[The Monkey]

That's a great tutorial, Les.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Monkey /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's a great tutorial, Les.

Yeah that PDF encoder lesson was a fun read.

 

[Bob Jones]

What a thread,maybe the best.Lovin my Phoenix and believe it has ended my amp searching until something revolutionary happens.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

I finally got off my duff yesterday and completed the ACSS cables for the Phoenix while today's task was to make a longer pair of DC lines using the same materials as the other pair (that ended up being too damn short...D'oh).

The ACSS cables are a 3ft pair using Mundorf 24 awg silver/gold/Teflon in Teflon tubing for the + and - signals while a 3ft section of Legenberg copper (Mono crystal CCOFC) made up the gnd lines in both sets of cables. The DC lines used Connexx 5 Nines solid silver for the V+ V- lines (Legenberg gnd). Stock connectors used for now...I may go with some better stuff down the road if reports from Curra are favorable (mini XLR's).

Both cables are 95% tinned copper mesh shielded and finished off with plain old black techflex.

Pics...




It took me most of yesterday to get the ACSS cables made up with the main problem being getting the braid just right (even spacing and number of turns equal between both for a symmetric balanced design). Talk about a PITA...the rectangular shape of the Legenberg made it somewhat difficult. Why not use another section of Mundorf for that conductor you say ? I ran short of money TBH and I felt the pure copper larger gauge would actually be better in this instance. 12ft of Mundorf ain't cheap.....the DIY HD650 balanced cable will need 32 ft of it...(sigh). Does this DIY thing ever end ?

....cough ...nope.

I've been listening to the cumulative effects of these mods (for the past few weeks/months) with the expectation that the cables would add a little boost compared to the rewire of the amp/dac/transport as mentioned earlier in the thread. The effects of the cables vs the stock shark wire is rather staggering I'm happy to report. I've spent a fair number of hours comparing the stock wires to the custom cables and it's very apparent the Mundorf and silver DC lines bring a very big slice of refinement to the mix. All the benefit of silver without bass thinning , upper mid glare or the slight brittle nature that sometimes silver is guilty of adding to piano and massed strings. I'm getting no discernible drawbacks that I can hear. I've been going through one disc after another (on the big rig) and it's nothing but pure heaven to these ears.

This mod is nearly complete with the headamp wiring to the jacks left to complete (I have 18 awg Mundorf for that) so any impressions with my trusty HD650's will have to wait until that task is taken care off. For now I'm going to listen to it as is but next week I'll get the last bit done so I can move on to the next project.

Was it worth all this effort you say ? Absolutely. There is a lot or performance being masked by the stock (internal) wiring/stock cables. All of the parts (for the CD7/RE1 and Phoenix) set me back what a great .5m set of balanced cables would cost (about 300US or so). Obviously the big expense for this undertaking if you don't plan on doing it yourself would be labor but IMO I think 300US for this kind of aural gain is peanuts.

At any rate I'll post some more detailed thoughts in a weeks time. One thing I've noticed right off...total 3D projection in all directions and absolute transparency to the source material. Every single last detail, large or small is there coming from a deep space black hole of silence. Wow. I'm happy as hell with the way this turned out.

Cheers to all (Happy NY to boot)

Peete.

 

[lmswjm]

Peete that is some good stuff! This is one mod that I'm putting on the project list for the future.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmswjm /img/forum/go_quote.gif Peete that is some good stuff! This is one mod that I'm putting on the project list for the future.

Thanks !

I look forward to your commentary/thoughts (compare notes etc) when you've completed the upgrades

Peete.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Well I finally finished off the last of the Phoenix ( + CD7/RE1) mods that I had planned for the last couple of months.

Replacing the head amp wiring scheme wasn't that hard but by no means is this a beginner project. You had better know what your doing (routing lines etc).

Here's a pic of the finished job and the drawing/map of the wiring schemes (you'll note the + and - are swapped on the pcb side) I'm not sure if that is a silk screening error or the head amp outs are inverted 180 degrees out of phase.

Almost ready.......



In she goes ......




No matter though it works and works well (thank god for no mistakes

)

Sounds damn good but needs burn in....I'll comment in detail once I get a few hundred hours on the new wire. It's 18 awg solid core Mundorf Silver Gold in case anyone is wondering. It's nice to get this done and move on to the Odyssey Stratos amp rebuilds !

Peete.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well I finally finished off the last of the Phoenix ( + CD7/RE1) mods that I had planned for the last couple of months. Replacing the head amp wiring scheme wasn't that hard but by no means is this a beginner project. You had better know what your doing (routing lines etc). Here's a pic of the finished job and the drawing/map of the wiring schemes (you'll note the + and - are swapped on the pcb side) I'm not sure if that is a silk screening error or the head amp outs are inverted 180 degrees out of phase. Almost ready....... In she goes ...... No matter though it works and works well (thank god for no mistakes ) Sounds damn good but needs burn in....I'll comment in detail once I get a few hundred hours on the new wire. It's 18 awg solid core Mundorf Silver Gold in case anyone is wondering. It's nice to get this done and move on to the Odyssey Stratos amp rebuilds ! Peete.

For some reason, he wired the SE Jack 180 degrees out of phase with the XLR. I noticed that as well. Threw me for a loop when I was first looking at it. Maybe to keep the Load down if you plug in 3 sets of Canz?

 

[punk_guy182]

That's some very interesting work Peete.
Congrats on your findings!
Did you recommend Kingwa to implement some better wiring like the one you have in his top of the line gear?
Are you still considering getting the Mono blocks power amp?

 

[Pricklely Peete]

No idea Les. I'm guessing here but I bet it's a silkscreen error like the one I caught on the ACSS inputs a few pages (and weeks) back when I rewired all of the inputs. They were also flipped but I did not realize it until I powered it up for the initial listening test. The outputs for the preamp (RCA/XLR) were also unique in the fact that they had incomplete screening and had seemingly swapped phase. I bet the explanation makes perfect sense from Kingwa but my skills at dissecting a topology this deeply (and without a schematic) are woefully inadequate.

PG I have suggested a number of times in the last year or so that Kingwa look into upgrading his stock wiring choice but I also tempered that suggestion because of the potential impact it would or could have in pricing depending on the choices available. One aspect of customer service A-gd is happy to accommodate is the installation of the wire of your choice as long as you provide the raw materials before the build of your particular piece of gear is started. It's a good compromise I think and it gives your gear a personal touch (one of a kind ) although you may or may not recoup the cost of the wire if you should decide to sell. It should help rather than hinder I would imagine.

The C1 masters are in the plans for this year but I need to complete the rebuild of 2 Odyssey Stratos amps first and then sell those to help finance the purchase. The shipping cost alone for a pair of C1's is substantial (around the same cost as an "A" version FUN).

I'll be rewiring the FBI-500 integrated amp which is currently waiting (partially disassembled) on a major part to be built at A-gd, then shipped. Luckily the transformers passed all the tests so it looks as though just the L channel output board (mains caps, 12 Toshiba power transistors) bit the dust and nothing else. This amp I hope to modify into a power amp for use with the Phoenix or if the preamp section is just as good as the phoenix (after it's rewired of course) I will use it instead as integrated and bump the Phoenix to the head fi rig. I need to add a set of preamp ACSS outs (to feed the C1 Masters) which should be fairly easy to do. At least it seems like it should be fairly easy to accomplish. As always I had better talk with Kingwa about the veracity of the concept.

Peete.

 

[haloxt]

They should keep some plain copper or silver internal wiring at hand just in case people don't want SPC, lots of people seem not to like the tonality.

 

[tim3320070]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pricklely Peete /img/forum/go_quote.gif No idea Les. I'm guessing here but I bet it's a silkscreen error like the one I caught on the ACSS inputs a few pages (and weeks) back when I rewired all of the inputs. They were also flipped but I did not realize it until I powered it up for the initial listening test. The outputs for the preamp (RCA/XLR) were also unique in the fact that they had incomplete screening and had seemingly swapped phase. I bet the explanation makes perfect sense from Kingwa but my skills at dissecting a topology this deeply (and without a schematic) are woefully inadequate. PG I have suggested a number of times in the last year or so that Kingwa look into upgrading his stock wiring choice but I also tempered that suggestion because of the potential impact it would or could have in pricing depending on the choices available. One aspect of customer service A-gd is happy to accommodate is the installation of the wire of your choice as long as you provide the raw materials before the build of your particular piece of gear is started. It's a good compromise I think and it gives your gear a personal touch (one of a kind ) although you may or may not recoup the cost of the wire if you should decide to sell. It should help rather than hinder I would imagine. The C1 masters are in the plans for this year but I need to complete the rebuild of 2 Odyssey Stratos amps first and then sell those to help finance the purchase. The shipping cost alone for a pair of C1's is substantial (around the same cost as an "A" version FUN). I'll be rewiring the FBI-500 integrated amp which is currently waiting (partially disassembled) on a major part to be built at A-gd, then shipped. Luckily the transformers passed all the tests so it looks as though just the L channel output board (mains caps, 12 Toshiba power transistors) bit the dust and nothing else. This amp I hope to modify into a power amp for use with the Phoenix or if the preamp section is just as good as the phoenix (after it's rewired of course) I will use it instead as integrated and bump the Phoenix to the head fi rig. I need to add a set of preamp ACSS outs (to feed the C1 Masters) which should be fairly easy to do. At least it seems like it should be fairly easy to accomplish. As always I had better talk with Kingwa about the veracity of the concept. Peete.

The preamp is supposed to be essentially the same as the Phoenix according to Kingwa.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haloxt /img/forum/go_quote.gif They should keep some plain copper or silver internal wiring at hand just in case people don't want SPC, lots of people seem not to like the tonality.

Agreed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tim3320070 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The preamp is supposed to be essentially the same as the Phoenix according to Kingwa.

That's good to know Tim

Peete.

 

[Currawong]

I'm well overdue for my modding plans, mainly because I need to schedule some time when the little one isn't running around and attempting to grab things, like the power cable of the soldering iron. I have to get some internal wiring for the eXStatA as well, so I'll combine that with enough wire for a Mudorf headphone cable, Phoenix re-wire and the internal digital wiring of the Ref 3 and Ref 1. That'll probably take me most of a day at the pace I do things.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

I have a huge final mod planned for the RE1/Phoenix that I'm currently occupied with (finished planning and ordering for the Phoenix)...think entire recap of the Phoenix (both PSU / amp/preamp chassis) and the RE1. It's a massive job but I'm keen on getting tucked in. Parts should arrive by Friday for the Phoenix PSU/Amp sections. I'll post a pic of the parts in this thread before starting.


The Furtech BNC AG pure silver digital cable is on it's way today....YAY (for Christ's sake after ordering it 2 weeks ago) !

Loads o crap happening at Captain Crazy Cap's byoass o rama and electrolytic emporium

Peete.