[Ethereal Sound]

Suckers.

Haha, I'm perfectly content to continue enjoying my Dynahi in the meanwhile.

 

[paradoxper]

Haha, I'm perfectly content to continue enjoying my Dynahi in the meanwhile.

And too few actually know how great the Dynahi is also.

 

[MDR30]

And too few actually know how great the Dynahi is also.

I don't know if we are few, but my impressions agree with yours. It performs stunningly.

 

[makan]

If anyone is interested in a maxed out CFA3 with separate golden reference psu and speaker taps + RK27 motorized pot with remote control, please drop me a message.

It's one of the last Dukei builds for now. He may not build again.

For those interested, I purchased this CFA3 but am making the difficult decision to move it along for anyone who is interested. The footprint is a little too big for my listening station

 

[Hiker816]

Hi Everyone,

I'm excited to join the CFA3 family! I am the very lucky purchaser of @littlej0e 's tricked-out CFA3. And it is awesome. The first thing I noticed was instrument separation that blew everything else I've ever listened to out of the water. My ZMF VCs out of the XLR out have never sounded better. (In fact, my Pendant SE is now for sale, if you know anyone interested: https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/zmf-pendant-se-headphone-amp-optional-tube-bundle.24900/).

I'd like to use the CFA3 to drive my RAAL-requisite SR1a as well. (In fact, ideally, I was hoping the CFA3 would replace my HSA-1b). The question is how to do that. I tried connecting the speaker taps on the CFA3 to the RAAL-requisite interface box and that to my SR1a. That works, but . . . the first interface box I got had a channel imbalance, and Danny and David from RAAL-requisite were incredibly helpful and sent me out a second box to help troubleshoot. The second box doesn't have the channel imbalance. However, I'm getting some distortion primarily in the mid-bass and losing some of the quieter detail out of the speaker taps on both of those interface boxes. The combination of the facts that (1) this doesn't happen (a) out of the headphone outs on the CFA3 when using my ZMF VCs, or (b) when using my HSA-1b instead of the CFA3 to drive the SR1a, and that (2) the distortion and detail loss happens with both interface boxes and after I've moved speaker wires around, makes me think it's the speaker taps on the CFA3. @Dukei has been extremely helpful over PM in helping me troubleshoot. (Shout out to Danny and David from RAAL-requisite, and Dukei, who have really gone above and beyond!). However, Dukei thinks it might simply be that the CFA3 doesn't have the power output through the speaker taps to be in its ideal range when driving the SR1a.

So, I was hoping the hive mind here might help. Should I try the new RAAL-requisite TI-1a interface box connected to the XLR out on the CFA3? Or is there a better way to drive the SR1a from the CFA3?

Thanks in advance! (Also, I'm kind of a luddite when it comes to tech, so please forgive me if I described anything incorrectly, or if I have trouble following your suggestions initially).

I am replying to my own message because I've completely resolved the distortion/noise/loss of detail issue with my CFA3, and figured I would post the solution in case it helps anyone else. The bias on one of the phases had drifted. A simple turn of a small screw inside the amp, and now the sound is mind-blowingly phenomenal not only through the XLR out, but also out of the speaker taps through the RAAL-requisite interface box to my SR1a. Seriously, phenomenal.

I need to give a HUGE shout-out to @Dukei, the amp builder. Through dozens of PMs, he helped me trouble shoot. As we were narrowing down the problem, he provided detailed instructions with annotated photographs to walk me through testing various components with a multimeter to identify the problem, and then to fix it. With his incredibly great instructions, the testing and fix ended up being surprisingly easy, even for a complete luddite like me. What makes this even more amazing is that I am the second owner. I haven't paid Dukei anything, yet he still spent a ton of time helping me out. I'm frankly still stunned.

You've probably seen some posts about Dukei stepping away from DIY builds. I was worried about the huge loss for the audiophile community that would create. Thankfully, this is because he is transitioning to building amps professionally. He gave me the green light to share that he will be back in the fall with something very interesting for the headphone community. I'm excited to see what he has in store. Whatever it is, I recommend you buy it immediately. Dukei is a great builder, provides great customer service, and is a great guy.

 

[rsbrsvp]

Dukei is NOT NORMAL- not by todays standards of normal. He is a very very special person who is unusually honest, kind, helpful, talented, easy going, etc.........

 

[chesebert]

Nice...it looks like there will be commercially available CFAs offered by 3 different but equally awesome builders. I can't wait for Q1 2023.

 

[normie610]

through the RAAL-requisite interface box to my SR1a. Seriously, phenomenal.

Yep it is phenomenal. I’ve been saying this from day 1 and was told by a number of people that it’s impossible for SR1a to sound good since CFA3 doesn’t have the 100W power output recommended by RAAL. Well it’s good to know that someone else shares my opinion happy listening!

 

[jlbrach]

Yep it is phenomenal. I’ve been saying this from day 1 and was told by a number of people that it’s impossible for SR1a to sound good since CFA3 doesn’t have the 100W power output recommended by RAAL. Well it’s good to know that someone else shares my opinion happy listening!

actually I believe the cfa3 does have the required 100w into 4 ohms I think called for

 

[Ethereal Sound]

Nice...it looks like there will be commercially available CFAs offered by 3 different but equally awesome builders. I can't wait for Q1 2023.

Which three/

 

[chesebert]

Which three/

Kerry, Dukei and one other I cannot name (no permission from the manufacturer).

Waiting patiently…

 

[paradoxper]

Kerry, Dukei and one other I cannot name (no permission from the manufacturer).

Waiting patiently…

It's Justin. DUH.

 

[Ethereal Sound]

It's Justin. DUH.

Aha, not sure if you're joking but I did ask him personally at AXPONA and he said they aren't.

 

[paradoxper]

Aha, not sure if you're joking but I did ask him personally at AXPONA and he said they aren't.

Well, Jeff Wells sure as hell isn't competent enough to build Gilmore design.

I took my stab. Doug is too clever a man, I'm out of ideas.

It won't matter unless duke changes some significant things, he can't scale to Kerry's level.

A big price differentiator is his best hope.

Eksonic is a win for the people.

 

[Hiker816]

For whatever it's worth, Dukei didn't tell me what he's working on for the fall. I don't know if it's a CFA build.