[IPodPJ]

Quote:

If you don't mind the extra wait, ordering from Pacific Valve gives you the benefit of repairs being performed in the US instead of overseas. Shipping to Chicago is almost always going to be less expensive than shipping to China. I recently placed an order for a Reference 9 through PV, and it was $1222 instead of $1249 through AGD. PV also has a promotion going on where you can get free AGD interconnects (RCA or ACSS) and an AGD power cable for $25. I started looking at Pacific Valve because I didn't want to figure out bank transfer or pay the PayPal fees, and it just turned out being a better deal. Though the wait is killing me 

During the first year of the warranty, Audio-gd pays shipping both ways so shipping isn't an issue.

 

[tonsosnot]

Quote:

During the first year of the warranty, Audio-gd pays shipping both ways so shipping isn't an issue.

I didn't realize that. So within the first year, repair is cheaper through AGD. Outside of the first year, shipping would be cheaper to PV. Do we know how the two compare as far as cost of actual repairs?

 

[IPodPJ]

Quote:

I didn't realize that. So within the first year, repair is cheaper through AGD. Outside of the first year, shipping would be cheaper to PV. Do we know how the two compare as far as cost of actual repairs?

Well there is no cost of repair for 3 years.  Only shipping cost for the 2nd and 3rd year.  I believe it goes like this:
 
For example, for the Ref-7:
 
1st year:  Audio-gd pays shipping both ways up to $120 each way, but in actuality this doesn't fully cover the shipping cost so you might have to pay some.  That is what it costs to send the unit via DHL from China to the U.S., but to send from the U.S. to China is more than 3 times that amount.  You can send it via USPS for close to $120 though, if I remember correctly, so you shouldn't have to pay much.
 
2nd year:  Audio-gd pays shipping one way (up to $120), you pay shipping the other way
 
3rd year:  You pay shipping both ways

 

[SP Wild]

That is really good to know and really puts my mind at ease.

 

[beeman458]

 
Not trying to be buzz kill but in my not so humble opinion, that's a lotta potential shipping charges over the next three years.
 

 

 

[Pacha]

That's supposing it will fail. I don't expect MTBF to be low on a RE-7. You can ask Kingwa if you're worried about that.
Anyway, buying in your country a local DAC of this quality would be better for cheaper shipping costs in case of after sale service but I guess nothing come as cheap as a RE-7 on the same quality level then...

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

That's supposing it will fail. I don't expect MTBF to be high on a RE-7. You can ask Kingwa if you're worried about that.
Anyway, buying in your country a local DAC of this quality would be better for cheaper shipping costs in case of after sale service but I guess nothing come as cheap as a RE-7 on the same quality level then...

Yeah, you could always buy a Berkeley, Weiss, or Esoteric instead from a dealer. No shipping charges to worry about, just be prepared to pay $5,000+ up front

 

[FauDrei]

Yes, we are cheap ba*tards with potentially expensive shipping costs...

 

[The Monkey]

I should have the loaner in my possession soon.

 

[les_garten]

Yippeee Ki-Yay!

 

[lmswjm]

Quote:

lmswjm,
 
Try making a passive I/V cable -- ACSS to XLR.

Quote:

The ACSS to XLR made the DAC output impedance at around 1.8K ohm, this is a quite large output impedance in now .
The sound easy effect by the caps of the cables , and the amp input usually has a low pass filter which is built by a resistor and a cap, the 1.8K ohm output impedance also change the low pass filter parameter.
The result is much more high frequency roll off. Maybe more warmer side sound but I don't admit this is good choice.

 
Okay, so I did not want to like these cables. Kingwa himself seemed to post against it. I used 3 braided conductors consisting of 24 ga silver. On the XLR end (Phoenix connection), I used 2 Kamaya 1 Kohm 5% resistors (mouser.com) between pins 1 & 2, and 1 & 3 as recommended by Steve Eddy. PJ likes nude Vishays, but they are reportedly hard to work with.
 
My initial impression was not positive due to the fact that the Phoenix required at least 10 or more volume clicks higher on average to reach the same levels as a normal XLR cable (most likely due to the resistors). After a while however, I started to notice a slight, but apparent improvement in dynamics, detail, musicality, and realism. It was enough for me to permanently replace my XLR’s with these cables. I did not hear any high frequency roll off or any added warmness.
 
As an example, on Bruno Cocset’s Vivaldi cello sonatas, you can hear more grip of the bow on the strings as he digs in. The straight XLR’s slightly gloss over that detail. It “rocks out” just a little better.
 
Definitely worth a try. For my tastes, I preferred XLR over ACSS connections much more. I slightly, but consistently preferred the passive I/V ACSS to XLR cables over the normal XLR’s. Obviously, YMMV. 




 
Quote:

The pink sharkwire SP18122G  and canare L-5CFB are both very decent spec cables. I admit they may have a tonality the majority dislike, but they are still a big step up from stock cables.

For me this was not a question of tonality, but a major and general improvement in overall quality of sound. It was more of, to excuse the analogy, "hearing music through a big pipe vs. a smaller one".
 

 

[IPodPJ]

Glad you tried them and liked them!  If you went with the same value resistors as I did on my cable, you will be getting 2V instead of the 5.33V out of the Ref-7 or Ref-1 which is why you need to accomodate on the amp.  But you can certainly use different resistors so that you can match the voltage output level of the DAC.  If you are using 2kohm resistance than you would be getting a lower voltage than I am.  I would recommend less resistance.  I believe my cables use two 600 ohm'ers (each).
 
I'm not sure why he told you to go with 5%.  With 1kohm resistors they could be off by as much as 50ohms... x 2 of those = 100 ohms potential deviation.  Theoretically one cable could be 100 ohms less, and the other cable could be 100 ohms more.  That's a 200 ohm deviation between cables, in theory.  You certainly don't need 0.1%, but I wouldn't go less than 1% tolerance.  I guess it depends how much you want to spend.
 
But to correct you, on my passive I/V cable I am not using nude vishays, just regular ones.  It's my amp that will be using the nudes, and they are the TX2575 from Texas Components -- they also make the nude Vishays, but the TX2575 are their top of the line.  Pricey, but they charge the same for 0.1% and 1%.
 
Oh, and I can understand why Kingwa posted against it.  There are two camps.  People who like active I/V conversion, and people who like passive.  Active will usually spec better, but passive will sound more natural and organic.  It all depends which you prefer.  If it's solely a numbers game for you, go active.  On the XLR output of the DAC he uses a 0db buffer for compatibility purposes.  If you want the DAC to be compatible with all preamps or integrated amps (especially tubes) the buffer needs to be there, unless the manufacturer is willing to personalize the output for each customer's gear.  Fortunately for those of us who have an Audio-gd DAC with current output, we have the option of trying both ways -- with the 0dB buffer (standard XLR output), or without it (which is what the passive I/V cables are for).

 

[FauDrei]

Well, if you are such a fan of a upper frequencies rolloff - why don't you disable DSP-1 of your RE-7 and enjoy it from the very start? RE-7 would then be kind of expensive balanced paralleled NOS DAC and DSP-1 would be unused and chic waste of money... but hey - you would be happy with the natural sound and ACSS gain stages of your RE-7 would not suffer driving the XLR inputs of your fancy balanced preamp/headamp.

 

[haloxt]

lmswjm, our subjective experiences, and I believe also preferences, have led us to somewhat different opinions. It is just my opinion that the current sharkwire acss and canare coax/bnc cables sold by audio-gd just happen to be unforgiving and unembellished, ie absolutely no added umph or mellowness, but a super precise and faithful delivery, which I would think is not the majority's preferred sound. If listening to how a recording was made and a reproduction as faithful to the musicians' original intent as possible is your delight, then imo, the current audio-gd cables with acss neutral setup is a good way. But some day I will try to make XLR and ACSS cables as close as I can to yours and try to see if I notice the sort of improvements in technical ability you notice.
 
I'm all for tweaking the sound to your liking. If you never try you can only speculate

, but I'm going to put that acss-to-xlr cable off for a while because I still have to get more experience with cable sounds.

 

[regal]

Quote:

. If listening to how a recording was made and a reproduction as faithful to the musicians' original intent as possible
 

 
What recording and who made it?   I've never heard of a recording a musician liked.   Fact is a CD is a media,  its not filled with the muscicians 'intent',  the cd, record, tape are all compromises from mics, to room acoustics, you name it a recording is anything but the musicians original intent.   A recording is like a seed and our job is to get it to sprout and bloom.