for a little tuning of the sound balance which may outweigh a little increase in clarity.

gob still smacked:)

Sounding awesome this end guys.

Great work
 

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Hi Koldby
Wow love those speakers.:yummy:

I’ll have a read through that thread just out of interest.

I do try to avoid woodwork DIY as I’m pretty bad but those Ali enclosures are soooo nice. As is the sweet looking trawler valve :)Tube amp.

Most of my tube builds have been 6EM7/45/2a3/300B type things but to be honest I got bored with the same builds.

The 76/45SE is one sweet sounding amp so I still use that.:cool:

Sorry for the OT guys.

The TP link

http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/amplifiers/sympatico.aspx

I’ve not heard it so no adverts just a thought.

I’ve read that the LM4780 sound a little different but who knows for sure on that.

Balance FE would be very interesting and a good fit for the Legato’s balanced OP.

The only downside is more boards needed?

But an interesting idea and good to try in Bi Amp mode also,

I must admit that after Hearing the FE I was kicking myself for not buying an extra set of boards for such experiments.:(
 
Has anybody tried to run My_Ref balanced?
In my system I need a little more power, and my speakers are very easy 8 Ohm loads, so I was wondering if this could be a solution?
I would drive them from a balanced DAC.

Koldby

I had looked closely at the Twisted Pear Sympatico. They are 100 watts per channel and quite reasonably priced. Russ White is an excellent designer who worked with Mauro on the original MyRef board, so I thought it might be a good sounding amp, but I've never heard it. Looking closely, Russ has changed quite a few things, so it is pretty far from a MyRef.

As for running 2 FEs in balanced formation, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. I would be careful of the grounding scheme as the MyRefs, including FE, have the speaker return common with the power supply ground and isolated from the audio ground by a 1 ohm resistor. You would have to be careful about polarity and how the power supply grounds would be connected without forming a ground loop.

As for me, my speakers play well with the single FE, so I have a little "balanced to single ended" board to play each FE from a balanced source. Once I settled on the best opamp for the job, I feel the sound quality is a minor improvement over playing single ended.

Jac
 
Good morning to everyone.
I put another pre (LDR based) in front of the FE.
Used to have B1 with obbligato and russian pio caps. Been rolling caps for some time there and sound was changing in all directions: from lean to full, from congested to open. All in all I could no find right balance of the caps and audible picture I like 100%.
So now it is LDR. Everything is nice, clear and bass is incredible. But somehow 3d imaging front to back placement of instruments shrunk to the point I hear just stereo.
Question: if I d opt for c13 roll which cap would give tiny bit more sparkle and open imaging ?

I ll do dac soon with buffer on output so it could help, but would like to try to tune cap just out of curiosity.
I ll start from russian k71-4 which I have on hands.
 
I could be wrong, but I think that the 3d effect is partly to do with accurate stereo channel matching.

When the "stereo" is right, the ears/brain can then interpret the "non-stereo" sounds as distance and height.
When the "stereo" is not accurately matched, the brain gets confused and cannot liken the sounds to "where" it remembers where it heard them before.

This is all guesswork, so treat me gently when you reply.
 
Used to have B1 with obbligato and russian pio caps.(...) So now it is LDR.
But with b1 I had more of that 3d imaging which I liked especially with jazz..

That extra 3D imaging was due, probably, to the PIOs.

One of their colorations is creating bigger than real soundstage.

Like Bob already suggested, you can do a sanity check with a 10K pot, the SMD stepped attenuators you can find on eBay (search for 'DaCT Type 21' from seller lasercollection) are very good and reasonably priced.

The single pot is the reference every buffer/preamp has to beat (if the preamp/power amp combo doesn't need a buffer).
 
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I understood what you were saying. Just suggesting that a bare pot is a valid alternative to try because there are no electronics in the device. If the quality of the pot is high it will serve as a good benchmark one can use for comparisons. I've used and like two different LDR units and a couple of preamps, but I consider a bare pot the "purest" approach.

OOPS, Dario was posting as I was writing. :)