Yep, getting the same message on the single machine I have with RC still installed.

I installed SP1 RTM on my two 'hifi' computers and my work PC quite a few months ago. I can't quite remember exactly what I did, but I think it was a clean install on both occasions - I don't think there is an alternative. But SP1 seems OK me. Totally stable on all three machines I have it on.

And anyway, the new NOS1 is completely immune to anything the computer throws at it, so it doesn't matter... no?

Mani.

Nick, I'd love to try either your or Paul's gainclones with my Quads. If I don't end up with a Soulution, DartZeel or bridged-BD30 amp in the near future, I might take you up on it. And of course, it'd give you a chance to take a listen to the two modern-day Quad offerings...

Mani.

Hi Bert, this would be great and I may well take you up on it. I'll PM you...

Mani.

Of course, this was said slightly tongue-in-cheek. However, there is a serious connotation.

PeterSt spends years on perfecting his DAC. He gets it to a point where it can pass through the signal totally unadulterated. Square waves are not converted to sine waves by the massive sigma-delta filtering of most other DACs. The output stage is massively fast. The recommendation is then to use ultra-fast amplifiers to preserve the signal. And then what do we do? We feed this amplified signal to speakers that haven't got a chance of replicating the signal exactly...

In fact, I'm convinced this is why sigma-delta DACs actually sound 'OK' to most people on the majority of systems. They are just doing to the signal what the speakers will do anyway - turn squares into sines. And what does this do to the sound?  Well, just listen to a sigma-delta DAC...

Furthermore, I'm convinced that the 'time domain' is far more important in audio than the 'frequency domain'. Is there another speaker that can match electrostatics here (see attachments)?

But look I agree with you all. If you have a pair of speakers that you like the sound of, then that's great.

Mani.

Juan, I think this is where the genius of Peter (Walker, not St) comes in. He found a way to convert a 'large' panel speaker into a point source. Their sound, especially from the lower mids upwards, is absolutely pin sharp.

Mani.

Yes, I agree. Even though the Soulution is a private sale, the seller has agreed to bring it over to my place for me to try before I commit to buying it.

However, like many people here, I usually have to live with something for a while before I 'know' whether it's for me or not. So even a home demo for an hour or so isn't going to be totally conclusive.

Mani.

Ah but none of these can produce a 1KHz square wave like an electrostatic can. Electrostatics still remain the cleanest speakers I have heard...

BUT... they're a right royal pain in the ass to live with.

Mani.

Hi Joachim, yes the Dartzeel still holds a lot of appeal for me. But it performed pretty badly on John Atkinson's bench, so I'm wondering whether it simply has a 'nice' distortion characteristic that makes it sound euphonic. If so, this isn't really the route I want to take... for now.

What I really want is to be able to hear the NOS1 with as little added by the amp and speakers as possible.

Mani.

Yep, absolutely no question about StH having a flute at the beginning.

Mani.

Thanks Bert. Much appreciated.

I've sent an email to Peter Daniels of Audio Sector, asking if he can make something suitable up for me. Meanwhile, does anyone know of a gainclone expert in Europe who might be able to help me?

Mani.

I've read similar comments from other people. I haven't heard that particular combo but did hear the Magicos being driven by a pair of Spectral amps at the Munich High End last year. And I can't say that I was particularly impressed by that combo either... but then again, I wasn't impressed by anything there!


I think I know what you mean. When I listen to a real instrument, I want to be able to 'hear' the size of the instrument being played. Too often, instruments like violins sound as if the strings have been placed on 2D MDF, rather than a gorgeous 3D waxed body.

BUT... ultimately, I'd rather have a 'thin' sound with 'accurate' timing and touch than a 'blossomed-out' sound with just beautiful harmonics - I mean, I'd rather listen to Keith Jarrett playing a cheap stand-up than me playing a Steinway!

Mani.

Hi Juan, thanks for the suggestion. Well, they certainly look interesting... and they're capable of driving a 0.1Ω load!

But if going the class-D route, I kind of feel a slight loyalty towards Hypex. I already have 8 of their UCD700HG modules that I used to use to quad-amp my previous speakers. And the yet-to-be-released Hypex 'Ncore' modules look very interesting (http://www.hypex.nl/docs/papers/ncore%20wp.pdf).

But maybe I need to re-evaluate this loyalty...

Mani.

Hey Paul, it looks like it's high time for my promised visit to your place. I'm really interested to hear how your gainclone compares to my Berning 300B. Let's liaise via PM and get the visit organised.

On a slightly different but still related note, does anyone know of a gainclone amp that can output ~100W into 8 ohms, which is happy driving a 2 ohm (and even 1 ohm) capacitive load? I've already tried a class-D amp (Hypex HG700) with my Quads and would now like to try a gainclone, having heard so many good comments about them.

Mani.

Referring to amps, I think 'telstar' had an interesting take on things. His feeling was that you need 1V/µs for every 1W of amplifier power (presumably at 8 ohms). My Magtech amp is 500W at 8 ohms, and coincidentally has a slew rate of 500V/µs. The Soulution is 120W at 8 ohms, so I guess all other things being equal, it 'should have' a slew rate of 120V/µs... no?

Does this make sense, or does it just confuse things further?

Mani.

I love it!

I'm sure many of us have had a similar experience - I know I have. But this simply goes totally against the 'human bias' and 'double-blind' argument. I mean, 8-9 years ago, I knew I had silver ICs in place, I knew they were 5x the price of my copper ICs, and yet I still returned to the copper ICs, for much the same reasons as yourself.

Today, the silver ICs still sound 'thiner' than my copper ICs. But for the first time, they sound more right. Why should this be? If I had to guess, it's because my new mains circuit has gotten rid of all the hash that in the past has been accentuated by the silver ICs. Just a guess...

Mani.