flatpopely
Prog Rock/Moderator
What was the external DAC that you preferred to the K2 in the JVC?
JVC AX-Z1010TN - Review (part II)
- Thread starter Dan K
- Start date
VanDerGraaf
pfm Member
My little (and little-known) Korg DS100m, but not much in it- will do another back to back before I give the amp back to Douglas.
I also preferred the overall tone of my Arcam Black Box mk1- but the K2 was better than that in aspects of separation of individual instrument detail, and of keeping things from going wooly when music got complex.
Of course, these are marginal differences, not big ones. No-one should think for a minute that I am knocking the 1010. It's excellent and I do wonder if a dac board recap would improve things tonally a little. If it did I'd be perfectly happy living with one on a permanent basis- the amplifier section is fab! Plenty of power, sounds just right imo.
On the subject of pinpointing differences...ye it is very difficult and subjective. I suspect like me if you bugger about for years programming synths, carefully trying to use eq to fit things into a mix etc you may be more aware of smaller differences. I can't say for sure. Believe me, I am going to try listening again with K2.
Last time was all with Dac Direct on. Any owners care to comment about the difference in sound with and without?
Something else to experiment with...Try it as a standalone DAC via the tape out (2nd set of RCA sockets from the bottom). Use in direct mode. Also give the phonostage a go.
DAC direct made very little difference to my ears, one thing that you should do is make sure that the bias is where it ought to be. The amp should get quite warm
DAC direct made very little difference to my ears, one thing that you should do is make sure that the bias is where it ought to be. The amp should get quite warm
Stuart Frazer
pfm Member
DAT - Digital Audio Tape.
Sonci
pfm Member
So that’s another coaxial digital in?
Nic Robinson
Moderator
Yes. I use it with a CD recorder. Works a treat.
Ferdie van Assche
Member
My 1010 gave up recently: one channel oscillates and distorts the output. I brought it to an audio repair shop, and they said it could be repairable, but the "super A" unit was also broken which is no longer available and can't be replaced. Any advice?
flatpopely
Prog Rock/Moderator
Sorry the amp is poorly. The Super A part may be shared amongst other JVCs of that time. I’ll take a look at the service manual and see if the part appears on other JVC amps.
Ferdie van Assche
Member
Thanks that is very kind. I do have a brother amplifier z911, but would be a pity to take it apart. I do remember a cheaper amplifier I used to have (AZ-R551) was advertised as Super A, but not idea if these are interchangeable at all.
flatpopely
Prog Rock/Moderator
So the Super-A circuit in the AX-Z1010 is a Sanyo VC5022-2 SIP9, available:-
https://www.donberg.ie/catalogue/semiconductors/semiconductors_v-z/vc_5022-2.html
The one in the A-X3 is a VC5022, on eBay and a SIP9. But as it is not the '-2' version I'd go with the Sanyo part listed on Donberg.
Good luck!
https://www.donberg.ie/catalogue/semiconductors/semiconductors_v-z/vc_5022-2.html
The one in the A-X3 is a VC5022, on eBay and a SIP9. But as it is not the '-2' version I'd go with the Sanyo part listed on Donberg.
Good luck!
Stuart Frazer
pfm Member
How does the z1010 compare with your z911?
I bought a z911 on eBay once but it arrived with only one channel working, so it was returned. Out of the 1 channel that was working, it sounded a very promising amplifier.
Ferdie van Assche
Member
Thank you very much! I will try and go back to the repair shop with this information.
Ferdie van Assche
Member
The z911 is a great solid amplifier as well, to my ears it is as good as the 1010. I use it as an amp for a digital piano for which I do not use the DAC of the 911, so haven’t compared the two DACs.
kasperhauser
pfm Member
I had both the 911 and the 1010. I slightly preferred the 911 in my system, and since the 1010 had higher resale value, I moved it on. Still using the 911.
Stuart Frazer
pfm Member
Interesting, I didn’t get a chance to do a A-B Demo at the time, but I have a 1010 here now and, from memory, would probably concur with your findings. It is possible that my 1010 needs service though, so this isn’t definitive and I really would need a much more in depth demo to fully conclude. I wonder if the 911 I heard benefitted technically from having a channel down at the time. In effect, it was a mono amplifier....
kasperhauser
pfm Member
Yes, good point about the servicing. I suppose the only fair comparison would have been with both machines fully gone through and brought back to factory spec. As it was, the 911 was fine for my needs. However, it does run very warm with digital sources; noticeably cooler through the analog side.
Tigerjones
Bagpuss
Kasper darling, nice to see you. I think the 911 looks very cool. I have a 1010 but it's currently under my bed.