The best sounding audio integrated opamps

I loved the "very tight and percussive" bass of the LT1028CS8 & ACN8 too; however, I like the more relaxed yet still authoritative and quick bass of the OPA1611. Interestingly, these differences seem to 'continue' going up through the spectrum. That's why I call the OPA1611 my favorite, rather than the LT1028.
well, it just makes me bump my head like silly on the 1028A 😛

it's still anyone's guess why the sound is better on sockets...I've asked the browndog guy, but he told he's half deaf a little while ago...so he prolly won't be of much help.

anyway, I'll put them all back on socket and call it a day...they sound so damn good on those :yummy:
 
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I remember and agree. Maybe my standards were too low 🙂 Or maybe the battery supply was the reason.

Well I have fired it up today... works perfectly... once I found a tape.
Just recorded a CD onto it to try.
And you know what ! It holds it's own even today. It was reckoned to outperform even many a Nakamichi at the time 🙂
And all with 4558 opamps too.

This is the one, with Dolby C
http://www.walkmancentral.com/products/wm-d6c
 
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The cap I would substitute is in series, not in parallel 🙂 And adding a compensation resistor there would lead to tilted up upper treble, no? 🙂

No, the contrary.

If the crossover is similar to the one of my Alphas there is a resistor after the cap, if you swap that one with another 0,2-0,3 Ohm bigger you retain the original response.

If you swap the cap without compensation resistor you shoud have a 0.5-1.0 dB more on tweeter, going to the colder side...

Anyhow, I heard the Beta 20 (with a very good system: Electrocompaniet amp and Rotel top-line CDP); since it sounded very accurate (although too cold, kind of "light blue" colored, in that case - don't know if it were the speakers themselves), I would expect to find a film cap in the tweeter filter. 🙂

These alumimum/ceramic drivers are very accurate, neutral and unforgiving even with an elco they sound so but with a hint of grain and harshness.

If the source/ampli/cables chain is only a bit could they sound cold.

'Light blue' shoud be the right color, I would say...😉

A sligthly warmer cap like Obbligatos should make a wonderful job in that role.

I'd prefer to try the Primus 150, among the Infinities 🙂 because it looks better, more sober...whatever this means 🙂

Yes Primus are more 'classic', they're similar to Alphas in that regard:

infinity%20alpha%2020.jpg
 
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No, the contrary.

If the crossover is similar to the one of my Alphas there is a resistor after the cap, if you swap that one with another 0,2-0,3 Ohm bigger you retain the original response.
Yeah sorry, I'd realized my silly mistake. 😱

That is one more reason not to tweak crossovers, anyway; ain't it? I would rather buy a speaker that (like my Polk's) already has a decent film cap on the tweeter. Or else, I'd leave whatever it has. I'm not a hardcore tweaker anymore 🙂


Yes...the Alpha and Primus look nice. I think the Primus look best, personally, again...whatever it means 🙂
 
anyone's got an idea of what op-amps there could possibly be in this mixing board?

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


picture was shot in 1979 at Sly & Robbie's studio in Kingston, Jamaica.

maybe I should ask this english expert Andrea likes so much, can't recall his name.

Jim Williams? If you really want to know (whatever difference it makes for you), it's a good idea 🙂
 
I dunno, for fun? I'm quite sure Rupert Neve never used op-amps in his mixing boards, though..

PS: he was using discrete op-amps apparently: Rupert Neve op-amps - Google Search

Rupert Neve Designs – Evolution
Integrated Circuits started to appear in the mid 1970’s, and were greeted with alarm and skepticism. These devices had the advantage of being small in size and very cost effective, which became more important as consoles grew in complexity and required ever growing quantities of amplifiers. With care, the sound quality could be good enough, although they were never quite as good as the cumbersome old single-sided, discrete transistor designs.
it's clear than a 5532/5534 will never sound as good as a burson, but an AD797B or LT1028A can clearly compete/exceed it.
 
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Is there any experience with the OPA1632? How does it sound?
It's a fully differential opamp (and not pin-compatible) with specs:
-Noise:1,3nV
-Slew Rate 50V/us
-Gainbandwith: 180MHz
-Output:at least 50mA
-Distortion: 0,000022%

This device is for a specific use... having differential outputs.
If you are interested in the theory and applications have a read here,
http://focus.ti.com/lit/an/sloa099/sloa099.pdf

I think Andrea might skip that bit 😉