[ianp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AudioPhewl /img/forum/go_quote.gif One of your DACs has lost the headphone symbol. Has it been on a diet? Or is it ready for valve-lampization? ~Phewl.

The older units didn't have the headphone graphic. But, yes the one with the headphone graphic is the one that is ready for tubing.

 

[AudioPhewl]

Ah... you learn something new every day

.

~Phewl.

 

[Enthusia]

Lawrence has shipped out my new volume pot! Woot woot!

 

[taso89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enthusia /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lawrence has shipped out my new volume pot! Woot woot!

How much did he charge you for it? And is it an improvement over the stock volume pot?

 

[AudioPhewl]

I'm betting he's not received it yet

.

~Phewl.

 

[taso89]

What I meant was is it SUPPOSED to be an improvement over the stock pot or did he just need a replacement

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taso89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How much did he charge you for it? And is it an improvement over the stock volume pot?

If he got more of the NOS ALPS pots with detents, the answer to the second part is "YES". Both channels are even and the whole thing is quiet.

On a side note: I did both of my Zero's with the NOS ALPS pots, and the feel of the pot is very nice. They have the ball bearing type detents device, on the back of the pot. I put a micro drop of clock oil on mine (at the ball bearing) and it got even smoother to operate.

 

[ianp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taso89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What I meant was is it SUPPOSED to be an improvement over the stock pot or did he just need a replacement

FWIW The standard volume pot can best described as perfunctory. It does the job, but can be readily improved upon.

 

[taso89]

I'm not aware of the differences between one volume pot and another, but what I do notice on the stock volume pot is a good deal of snap crackle and pop when I move the knob from 9:00 to 12:00 back and forth. Is this something to be expected or do I need a new pot?

 

[ianp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taso89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not aware of the differences between one volume pot and another, but what I do notice on the stock volume pot is a good deal of snap crackle and pop when I move the knob from 9:00 to 12:00 back and forth. Is this something to be expected or do I need a new pot?

That could be a symptom of a cheap pot or one that needs a good spraying with compressed air and/or contact cleaner. The pots are a pretty much a sealed unit, so spraying with anything is hit and miss. It may even worsen the situation.

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taso89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm not aware of the differences between one volume pot and another, but what I do notice on the stock volume pot is a good deal of snap crackle and pop when I move the knob from 9:00 to 12:00 back and forth. Is this something to be expected or do I need a new pot?

My first Zero, when new, had a snap, crackle and pop in the same area. I used Deoxit to clean it out, and this got rid of the noise, but not the imbalance at lower volumes. For that, I replaced them with Lawrence's NOS Alps pots.

 

[Enthusia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by taso89 /img/forum/go_quote.gif How much did he charge you for it? And is it an improvement over the stock volume pot?

It was free of charge, Lawrence is a generous man!

 

[Garret Jax]

Noob question here: still burning in my Zero and loving it, but I would like to hear it next to a tube amp. I've never heard a tube amp before. Maybe I'll go to the local audiophile store and see if they have any. My question is basic: don't those tubes get to be like 500 degrees Fahrenheit or something crazy like that? Seems like a fire hazard if you have children or pets (or just get hammered while listening to your cans!). Am I misinformed?

 

[ianp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garret Jax /img/forum/go_quote.gif Noob question here: still burning in my Zero and loving it, but I would like to hear it next to a tube amp. I've never heard a tube amp before. Maybe I'll go to the local audiophile store and see if they have any. My question is basic: don't those tubes get to be like 500 degrees Fahrenheit or something crazy like that? Seems like a fire hazard if you have children or pets (or just get hammered while listening to your cans!). Am I misinformed?

Yes, they get hot. You do not really want to touch them when they are on. It helps prolong their life as well as your family & pets. Some tube amps have some form of protection or cover for the tubes.

The amp that I have has a cover, but I have it physically located on a shelf well away from the kids. With the tube covers on it would look like the below. Those covers still get hot, so you still need to keep well away from kids, pets, etc.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by P_1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wanted to just add some more impressions from the Zero. With the lm4562 in the dac and amp it actually sounds better than the Little Dot MK V. I was holding off on testing the lm4562 since the lme49720 are supposed to be identical, but this turns out to be not true sonically. I suspect that the lme49720 are probably made on a cheaper process compared to the lm4562. And to comment on the Earth and Sun discrete opamps, how are they possibly better than some of the opamp chips out there with much lower distortion ratings? Anyway here are a few things I noticed with my w5000's: Originally with the opa627 in the DAC and the lme49720's in the amp section it sounded harsh, the highs would almost go too high. The sound stage was also just average. Then I tried the Zero with the MK V with the opa627 in the DAC and the MK V sounded smooth almost like it was rolling off the highs and I found there to be a little bit more bass in terms of quantity not really extension. Then I tried the Zero with the MK V with the lme49720 in the DAC and the bass got tighter and the highs were less rolled off and the sound stage was still mediocre. Now I returned the MK V, put the lm4562 in the dac and amp, and the bass goes lower and more controlled, sounds more dynamic, and sound stage is seemingly increased. I'll update my impressions once the chips get burned in more, but so far this is fantastic.

I just received my lm4562s in the mail. Some quick listening just replacing the 627's with one lm4562 - there isn't much in it between it and the LT1364's if they are left in the preamp. Putting in 3 lm4562s, I can't hear much of a difference between using my MKV and using the headphone/pre-amp of the Zero. If your ears are good, maybe it's your ICs you're hearing? I don't get any rolled-off highs, but I could have sworn I had a little siblance with the MKV. It suggests that the lm4562 overcomes the need for the MKV for that slightly wider sound stage, but I don't have my K701's to test that very well any longer.

I think we're at the splitting hairs stage of things. If we were to talk about max value, I'd say a stock Zero + a set of 3 lm4562s, which you can get as a free sample = best bang for your buck. Considering how cheap they seem to be, it would be interesting if the next revision of stock Zero came out with them as default opamps.