Morph
Rank: Duo
Posts: 62
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Post by Morph on Nov 2, 2023 15:42:04 GMT
Quick question if I may, Martin.
Is the U18 easy to access. I see from your picture that the back panel slides out once four screws are removed. Is that it?
TIA
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Post by MartinT on Nov 2, 2023 15:45:53 GMT
You unscrew the four rear plate bolts and carefully slide it and the circuit board out, but only partially. You need to reach inside and unplug two connectors before completely removing it. Then it's easy to access the K-2 module. I removed the label and cleaned the top of the K-2 with acetone before bonding the cube.
EDIT: I applied Dodomat to the cube in the X26 Pro but not as yet to the U18, which has less headroom.
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Morph
Rank: Duo
Posts: 62
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Post by Morph on Nov 2, 2023 15:47:54 GMT
That's great, Martin. Thank you.
The waiting for arrival of new things begins!
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Post by MartinT on Nov 2, 2023 17:25:29 GMT
You should start a blog (here) and talk us through it  |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 4, 2023 14:10:24 GMT
I like the Tubulus Concentus clock cable so much I've ordered another one for my first clock.
Too much of a good thing? Let's find out as the first clock, feeding the EtherREGEN, is responsible for taking phase noise out of the feed to the Rendu streamer.
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Post by brettj on Nov 8, 2023 3:44:31 GMT
Hey Brett, how is the Tubulus cable coming along? Hey Martin Haven't had much of a chance to listen. The Tubulus has near 500 hours, and the Puritan PSM156 + Ultimate cable has over 600 hours (a decent amount of which is Tara Labs Cascade). I'm thinking that's enough... Maybe Wednesday will take an hour or so. Had a listen last week after a seriously decent burn in. Tubulus Argentus I2S running from from my DDC, an Audio GD DI20HE to my Gustard A22 Dac (both with Coherent mods). Puritan PSM156 mains purifier and Puritan Ultimate power cable. Stack Audio Auva EQ Isolators under the PSM156. Firstly, the background is silent. Instrument and voice separation has even better definition. Continue to hear details I never have before. |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 12, 2023 15:20:47 GMT
Having checked for clearance, I have now applied the Dodomat dampening treatment to the tungsten cube in the U18. That's both cubes done and there is an added smoothness further highlighting the detail in the music.
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Post by MikeMusic on Nov 12, 2023 15:59:14 GMT
Where will it end ?! |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 12, 2023 17:14:39 GMT
I'll stop when it stops getting better!
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Post by nicholas on Nov 12, 2023 17:22:41 GMT
Where will it end ?! "Better" is the enemy of "good", Mike...  |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 13, 2023 15:17:06 GMT
I finally received another Mini Circuits order, this one a BLP-10.7+ 50 ohm 11MHz low pass filter. Beautifully made, as with all their components, it has gone in circuit at the U18 end of the clock feed. You can do this with a sinewave clock!  I believe I can hear even more fine detail at very low levels but it will need the usual amount of burn-in before I am certain. |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 16, 2023 19:24:17 GMT
My second Tubulus clock cable arrived this evening and I swapped it in place of the Harmonic Technology DC-III running the first AD clock into the EtherREGEN.
The very first impression from cold is of greater depth with more detail from further back. This is a Tubulus - silver - cable so you know what that means. About a month of burn-in. Thankfully, I don't need to do anything except leave the clock running, which it does anyway. Meanwhile, it sounds nice now and hopefully won't become too bad while it travels the 'U' curve.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 16, 2023 20:14:13 GMT
Meanwhile, here's something to look at While-U-Wait (geddit?)  |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 17, 2023 20:21:06 GMT
Playing doomsday by Lizzie McAlpine, the soundstage is now huge with extremely potent and deep bass. Her voice is well portrayed without harshness. When things get busy there remains a sense of control, especially with the wide dynamic range leading to quiet sections. Bass is both tuneful and punchy at low frequencies. There is loads of detail in the quiet moments.  This is with just 24 hours on the Tubulus clock cable of the 1st clock. Incredible that there can be such an influence on the sound. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Nov 17, 2023 21:39:42 GMT
We live in a mad world
Doesn't seem possible you can still have improvements in a system already so well sorted
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Post by MartinT on Nov 17, 2023 21:55:12 GMT
Doesn't seem possible you can still have improvements in a system already so well sorted It is quite mad. This one is not even subtle. It does show that reducing noise in the digital feed just goes on and on. Based on the size of the improvement, I've ordered another Mini-Circuits filter for this cable, too. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Nov 18, 2023 11:44:26 GMT
Doesn't seem possible you can still have improvements in a system already so well sorted It is quite mad. This one is not even subtle. It does show that reducing noise in the digital feed just goes on and on. Based on the size of the improvement, I've ordered another Mini-Circuits filter for this cable, too. I laugh when I remember our conversation some years ago when we both agreed there were only ever going to be hard won, incremental improvements from then onwards. Both systems from then would be disappointing to hear today How might some of this fit in my rather different system ? |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 18, 2023 11:49:07 GMT
It can fit into the streaming segment of your system. You could do similar things to the optical feed to the Rendu. At that point, I would expect the Rendu to outperform the TAD in sound quality. It depends on your priorities. I have a single focus on streaming in my system, so everything is devoted to that single goal.
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Post by MikeMusic on Nov 18, 2023 11:55:21 GMT
Food for thought
Once I'm over this large amount of work driven by the kitchen refurb, raking leaves, generally prepping the house and garden for winter, clearing weevils, trying to outthink various people with odd ideas I'll be back onto it !
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Post by MartinT on Nov 18, 2023 18:18:33 GMT
It would seem that burn-in of the 2nd Tubulus cable is going to be much less painful. To be honest, the system sounds fantastic and passes the harshness test with everything I played, even the known worst recordings.
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