[seacard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif Stereophile: Krell Evolution 202 preamplifier & 600 monoblock power amplifier It's not the audio-gd, but it basically uses the same technology I believe. And if I am right, Audio-gd is the first RE1/headphone amp that utilizes the Cast on the headphone setup. It's also darn cheaper compared to Krell.

Is Krell's CAST the same as Audio-gd's case? In other words, can I use the REF1 --> Krell preamp? Or Krell CD player --> Phoenix?

 

[tosehee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacard /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is Krell's CAST the same as Audio-gd's case? In other words, can I use the REF1 --> Krell preamp? Or Krell CD player --> Phoenix?

That's a very darn good question... I think we should ask Kingwa? But then, he's busy as hell for next 2 or 3 days, so if someone already asked this before, maybe can share the answer here?

 

[tosehee]

I agree with this. There is no absolute percentage or scale when the hearing is really subject to everyone's hearing.

I may not even pick up this differences at all, but theoretically, all CAST through the system should be better than having xlr/rca in between. In short, there is no current to voltage conversion necessary which degrades the quality. By how much? I have no clue in absolute term, but definitely audible to many ears.

Again, is it 85%? 90%/ 95%? Who knows..? and how do we even come up with such ridiculous scaling?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu /img/forum/go_quote.gif "You're only getting 85% of the sound quality." That sounds so damn absurd. Are you sure that you won't get 86% or maybe 88%? I'm so much against on putting equipment on percentage scale just like that. Oh btw. Bel Canto DAC3 is on its way. I'll do some comparison against DAC19Mk3 when it arrives. I think this will be very interesting comparison. You can get five DAC19Mk3 for the price of one new DAC3. Still I think that it'll perform pretty close to DAC3. Of course their sound signatures are probably very different.

 

[haloxt]

It's all about relativity. If you've heard two dac's, someone can give them two different numbers, then if that person wants to put a third dac on the scale, you can get an idea of how it is compared to the other two.

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haloxt /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's all about relativity. If you've heard two dac's, someone can give them two different numbers, then if that person wants to put a third dac on the scale, you can get an idea of how it is compared to the other two.

When everything here is purely subjective, we shouldn't use numbers at all when we compare things. Describing the sound quality with words gives much better sense of equipment IMO.

 

[bobsmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif but wow.. From the support and communication perspective, this is the worst experience I've had in quite a long time. Hope his product makes up for it.

Hehe. I have to say, if a two day delay in responding/shipping is the worst experience with a vendor you have had, you are a very lucky man. I have had many many companies not return calls and e-mails for weeks. Here you have a couple of day delay for a handbuilt product, during a period in which the company is moving and notes on its website explicitly says that they will not be responsive to e-mail. Then, the first line of the response apologizes for the delay. All in all, seems very reasonable service to me.

If it makes you feel better with respect to long-term support, my own experience with Audio-gd has been spectacular. Yes, sometimes there are a few issues with Chinese<->English translation, but Kingwa has always responded promptly (within reason) and professionally. He even traded a half-dozen e-mails with me one night as he walked me through in almost real-time installing the new upgrade board (that he sent me for free!). Like Les says, they are moving, and I would definitely cut them some slack....

 

[tosehee]

I guess your and my mileages vary. Most of my online purchase has been spectacular. If there is a reason for a delay or whatever, I was informed. I have also purchased many custom products (Woo), and it was spectacular.

For this very occasion, I didn't know until 2 days have passed that they are moving. If they are anticipating a move and sent me an email with potential delay and such, I would have understood and go from there. I was initially quoted for August 8th delivery, BTW.

I didn't get that until two days afterwards. Now he's saying that he'll ship it today (That was yesterday) and I haven't got a single email from him today. (4pm EST). The point I am making is, if you can't keep your promise, you shouldn't make one. It makes your credibility go down the sink. If there is an issue on your side, make a good assessment of the situation and follow up with the realistic schedule. No communication in between and a promised schedule that you can't meet doesn't look so good IMO.

This is first time that I ever bought anything from oversea. So, I guess my experience is somewhat shallow. Maybe this is expected for all foreign related transaction...(??)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobsmith /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hehe. I have to say, if a two day delay in responding/shipping is the worst experience with a vendor you have had, you are a very lucky man. I have had many many companies not return calls and e-mails for weeks. Here you have a couple of day delay for a handbuilt product, during a period in which the company is moving and notes on its website explicitly says that they will not be responsive to e-mail. Then, the first line of the response apologizes for the delay. All in all, seems very reasonable service to me. If it makes you feel better with respect to long-term support, my own experience with Audio-gd has been spectacular. Yes, sometimes there are a few issues with Chinese<->English translation, but Kingwa has always responded promptly (within reason) and professionally. He even traded a half-dozen e-mails with me one night as he walked me through in almost real-time installing the new upgrade board (that he sent me for free!). Like Les says, they are moving, and I would definitely cut them some slack....

 

[bobsmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess your and my mileages vary. Most of my online purchase has been spectacular. If there is a reason for a delay or whatever, I was informed. I have also purchased many custom products (Woo), and it was spectacular.

Hehe, I agree that mileage will vary. For example, I had the exact opposite experience with Woo. Without going into detail, lets just say I had FAR FAR more delays/broken promises with Woo than what you are describing with Audio-Gd, and the delays were weeks not days. In any event, I cut Woo some slack as I know he was busy and it is a great product.

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patu /img/forum/go_quote.gif "You're only getting 85% of the sound quality." That sounds so damn absurd. Are you sure that you won't get 86% or maybe 88%? I'm so much against on putting equipment on percentage scale just like that. Oh btw. Bel Canto DAC3 is on its way. I'll do some comparison against DAC19Mk3 when it arrives. I think this will be very interesting comparison. You can get five DAC19Mk3 for the price of one new DAC3. Still I think that it'll perform pretty close to DAC3. Of course their sound signatures are probably very different.

Then you can challenge Kingwa on that "damn absurd percentage scale" because those are his figures, not mine. I do happen to agree with him though, based on what I've heard comparing CAST to XLR.

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobsmith /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hehe. I have to say, if a two day delay in responding/shipping is the worst experience with a vendor you have had, you are a very lucky man. I have had many many companies not return calls and e-mails for weeks. Here you have a couple of day delay for a handbuilt product, during a period in which the company is moving and notes on its website explicitly says that they will not be responsive to e-mail. Then, the first line of the response apologizes for the delay. All in all, seems very reasonable service to me. If it makes you feel better with respect to long-term support, my own experience with Audio-gd has been spectacular. Yes, sometimes there are a few issues with Chinese<->English translation, but Kingwa has always responded promptly (within reason) and professionally. He even traded a half-dozen e-mails with me one night as he walked me through in almost real-time installing the new upgrade board (that he sent me for free!). Like Les says, they are moving, and I would definitely cut them some slack....

Bob,
One of the transistors is sticking straight up on the edge the new board. It is soldered to the top of the board instead of the bottom like the rest that bolt down. What do you do with it? Also, I was surprised he didn't include thermal bonding compound?

For anybody who has installed the new board, what questions did you have to work thru?

@ Tosehee, why don't you just cancel your freakin' order, SHEESH!

.

 

[bobsmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by les_garten /img/forum/go_quote.gif Bob, One of the transistors is sticking straight up on the edge the new board. It is soldered to the top of the board instead of the bottom like the rest that bolt down. What do you do with it? .

Funny that you ask that question! That was one of the ones I asked Kingwa, and I even took a photo and sent it to him. His response was "This transistor don't need install to chassis." So, basically on mine it is just sticking straight up with nothing attaching to it.

In terms of thermal compound, I found that there was plenty left after removing the old board such that I did not need any more.

I did not run into any real problems, though it took me a while to solder all the little wires. The whole process took maybe 1-2 hours. The big thing was keeping track of the wires that connect to the power supply, since you could not clearly see what they attached to on the old board until they were desoldered from the supply. I just put little flags on each wire with labels before desoldering (Right V+, Left ground, etc), and then matched them up with the new board after I removed the old board. Its hard to explain, but you will see what I mean when you try it.

The only other issue I had was that the LED wire had the color coding backwards from what the existing wire was (e.g., the yellow and orange wires were reversed), so when I first spliced the yellow to yellow and orange to orange it it did not work. I kind of freaked out thinking I had killed the DAC until I realized the LED was the only thing not working. I just reversed the polarity of the wire and it was fine. Its worked great ever since.

Please feel free to shoot me any questions and I will be glad to help.

 

[IPodPJ]

Which board are you guys talking about, the DSP board upgrade from the DAC8?

 

[les_garten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobsmith /img/forum/go_quote.gif Funny that you ask that question! That was one of the ones I asked Kingwa, and I even took a photo and sent it to him. His response was "This transistor don't need install to chassis." So, basically on mine it is just sticking straight up with nothing attaching to it. In terms of thermal compound, I found that there was plenty left after removing the old board such that I did not need any more. I did not run into any real problems, though it took me a while to solder all the little wires. The whole process took maybe 1-2 hours. The big thing was keeping track of the wires that connect to the power supply, since you could not clearly see what they attached to on the old board until they were desoldered from the supply. I just put little flags on each wire with labels before desoldering (Right V+, Left ground, etc), and then matched them up with the new board after I removed the old board. Its hard to explain, but you will see what I mean when you try it. The only other issue I had was that the LED wire had the color coding backwards from what the existing wire was (e.g., the yellow and orange wires were reversed), so when I first spliced the yellow to yellow and orange to orange it it did not work. I kind of freaked out thinking I had killed the DAC until I realized the LED was the only thing not working. I just reversed the polarity of the wire and it was fine. Its worked great ever since. Please feel free to shoot me any questions and I will be glad to help.

Thanx! looks like you hit all the high spots I had questions about. The LED one is VERY good to know! I don't understand the transistor sticking straight up. I may bolt it down, or put a sink on it. Something bothers me about that for some reason.

.

 

[tim3320070]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess your and my mileages vary. Most of my online purchase has been spectacular. If there is a reason for a delay or whatever, I was informed. I have also purchased many custom products (Woo), and it was spectacular. For this very occasion, I didn't know until 2 days have passed that they are moving. If they are anticipating a move and sent me an email with potential delay and such, I would have understood and go from there. I was initially quoted for August 8th delivery, BTW. I didn't get that until two days afterwards. Now he's saying that he'll ship it today (That was yesterday) and I haven't got a single email from him today. (4pm EST). The point I am making is, if you can't keep your promise, you shouldn't make one. It makes your credibility go down the sink. If there is an issue on your side, make a good assessment of the situation and follow up with the realistic schedule. No communication in between and a promised schedule that you can't meet doesn't look so good IMO. This is first time that I ever bought anything from oversea. So, I guess my experience is somewhat shallow. Maybe this is expected for all foreign related transaction...(??)

I have yet to have better service from a company (here in the US or otherwise).
Read all the rest of the glowing accounts and try to be patient for crying out loud.

 

[jimmychan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seacard /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is Krell's CAST the same as Audio-gd's case? In other words, can I use the REF1 --> Krell preamp? Or Krell CD player --> Phoenix?

The signal level is compatible, but not the connector.

Krell's connector is expensive.