[CRITICALSHOT]

I used to say that but now my wife laughs at me and I have learned to withhold that statement.

Sometimes we have to lie to ourselves.

 

[adrianm]

I used to say that but now my wife laughs at me and I have learned to withhold that statement.

Notice you're using a Niagara with your Dave and M-scaler , would you say it makes a difference? I bought an Isotek Sirius for my Sony TA-ZH1ES ,but i returned it to get a Dave soon and since it sounded amazing out of the wall at the dealer,i'm not sure how much of a difference my Isotek will make.Supposedly Dave should be more or less immune to dirty power and such.

 

[Kirklandia]

Notice you're using a Niagara with your Dave and M-scaler , would you say it makes a difference? I bought an Isotek Sirius for my Sony TA-ZH1ES ,but i returned it to get a Dave soon and since it sounded amazing out of the wall at the dealer,i'm not sure how much of a difference my Isotek will make.Supposedly Dave should be more or less immune to dirty power and such.

Yes, quieter background, improvement in tactile quality of bass, better than I expected. I had everything plugged into a cheap surge protector previously.

 

[mbj666]

hi all,

soon to be new DAVE owner here after some set-up pointers/tips if possible please (bit overwhelming trying to dig through the 996 page thread to find stuff....)

will be using it in DAC mode fed via a Sarum T RCA-DIN into my naim pre/power amps into Kudos s20a speakers will be fed via USB from a Zenith Mk3 server , plan on getting the Mscaler in not too distant future as liked what it did in terms of uplift to Red book CD flacs and smoothing of hiRes stuff, also heard some positive stuff about the innuos phoenix usb reclocker too (which would demo down the line)

however in terms of pointers interested in some recommended power cables to feed it, whether Fuse upgrade worthwhile (i.e. the Orange), heard some use it in pre-amp mode into a pre-amp also, and BNC cables for Mscaler (i have 1x Sarum T BNC-BNC cable, but is a lot of £ to get another one...) apologies for barrage of queries but really would appreciate any pointers on getting the most out of the DAVE from the off

thanks

 

[AndrewOld]

hi all,

soon to be new DAVE owner here after some set-up pointers/tips if possible please (bit overwhelming trying to dig through the 996 page thread to find stuff....)

will be using it in DAC mode fed via a Sarum T RCA-DIN into my naim pre/power amps into Kudos s20a speakers will be fed via USB from a Zenith Mk3 server , plan on getting the Mscaler in not too distant future as liked what it did in terms of uplift to Red book CD flacs and smoothing of hiRes stuff, also heard some positive stuff about the innuos phoenix usb reclocker too (which would demo down the line)

however in terms of pointers interested in some recommended power cables to feed it, whether Fuse upgrade worthwhile (i.e. the Orange), heard some use it in pre-amp mode into a pre-amp also, and BNC cables for Mscaler (i have 1x Sarum T BNC-BNC cable, but is a lot of £ to get another one...) apologies for barrage of queries but really would appreciate any pointers on getting the most out of the DAVE from the off

thanks

Last thing I would do is throw good money away on mains cables, BNC cables, fuses and USB “cleaners”. I would put all my money towards an M Scaler. Meantime I would investigate going straight from the DAVE to your Naim power amp, which will actually make you money if it works. Just beware that it might be that some naim power amps like the bandwidth restricted signal they get from a naim preamp because they can get upset by higher frequencies. If your Naim poweramp does need a naim preamp to work, I’d think of selling both and getting a power amp which you can feed from your DAVE. Maybe a Chord one!

 

[mbj666]

Last thing I would do is throw good money away on mains cables, BNC cables, fuses and USB “cleaners”. I would put all my money towards an M Scaler. Meantime I would investigate going straight from the DAVE to your Naim power amp, which will actually make you money if it works. Just beware that it might be that some naim power amps like the bandwidth restricted signal they get from a naim preamp because they can get upset by higher frequencies. If your Naim poweramp does need a naim preamp to work, I’d think of selling both and getting a power amp which you can feed from your DAVE. Maybe a Chord one!

tried dave direct to naim poweramp and didn't like the sound as much with the pre in the chain and do love the naim sound so am wanting to stick with them , the demo'ing of DAVE/Mscaler was part of a longer term plan and as you say may do MScaler first but will definitely upgrade powerline and cables at some point hence the query (always found they make a noticeable difference over the years and am closing in on my end game system so once bought won't be upgrading unless a DAVE2 appears at some point in future years and is significantly better

 

[JTbbb]

mbj666. Although it was with a TT2 directly into the amps, I demo’ed a naim 250dr and Etude at home, so I know it can be done. Don’t ask me what cable I used into the naim as I cannot remember, mostly because my retailer set it up for me!

 

[mbj666]

mbj666. Although it was with a TT2 directly into the amps, I demo’ed a naim 250dr and Etude at home, so I know it can be done. Don’t ask me what cable I used into the naim as I cannot remember, mostly because my retailer set it up for me!

i have tried it with a flashbacks RCA - single XLR and maybe was slightly clearer sound but was far more enclosed sound/sound-stage than with the naim pre in the chain using a sarum level interconnect (wasn't same level of interconnect mind, heard others doing similar but with a naim 300 amp as easy to get hold of the 2 single XLR cables not had chance to demo this though...)

 

[JTbbb]

Interesting that you mention better results with the pre amp in the chain. I now have the Dave directly into Etude, and am now on a mission to see what happens with a pre amp installed. It looks possible that I might, at some point in the future, get the chance to try a Benchmark HPA4. So this will be testing headphones and 2 channel.

 

[AndrewOld]

Aassuming the power amp has a sensible input, what can a pre-amp possibly do to what comes out of a DAVE except lose music?

 

[mbj666]

Aassuming the power amp has a sensible input, what can a pre-amp possibly do to what comes out of a DAVE except lose music?

can only talk to what i experienced in my demo, number of guys on the naim forum run it both ways some direct to amp some into pre-amp

 

[JTbbb]

Aassuming the power amp has a sensible input, what can a pre-amp possibly do to what comes out of a DAVE except lose music?

I agree. But certain reviews seem to think it can make a positive impact. I would just like to find out for myself.

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

I would just like to find out for myself.

That's a sound decision.

 

[mbj666]

regarding my original post any suggestions on following at all please???

however in terms of pointers interested in some recommended power cables to feed it, whether Fuse upgrade worthwhile (i.e. the Orange), heard some use it in pre-amp mode into a pre-amp also, and BNC cables for Mscaler (i have 1x Sarum T BNC-BNC cable, but is a lot of £ to get another one...) apologies for barrage of queries but really would appreciate any pointers on getting the most out of the DAVE from the off

 

[JTbbb]

I think it would be better for you to purchase power/interconnect cables that interest you, which can be returned if they do not meet your expectations. Some folk find that cables make a big difference, others not.