[Chopin75]

I guess you would be lucky to even get $1000 for first gen r2r7.
The second hand market for flagship audio-gd products are not as good as their mid and entry level ones. The ones who can spend that much will likely have a budget for the latest version too. And they will always swing for the latest and greatest.

Lets be honest, it does not have McIntosh or Accuphase level of brand charisma.

Yah, there may be a few DIYer interested but they won't want to pay any high price as they want a cheap model to work and experiment on.

 

[PLGA]

@DACLadder are the Accusilicon XO's and V2 Boards really that much better? I am trying to decide if it is worth the hassle to ship my R2R-7 away to get upgraded by Magna or Audio-GD. what can I expect with the newer clocks and DA boards compared to the old ones? The sound is already amazing to my ears as is with the DI-20, hard to imagine it better.

Thanks

Hello @darren700
I would add a couple of things

1- I have no soldering skills whatsoever, but I ordered the V2 boards and the Accusilicons to Kingwa and got them soldered here (Argentina) by a tech guy. I understand its not difficult and you will save A LOT of money. I wouldnt send the DAC to Audio-gd or Magna HiFi, unless they are around the corner, wich is not my case.

2- I dont listen to DSD, only PCM 44.1/16. To be honest, for me it was hard to tell the differences between V1 with original clocks vs V2 with Accusilicon because there's a pretty long burning process. What I can tell you for sure is that today, after about 6 months from the upgrade, my system is sounding like never before. Im having an incredible layering, dynamics and tone, but I really dont know if all of that is due to the boards and clocks upgrade, but some of it for sure.

I think if you order them from Kingwa and you get someone close to you to do the job, they are worthwile.

 

[tumpux]

I would do the same.
It couldn’t be that hard if you have the skill or access to someone with that skill. Sending the unit back would be too risky and costly.

 

[Chopin75]

Hello @darren700
I would add a couple of things

1- I have no soldering skills whatsoever, but I ordered the V2 boards and the Accusilicons to Kingwa and got them soldered here (Argentina) by a tech guy. I understand its not difficult and you will save A LOT of money. I wouldnt send the DAC to Audio-gd or Magna HiFi, unless they are around the corner, wich is not my case.

2- I dont listen to DSD, only PCM 44.1/16. To be honest, for me it was hard to tell the differences between V1 with original clocks vs V2 with Accusilicon because there's a pretty long burning process. What I can tell you for sure is that today, after about 6 months from the upgrade, my system is sounding like never before. Im having an incredible layering, dynamics and tone, but I really dont know if all of that is due to the boards and clocks upgrade, but some of it for sure.

I think if you order them from Kingwa and you get someone close to you to do the job, they are worthwile.

One needs to rely on remote memory to compare with the V1/older clock since it takes months to burn in for PCM. The improvement for DSD is obvious in the very beginning within first few minutes. For me PCM has been a bit of struggle, but now it is better with 2 months playing the R7 nonstop. (it feels like forever!) The magna silver wire upgrades probably make the burn-in even longer.

 

[Chopin75]

Hello @darren700
I would add a couple of things

1- I have no soldering skills whatsoever, but I ordered the V2 boards and the Accusilicons to Kingwa and got them soldered here (Argentina) by a tech guy. I understand its not difficult and you will save A LOT of money. I wouldnt send the DAC to Audio-gd or Magna HiFi, unless they are around the corner, wich is not my case.

2- I dont listen to DSD, only PCM 44.1/16. To be honest, for me it was hard to tell the differences between V1 with original clocks vs V2 with Accusilicon because there's a pretty long burning process. What I can tell you for sure is that today, after about 6 months from the upgrade, my system is sounding like never before. Im having an incredible layering, dynamics and tone, but I really dont know if all of that is due to the boards and clocks upgrade, but some of it for sure.

I think if you order them from Kingwa and you get someone close to you to do the job, they are worthwile.

One needs to rely on remote memory to compare with the V1/older clock since it takes months to burn in for PCM. The improvement for DSD is obvious in the very beginning within first few minutes. For me PCM has been a bit of struggle, but now it is better with 2 months playing the R7 nonstop. (it feels like forever!) The magna silver wiring mod also makes the burning longer still!

 

[darren700]

Hello @darren700
I would add a couple of things

1- I have no soldering skills whatsoever, but I ordered the V2 boards and the Accusilicons to Kingwa and got them soldered here (Argentina) by a tech guy. I understand its not difficult and you will save A LOT of money. I wouldnt send the DAC to Audio-gd or Magna HiFi, unless they are around the corner, wich is not my case.

2- I dont listen to DSD, only PCM 44.1/16. To be honest, for me it was hard to tell the differences between V1 with original clocks vs V2 with Accusilicon because there's a pretty long burning process. What I can tell you for sure is that today, after about 6 months from the upgrade, my system is sounding like never before. Im having an incredible layering, dynamics and tone, but I really dont know if all of that is due to the boards and clocks upgrade, but some of it for sure.

I think if you order them from Kingwa and you get someone close to you to do the job, they are worthwile.

Thanks for the advice, I will see if there is someone local and explore that option. from everyone's descriptions it definitely seems like these upgrades are worth the effort. However I agree about shipping the R2R-7, seems too risky to me.

 

[Chopin75]

Thanks for the advice, I will see if there is someone local and explore that option. from everyone's descriptions it definitely seems like these upgrades are worth the effort. However I agree about shipping the R2R-7, seems too risky to me.

It depends on where you are shipping from and to. I shipped from US (east coast) to the Netherlands Directly via Fedex, no issue at all. You do need to make sure you won't get double taxed when the product returns but there is a paper work you can fill out to state you are sending this for repair.

 

[DACLadder]

@darren700 Find a competent tech that has plenty of rework experience. The instructions are vague and not especially clear (step-by-step). A forum member a while back hired an inexperienced tech, reconnected the power backward, and smoked some caps. Had to eventually send it to KIngwa for repair. So trust the tech like someone watching over your children!

 

[Chopin75]

The system is having a great day now, as this is Thanksgiving day! (while I am also listening to Beethoven's Thanksgiving music right now incidentally!) DSD is sounding relaxed and glare free. The Harvester is reasonably quiet, if not completely dead (I guess some are having at home turning up their oven for the Kosher turkey ?) I would say with Purepower, on a noisy night like yesterday, it achieves about 80% of what a quiet weekend or holiday would be. I have left setup:

AC mains---> Tripp-lite---> 2x Schaffner---> Decware---> Purepower --> components.

I may disconnect the PC from the Purepower and see how that goes.

We are supposed to leave for Canada today to see my folks but my wife needs some rest today.

 

[darren700]

@darren700 Find a competent tech that has plenty of rework experience. The instructions are vague and not especially clear (step-by-step). A forum member a while back hired an inexperienced tech, reconnected the power backward, and smoked some caps. Had to eventually send it to KIngwa for repair. So trust the tech like someone watching over your children!

i did a little bit of looking today, unfortunately there seems to only be one option in my area and he is more of a TV repair guy. not sure if I would trust him with my R2R-7. Where might I find the instructions if you dont mind? are they posted on the Audio-GD site somewhere? Thanks

 

[PLGA]

i did a little bit of looking today, unfortunately there seems to only be one option in my area and he is more of a TV repair guy. not sure if I would trust him with my R2R-7. Where might I find the instructions if you dont mind? are they posted on the Audio-GD site somewhere? Thanks

You can ask Kingwa to send them to you. There is also a lot of information in this thread, but posted months ago.

 

[Chopin75]

i did a little bit of looking today, unfortunately there seems to only be one option in my area and he is more of a TV repair guy. not sure if I would trust him with my R2R-7. Where might I find the instructions if you dont mind? are they posted on the Audio-GD site somewhere? Thanks

If you are stuck with no one helping you, just pay for a good shipping like Fedex with insurance to cover $2000 so that even if it is destroyed (unlikely)n during transport you get the $2000 cash back. I don't think there is huge risk for sending Hi Fi equipments as I have done so numerous times. Double box it (I just used the original double box from Kingwa) and puts lots of foam/cushioning/hard board etc....Magna is really fast with the upgrades and Netherlands is not likely to destroy parcels. (I am usually more concerned about US or Asia) Unless you are from some place/country where there is looting of parcels in the post office I doubt you will lose it.

 

[Chopin75]

The system is having a great day now, as this is Thanksgiving day! (while I am also listening to Beethoven's Thanksgiving music right now incidentally!) DSD is sounding relaxed and glare free. The Harvester is reasonably quiet, if not completely dead (I guess some are having at home turning up their oven for the Kosher turkey ?) I would say with Purepower, on a noisy night like yesterday, it achieves about 80% of what a quiet weekend or holiday would be. I have left setup:

AC mains---> Tripp-lite---> 2x Schaffner---> Decware---> Purepower --> components.

I may disconnect the PC from the Purepower and see how that goes.

We are supposed to leave for Canada today to see my folks but my wife needs some rest today.

Forgot to mention, the Purepower (I might have posed this before) is actually a UPS (uninterrupted power supply regenerator that converts AC --> DC battery --> AC) . I am wondering if using this regenerator would mean I won't need Audio-gd HE version of the DI. Hmm...

And Schaffner is a filter cable
Decware - a toroidal isolation transformer
Trippl-lite- transformer isolator with surge protection

This setup does allow me to put more gain on my balanced output stage from my R7 where as before the sound would get too forward and harsh.

 

[Tango Sierra]

I recently installed the R7tda_Asy_P2_dsdclk firmware on my M7S and noticed the stereo channels are reversed. I've tried both NOS Mode 3 and OSx8 and the result is the same. Other than reversing the ACSS cables is there some adjustment I should be doing under the hood (bonnet)?

Listening to Chris Isaak's Forever Blue Album.

 

[Jackula]

Recently got my OCC silver Litz ACSS cable.

I immediately thought the silver Litz was better, but after the "new toy" syndrome wore off, I'm not quite sure what I prefer.

The silver Litz has better clarity, resolution, control, expressiveness, soundstage, imaging - it is technically better. While the stock copper cable has more body, energy, dynamics and bass heft. I feel the silver Litz is very "hifi" sounding while the stock cable is more emotionally engaging although a bit coloured.