Hi, I am desperate to see how it sounds and video. It’s been stuck in the post and postal delays the tracker has said it’s left Norway some time ago but no news about arrival in the UK. Needless to say I have written and e-mailed ParcelForce who deal with this in the UK
I am using my unit for analogue out so may then look to upgrade the analogue boards. my set up is pretty revealing and very dynamic, I only really use it for film (played on disc). It’s naim and Sonus Faber based. I use a Lumagen and PJ for video. The Lumagen already has an LPS
The instructions look quite clear as well
I am using my unit for analogue out so may then look to upgrade the analogue boards. my set up is pretty revealing and very dynamic, I only really use it for film (played on disc). It’s naim and Sonus Faber based. I use a Lumagen and PJ for video. The Lumagen already has an LPS
The instructions look quite clear as well
I have watched a couple of films and put a few hours on the new supply. I believe in burn in and not judging too quickly. I have done a lot with power supplies (using, experimenting not building ) over the years.
Probably worth saying what system I run for film
Panasonic player obviously, I had an Oppo 205 and didn’t like the audio and the Panasonic picture was better too. it replaces a Denon 3800, which I thought had quite respectable audio - analogue out. In fact I just couldn’t find something good enough to replace that player running 5.1 and Blu-ray, I tried a number of HD processors and they fell a long way short of analogue out
My system currently is 7.3.0 no overhead speakers at least in part as I live in a grade 1 listed house (means I can’t do anything to the fabrics of the building - like cuting big holes in the ceiling). My set up is now 9000 analogue out to Naim AV2 to Naim 32.5/Supercap for front L,R and then to 9 mono Naim 135 power amps then to Sounus Faber speakers
Extremas (bi-amped) fronts, Cremona centre, Elector Amator surrounds and Cremona auditor elipsa rears. I run three Cremona subwoofers with external power amps, these are aligned and EQ'd across the seating area using a mini DSP HD
The picture from the Panasonic goes to a calibrated Lumagen Pro (using a Fidelity Audio LPS) and then to an Epson LS10500 projector
I did run an Acurus Act4 processor and while some things were better (resolution, positioning and steering) the analogue out (Naim AV2 32,5/s upercap) had more ‘body’ and weight and seems more organic than the Acurus. And it was more musical and had a greater level of emotion than the Acurus. Familiar films had warmth and depth, timing and poise, the Acurus whilst very good just missed that little bit of organic realism that I would trade over resolution
So far I have watched two familiar films not easy to A-B as I only have one player, so I have chosen my reference film Oblivion 2k and the film I happened to watch the evening before swapping out the old power supply Black Panther 4K
The first impressions where improved video, the image was improved, my notes included slightly cleaner less noise, the colours seems to have more ‘weight’ to them and motion looked better, fast moving scenes seemed easier to watch and smoother, overall it looked simply better and image depth seemed better, more looking in than looking at. The audio I’m still evaluating initial impressions are positive as it seems to be slightly more dynamic and have a greater level of separation in the bass, also possibly a little more resolution. But I am also aware of a small amount of ‘hardness’. Which I expect to be just running in. In my experience of new components, especially power supplies seem to take a good few hours to fill out and deliver their full dynamics and can also sounds a little ‘pinched’ and ‘hard’ until run in. Given it already sounds good I have high hopes.
Right now 10 or so hours in I’d say the picture has moved forward a worthwhile step the audio is showing promise and has traded a bit of smoothness for a bit of separation and dynamics.
Probably worth saying what system I run for film
Panasonic player obviously, I had an Oppo 205 and didn’t like the audio and the Panasonic picture was better too. it replaces a Denon 3800, which I thought had quite respectable audio - analogue out. In fact I just couldn’t find something good enough to replace that player running 5.1 and Blu-ray, I tried a number of HD processors and they fell a long way short of analogue out
My system currently is 7.3.0 no overhead speakers at least in part as I live in a grade 1 listed house (means I can’t do anything to the fabrics of the building - like cuting big holes in the ceiling). My set up is now 9000 analogue out to Naim AV2 to Naim 32.5/Supercap for front L,R and then to 9 mono Naim 135 power amps then to Sounus Faber speakers
Extremas (bi-amped) fronts, Cremona centre, Elector Amator surrounds and Cremona auditor elipsa rears. I run three Cremona subwoofers with external power amps, these are aligned and EQ'd across the seating area using a mini DSP HD
The picture from the Panasonic goes to a calibrated Lumagen Pro (using a Fidelity Audio LPS) and then to an Epson LS10500 projector
I did run an Acurus Act4 processor and while some things were better (resolution, positioning and steering) the analogue out (Naim AV2 32,5/s upercap) had more ‘body’ and weight and seems more organic than the Acurus. And it was more musical and had a greater level of emotion than the Acurus. Familiar films had warmth and depth, timing and poise, the Acurus whilst very good just missed that little bit of organic realism that I would trade over resolution
So far I have watched two familiar films not easy to A-B as I only have one player, so I have chosen my reference film Oblivion 2k and the film I happened to watch the evening before swapping out the old power supply Black Panther 4K
The first impressions where improved video, the image was improved, my notes included slightly cleaner less noise, the colours seems to have more ‘weight’ to them and motion looked better, fast moving scenes seemed easier to watch and smoother, overall it looked simply better and image depth seemed better, more looking in than looking at. The audio I’m still evaluating initial impressions are positive as it seems to be slightly more dynamic and have a greater level of separation in the bass, also possibly a little more resolution. But I am also aware of a small amount of ‘hardness’. Which I expect to be just running in. In my experience of new components, especially power supplies seem to take a good few hours to fill out and deliver their full dynamics and can also sounds a little ‘pinched’ and ‘hard’ until run in. Given it already sounds good I have high hopes.
Right now 10 or so hours in I’d say the picture has moved forward a worthwhile step the audio is showing promise and has traded a bit of smoothness for a bit of separation and dynamics.
Last edited:
I have now put something like 30-40 hours on the player, leaving it playing a film for most of the day and when finished overnight a film that just plays the intro scene without stopping. I watched a film last night and it was very good but no reference.
So today I went back to two or three test discs again to see how things had changed or if it seems the same. Well the video - I am not sure if this has benefited from a few hours of burn in, difficult to say, but certainly no worse than the last time I checked images do still look superb, if I was pushed I might 'guess' its is a tad smoother but thats more guess than judgement. I still notice the image depth, colour density and excellent blacks.
The audio has improved again, small but noticeable steps, the bass has a little more weight and seemingly more tactile and freeer than before. Voices seemed to have a little more resolution and improved projection. It feels that the performance has settled a bit and loosened up. The bass and upper mid has very good separation, I noticed this before but it seems more noticeable now. In the mid and lower register the dynamics and scale of the presentation has also improved. The slight hardness and slight edginess to the sound appears to have reduced, but is still there. I am also starting to notice a more obvious improvement in clarity and resolution.
Overall it does sound as though it will continue to improve as that familiar ease and ebb and flow is not quite there yet, it still sounds a little dynamically restricted in the higher frequencies. I am already starting to read about capacitor and resistor choices for the audio boards, I look forward to speaking with Coris in 2021 !
So today I went back to two or three test discs again to see how things had changed or if it seems the same. Well the video - I am not sure if this has benefited from a few hours of burn in, difficult to say, but certainly no worse than the last time I checked images do still look superb, if I was pushed I might 'guess' its is a tad smoother but thats more guess than judgement. I still notice the image depth, colour density and excellent blacks.
The audio has improved again, small but noticeable steps, the bass has a little more weight and seemingly more tactile and freeer than before. Voices seemed to have a little more resolution and improved projection. It feels that the performance has settled a bit and loosened up. The bass and upper mid has very good separation, I noticed this before but it seems more noticeable now. In the mid and lower register the dynamics and scale of the presentation has also improved. The slight hardness and slight edginess to the sound appears to have reduced, but is still there. I am also starting to notice a more obvious improvement in clarity and resolution.
Overall it does sound as though it will continue to improve as that familiar ease and ebb and flow is not quite there yet, it still sounds a little dynamically restricted in the higher frequencies. I am already starting to read about capacitor and resistor choices for the audio boards, I look forward to speaking with Coris in 2021 !
Last edited:
I would like to precise that replacing the original SMPS with an LPS is only a step (the very important one), in improving the device overall quality for outputted signals. One should not expect after a such upgrade, many other very particular improvements for each of the device sections.
An LPS powering the whole system/device it lower dramatically the noises level in the whole system (comparing it with an SMPS). However, for lifting even more the quality level in one or another functional areas, there are necessary particular upgrades and improvements, targeting specifically the one or another functional sections of the device.
I have recently succeeded the replacement of an small (but important) SMPS on main board, powering then the depending circuits from LPS, with a supplementary linear power line. Extended improvements of the power system on main board itself, as around DACs, it indeed lift dramatically the audio quality level, as improving even more the picture quality. Improvements it are also necessary for the post DAC circuitry, residing on audio board, to get a full and very high quality out of this device (very capable also).
I would like to express my scepticisme about the "burning in" process, someone may chose to proceed to. This is highly unnecessary on an electronic device. Such are indeed necessary when about mechanical devices or systems, where the moving parts it should fit better to each other after a while of functioning at high parameters.
An electronic system it should function as intended/designed/expected at once, after all things are in right place, and the eventual or necessary corrections are done. Well, the corrections may be quite many, but this corrections approach it is very different than a burning in one... Else, the electronic system it may not function as intended at all too. But in my opinion, improvements are not possible (or to be expected) as result of a burning in process.
It is also another negative aspect about this burning in approach, applied to and electronic device: a such device it have a limited number of hours to well function, before one or another issues may occur, because lot of possible causes. Also and electronic-mechanical system (including moving parts), as an optical drive, is more exposed to aging than a purely electronic circuit/system. Stressing and running excessively a such system it may shorten its life span, and for sure it will not lead to any improvements, but opposite. The aging of mechanical system in a disc drive is obviously affected by the number of functional hours of the unit, Then the laser devices used for reading the discs it are much more exposed to the aging process, than the most other electronic components. All the electronic components it have an estimated (resulting from its design), functional hours for the specified parameters. Some may hold longer, some may not, and such is not controllable at all. However, it may not hold forever... Running an more or less excessively "burn in" process it only shorten the life span of the involved components, and for sure it not lead to improvements. Not recommended also...
An LPS powering the whole system/device it lower dramatically the noises level in the whole system (comparing it with an SMPS). However, for lifting even more the quality level in one or another functional areas, there are necessary particular upgrades and improvements, targeting specifically the one or another functional sections of the device.
I have recently succeeded the replacement of an small (but important) SMPS on main board, powering then the depending circuits from LPS, with a supplementary linear power line. Extended improvements of the power system on main board itself, as around DACs, it indeed lift dramatically the audio quality level, as improving even more the picture quality. Improvements it are also necessary for the post DAC circuitry, residing on audio board, to get a full and very high quality out of this device (very capable also).
I would like to express my scepticisme about the "burning in" process, someone may chose to proceed to. This is highly unnecessary on an electronic device. Such are indeed necessary when about mechanical devices or systems, where the moving parts it should fit better to each other after a while of functioning at high parameters.
An electronic system it should function as intended/designed/expected at once, after all things are in right place, and the eventual or necessary corrections are done. Well, the corrections may be quite many, but this corrections approach it is very different than a burning in one... Else, the electronic system it may not function as intended at all too. But in my opinion, improvements are not possible (or to be expected) as result of a burning in process.
It is also another negative aspect about this burning in approach, applied to and electronic device: a such device it have a limited number of hours to well function, before one or another issues may occur, because lot of possible causes. Also and electronic-mechanical system (including moving parts), as an optical drive, is more exposed to aging than a purely electronic circuit/system. Stressing and running excessively a such system it may shorten its life span, and for sure it will not lead to any improvements, but opposite. The aging of mechanical system in a disc drive is obviously affected by the number of functional hours of the unit, Then the laser devices used for reading the discs it are much more exposed to the aging process, than the most other electronic components. All the electronic components it have an estimated (resulting from its design), functional hours for the specified parameters. Some may hold longer, some may not, and such is not controllable at all. However, it may not hold forever... Running an more or less excessively "burn in" process it only shorten the life span of the involved components, and for sure it not lead to improvements. Not recommended also...
Last edited:
I know cables, the choice of caps, resistors are often debated but my experience of time taken before an electronic component sounds at its best is very real. I have no clue why, but the Player took a good few weeks before it sounded acceptable when new (new from Panasonic) A lot of manufacturers recommend some time before they sound their best.
I just listen and compare. I have two identical Naim AV2’s, they sound similar but not the same, interestingly I prefer the sound of my original unit. I can see zero difference in components and they have both had many hours of use, I doubt this has anything to do with running in but again I just listen and compare.
Whenever I get my Naim 135’s recapped and serviced (10-15 years) they need a good few hours to sound right, a few weeks of music. Newly serviced they sound, lean, forward and somewhat harsh, also dynamics are reduced. I have 10 Naim 135’s and know them quite well, they definitely need hours of use before they sound right after a service.
I just listen and compare. I have two identical Naim AV2’s, they sound similar but not the same, interestingly I prefer the sound of my original unit. I can see zero difference in components and they have both had many hours of use, I doubt this has anything to do with running in but again I just listen and compare.
Whenever I get my Naim 135’s recapped and serviced (10-15 years) they need a good few hours to sound right, a few weeks of music. Newly serviced they sound, lean, forward and somewhat harsh, also dynamics are reduced. I have 10 Naim 135’s and know them quite well, they definitely need hours of use before they sound right after a service.
Last edited:
Well, many of that original caps in DACs area, it are the right one, and in the right places. There is not exactly so, that where one see caps on board, it mean that what it are planted there is not good, or it should be replaced... To not talk more about the final look of a such "upgrade" in the pictured exemple...
However, there are necessary few more other improvements, than the LPS itself, to obtain an near max, of what the hardware may be able for...
However, there are necessary few more other improvements, than the LPS itself, to obtain an near max, of what the hardware may be able for...
Coris, hi
Are you going to provide any more upgrade steps that can by done by DIY, I am quite enjoying the process of experimenting and assessing, I’d be happy to try to upgrade remotely with my soldering Iron and guidance / instruction. Seems like upgrade to the main board might be next ?
Possibly component swaps on the analogue board as well ? I’m probably somewhat unusual in only using the player for multichannel out and playing BR
Are you going to provide any more upgrade steps that can by done by DIY, I am quite enjoying the process of experimenting and assessing, I’d be happy to try to upgrade remotely with my soldering Iron and guidance / instruction. Seems like upgrade to the main board might be next ?
Possibly component swaps on the analogue board as well ? I’m probably somewhat unusual in only using the player for multichannel out and playing BR