[Currawong]

I finally got around to shooting my review, now that other work is out of the way:

 

[Lolito]

I finally got around to shooting my review, now that other work is out of the way:

How is it going with the cycling Curra? did you followed my advise? I´m doing 140Km-210Km per week. ATM I´m fat like a tuna.

Check out this channel, I think those routes are nearby where you live:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RidesofJapan/videos

God bless you and your great videos.

UPDATE - Following the sensei:

Bolts are Torx T08, the bigger ones are Torx T10 and you don't need to remove them


My phone camera is bad, but this device is a beauty inside. Fully loaded. The aluminium plates are way thick. Overbuilt.



The jumpers I have at hand now, ordered new short ones.



Very flowery San Franciscan jumpers. Holo Spring.




Sounds great now, before sounded great already. Maybe now much more dynamic range? no top limit? tomorrow will test properly. So far so good, sounds sweet.



I have this in 24-96, remastered 2020 version, upsampled to 192 inside audirvana, with DC mod. Sounds better than being there. Better. I left it cool before doing the job, then right after was still cold, sounded so so. Now warm and with the mod, it does sound great.

 

[Alien2085]

How is it going with the cycling Curra? did you followed my advise? I´m doing 140Km-210Km per week. ATM I´m fat like a tuna.

Check out this channel, I think those routes are nearby where you live:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RidesofJapan/videos

God bless you and your great videos.

UPDATE - Following the sensei:

Bolts are Torx T08, the bigger ones are Torx T10 and you don't need to remove them


My phone camera is bad, but this device is a beauty inside. Fully loaded. The aluminium plates are way thick. Overbuilt.



The jumpers I have at hand now, ordered new short ones.



Very flowery San Franciscan jumpers. Holo Spring.




Sounds great now, before sounded great already. Maybe now much more dynamic range? no top limit? tomorrow will test properly. So far so good, sounds sweet.



I have this in 24-96, remastered 2020 version, upsampled to 192 inside audirvana, with DC mod. Sounds better than being there. Better. I left it cool before doing the job, then right after was still cold, sounded so so. Now warm and with the mod, it does sound great.

Thank you I guess it is time to follow with the jumpers upgrade, do you think any computer jumper caps from Amazon, like this for instance (RuiLing 120-Pack 4 Color 30PCS Each Open Top 2.54mm Standard Computer Jumper Caps Shunts Short Circuit Cap
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RRTQTW3/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_PSG4ZXZN03VS0CEXK5AG would suffice?

 

[Lolito]

Any 2.54mm jumper will do

 

[Middy]

Thanks to @Currawong for the review and doing the Mod also... Very much appreciated by myself and others interested in the mod.

 

[Middy]

How is it going with the cycling Curra? did you followed my advise? I´m doing 140Km-210Km per week. ATM I´m fat like a tuna.

Check out this channel, I think those routes are nearby where you live:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RidesofJapan/videos

God bless you and your great videos.

UPDATE - Following the sensei:

Bolts are Torx T08, the bigger ones are Torx T10 and you don't need to remove them


My phone camera is bad, but this device is a beauty inside. Fully loaded. The aluminium plates are way thick. Overbuilt.



The jumpers I have at hand now, ordered new short ones.



Very flowery San Franciscan jumpers. Holo Spring.




Sounds great now, before sounded great already. Maybe now much more dynamic range? no top limit? tomorrow will test properly. So far so good, sounds sweet.



I have this in 24-96, remastered 2020 version, upsampled to 192 inside audirvana, with DC mod. Sounds better than being there. Better. I left it cool before doing the job, then right after was still cold, sounded so so. Now warm and with the mod, it does sound great.

Hey @Lolito can you link the shorter jumper cables please I'd like to try them also..

Thank you
Dave

 

[Lolito]

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000683311083.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.27f83c00DNk5Gq&mp=1

 

[Middy]

I googled Lolito and I found it means 'handsome superstar'
Thanks for the link better fire up AliExpress not done that for a while...

Take care
Dave

 

[Middy]

Meh.. as much as I like AliExpress for cost next month is tooooo long for an impatient old man....

I think I have the right Dupont female crimps and a thicker silver plated wire... Why not...
eBay and UK seller 3 days postage...

They can be crimped by hand without an expensive crimp tool but I'll silver solder then in... And it's a bit of fun... Again thanks @Lolito for pointing me in the right direction ..
Dupont female crimps and housings and wire sizes... Thicker is better.. as my wife says..

Dave

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

I think this amp sounds great without any mods. It only sounds "soft" to my ears when it is on low gain with high impedance headphones. Once I flip it to high gain, that softness is gone. This isn't needed when the headphones have low impedance. YMMV.

 

[Middy]

Honestly if your happy great.. My Dan Clark Ether 2s are 16ohm I wouldn't go back to unmodded... But no warranty for me...

Note I came from a Gilmore lite MK 2 and golden PSU so the highs had a bit more sparkle and the magni 3..

Unmodded the SA1 is still better.. but got more of what I am use to +++

 

[shwnwllms]

I think this amp sounds great without any mods. It only sounds "soft" to my ears when it is on low gain with high impedance headphones. Once I flip it to high gain, that softness is gone. This isn't needed when the headphones have low impedance. YMMV.

So far I’ve only run it low gain mostly with my 2021 LCD-X. Are you running on high gain always or switching depending on the impedance of your headphones? Would my LCD-X being a low impedance HP (20 Ohms) benefit sonically (other than more headroom) running in high gain? (I’d rather not do the DC mod for various reasons, especially if the benefits don’t outweigh the risk involved)

 

[Lolito]

I have made 3 little mods in the last 2 days, so I do not know where the improvement is coming from; I learned to connect the dac directly to the computer via a usb 2.0 hub, learned audirvana upscale to 2x resolution, and then the sa-1 amp mod, so... the audirvana upscaling makes audio maybe more holographic, but also thinner, much more instrument separation, and more soundstage, but... not sure about that completely yet, but something like that. About the SA-1 jumper mod... If Currawong has done it... take the wild side of life, go crazy, like Telma & Louise, put the jumpers on and enjoy the wild life.

On a serious note, the mod sounds really better, I think, I don't have an A/B switch to test and compare with certainty, but seems like microdynamics roof has gone up. Before jumps on volumen where like limited, here there is no such a limit, and sounds more open, more soundstage maybe... All very subjective things that can be true or not...

 

[Muataz]

I think the jumper mod can degrade the sound quality as the sound pass through it. The quality of the jumpers is important like cables. The best solution bring a speaker cable cut 4 pieces each 15mm and twist it u shape and install it.

 

[Muataz]

I have made 3 little mods in the last 2 days, so I do not know where the improvement is coming from; I learned to connect the dac directly to the computer via a usb 2.0 hub, learned audirvana upscale to 2x resolution, and then the sa-1 amp mod, so... the audirvana upscaling makes audio maybe more holographic, but also thinner, much more instrument separation, and more soundstage, but... not sure about that completely yet, but something like that. About the SA-1 jumper mod... If Currawong has done it... take the wild side of life, go crazy, like Telma & Louise, put the jumpers on and enjoy the wild life.

On a serious note, the mod sounds really better, I think, I don't have an A/B switch to test and compare with certainty, but seems like microdynamics roof has gone up. Before jumps on volumen where like limited, here there is no such a limit, and sounds more open, more soundstage maybe... All very subjective things that can be true or not...

I liked the audirvana upscale to 2x resolution ALOT more than what roon lab can do. But I noticed DSD upsampling was very CPU demanding so my laptop fan noise upset the experience.