advertisement


System pics 2017

Status
Not open for further replies.
claire.fox said:
This is the little brute - basic model costs £69-£79 https://www.msi.com/Desktop/Cubi-N.html plenty good for serving up music and video media and it plays h265 video (the new super compressed HVEC codecs).

Just add internals to taste. Mine is 16GB RAM (The Cube N is a Braswell Architecture so 16GB is supported, not 8GB as advertised). 128GB mSATA SSD for Linux Server and Roon. 1GB SATA HDD for FLACs. Connects to the Devialet via USB (no optical audio AFAIK)

Roon 1.3 arrived (I guess that marks as a system change?) last night and this morning before starting work I set it up for the day's music. Not even touched on the advanced features such as the DSP features or importing my old MiniDSP-derived BruteFIR Room EQ slopes. It is glorious. There is precious little division between what I own digitally and what is on Tidal. Its all blurred. High Resolution Music discovery. When I buy material its invariably the 24-bit editions from prostudiomasters.com and I like just skimming connections between musicians and releases in the very organic way Roon allows. I play more new music and rely less on old stalwarts.
Click to expand...

I must admit that the software side looks a bit daunting.

I am a Qobuz user and there is a sort of Qobuz emulator in Kodi, but trying to get it to work will do my brain in.

I am due to the Devialet OS upgrade card later this year. I'm hoping that all I will have to do is plug in a usb drive or even better just stream from my QNAP via minimserver or similar. Really main aim is to get Roon into the system. Don't know if Devialet OS will support it. Cop out route is to use a Mac Mini with Audirvana and Roon.
 
John said:
The amp sits on Symposium Rollerblocks supported by a Symposium Segue shelf.
Click to expand...

Sorry John, I thought that was Gromit's new amp, my mistake... so which Exposure amp is yours? Looks like a slightly later John Farlowe model than my XVII & XVIII?

Do you find the Shelf and supports make a kit of difference? I have used a Black Ravioli and RDC Cones and find they work a treat.
 
pjdowns said:
Sorry John, I thought that was Gromit's new amp, my mistake... so which Exposure amp is yours? Looks like a slightly later John Farlowe model than my XVII & XVIII?

Do you find the Shelf and supports make a kit of difference? I have used a Black Ravioli and RDC Cones and find they work a treat.
Click to expand...

It's a XV, non-super model that was purchased in 1992, just after the change in the faceplate font. I also have a 13, 19 and 18 that's linked to the 15 from the tape output of the 19.

I felt the Symposium gear made a worthwhile improvement and use their products throughout my system.
 
drummerman said:
Looking forward to your first impressions Gromit. That XV looks well built inside.
Click to expand...

Hi DM - had the amp playing away for a couple of hours now, along with the Sintra II's. First impressions? This may come a bit of a surprise (it did to me) but it sounds remarkably similar in some ways to the 8vs, but the Cyrus hits harder with more nimble bass lines.

Slightly annoying is we have an earth loop when using my Teac dac - plug it into the amp and there's hum. The Teac is earthed via its mains cable - as is the Super XV - so I need to suss out a way to shut the thing up. For now I'm using the Sony CD player's own analogue outputs directly into the amp.

Pictures will follow tomorrow...
 
Gromit, try plugging both units into one extension cord. Also switch around the phase if not change.
 
topa said:
Gromit, try plugging both units into one extension cord. Also switch around the phase if not change.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip - I'll give that a try tomorrow. :)

Oh...forgot to mention the MC stage in the Exposure - even having had many of these amps in the past, it's still easy to forget just how good the phonostage is but this is true to form. Gives the P75 more than a run for its money.
 
Gromit said:
Hi DM - had the amp playing away for a couple of hours now, along with the Sintra II's. First impressions? This may come a bit of a surprise (it did to me) but it sounds remarkably similar in some ways to the 8vs, but the Cyrus hits harder with more nimble bass lines.

Slightly annoying is we have an earth loop when using my Teac dac - plug it into the amp and there's hum. The Teac is earthed via its mains cable - as is the Super XV - so I need to suss out a way to shut the thing up. For now I'm using the Sony CD player's own analogue outputs directly into the amp.

Pictures will follow tomorrow...
Click to expand...

Interesting, thanks Gromit.
 
Gromit said:
Hi DM - had the amp playing away for a couple of hours now, along with the Sintra II's. First impressions? This may come a bit of a surprise (it did to me) but it sounds remarkably similar in some ways to the 8vs, but the Cyrus hits harder with more nimble bass lines.

Slightly annoying is we have an earth loop when using my Teac dac - plug it into the amp and there's hum. The Teac is earthed via its mains cable - as is the Super XV - so I need to suss out a way to shut the thing up. For now I'm using the Sony CD player's own analogue outputs directly into the amp.

Pictures will follow tomorrow...
Click to expand...

I'd give the amp a couple days before seriously evaluating its performance.
 
Gromit said:
Thanks for the tip - I'll give that a try tomorrow. :)

Oh...forgot to mention the MC stage in the Exposure - even having had many of these amps in the past, it's still easy to forget just how good the phonostage is but this is true to form. Gives the P75 more than a run for its money.
Click to expand...

That's a big plus.
 
John said:
I'd give the amp a couple days before seriously evaluating its performance.
Click to expand...

From previous experience of Exposure amps, this often works - my old X sounded rough as nails for the first couple of hours then fleshed-out nicely.

The Super XV works great into the Q3010's, in fact I'm thinking this could blossom into the best combination.
 
topa said:
Gromit, try plugging both units into one extension cord. Also switch around the phase if not change.
Click to expand...

Just tried plugging the dac into the same 2-way wall socket as the amp and bingo! Hum gone...using a decent, screened mains cable and it's even quieter (but we won't go there ;) )

Thanks Mr Topa - virtual pint on its way to you. :)
 
Because just plugging into a different socket shouldn't make any difference to ground loops.
 
Relax.
Any possible DC will take the shortest way to ground. If that path is via another audio component, it may cause some hum.
This can be eliminated by using the same earth (=socket).
Naim calls this star earthing and sells it to you as a revolution...
 
I've got a socket tester somewhere in the garage so I'll dig it out and have a quick look. This is the very first time this has happened though - every other amp I've had hasn't shown the same symptoms.

Still, it's nice & quiet now - and sounding great too. :)
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased the issue is sorted - it's just what sorted it that slightly concerns me. It may be worth turning of the electricity, removing a couple of sockets and checking how tight the connections are. All sockets share the same earth and the potential difference between close ones should be minuscule. I have found that very tarnished plug pins can make a significant difference though.
 
topa said:
Relax.
Any possible DC will take the shortest way to ground. If that path is via another audio component, it may cause some hum.
Click to expand...

How can the shortest path to mains ground ever be via another audio component? Also, whilst DC on the mains may cause the transformer in an amp to mechanically vibrate (hum), it shouldn't be audible through the speakers.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.


advertisement


Back
Top