[WopOnTour]

Nice revisit post
I can whole-heartedly agree with swapping out the Shunguang's
I've replaced the 12AX7s with a matched set of Telefunkens and I'm very pleased with the results.A BIG (albeit somewhat expensive) improvement.

What I really love about this little guy is it's versatility.
I'm impressed with the Burr-Brown DAC and have mine connected permanantly to an HT-PC (via USB2 PCI card) and it's gobbled up pretty much everything I've feed it with GUSTO!

I've even on occasion connected it to my vintage Klipsch LaScalas and it literally shook the house! (of course 105db sensitivity helps) Certainly not quite the vivid detail or bass extension as my 300B SET amp but very very enjoyable musicality for a mere fraction of the price. The Klipsch network (Model AA) really responds to the transparent "loading" of the MP5's transformerless OTL speaker outputs. I can easily recommend Klipsch Heritage as my speaker of choice for the MP-5.

One of the best audio deals I've made in years...
JMO
WOT

 

[albahaca]

Did anybody modified the chassis and inlaid a plug of 1/4"?

or

Everybody uses the 1/8" to 1/4" adapter?

 

[Melquiades]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elephas /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm currently using a pair of Telefunken ECC85 and a Siemens EM87 with my non-US model Dared MP-5 ....

I just registered to thank all the headfi community for it is a very rich source of information, especially Elephas who's description of the sound coming from the dared mp5 through the telefunken tubes is exact and made me buy them.
Although my source is not what many can call "audiophile" (I'm thinking about a good external dac but my wallet says mercy right now) it can seem strange but really with the stock tubes the dared mp5 didn't sound different from the xfi elite pro direct output on akg 701. I have heard hours and hours of all types of music and tried very hard to find some difference. Well it seems that there's no difference at all

or I'm definitely deaf.

With the telefunfen tubes the improvement is exactly as described Elephas. Also the sound is less harsh (like there's more air in my case) than stock tubes and I can listen to music for a long time with no fatigue. With the stock tubes I feeled agressed. I now begin to enjoy the dared mp5.

For those interested (audiophiles you can just stop reading

) I must add that the sound coming from the xfi elite pro is a little more accurate than the one coming from the usb dac. No joke even if the difference is not huge. That came obvious to me listening to Mahler's 5th symphonie where some intruments sounded less accurate through the usb dac (some instruments just sound wrong).
But the soundstage through the usb dac is better than on the xfi alone or with the dared with stock tubes.

Good listening

Next step an external dac, than speakers, than ... . If someone has to much money to spend he will make a good friend here ...

 

[Elephas]

Hi, welcome to Head-Fi. I hope you'll enjoy your experience here, though your wallet might not.

I'm glad to read about your good experience with the Dared MP-5 and tubes. Please note, however, I'm a tube noob

and there are many members with more extensive experience with tube gear.

One reason I was willing to pay the high price for the Telefunken ECC85 tubes was that I bought them from a shop which allowed me to test several tubes with their tube tester to find a well-matched and high-performing pair. Buying tubes over the Internet can be hit-or-miss. I experienced channel imbalance with some tube pairs, and am willing to spend more for one guaranteed good pair.

Yes, an external DAC would be a good next step...

 

[Hermitt]

I just pulled the trigger on a US version of the Dared MP-5, that is claiming to have Shuguang 12AX7 tubes for my intry-level amp mostly to be used with my new MS-Pros. Are any of you guys still playing with this amp? Elephas, IIRC, you were also using a pair of RS1s with yours, but you don't have a US version, right? And the humming wasn't as noticable with your grados? I really love the way this amp looks, and the small size. The USB input is also nice because I can use my pc as a transport in addition to my dvd player which is using (according to the service manual) a PCM1753 DAC to play redbook cds and listen to audio dvds.

Any other secrets that I can pick up will be greatly coveted

btw.. those are some beautiful photos at the begining of this thread.

 

[laol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elephas /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is getting scary close to the US$180 I originally paid for the MP-5.

Well…
But not lives, I believe.
Where somebody can buy the Dared with less of U$200 now?

JohnBlue/Tommy Wu had answered my mail indicating the price of "257 USD shipment to your country" (I am in Brazil).

If I to spend more U$130 shipment with tubes, the total price would arrive in the U$390.
Its same price of a Musical Fidelity Xcan v3, aren't?...


Of beginning, me it seemed that the great advantage on the MF or other models would be the integrated DAC.

But if we now see the people here recommending the use of the Dared with a external DAC!…

Quote:

Originally Posted by ak622 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with Ian regarding the DAC. My Cambridge Audio 640c player has more detail than the USB DAC. But the USB DAC is convienient and allows me to play FLAC files from my computer. I think i will look into a squeezebox or other source to feed the amp down the road...

Or perhaps this already paid everything what it costs, to who will be to use it with speakers of easy amplification, as here:

Quote:

Originally Posted by devwild /img/forum/go_quote.gif - The Dared holds onto such an impression of an excelent value for me because I now have it performing admirably as both a headphone amp and a speaker amp. Considering what I was looking at as alternatives, this saved me money.

(and let us not mention more the possible audiophile use as DAC?…)

It can be that my English (very destrained and rusted) is betraying me, but, will be what I read, is what I have understood.
Please, clarifies it if I am been very wrong... Thanks!

 

[Hermitt]

WOW... what a gorgeous ampflier!! I got the US version, but didn't get such a great price as some of the others here, but still, I think for $399 + shipping , this is gonna be a awesome introductory tube amp. Already, I am impressed how my MS-Pros are responding just to the USB input.

I know a bunch of you have already been tube rolling with this little guy, has anyone compiled any kind of chart of which tubes work well as replacements for the chinese 12AX7?

Man... listening to B Tribe - Sensual Sensual ... just awesome

 

[Hermitt]

Hmm... not much activity in this thread anymore. Has everyone given up on their Dareds?

I just have to add to all the other impressions here. This amp, even with the chinese 12ax7B tubes in it, is really making my MSPs sound spectacular. Very open and 3 dimensional.
I would like to try and get just a tiny bit more bottom end punch tho, so I've been reading/researching various tubes.
I found a good price for a pair of JJ ECC83S/12AX7 with gold pins that are on the way. These are supposedly derived of a Telefunken short plate design with tight tolorances and low microphonics. I guess we'll see how they sound when they get here

 

[Elephas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by laol /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well… But not lives, I believe. Where somebody can buy the Dared with less of U$200 now? JohnBlue/Tommy Wu had answered my mail indicating the price of "257 USD shipment to your country" (I am in Brazil). If I to spend more U$130 shipment with tubes, the total price would arrive in the U$390. But if we now see the people here recommending the use of the Dared with a external DAC!…

If the US$257 price quote is the total price, including shipping to Brazil, that might not be a bad deal.

I don't think it's necessary or even desirable to spend more than US$100 on two tubes for the Dared MP-5. I did, but that was an arguably irrational attempt to find a pair of tubes that might work better. They turned out well, but might have been mediocre. There's always risk when buying and trying tubes, and more expensive might not be better. It's even possible for someone to try the exact type of tubes I'm using and not like the results.

I don't like the way the USB DAC sounds. If you don't have another source, using it is fine. But the MP-5 can sound much better with a better source, along with better tubes and maybe power conditioning. I don't think my MP-5 sounds like a "budget amp" and am very proud of its excellent sound irrespective of how much I paid for it or put into it.

 

[laol]

Thanks, Elephas!

I now am between the Dared and the DA7.2x (by Eddie Wu):

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showth...%22DAC+7.2x%22

I have almost equal prices for both.
But I did not consider in the informed price of U$257 the importation taxes… Probably, the difference of the constant price in the site (U$399) and of the price informed in email for the same site (U$257) is because of the difference of taxes. The first price already must include the taxes in USA.

That the Dared already only passed for some upgrades (for what read in reviews and a information of the site Dared in U.S.A.) and I does not know yet if the model that was offered me already it possesss these.

What say those that already had been able to compare both in function like DAC?
Thanks...

 

[Elephas]

There could also be shipping charges, distributor markup, retail markup or other extra fees.

I don't have experience with the DA7.2x.

My MP-5's USB DAC doesn't sound as good as the Constantine USB Plus or Moodlab Dice when using USB. I would expect many dedicated USB DACs to also be superior to the MP-5's built-in DAC, though you would need an amp, of course.

 

[Gatsu]

Picked up a non-US MP5 a couple of months ago and quite impressed with it. I find it a lot less fatiguing than the Corda Aria.

The hum got old fast and I ended up rolling the tubes to Mullard ECC82 at the recommendations made in this thread, that cleared up pretty much all the hum. I still get the hum occasionally, usually only after the amp has been on for a few hours at a time.
However it hasn't affected the hiss that you can hear when there is no music playing, something I notice especially switching back and forth between the Dared and the Corda.

Any suggestions on what I can do to reduce the hiss?

 

[Hermitt]

My US version doesn't have any hum until I rotate the volume knob to about 3:00 with the source paused (would be deafining loud with my MS-Pros otherwise) The hum is so faint that you have to listen very closely to even hear it, and I haven't detected any amount of hiss whatsoever. Currently using the stock chinese 12AX7B tubes as the JJ gold pin ECC83 tubes I bought took all the 'liveliness and airiness' away

 

[Gatsu]

The one thing that worries me about the Dared amps is what seems to be a wide variation in them. Overall though they seem pretty good.

From what I've seen quite a few people have had either hum or hiss with the amp, you seem to have gotten good one

For me, the hum was almost completely removed by rolling the tubes, but the hiss is still a little annoying.
From what I can gather the problem seems to be that the amps gain is way high, 9 o'clock on the volume is pushing it for me.
I did a couple of quick and dirty tests yesterday with an old volume knob on a cable that I had. I set the amps volume knob to minimum and the external control to max. I then slowly wound the external knob back till the hiss disappeared. I then played some music and sat back to take a quick listen. Overall it seemed to fix the hiss problem for me and didn't appear to have any negative effect on the sound.
I'm going to make up a proper 14db LPAD and see if that helps as much as I think it will.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Hermitt]

I haven't seen too many people pipe in that have the US versions, but I recall that most of the amps in this thread were the 'non' US versions which does have different tubes, and a few internal parts. I think the opamp and the DAC are different also. One thing I do like about using the USB input is that I can adjust the output gain on my WMP to around 70 and pick up a little more volume control with the dared. It sounds simply amazing at 12 o'clock straight up

, but yea, most of my listening is around the 9 o'clock position also. MS-Pros sound absolutely beautiful with this amp