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Revisiting the Ryan Sound Lab ‘MusicPower’ Plug-Ins....

I would say no, or at least not easily. The connector configuration has the "legs" in the wrong place for pin mounting. Plus, my experience with these connectors is that they wick solder very easily, which ruins the connector. So maybe you could do it with very careful soldering if you had a fixture. Might be OK for a DIY project but when you're in a "production" situation like mine, messing with such jury-rigged solutions is just not practical from a time standpoint. I'm still looking but it doesn't look promising.
 
Thanks you @RyanSoundLab for the opportunity to hear the latest MusicPower MC phono cards. They are, in my humble opinion, a significant improvement over the Naim originals in every respect, and this from somebody that didn't bite last time I heard the previous generation of MC phono cards. Congratulations!

Thanks very much to Paul who sent the cards on to me with a hand written note to encourage me to enjoy the music, I really liked that :)

Next!
 
S-Man, you have my sympathy and respect. Us analog blokes have been hearing about the glories of single-ended this and that, discrete this and that, hand-selected capacitors that cost a fortune, zero feedback, etc etc for decades. Turns out they are pretty much "old wives tales", passed on from one generation to the next. Yes, the original 741 and TL074 op amps were junk for audio, but once some smart guys at Burr-Brown started working on the problem, things got a whole lot better, even though the rhetoric didn't. People who have heard an OPA627 know what I'm talking about. But the newer opamps are even better.

However, all new op amps are not equal. I listened to at least 3 or 4 different pairs before deciding on the TI1611 and TI1641 (bipolar input and FET input, respectively), also designed by the Burr-Brown guys - now working for TI. If you listen with your ears rather than your pre-determined opinion, you can make some real progress in SQ. From my experience, the amount of "control" you have over the signal makes the difference, and feedback circuits using op amps fill that bill.

I also design guitar amps with single-ended tubes (valves) and distortion that measure up to double digits, so I know what that sounds like. There's nothing like it for generating that spine-tingling lead guitar riff. But when you want to reproduce that from a recording in your living room, it takes a different kind of system to do that faithfully and with stage-level dynamics. As I replace the discretes in my earlier circuits with op amps, it just sounds better and better to me.

I tried the OA1642 in my active crossover. I can see why you went for a tant decoupling cap, the 1642 is just a touch on the analytical side in my particular application.
 
As Julian Vereker once said, "it's a system". Naim chose tantalums even using discrete transistors, as you know, so there's something about them that sounds good. For the OPA1642, with a PSRR of 80db (at 1kHz), I could still hear the difference in the power supply output capacitor type! The ear is a wonderous thing.
 
Alan Chung: Fantastic find! I don't know how I overlooked this option but I really appreciate the input. I just ordered 100 of these (they come in a strip form) and we'll see how easy they are to remove from the strip, however tin plating is better than no plating and no availability! Will report on these after I get them - probably next week sometime.
 
Got the tin-plated connectors and they look just fine. With the tin plating it may mean having to jiggle the boards every couple of years to make sure you have the best contact but most people do that with all their interconnects anyway so nothing really new there.

Will get busy designing both MM (522) and MC (523) versions of the RSL boards which, I believe, will fit: 52/82/92/102 and Nait 3. Can someone confirm this? The MM version will have adjustable input capacitance jumpers and the MC version will have adjustable resistance & capacitance jumpers. Probably be 6-8 weeks before they're available. Any interest out there?
 
@RyanSoundLab I have you thought about doing a board for the Naim Prefix? Your mc board could go straight in as a single board replacement; I for one would love to hear it!

You would probably need to use lower profile caps to fit it in, but I think that it would be worth the effort.
 
Had not considered the Prefix. Let me look into it a bit and see how it looks. Would involve soldering, of course, so a bigger DIY project that just swapping boards.
 
Had not considered the Prefix. Let me look into it a bit and see how it looks. Would involve soldering, of course, so a bigger DIY project that just swapping boards.

That would be a project that I would be interested in! On the face of it, it's two Naim Cards back to back, but the prefix only has about 15mm depth, so the RSL board, might have to be lower profile, but it doesn't look impossible.

I'm using a prefix at the moment, but my recent experiences with the RSL boards have made me think about what I'll do with it. One line of thought was mounting the RSL boards in a separate box, but an RSL modified prefix would be better, because else, I may have to buy an Aro arm cable to be able to use RSL boards on this particular turntable (401/Aro/prefix). Luckily for my other decks (Michell/Lenco), I can take advantage of the RSL boards.



 
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I have been fortunate to be able to try the RSL cards as part of the loaner programme, in a Naim NAC 12S preamp.

I Installed the cards with the gain set to normal and the loading of mc cards at 470Ω / 6.8nf. I used three turntables:

· Michell Hydraulic reference/Naim Aro/Linn Troika

· Lenco 88/Zeta/Dynavector DV20XL

· Garrard 401/Naim Aro/Dynavector XX2MkII/Naim Prefix

For CDs, a Naim CDS/CDPS

All in the context of my regular active Linn Kans system.

When I played side two of Be-Bop Deluxe – Drastic plastic, one of the first things that I noticed was the crisp sound, the metallic ring to guitars and cymbals and the space around individual instruments; a good start!

The first CD that I put on was Fast Floor’s – The eternal dream, and this came as a bit of a shock, because I had never heard a CD sounding this good! So much space, the little detail coming through and that edge to the percussion. On this album, it is all computer generated, but nevertheless, the studio effects came through as they were intended. This was a superb result, especially coming from someone who is a dyed in the wool vinyl fanatic!

I put Joan Armatrading’s eponymously titled LP on the Lenco and again, the massive amount of space around instruments, excellent attack on drums, especially the cymbals, and good depth too.

One album that I enjoyed listening to on both CD and LP, was the B52’s – Good stuff. First up, the CD and again, the drum kit came out so clear and dynamic; that CD could sound this good, was very impressive.

Same album, but on vinyl and a change of record player to the Michell Hydraulic reference/Naim Aro/Linn Troika and the same Kit Ryan trademarks shone through.

The same album on the 401, through the prefix was slightly disappointing though. It was generally softer and not as exciting as it had been through the Michell. Switching over to the Lenco on the same album and yes, it was better.

I had to find out why the Aro/Dynavector XX2MkII/Naim Prefix was so off colour, so I switched arm tops and played the same album on the Michell Hydraulic reference/Naim Aro/ Dynavector XX2MkII, and like wow! A much crisper sound than I had heard through the Garrard. Pace, Rhythm, and timing was spot on, good projection and again, the drum kit came across so well too. I could live with a turntable sounding this good, it was a total revelation!

So, the Aro/Linn Troika was now on the 401/prefix, sounding surprisingly good; it seems that the Troika works better with the prefix than the XX2, most likely to the cartridge loading. I have run the Garrard 401/Naim Aro/Dynavector XX2MkII/Naim Prefix for quite a long time now, without realising that it was not a good match.

I Played Gary Boyle’s Electric glide through the 401/ Aro/Dynavector XX2MkII/Naim Prefix and thought that it was sounding surprisingly good; swapping arm tops worked out well, because now, both the XX2MkII and the Troika, were now sounding better.

Playing the same LP on the Lenco 88/Zeta/Dynavector DV20XL, revealed what an excellent turntable this is! The thing that impressed me with the RSL cards, was how revealing they are; I was now able to hear clear difference between the turntables and was able to optimise the set up.

Back to CD and Nick Drake’s Five leaves left, I was not sure what to expect of this, it being a 24-bit transfer from the original analogue master, but it sounded superb! A revelation because CD has never sounded this good in my system!

Given the differences I heard when I switched arm tops, I decided to change the loading on the RSL mc cards to 100Ω, as recommended by Dynavector and that was certainly a worthwhile change; both Dynavector cartridges were sounding excellent now! On the strength of this, I think I will exchange the XX2MkII for a new one or have it rebuilt by Dynavector when the time comes, because this was a question that I have been pondering for some time.

I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a Naim NAC 32.5 and it arrived while I still had the RSL loaner cards. The main advantage in the 32 from my point of view, was the extra inputs, but it is also dual rail, so theoretically should sound better too.

I used the last couple of days with the RSL cards, to try out various combinations.

Interestingly, as Kit predicted, changing over to the RSL cards made the biggest difference and everything else I tried paled in significance in comparison. To sum up the sound quality, I liked the crisp and rhythmic sound of the RSL cards; they are made for the drum kit! Individual instruments have their own space, and the sound is so open, with excellent depth, and studio artefacts are laid bare.

The active Linn Kans system is quite complex in terms of the box count and I have three turntables, so I had set myself quite a task in testing all possible combinations during the loan period. The big thing about the RSL cards is how discriminating they are! I felt that I was able to achieve an optimum setup, where previously, the differences were masked. For instance, running the Dynavector XX2MkII through the RSL cards, rather than the prefix.

I have been running the Michell and Lenco through an external switch box, but I found that the loss with this in circuit, was insignificant, compared to the improvement gained from using the RSL cards.

At this point, the RSL loaded NAC 12S, was sounding so good, that I was concerned that changing anything would spoil the sound, but I need not have worried, because the NAC 32.5 sounded excellent. Again, I would judge that swapping to the RSL cards, was a bigger difference than that between the two pre-amps.

I think I might end up with using the NAC 32.5 with the custom RSL set, plus one set of Z150 cards, using the external switch for now. I will keep the Prefix for the 401/Aro/Troika for now, possibly adding a second set of Z150 mc cards to the 32.5, so that I can take the switchbox out of circuit (the NAC 32.5 has two phono inputs). Then, I will have look into either modifying the prefix to take RSL cards or buying an Aro arm cable, so that I can run the 401/Aro/Troika into an external phone stage with RSL cards.
 
I loved the RSL Z150 MC cards so bought them, glad to report they arrived very quickly and slickly from Kit, no post Brexit import hangover delays thankfully. Very pleased with them.

@wylton your prefix is marked as K so you might expect it to be suited to the Troika but not the DV, similarly you originally had the RSL Z150 cards set as S so would probably better suit the DV than the Troika, apologies in advance for any teaching Grandma going on. Oh and if you haven't already and you get any RF issues with the prefix you might want to consider the RF mod, a bit of wire and a ceramic cap required and moving a couple of resistors, not a big job and well within most diy capabilities, seeing as somebody dropped Z foils in there, about the same level of job!
 
I loved the RSL Z150 MC cards so bought them, glad to report they arrived very quickly and slickly from Kit, no post Brexit import hangover delays thankfully. Very pleased with them.

@wylton your prefix is marked as K so you might expect it to be suited to the Troika but not the DV, similarly you originally had the RSL Z150 cards set as S so would probably better suit the DV than the Troika, apologies in advance for any teaching Grandma going on. Oh and if you haven't already and you get any RF issues with the prefix you might want to consider the RF mod, a bit of wire and a ceramic cap required and moving a couple of resistors, not a big job and well within most diy capabilities, seeing as somebody dropped Z foils in there, about the same level of job!

Actually, I grabbed that picture from the internet, just to illustrate the possibility of doing the RSL mod for the RSL cards. My prefix was serviced by Naim and they converted it to S at the same time. I have suffered no RF with the prefix S, but did get some with NA323K cards, so I converted them to S too. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have converted the prefix to 100 Ω, but I didn't consider it at the time.

I'm quite keen to run the Troika through RSL cards, so my options are:

  1. Modify the prefix to take Z150 RSL cards (£215).
  2. Buy a new Aro arm cable so that I can run the Aro/Troika either to the preamp, or to an external phono stage using RSL cards. (Aro cable = £360, Z150 RSL cards = £215, total = £575).
  3. Remove the PCB from the prefix and run a bypass to it through it to the existing Naim Snaic cable (Z150 RSL cards (£215).
 
I’ve not posted here for many years, but I drop in to read some threads from time to time.

I’ve just spent a week and a half with the latest loaner set of pre-amplifier boards from Kit at Ryan Sound Lab slotted into my NAC 72, and this is just to share a few key findings which I think are probably fairly common with previous posts…

I’ve been using a set of the RSL Z152 moving magnet phono boards for the last 5 years or so, initially with a high output moving coil cartridge, but more recently with a low output moving coil via some Ortofon T5 transformers, a slightly unconventional arrangement but one which works well to my ears. I’ve also been using a set of Avondale 821A gain boards, replacing the standard Naim 321 boards, for most of a decade. This arrangement turns the NAC 72 into something quite a bit more sophisticated than the standard version, and it’s a set up I’ve been very happy with for some time. I sold my ‘K’ and ‘N’ Naim phono boards ages ago, because the RSL phono boards were so much better.

The first thing I tried was the new set of Z150 moving coil boards, with the adjustable loadings. This was a worthwhile improvement on the very good sound I was getting already, right across the frequency range. Musical subtleties and finesse became more apparent, especially the start and decay of notes, cymbal work, plucked strings, and a noticeable improvement in clarity at lower frequencies. I just left it like this for a couple of evenings, and really liked what I was hearing. I used a 100 ohm loading as specified on my cartridge data sheet (Goldring Excel GS). I also tried the standard ‘K’ 560 ohm loading which also sounded great but didn’t have quite the magic of the lower loading in my set up. I’d like to experiment more with loadings. Clearly it’s important if you want to get the last bit of performance from your moving coil cartridge… With these boards it’s so easy to adjust the loadings – this is something that previously you’d really have had to have an external phono stage for (or fiddle around with a soldering iron). I really don’t want (and can’t accommodate) more boxes so these internal phono boards are the perfect solution if you want to keep your system fairly simple like I do.

I then installed the Z250 gain boards, and the Z301 filter and Z302 volume control boards, along with the Z500 relay board and started to play some music from digital files. I had put the gain on the middle setting on the Z250 boards (again an easy jumper adjustment), to match the gain on my Avondale boards. I was completely unprepared for the change and right away I could barely believe what I was hearing. A major boost everywhere – it was like the turbo kicked in. Especially noticeable with voices (particularly duets), percussion, keyboards, bass, and a huge and precise soundstage. Several times I had to check I was listening to the same recording. I found this really significant because I was already very happy with my regular set up. I think this set of boards from RSL is really exceptional, and for me this would provide an end-game preamp set up.

I noticed that that there was a little more background hiss coming through the speakers compared to the virtual silence I get with the Avondale boards. I didn’t find this any problem at all, and from memory it’s far less of an intrusion than I used to get with the standard Naim 321 gain boards. I also briefly tried without a Hicap, powering my NAC 72 straight from my NAP 140 power amp, and much of the magic remained. I think this is relevant if you’re currently using e.g. a 32.5, or a 72 without a Hicap, you might do well to upgrade the pre-amp boards before buying a Hicap.

I also loved the remove volume control function provided by the Z302 board, although I didn’t use it much having got used ages ago to the manual volume control on the standard NAC 72. I used to have a NAC 82 which obviously has full remote function, and it was really nice to get remove volume function back again. You can hear a slight click from the relay on the Z302 board when you use the remote to reduce or increase volume. The volume adjustment steps seemed just right to me, not too much, not too little, a really good implementation. The remote function gives you adjustment up to wherever you’ve got the manual volume control set to…

I also briefly tried the new Z152 moving magnet phono boards back with my T5 transformers. Again this sounded really good, and I felt that the new version offers an improvement over my older Z152 boards, but I ran out of time to make more comparisons.

Basically I just really enjoyed the music I was hearing for the time I had the loaner set, and didn’t feel compelled to keep swapping stuff around and make comparisons – I was just left with the impression that all the RSL boards are excellent, and offer very significant and real improvements for modest outlay. I’ve been really pleased that they’ve markedly lifted the ceiling on what I can achieve with my system, which I was already very happy with. I’m confident this is the direction I want to go in, and will be placing an order with Kit just as soon as finances allow.

I hope my observations are useful and a worthwhile addition to this thread.

Simon


PS Here are just a few of the albums I listened to, across vinyl, and digital sources:

Richard & Linda Thompson – Pour Down Like Silver

Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak

Alt J – An Awesome Wave

Jimi Hendrix – Band of Gypsys

Little Feat – Last Record Album

Massive Attack – Mezzanine

Portishead – Live in NYC

Kraftwerk – Computer World

Eric Clapton – 461 Ocean Blvd

Timbuk 3 – Greetings From Timbuk 3

Nightmares on Wax – Smokers Delight

Frazey Ford – Indian Ocean


And for reference my regular set up (which has taken me several decades to put together) is:

LP12 (pre-cirkus) / Hercules / Ittok (AO rewire/rebuild) / Goldring Excel GS

Squeezebox Touch / Chord Mojo (playing local FLAC rips, and streaming via Qobuz)

NAC72 (Z152 phono boards / Avondale 821A gain boards)

Hicap (Newt 3 Regulator boards from Witch Hat)

NAP 140

SBLs

…all with a mixture of Naim, Avondale, and Flashback cables
 
I remain immensely impressed with my RSL boards. I have recently added a second set of RSL output buffer boards into my 32.5, in order to improve the tape out which I use for my headphone amplifier. This was a great success and a significant upgrade. If you use a headphone amplifier I recommend it.
 


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