[fl00r]

After a 9 months pregnancy it’s here and it’s a beautiful! Here are some impressions.

Let's start off with some naked ones:

The same fragile battery tips as the SuperMacro. This concerns me a bit. The SuperMacro came with an internal charger for the batteries, so the need to open the cover was nil. The Reference lacs the charger.

The belly:

X5 on top:

The last XXX pic:

Together with his brothers: SM III V6 and Corda Move:

That's all folks!

 

[Aaron622]

Sweet! So does this mean that the 12,000uF cap is the final configuration?

 

[mrarroyo]

Nice to see you have received it and look forward to your impressions. I compared your board w/ the two versions I have had and I see some differences. Also yours has the 12,000 uF, another user reported receiving a 22,000 uF. Did you ask for the 12,000 uF? FWIW my Beta version has the 15,000 uF cap.

If you use alkalines they should be good for about 200 hours of use. At 8 hours of use per day you have 3.5 weeks before having to replace them. At 4 hours of use per day you almost have 2 months before replacement is needed. I have had mine for 7 months and no problems so far. Nor did I experience problems w/ my Supermacro III Version 6 or the Supermacro IV-LE.

Good luck.

 

[fl00r]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I compared your board w/ the two versions I have had and I see some differences.

In what way?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrarroyo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did you ask for the 12,000 uF?

No

 

[nickknutson]

Watch out for those battery contacts, they are very flimsy.
I love how he uses "Xin" as the label for the input

 

[tnmike1]

That's it? You waited nine months for THAT???

I thought I'd be seeing circuits all over the place, tiny little chips, tiny little thises and thatses. All I see are a couple of big things connected together.

Now why did it take soooo long to assemble this

Or put another way: once Xin comes to what he considers the ideal, it would seem to me that assembing this amp is relatively easy compared to the circuitry I see in my SM III V6 or even the SM IV LE.

Of course, I'm no audio engineer, just a common guy who enjoys music. So maybe there's something behind this hugely long wait I'm missing. But from these photos, I don't understand it.

 

[slwiser]

No sound impressions? What gives? I know it will take a few weeks to burn this in but where does it take you out of the box?

 

[lisnalee]

Nice pics, im going for the same config as yours. Cant wait till it tuns up

 

[fl00r]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnmike1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's it? You waited nine months for THAT??? I thought I'd be seeing circuits all over the place, tiny little chips, tiny little thises and thatses. All I see are a couple of big things connected together. Now why did it take soooo long to assemble this Or put another way: once Xin comes to what he considers the ideal, it would seem to me that assembing this amp is relatively easy compared to the circuitry I see in my SM III V6 or even the SM IV LE. Of course, I'm no audio engineer, just a common guy who enjoys music. So maybe there's something behind this hugely long wait I'm missing. But from these photos, I don't understand it.

This expresses exactly my first thoughts when I re-assembled the amp. But the inside of the amp is not allways the reflection of what's get out of it

 

[tk3]

Wow, that cap is huge!

So when will we be getting your sound impressions?

 

[jamato8]

When I designed and worked on my tube preamp it went from 2 to 3 tubes per side then down to 2 then finally one 27 triode per side using an output transformer. The circuit if condensed into a solid state would be very, very simple but it is the right components and sounds better than any preamp I have ever heard. It took over a year to get it right. So, there you go.

 

[slwiser]

My beta version as the 22,000 sized cap and sound wonderful. Wonder how much better the final version sounds?

 

[PhaedrusX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnmike1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's it? You waited nine months for THAT??? I thought I'd be seeing circuits all over the place, tiny little chips, tiny little thises and thatses. All I see are a couple of big things connected together. Now why did it take soooo long to assemble this Or put another way: once Xin comes to what he considers the ideal, it would seem to me that assembing this amp is relatively easy compared to the circuitry I see in my SM III V6 or even the SM IV LE. Of course, I'm no audio engineer, just a common guy who enjoys music. So maybe there's something behind this hugely long wait I'm missing. But from these photos, I don't understand it.

Xin long ago stated that the goal of the Reference was to use the simplest circuit with the shortest traces, so what you're seeing, or in your case, not seeing, only reinforces the intended goal of his design.
Assembling is one thing. Research and development are quite another. You are confusing the two.

 

[fl00r]

Quote:

Originally Posted by slwiser /img/forum/go_quote.gif No sound impressions? What gives? I know it will take a few weeks to burn this in but where does it take you out of the box?

It's gorgeous. I just love the tube-, airy sound of the Xin's, right from the start. Though I enjoyed myself with the Move, it's no contender.

 

[PhaedrusX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fl00r /img/forum/go_quote.gif After a 9 months pregnancy it’s here and it’s a beautiful!

Time to start handing out cigars!