[LjF]

Quote:

LjF,
 
If you have a chance, please post a picture of the grounding work you did with the volume pot, I'd be curious to see.
 
So far my LF has been fine but then it only has around 160hrs on it, so who knows?

Here ya go -- this from Donald at Cavalli, and what I did.
 
"This shows you which point to bridge, if you have a clip test lead, this would be the easiest way to test the theory. If you loosen the screw on the pot ever so slightly to allow a better grip and then attach the other end to the ground point as depicted in the image. If no test leads, solder one side to ground and loop the other end around the screw and tighten it down."
  
 
Here's mine. Good luck!
 

 

[Icenine2]

Thx LjF!

 

[Jamiee]

Yes thanks very much LjF!

 

[Jamiee]

OK, so just for kicks I decided to try out a new power cable for the LF.
I honestly wasn't sure what to expect and didn't really expect much (if any) improvement with a new cable over the 2ft. 10awg Neotech NEP 3001 cable that I have been using.
 
So last week I ordered this cable ([size=8pt][size=8pt]TFA SQ-9, 9 AWG Cryo Treated Power cord [/size][/size]3ft. length)  from TakeFiveAudio http://www.takefiveaudio.com/mall/shopexd.asp?id=1258
 
It arrived today after a five day burn in at the shop and I'm telling you I'm shocked at the improvement with my LF and LCD-3 combo!
Talk about waking up the sleeping giant.... WoW!
Bass texture/depth, imaging along with sound stage width and depth, mids and highs all significantly improved!
The improvement in power delivery and general clarity is breathtaking. 
There's no "digital glare" in the upper mids which is something I never thought I'd be able to fully get rid of - just a smooth full bodied sound with very good detail retrieval.
 
One heck of an improvement for only $152 (CAD) shipped!
 
Now let me go and pick my jaw up off the floor 

 

[cuonghuutran]

I use PS Power Plant and switching power cable to LF made subtle improvements only. I find shielding the wireless router, AC filtering the PC, and moving the hard disks outside of my PC made more noticeable improvement than tube rolling.
 

 

[Jamiee]

Yeah, I really wasn't expecting such an improvement.
My experience with power cables is that they can make a difference (good or bad) but that the difference tends to be fairly subtle overall.
 
But for whatever reason I'm finding this TFA SQ9 cable to be a very good synergistic match with the LF and LCD-3.
It has really brought the LCD-3 to life for me.
 
 
 
 

 

 

[Icenine2]

I had the same experience with the Shunyata Venom cables for the LF and my W4S DAC-2.  I also had an improvement w/the Furutech outlet: I have to admit that was particularly surprising.  I needed a better outlet for sure and don't know why it does sound better ultimately but it does to my ears.  Might just be the Kung-Fu grip on the plug!

 

[Jamiee]

Funny you should mention wall outlets as I've been pondering the idea of picking up a couple to try out.
I find that a lot of the really good ones don't come in white tho? (yeah it's an aesthetic preference).

 

[Icenine2]

With those giant plugs for the cords you honestly don't even see the outlet color.  I believe some of them do come in colors however.

 

[Jamiee]

Lol. you make a good point!
 
Anyway, I orderd a few Furutech Rhodium plated outlets today.
They were 20% off so I figured why not?

 

[Jamiee]

OK guys, I have heard the left channel squealing that some of you have been mentioning.
(It's definitely not a tube problem - at least not in my case).
 
Whats interesting is that I can easily and repeatably make my LF squeal!
 
The problem seems to be centered around the headphone jack, as by accident I taped mine (gently mind you) while nothing was playing.
suddenly my left channel started to squeal.  It stopped after a few seconds, but will do the same squealing sound any time I tap my headphones 1/4" connector while plugged into the LF.
(Only tested this with the high-gain output so far).
 
I've also found that a subtle jiggle of the connector will stop the squealing most of the time.
Raising and then lowering the volume to zero can also produce the same result (although less often).

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

OK guys, I have heard the left channel squealing that some of you have been mentioning.
(It's definitely not a tube problem - at least not in my case).
 
Whats interesting is that I can easily and repeatably make my LF squeal!
 
The problem seems to be centered around the headphone jack, as by accident I taped mine (gently mind you) while nothing was playing.
suddenly my left channel started to squeal.  It stopped after a few seconds, but will do the same squealing sound any time I tap my headphones 1/4" connector while plugged into the LF.
(Only tested this with the high-gain output so far).
 
I've also found that a subtle jiggle of the connector will stop the squealing most of the time.
Raising and then lowering the volume to zero can also produce the same result (although less often).

 
Just to be 100% sure, I'd swap out the L and R tubes to make sure one of the tubes on the left hasn't gone microphonic. I had this exact same situation happen with a tube on my WA22.

 

[Jamiee]

Quote:

 
Just to be 100% sure, I'd swap out the L and R tubes to make sure one of the tubes on the left hasn't gone microphonic. I had this exact same situation happen with a tube on my WA22.

 
That's a good point, I will check it out over the weekend.

 

[Icenine2]

Nice move!  You won't be disappointed!
Quote:

Lol. you make a good point!
 
Anyway, I orderd a few Furutech Rhodium plated outlets today.
They were 20% off so I figured why not?

 

[Canadian411]

Cavalli Audio Liquid Fire is discontinued ? What happened to the ordering page ?