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Is there any point in a valve DAC

Yep it’s getting tiresome, Arkless must have been having a bad day or two when he tried to fix some crappy Trilogy monoblocs I owned twice without results. In the end his Zen like knowledge missed the simple fact of a short across worn out and poor quality valve socket.

Though I do have to thank him for urging me to apply myself to gaining some understanding of valve based circuits.

I probably wouldn’t have felt the need to air it if I hadn’t been lumped in with QAnon because I happen to like the sound of an Audionote or Lampizator output stage.

Much as I dislike QAnon and their ilk, I do have to own up to having an Aesthetix Pandora DAC with a valve output stage. It replaced quite a nice SimAudio Moon DAC that saw off a Naim NDS. No idea how any of them measured as I do not pretend to understand electronics.
 
It's no doubt being carefully monitored for me really losing my temper hence giving an excuse for another ban whilst the aggressor is allowed a free hand to "go for it".... yet again...

<moderating>

It is, and if you don’t wind your ego right in and walk away the next ban will, as you have been warned countless times before, be permanent. I’ve really had enough of your constant aggression and self-agrandisment now. There is good reason you are banned just about everywhere else and I have tried very hard to be tolerant and give you a chance here. Be bright for once.

PS Trade account holders are obviously held to a higher standard. If you can’t behave professionally I don’t want your business.
 
Jez - what you do know is widely appreciated here. What you don't know, but make blanket and categorical assumptions about, is what really rattles my ****ing cage :)

Mr. Sodbury is no doubt resorting to the approach that he does as it is so easy to get a rise out of you. Sometimes I suggest you should type your response, then go for a fag, beer or ****, and come back and try and read what you write from any other PFM members perspective. Then re-word it, then post it :)

Not sure if it helps, but the designer of my SE hybrid monos you so frequently disdain has a similar affliction to you, worse in fact - he would last 5 mins on a forum like this before dismissing everyone as useless twats and being banned - what he does, he does very well though :)

Yer see the thing is that the things you consider me to be wrong about I am, of course, right about, that's what really rattles my ****ing cage:D

I have decades of experience at designing, building, measuring, listening to and repairing analogue electronic equipment in the form of hi fi and I'm VERY good at it, as I should be after it being my vocation all this time. I consider myself in the same league as the likes of Nelson Pass and the late TdP at what I do (no not better than....) as a designer, whether or not I have the money the facilities or the inclination to actually manufacture, which I don't, I do have that kind of knowledge and experience.

Does it come as such a surprise then that I get ****ing angry when people who work as say a bricklayer and don't know a resistor from a radish think they are not only in a position to argue with me but to make claims that are not even possible within the laws of physics!? I'm not a bricklayer and would not even consider going up to a time served foremen bricky and start giving it "you don't want to mix the cement like that and you obviously don't know what type of bricks to use there cos I read something different in a DIY supplement I got with a newspaper".... So why the very **** do people think that in a vastly more technical subject of electronics it's OK to do just that with me!?? or even (god give me strength!) to insist that the laws of physics must be wrong cos their ears tell them different!! Thicker than a boxing day turd!!!

And yes myself and your pal are probably quite similar here... as were the late Richard Dunn, the late TdP and the famous amp designer Doug Self. Our "type" are not "people people" and don't suffer fools gladly I guess:)
 
Much as I dislike QAnon and their ilk, I do have to own up to having an Aesthetix Pandora DAC with a valve output stage. It replaced quite a nice SimAudio Moon DAC that saw off a Naim NDS. No idea how any of them measured as I do not pretend to understand electronics.
I like my dac with valves in it too....they look pretty back lit with blue lights..its a modded jolida glass dac..sometimes I prefer it and other times I dont...think it depends on my mood?
 
<moderating>

It is, and if you don’t wind your ego right in and walk away the next ban will, as you have been warned countless times before, be permanent. I’ve really had enough of your constant aggression and self-agrandisment now. There is good reason you are banned just about everywhere else and I have tried very hard to be tolerant and give you a chance here. Be bright for once.

PS Trade account holders are obviously held to a higher standard. If you can’t behave professionally I don’t want your business.

I'm the one who's been on the end of character assassinations from people who were not even involved in the debate FWIW... and held back from the response I thought it deserved in order to not worry your AUP (much).

Several have said what they think of the behaviour of sodbury but I take it you will allow him to do his worst at every opportunity....

On trade accounts have you ceased charging? It must be way past payment date and I've heard nothing from you on it.
 
I'm the one who's been on the end of character assassinations from people who were not even involved in the debate FWIW... and held back from the response I thought it deserved in order to not worry your AUP (much).

To my reading you did your classic “I’m the greatest amp-designing genius because I say so. You are a no-nothing ignoramus” act. That sort of ego and self-aggrandisement simply does not work here. People who try it, especially without presenting any hard evidence to back up their claims, should expect to be taken down a few pegs. I just can’t expect my site’s members to have to put up with it. Those who choose to take that path present an open invitation for a kicking IMO. Glass houses, stones etc. This was the case when Richard Dunn tried it, it was when Ashley James tried it, and the end result is almost always ejection. I move far more slowly than most forums, but ultimately it is your call.

On trade accounts have you ceased charging? It must be way past payment date and I've heard nothing from you on it.

I’m well behind again, I have a couple of months of invoicing to do. I’ll certainly get it all done this tax year.
 
Yer see the thing is that the things you consider me to be wrong about I am, of course, right about, that's what really rattles my ****ing cage:D

I have decades of experience at designing, building, measuring, listening to and repairing analogue electronic equipment in the form of hi fi and I'm VERY good at it, as I should be after it being my vocation all this time. I consider myself in the same league as the likes of Nelson Pass and the late TdP at what I do (no not better than....) as a designer, whether or not I have the money the facilities or the inclination to actually manufacture, which I don't, I do have that kind of knowledge and experience.

Does it come as such a surprise then that I get ****ing angry when people who work as say a bricklayer and don't know a resistor from a radish think they are not only in a position to argue with me but to make claims that are not even possible within the laws of physics!? I'm not a bricklayer and would not even consider going up to a time served foremen bricky and start giving it "you don't want to mix the cement like that and you obviously don't know what type of bricks to use there cos I read something different in a DIY supplement I got with a newspaper".... So why the very **** do people think that in a vastly more technical subject of electronics it's OK to do just that with me!?? or even (god give me strength!) to insist that the laws of physics must be wrong cos their ears tell them different!! Thicker than a boxing day turd!!!

And yes myself and your pal are probably quite similar here... as were the late Richard Dunn, the late TdP and the famous amp designer Doug Self. Our "type" are not "people people" and don't suffer fools gladly I guess:)

:D Mate, you just need to learn some modicum of balance - you already admit to not knowing what makes an amp sounds great, but if I tell you my experience of switching from one transformer in a dual 24v Naim PSU to 2 transformers and from 4 diode junctions to 2 per rail, and you tell me I’m imagining it, you have clearly never done the same yourself. Same issue with your view of SE amps- it’s fine you have this view, but not everyone shares it, and you are only right from your own perspective of what Hi-Fi is. Everyone of us values something different when it comes to music reproduction,life gets much easier once you know and accept this :D
 
To my reading you did your classic “I’m the greatest amp-designing genius because I say so. You are a no-nothing ignoramus” act. That sort of ego and self-aggrandisement simply does not work here. People who try it, especially without presenting any hard evidence to back up their claims, should expect to be taken down a few pegs. I just can’t expect my site’s members to have to put up with it. Those who choose to take that path present an open invitation for a kicking IMO. Glass houses, stones etc. This was the case when Richard Dunn tried it, it was when Ashley James tried it, and the end result is almost always ejection. I move far more slowly than most forums, but ultimately it is your call.



I’m well behind again, I have a couple of months of invoicing to do. I’ll certainly get it all done this tax year.

Hard evidence??? How about all the tech advice I give your members everyday? how about my having been an EE and designer with well known companies?? How about the Arkless 640P and Arkless GTi (one of the very few transimpedance stages around) which you've seen all the rave reviews on?? How about my transconductance phono stage prototype, which several fishies heard, some borrowed, and was demoed at a major bake off at MCRU premises (and at v1 status, not even any attempt at "voicing" etc) and all who heard it have said it is as good as the legendary Paradise? How about the valve hybrid MC stage that a few heard some time ago? How about the several other prototype amps I've told people about and sometimes posted pics of? (some of which have been heard by visitors here). How about the design for a valve pre I put in your DIY section and a few built? How about the class A 16W monoblocks playing as I type this?

For any class of analogue equipment from head amps to headphone amps, phono stages, power amps, power supplies etc etc I have not just one but many designs I have built prototypes of and which I can prove to be more than vapour ware to anyone who cares to visit Arkless Towers. A few who have visited can verify this.

I don't need to have my work mass produced and in dealers or What Hi Fi? One working sample is all that is needed as proof of concept and ability of designer. Notice I make zero claims to be any good as a businessman and entrepreneur, which I admit to being really crap at!

I could start making gear for sale, in very small quantities, which would have to be "high end ish" (prob over £2k) due to being totally hand made, down to me with a drill press drilling all the holes for the phono sockets etc etc, and made from parts bought as one or ten off from RS etc at 10 X the price a big company pays for them.
The only way to get it LOOKING like it's worth £2K is to pay outside contractors silly money to have the casework made to those sort of standards... I don't have that sort of money and TBH really don't care about the aesthetics of gear.

So what would likely happen if I make a £2700 hybrid phono stage and show it on your site with invitations for people to try it?? Probably loads of people would want to try it just to see if the loudmouths amp is as good as he claims... it would (hopefully!) get rave reviews... and then no one would buy one. People would be mainly diplomatic and say stuff like they have other units to try, or they were hoping for remote control of loading (!?). Some would be more honest and say it just doesn't have the fit and finish of aesthetics they expect at that price...
For most the simple facts would be that they may risk £450 on an Arkless GTi but no way will they spend £2700 on a phono stage knowing they are the first person to buy one, one that is not available in dealers or present at shows etc and they may have great difficulty selling on without huge loss (though I will say that when Arkless GTi's etc appear in the classifieds they sell instantly at a very good price). I'd end up either keeping it or selling it on for maybe £200 more than what it cost me for the parts and after spending 2 months building it.

The wining, dining and bribing of reviewers and dealers, paying for and getting to hi fi shows, giving the fake smile, the "oh I can see sir is a man of taste from the moment I saw you coming" bit, the rising of finance etc etc is all stuff that has nothing to do with electronic engineering, I'm really shite at, I have less than zero interest in, and TBH I'm simply not prepared to do... and probably no one would buy my stuff unless I am seen to "play the game" in that way.
 
:D Mate, you just need to learn some modicum of balance - you already admit to not knowing what makes an amp sounds great, but if I tell you my experience of switching from one transformer in a dual 24v Naim PSU to 2 transformers and from 4 diode junctions to 2 per rail, and you tell me I’m imagining it, you have clearly never done the same yourself. Same issue with your view of SE amps- it’s fine you have this view, but not everyone shares it, and you are only right from your own perspective of what Hi-Fi is. Everyone of us values something different when it comes to music reproduction,life gets much easier once you know and accept this :D

NOBODY knows what makes an amp sound great! If we did then all amps would be made to the "correct recipe" and sound perfect in every way. I have tried and used all the types of PSU you name many times but not tried the types one after another on an identical amp because it is not something that makes a difference and yes you are imagining it. On only one occasion have I heard an SET sound anything other than a bag of shite and that was a Longdog Audio one. I've heard the Ongaku and a couple of cheaper AN ones and I'd take a NAD 3020 over them all day long.
 
Hard evidence??? How about all the tech advice I give your members everyday? how about my having been an EE and designer with well known companies?? How about the Arkless 640P and Arkless GTi (one of the very few transimpedance stages around) which you've seen all the rave reviews on?? How about my transconductance phono stage prototype, which several fishies heard, some borrowed, and was demoed at a major bake off at MCRU premises (and at v1 status, not even any attempt at "voicing" etc) and all who heard it have said it is as good as the legendary Paradise? How about the valve hybrid MC stage that a few heard some time ago? How about the several other prototype amps I've told people about and sometimes posted pics of? (some of which have been heard by visitors here). How about the design for a valve pre I put in your DIY section and a few built? How about the class A 16W monoblocks playing as I type this?

For any class of analogue equipment from head amps to headphone amps, phono stages, power amps, power supplies etc etc I have not just one but many designs I have built prototypes of and which I can prove to be more than vapour ware to anyone who cares to visit Arkless Towers. A few who have visited can verify this.

I don't need to have my work mass produced and in dealers or What Hi Fi? One working sample is all that is needed as proof of concept and ability of designer. Notice I make zero claims to be any good as a businessman and entrepreneur, which I admit to being really crap at!

I could start making gear for sale, in very small quantities, which would have to be "high end ish" (prob over £2k) due to being totally hand made, down to me with a drill press drilling all the holes for the phono sockets etc etc, and made from parts bought as one or ten off from RS etc at 10 X the price a big company pays for them.
The only way to get it LOOKING like it's worth £2K is to pay outside contractors silly money to have the casework made to those sort of standards... I don't have that sort of money and TBH really don't care about the aesthetics of gear.

So what would likely happen if I make a £2700 hybrid phono stage and show it on your site with invitations for people to try it?? Probably loads of people would want to try it just to see if the loudmouths amp is as good as he claims... it would (hopefully!) get rave reviews... and then no one would buy one. People would be mainly diplomatic and say stuff like they have other units to try, or they were hoping for remote control of loading (!?). Some would be more honest and say it just doesn't have the fit and finish of aesthetics they expect at that price...
For most the simple facts would be that they may risk £450 on an Arkless GTi but no way will they spend £2700 on a phono stage knowing they are the first person to buy one, one that is not available in dealers or present at shows etc and they may have great difficulty selling on without huge loss (though I will say that when Arkless GTi's etc appear in the classifieds they sell instantly at a very good price). I'd end up either keeping it or selling it on for maybe £200 more than what it cost me for the parts and after spending 2 months building it.

The wining, dining and bribing of reviewers and dealers, paying for and getting to hi fi shows, giving the fake smile, the "oh I can see sir is a man of taste from the moment I saw you coming" bit, the rising of finance etc etc is all stuff that has nothing to do with electronic engineering, I'm really shite at, I have less than zero interest in, and TBH I'm simply not prepared to do... and probably no one would buy my stuff unless I am seen to "play the game" in that way.

Jed, trust me - you need more wining and less whining. FFS.
 
NOBODY knows what makes an amp sound great! If we did then all amps would be made to the "correct recipe" and sound perfect in every way. I have tried and used all the types of PSU you name many times but not tried the types one after another on an identical amp because it is not something that makes a difference and yes you are imagining it. On only one occasion have I heard an SET sound anything other than a bag of shite and that was a Longdog Audio one. I've heard the Ongaku and a couple of cheaper AN ones and I'd take a NAD 3020 over them all day long.
Jez it's only hifi..its not life or death mate...
 
Jed, trust me - you need more wining and less whining. FFS.

yer know yer couldn't make it up.... I get all sorts of abuse and "if you're so good why aren't you a well known manufacturer"... I give it , OK here's why I don't make much stuff....and it's called whining and wheres that violin and I get more abuse for explaining! (not just from you).

just poured my first pint of the evening so hopefully that counts as the wining:)
 
yer know yer couldn't make it up.... I get all sorts of abuse and "if you're so good why aren't you a well known manufacturer"... I give it , OK here's why I don't make much stuff....and it's called whining and wheres that violin and I get more abuse for explaining! (not just from you).

just poured my first pint of the evening so hopefully that counts as the wining:)
That’s the spirit.
Bottoms on gold at the moment.
Watching it with a pint myself
 
That’s the spirit.
Bottoms on gold at the moment.
Watching it with a pint myself

Catching up on various R2 music progs on BBC sounds (AAC 320KBPS and sounds fab). The folk show, the blues show, the jazz show... then Star Trak DS9 on headphones will take me to 2-3am:)
 


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