[DefQon]

 
What's QFT

?
 
And yes, cases of 4 500$+ bricks should be built differently. I can't say much about innards of L4. To me it all looks like a kind of "artistic mess", Łukasz says that everything inside is "in air" because he wants to have routes between points as short as possible. But we all know that even expensive electronics break. And to me wires in the air give me reason to worry. Maybe it's just me, it's my subjective opinion. Anyway, outer case in brick as expensive as L4 should be some kind of fancy aluminum, and CNC machined body, at least in my book. That's what I personally expect. It's not that I deny robustness here. But just look at X-Sabre... damn... I want things not only to sound, but also look nice. There, I've said it

 
QFT = Quoted For Truth.
 
I don't mind the Lampizator's aesthetic and enclosure look it was just the inconsistencies with the way it was built internally that put me off. From what I've read nobody has yet to order a L6 from Lukaz but I have seen a few people on audiogon and our local audio forum with the L5 due to balanced inputs.

 

[antonyfirst]

I just had a nice long chat today with Darren Censullo, of Avatar Acoustics, the US distributor of AMR. Darren said that the SE upgrade should be available in the US at the end of the month or in a few weeks, putting it in April sometime. The price has not been set yet, primarily due to AMR still ironing out production costs for the capacitor portion of the upgrade. The upgrade will be available as a retrofit into our existing DP-777s. Customers may either ship their units to Avatar to have them install the upgrade, or buy a kit for those who are handy to install themselves at home. Some soldering skills will be needed for the caps. The digital board and tubes will be essentially plug-n-play. The upgrade comes in three parts:

1.) New output caps. This is a design proprietary to AMR. Darren said they might use copper foil and paper and oil, and a wood case (!). He didn't sound sure about the internal materials though. The old caps will have to de-soldered and gently rolled on the board to break the adhesive. The new ones must be staked down with something similar before soldering.

2.) NOS GE5670s tubes (same as WE 396A) will be provided. The pin-out of the 5670 is different from the existing tube's pin-out, so there will be adapter sockets included which Darren says will have some "noise filtering" components built inside them. The tubes also have a different diameter so they will include new copper shields and damping rings. These tubes will be available separately for those that don't want the other two upgrades.

3.) The biggest change will be a new Redbook four "core" digital processor card that will replace the existing "daughter" card. Note: the processor upgrade ONLY affects Redbook; the existing HD section remains unchanged. (However, HD playback will, of course, be impacted by the new caps and tubes, as will Redbook.) The existing 777 design uses the last-generation multi-bit DAC from Philips, the UDA1305. These weren't quite up to the original TDA1541A (Crown versions or not) in performance, but close. The new board will have four UDA1305 units running in some sort of averaging or combining technique along with Philip's Dynamic Element Matching to tweak performance to higher levels, approaching, if not equaling TDA1541A Double Crown performance.

I inquired about DSD. Not this go-'round. The MK II unit will be designed for DSD and DXD, but won't be available for at least another year. It will be a far more extensive mod.

Fantastic post, thank you.

 

[00lunar]

I'd really like to see TDA1541 on SE version of DP-777. But I guess if Thorsten Loesch sees UDA1305 fit and very close to that Philips DAC, well, I shouldn't be worried. Now should I?

(<--- can't get enough of that smiley)

 

[simomat]

I just had a nice long chat today with Darren Censullo, of Avatar Acoustics, the US distributor of AMR. Darren said that the SE upgrade should be available in the US at the end of the month or in a few weeks, putting it in April sometime. The price has not been set yet, primarily due to AMR still ironing out production costs for the capacitor portion of the upgrade. The upgrade will be available as a retrofit into our existing DP-777s. Customers may either ship their units to Avatar to have them install the upgrade, or buy a kit for those who are handy to install themselves at home. Some soldering skills will be needed for the caps. The digital board and tubes will be essentially plug-n-play. The upgrade comes in three parts:

1.) New output caps. This is a design proprietary to AMR. Darren said they might use copper foil and paper and oil, and a wood case (!). He didn't sound sure about the internal materials though. The old caps will have to de-soldered and gently rolled on the board to break the adhesive. The new ones must be staked down with something similar before soldering.

2.) NOS GE5670s tubes (same as WE 396A) will be provided. The pin-out of the 5670 is different from the existing tube's pin-out, so there will be adapter sockets included which Darren says will have some "noise filtering" components built inside them. The tubes also have a different diameter so they will include new copper shields and damping rings. These tubes will be available separately for those that don't want the other two upgrades.

3.) The biggest change will be a new Redbook four "core" digital processor card that will replace the existing "daughter" card. Note: the processor upgrade ONLY affects Redbook; the existing HD section remains unchanged. (However, HD playback will, of course, be impacted by the new caps and tubes, as will Redbook.) The existing 777 design uses the last-generation multi-bit DAC from Philips, the UDA1305. These weren't quite up to the original TDA1541A (Crown versions or not) in performance, but close. The new board will have four UDA1305 units running in some sort of averaging or combining technique along with Philip's Dynamic Element Matching to tweak performance to higher levels, approaching, if not equaling TDA1541A Double Crown performance.

I inquired about DSD. Not this go-'round. The MK II unit will be designed for DSD and DXD, but won't be available for at least another year. It will be a far more extensive mod.

It's great for you to share such valuable information! And sounds like a terrific upgrade! I am currently very happy with how the AMR is performing, but I will very likely do the upgrade as soon as it becomes available.
Does anybody know if the 3 modifications will also affect the performance of the preamplifier section or just the DAC? I have future plan to use thE AMR also as a preamplifier...

 

[Brian Beck]

It is my understanding that the DAC's output stage and the analog preamplifier are essentially the same thing. Any analog upgrades will hopefully improve both functions.

By the way, Darren gave me permission to share the upgrade details that you see in my earlier post, but please note that he may not have noted every detail correctly from his conversations with Vince Luke, and there still could be further tweaks before release. When AMR issues a release about the SE upgrade, then and only then will we truly know what to expect. End of disclaimer.

 

[simomat]

It is my understanding that the DAC's output stage and the analog preamplifier are essentially the same thing. Any analog upgrades will hopefully improve both functions.

By the way, Darren gave me permission to share the upgrade details that you see in my earlier post, but please note that he may not have noted every detail correctly from his conversations with Vince Luke, and there still could be further tweaks before release. When AMR issues a release about the SE upgrade, then and only then will we truly know what to expect. End of disclaimer.

Totally agree. So let's hope AMR will release something official very soon. 

 

[Nada]

2.) NOS GE5670s tubes (same as WE 396A) will be provided. The pin-out of the 5670 is different from the existing tube's pin-out, so there will be adapter sockets included which Darren says will have some "noise filtering" components built inside them. The tubes also have a different diameter so they will include new copper shields and damping rings. These tubes will be available separately for those that don't want the other two upgrades.

GE5670 might be an upgrade from the Soviet stock tubes but there are dozens of better NOS choices out there for anyone wanting to do a bit of digging

 

3.) The biggest change will be a new Redbook four "core" digital processor card .............The new board will have four UDA1305 units running in some sort of averaging or combining technique along with Philip's Dynamic Element Matching to tweak performance to higher levels, approaching, if not equaling TDA1541A Double Crown performance.

Thats hilarious. Surely no one is going to fall for that spin.

 

[gavtorn]

I will have the caps + tubes installed in around a month.
 
The new board is a significant upgrade and well worth it for anyone who likes their 777.
 
Would love to hear the 777 back to back with the cd-77 so I could hear what all the fuss is about over the 1541 chips

 

[Brian Beck]

GE5670 might be an upgrade from the Soviet stock tubes but there are dozens of better NOS choices out there for anyone wanting to do a bit of digging

Really, which dozens of substitutable NOS tubes were you thinking of? With the appropriate gm, mu, heater current, capacitances, etc. for the 777's internal circuit, which, by the way, has never been published? Please list dozens, or even just one dozen for our edification.

Thats hilarious. Surely no one is going to fall for that spin.

Hilarious? You're quite sure, apparently? Please enlighten us with your unique insight on this technique.

 

[preproman]

 

[3daudio]

I am looking forward to first reports of the full upgrade.

I was also planning the upgrade. Just last week though I changed from Jplay to MQn Audioplayer and bass extension and slam as well as detail retrieval and openness improved so much that this DAC was lifted to a whole new performance level.

So, my needeness has all but vanished for the time being.

 

[00lunar]

 

+

Really, which dozens of substitutable NOS tubes were you thinking of? With the appropriate gm, mu, heater current, capacitances, etc. for the 777's internal circuit, which, by the way, has never been published? Please list dozens, or even just one dozen for our edification.
Hilarious? You're quite sure, apparently? Please enlighten us with your unique insight on this technique.

 

[gavtorn]

Just purchased the Ifi USB purifier. Used together with Ifi USB power and Gemini cable, the Ifi purifier produces better imagining and less digital glare. While the bass weight is reduced, it does not really bother me much. I thought it is a positive step towards a more realistic sound as the music sounds more natural and real, despite less impactful. With the purifier, the music is "beautiful" and more enjoyable to my sensitive ears.

Hey Froger,
 
I have had the purifier in my system for 2 weeks now - I really like it too.
 
I feel it improves the midrange with less distortion and the imaging, and centre focus improved for me too.
 
Hard to take it out now  Thanks for the heads up!
 
Cheers,
 
gav.

 

[lojay]

Has anyone compared the AMR CD-777 to the DP-777? There is an AMR CD-777 for sale in my locality at a good price and I'd like to see whether it is worth it as a DAC. 
 
There seems to be little press (at least in headfi) as to the AMR CD-777 compared to its pure DAC brother.

 

[preproman]

You have to look at reviews outside of head fi.  That CD player is used more in high end audiophile speaker rigs.