I am curious what volume you are running at on the TT2 that is a comfortable level for you? With my excite 12’s, I found -10 to be a normal listening volume, and now and then I turned it up to Zero on the dial when in the mood. You can safely turn it up to plus 7 according to Rob Watts, essentially you will get no distortion at max volume.
I was at -12 to -15 mostly. One track, that is very quiet I had at -7. That sounds really loud when 4ft away!
The missus is going out for a spell tomorrow so I’ll be seeing where the comfort level is in the office.
Are you set to “high gain”?, which gives you more volume.
Yeah… high gain is set. Started at lo gain to begin with… which was ok but quickly moved on up!
One warning re Dave: if you turn it on or off while connected to powered up amp, it can create a very loud pop through the speakers. I did that once, and blew a midrange drive unit. Make sure you always mute the amp or turn off the power amp before powering Dave up or off. (Nothing to do with Dave’s mute, which works fine.)
I did the same thing with the TT2 connected to a power amp IB. I was demoing an amp at my dealers home (Belles) connected to the TT2’s XLR outputs, so using the TT2 as a Dac and Preamp. After our listening session, I hit the power button on the TT2, like I normally did driving speakers directly off the TT2…Thump!, never did that again.
Just seen on Head-Fi that Rob Watts recommended an XLR cable that uses pins 1&2 as, “that is single ended mode, as it is much more thermally efficient and more transparent”
The cable I’m using has speaker plugs on pins 2&3. That isn’t a problem, just not ideal. So, I’ve ordered an XLR adapter that offers up all 3 pins with speaker sockets so I get to choose which ones to use. An extra £10 and I’ll return the original adapter to Flashback.
Edit. For completeness, just in case others are thinking of using or making an adapter, this is the warning for using pins 1 & 3.
“One issue Chord have seen is that some subs short pins 1 and 3 together on the XLR - this will cause problems, as you will short the negative outputs, so when using XLR cables check that 1 and 3 is not connected together.”
I am using pin 2 + 3 on my XLR cables, that gives me the full 18 Watts. I also made a set for the RCA outputs, which only gives you 7 Watts. Yes Rob says the 7 Watts is more transparent, but you get less power if you use them. I tried both, and prefer 18 Watts, it gives a fuller sound. I would keep the adapters you have, and order a pair for the RCA connectors, so you can try both . One guy on headfi, who makes the Wave High Fidelity cables (Triode User) made his own adapter for the XLR outputs, he has three connectors on it. That way he can switch between the two methods without disconnecting at the back of the TT2, which is a pain if you use Fraim. The problem with having all three connectors there is you could connect the wrong ones(1+3), and damage the TT2.
I’ll be putting a bit of tape over the 3 to avoid accidental selection.
Here’s how it looks at the moment. Significantly smaller than before! I found that if the SN2 & HiCap were still wired up and turned on there was a definite brightness/harshness. Not sure why this would have effected it So, in order to get a clear picture of how it sounds on t’sown, I’ve disconnected the SN2 etc and setup the wiring nicely so as to not overlap with anything. A lot easier with so fewer cables!
I also put a couple of ISO Acoustics isolation pucks underneath my TT2 (and all of my components in my Milan rack) and found it helped tighten things up as well. Haven’t tried thier componenet specific isolation , but these relatively inexpensive pucks do help.That and some Gaia’s for my Milan rack and my Neat XLS’s.
I too had issues with some harshness, but a few tweaks like this here and there cleaned that up - well, that and my new speakers - mentioned above.
Thanks for sharing your journey. I am enjoying this almost as much as my first moments with my TT2 and Mscaler. Now that all that initial analysis is done, I enjoying the partnership in my system immensely.
Yes, I’m going I’ll have to take a look at the isolation on that glass glass plinth. It was good when there was a heavy weight on it but now it’s much lighter, it moves around to easy. Maybe Sorbothane Hemisphere feet on the plinth and then, as you mentioned, ISO Acoustics under the TT2 itself.
To be fair, I think some of the harshness earlier today was me. I ended up with a migraine and had to take a sumatriptan. Once I did that and my head/vision cleared things have started to sound a lot better. Just back from a walk to finish clearing my head… I’ll have a bit more listen a little later.
Anyone notice that spare shelf under the Aries G1
@InTune Which ones did you go for? Just been looking at these and there are few different types.
I’ve seen IsoAcoustics ISO-PUCK MINI, Bronze and Indigo. The ISO-PUCK Mini come in packs of eight but I think they’re intended for speakers.
Yes the mini pucks and pucks are designed for speakers. I had a set used originally with speaker, and had them migrate to my TT2 and Mscaler. I had reached my limit with the outlay on both of those components, so it was a decision based on economics as much as curiosity. Very happy with the results though. I am looking on the second hand market for some Orea’s (graphite for the lighter components). The Gaia’s do a wonderful job in my set-up as well - but that is for another thread
I think my next upgrade will be to reduce the floor noise… something like
This should cut down of the noise of my feet tapping on the wood floor!
It seems like everything is just coming on song now. It sounds flippin incredible at the moment.
It’s fair to say I was somewhat sceptical about powering the speakers from the TT2 without my beloved SN2 and HiCap. And after a bit of harshness/brightness to begin with, its now sounding incredibly rich, smooth and detailed. Everything just sounds so big… soundstage and imaging wise!.
I was expecting it to sound thin, lacking and when that initial brightness revealed itself I thought, yeah, as expected. But after many tweaks and running it nearly full time for the last 36 hours it seems to have turned the corner. For me, this is how music should sound like.
The level of detail is surreal. Its quite spooky as every now and again you hear sounds as if someone is in the room with you. Those micro detail sounds during silences or quiet spells… such as a musician trying to avoid the mic picking up a breath during quiet spells.
As I listen to more and work out the differences between this setup and the Qutest with the SN2 etc, I’ll add more details that will hopefully help others should they ever want to try this out. Of course, different room, ears etc but it may prove useful
Over the weekend I had a play with DSP using Bubbleupnp & Minimserver leveraging the underlying functionality given by ffmpeg, which both use. The result was that it works, but took away musicality from the music.
On Monday I just relaxed and listened to the music, and very enjoyable it was too. Yesterday the SBooster Ultra MkII turned up, this is an add on box that linked onto the end of my SBooster 5v MkI; and what an excellent uptick in performance.
The result is a more relaxed, more dynamic and more detailed soundstage.
Going back over the problem files I noted earlier:
Problem Files
- Dido, No Angel, Here With Me - CD, NAS - M
- Phil Collins, Tarzan, Son of Man - CD, NAS - B
- Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water, El Condor Pasa - CD, NAS - B
- Queen, Made in Heaven, Too Much Love Will Kill You - CD, NAS - M
- Sting, Brand New Day, Desert Road - CD, NAS - B
- Jeff Wayne, War of the Worlds, Thunder Child - CD, NAS - B
- Elkie Brooks, Pearls, Superstar - CD, NAS - B
- Beach Boys, Good Vibrations - CD, NAS - M
- Jeff Wayne, War of the Worlds, Thunder Child - LP rip, NAS, HD - OK
The issue with these tracks is production of sibilant / fricative sounds. I have rated the tracks as (B)ad, (M)edium or OK.
BC = microRendu, PSU > Bel Canto 3.5vb WITHOUT any tweaks;
Q/S = Qutest + Sbooster & LT3045;
Q/R = Qutest + RCore LPSU & LT3045;
AN = Audio Note 2.1;
Q/S2 = Qutest + Sbooster & Ultra
Listening experience = Argh, (M)edium or OK.
Track >> BC >> Q/S >> Q/R >> AN >> Q/S2
1 >> M >> M >> OK >> OK >> OK
2 >> Argh >> Argh >> Argh >> M >> M
3 >> Argh >> M >> OK >> OK >> OK
4 >> Argh >> M >> OK >> OK >> OK
5 >> Argh >> OK >> OK >> OK >> OK
6 >> Argh >> Argh >> Argh >> M >> M
7 >> Argh >> OK >> OK >> OK >> OK
8 >> Argh >> OK >> OK >> OK >> OK
9 >> OK >> OK >> OK >> OK >> OK
So, now the Qutest is on a par with the Audio Note in reporoducing problem tracks, BUT this is the ace of the Audio Note, that it is ‘kind’ to poor tracks, but never takes you the the heights of the Qutest with well recorded and produced music. The Ultra improves on overall music reproduction of the Qutest whilst assisting these poorer tracks. Excellent.
M
Finally somebody on this forum has tried driving speakers directly from TT2, and hears what I hear. Just think, adding an Mscaler makes it even better. To me, it is no longer about how the gear sounds, it is how music REALLY sounds. There are further tweaks you can do, but most importantly is the Mscaler next, I would not bother with ISO pucks or whatever, until the Mscaler is in place…have fun!
I’ve also tried and posted here, it’s really remarkable. I have opted to use another amplifier though as I feel my speakers need more power. Running in my new Norma at the moment
Had an email from Alastair at Signals this morning, there is a hiccup in getting the cases which is delaying delivery. Fortunately I am enjoying the Qutest as is.
Yes I got the same message today in talking to Alastair… something about wrong number of wrong coloured cases arriving at the Chord factory.
So anytime after Friday then?!?
I placed an order at certain store that said they had an ex-demo m scaler in black with 500 off. My order went through but they came back to me later and said, “unfortunately we can’t locate it but they had a brand new one in silver”. I thought oh yeah, nice move but they actually offered it to me for the same price.
Now, i wouldn’t be stacking them but, if i was I quite like the two tone effect… seen a few like that. So, I feel like I need to apologise as I must stealing someone else’s luck… sorry @MrUnderhill I feel ashamed