[philodox]

Yeah, it is a great piece of kit... that is for sure.

One thing that I forgot to mention is that my new setup is VERY transparent. It was before with the K340s driven from the Eastsound/Dynalo, but its been stepped up [or down I suppose] a couple notches.

 

[looser101]

And I will get to listen to Jay's new setup this weekend. Stay tuned...

-R-

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by looser101 And I will get to listen to Jay's new setup this weekend. Stay tuned... -R-

side note - your avatar reminds me of the very first released picture of the Grado HF-1...

 

[philodox]

Well, I had Renato over for a listening session yesterday. His impressions were not quite as glowing as Rob's, though I think that is mainly because his setup is already really good. We were quite surprised at how close the Lavry and the Channel Islands + Sol Headphone amp were. I think the two rigs get there in different ways, but the end sound is very close.

We did most of our listening on the Grado HF-1's as we are both very familiar with them and the only thing that we had on hand that could drive the AKG K340's properly was the balanced outs on the Lavry DA10. Renato wasn't a big fan of the AKG's at first listening to Norah Jones as I think he was missing the euphonic sound of the Grados. Once I put on some more complicated music though I think he got a taste of why I love them.

Here are some pictures showing the gear we compared in my living room. We did some listening in the office first, but left after a while so that my Wife could use the computer.

Here are a couple pictures showing the size difference between the two sources and DAC's we were comparing.

The bulk of our time was spend in an honest to goodness [that is the saying right?

] source shootout!

We compared the Lavry to the Channel Islands, the Eastsound to the Sony [as transport], different coaxial digital cables, an optical cable, different PLL's on the Lavry... In short, the works. I'm sort of sick right now and this has already been more typing than I really wanted to do, so my impressions will have to wait a little while.

Here is a picture of the winning digital cable [the coax one on top] though to whet your appetite... doesn't it look ghetto?

Oh yeah, and I got a new set of headphones.

A new contender???

The Bumbacat says no!

 

[vpivinylspinner]

I have to tell you. I really enjoy reading about all the fun you are having with your K340s. I have Paypal'd my payment for the full upgrades with BlackMax cable for my bargain 40 dollar mint K340s I picked up last weekend. I am really looking forward to seeing how good they are after upgrades as I am very happy with them stock.

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vpivinylspinner I have to tell you. I really enjoy reading about all the fun you are having with your K340s. I have Paypal'd my payment for the full upgrades with BlackMax cable for my bargain 40 dollar mint K340s I picked up last weekend. I am really looking forward to seeing how good they are after upgrades as I am very happy with them stock.

Great, keep me posted on what you think of them after the mods.

I just got word that my velour pads have arrived in the US, so I should be getting them shortly... can't wait.

 

[jbloudg20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox Great, keep me posted on what you think of them after the mods. I just got word that my velour pads have arrived in the US, so I should be getting them shortly... can't wait.

I love the velour on my K340. So much nicer to listen to.

 

[looser101]

Well, this past Saturday I finally got to listen to Jay's Lavry DA10. The Lavry is indeed a very nice unit, with a DAC + Headphone Amp in a reasonably small case. Personally, I really like the looks of the DA10.

I first started to listen using Jay's current setup - E5 > coaxial > Lavry > HF-1. A very satisfying setup. As previouly reported, the DA10 is smooth, quiet, revealing, and the heaphone output is perfect for Grados. A quick change to my coaxial cable (now Jay's cable - enjoy) improved the high frequency presentation. Cymbals were now more prominent with a more natural sheen.

Next up was a source shootout. We hooked up my VDA-1 + SHA headamp. After verifying that the optical out sonics were identical to the coaxial, we connected the VDA-1 to the optical from the E5 and the DA10 to the coaxial output. We put short snippits of music on repeat and switched the HF-1's between the two setups and listened for any differences. We tried piano, vocal, cymbal, guitar samples and listened for any differences between the two rigs.

And the winner is..... well.... this is the very first time that I've experienced the sound signatures of two completely different rigs, out of the same transport, sound virtually identical. In the interest of disclosure, my VDA-1 is mildly modded. Caps have been upgraded to Panasonic FM, the opamp is now an OPA2227, and a couple other tweaks. In the end my nod goes to the Lavry DA10 by a small margin. The two main reasons: the DAC in the Lavry is superior at decoding the digital signal from poor transports (see below), and the amp section is quieter than my amp (not noticeable with the HF-1, but noticeable with the K340's - I guess I have some work to do).

I also listened to the K340's out of the balanced out at the rear of the Lavry. As usual they sounded very nice. It always takes me some time to get used to the different presentation of these cans compared to the Grados, but I like them alot. Unfortunately the balanced outs do not have enough drive to power the K340's with enough volume, for my liking. The K340's are really hard to power.

I played with the PLL modes on the Lavry with the E5 and also with a Sony DVD player. In particular, the crystal and narrow modes of the Lavry sounded identical on the E5 - a credit to it's excellent clock. The Sony sounded considerably better in crystal mode (reclocking?).

So without further ado, the WINNER is, the LAVRY DA10.

-R-

 

[xand1x]

Great impressions Renato and others. It's nice to hear that DA10 synergizes well with the k340 and HF1 in Philodox's setup

In addition, cudos to the Channel Islands Audio VDA-1! I recall hearing this source (unmodded) and liked it; great to hear when modded it is in the league of the DA10.

 

[looser101]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xand1x Great impressions Renato and others. It's nice to hear that DA10 synergizes well with the k340 and HF1 in Philodox's setup In addition, cudos to the Channel Islands Audio VDA-1! I recall hearing this source (unmodded) and liked it; great to hear when modded it is in the league of the DA10.

Hey Matt,

Just to be clear, the VDA-1 is not really in the same league as the DA10. The VDA-1 is a very basic, straight forward DAC. The DA10 is obviously full of features that make it exceptional and the integral headphone amp is, in my opinion, worthy of its price. On the other hand, the VDA-1 does in fact sound very good, and soundwise is a worthy contender. In other words, they fulfill different user requirements and price points.

-R-

 

[philodox]

Nice impressions Renato.

I was also quite surprised at how close our setups sounded on the Grado HF-1. As I alluded to before, I think they both get there different ways. From some of the configurations that we listened to, I came to the conclusion that the Lavry is a [relatively] warm DAC with a very transparent headphone amp. Conversely, I think the warmth in Renato's setup is coming from his MOSFET amp.

The setups were very close, though we did notice slight differences. One that Renato already pointed out is the Lavry's ability to compensate for a poor transport. Another thing that I noticed was that with the Channel Islands there was next to no difference between the 'winning' coaxial cable and a cheap optical cable with the Eastsound. Renato has done some listening at home and there were large differences when using his Toshiba as a transport [he prefers the coax cable by a large margin]. With the Lavry we noticed significant differences between the three coaxial cables and the one optical cable that we had. This may be, in part, due to the fact that during this testing sequence we were listening with a more critical ear.

I was happy to see that with the Crystal PLL we achieved the best results with all transports, though with the Eastsound the Crystal and Narrow settings were identical to our ears. This is largely due to the quality clock in the CD-E5 I would think. With my cheap Sony DVD player, the differences between Crystal and Narrow were more apparent with Crystal being clearly superior. This seems to coincide more with what I have been reading about the technology in the DA-10. I'm not sure why the folks in the "Lavry/Benchmark/Zhalou" shootout heard differently.

I'd also like to point out that while Renato's modded Channel Islands DAC sounds great and is an amazing value [especially when paired with a MOSFET or tube amp I think], from previous listening sessions with Renato I don't think that an unmodded CI DAC can really compete. The unmodded DAC has a harshness to it that bothered both of us and was consiquently the reason for Renato's recent modding.

It really is all about synergy. I love the SOL Headphone amplifier [Renato's MOSFET amp we have been discussing], but I don't think it really mated with the Lavry all that well... I preferred it's own headphone out with the Grado's. Yet when paired with the Channel Islands DAC it sounded amazing.

Though I do agree with Renato that the Lavry DA10 is a great piece of kit [especially if you are going to use all of it's features], there is no clear winner here. Just different gear that can be great when paired with the right setup.

Next time we will have to compare power cords and conditioners.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox I just got word that my velour pads have arrived in the US, so I should be getting them shortly... can't wait.

How exactly do you go about getting velour pads?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[philodox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vpivinylspinner How exactly do you go about getting velour pads?

If you are in the US you can order them from a lady named Pat. Send a PM to NeilPeart for details.

 

[vpivinylspinner]

Thanks, I might have to do that after I get them back from Larry.

 

[Oski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xand1x Awesome, congrats on the lavry!!! Looks like you guys had a great time too

When are you going to get the Stello DA220 over to Philodox's for the Lavry vs. Stello comparison?