[rodge827]

I'm with the no need for a remote set it and forget it crowd  . With each disc the volume is adjusted to a point that is comfortable, and then I'm in the chair for a sonic ride. If the need to stop the music should arise, I use the pause feature on my transport remote.

I had a remote on an integrated and couldn't stop fiddlin' with the thing. At softer passages I would turn up the volume and then turn it back down as the music would  crescendo to climax (Hey...minds out of the gutter! ).

With the W-speed the clarity is so good, you get the detail without the need to increase the volume. It is a testimate to Allan and his product that music can be enjoyed the way it was written and not manipulated by the listener.

Rodge

 

[Early B.]

I thought I needed a remote and traded out my Promitheus passive pre for a Placette with remote. When the Warpspeed came along, the sound was far superior than any other active or passive preamp I've owned that the idea of needing a remote seemed silly. Set it and forget it.

[Vedder323]

Hey Warpspeed,

I emailed you about buying one of these things, can you get back to me? RBrenay AT gmail.com?

Thanks!

[Vedder323]

BTW: Ill ask here, will the lightspeed work with my system?

Logitech Squeezebox analogue out to the lightspeed, right into a Class D Audio SDS470 power amp?

[mhconley]

For everyone saying they don't need a remote - none of us need a remote - it is just very handy to have one.  Who wants to get up every 5 minutes to adjust the volume when playing individual songs from an 8,400+ losslessly encoded digital song collection.  That is why I want/need a remote...  I prefer exercising when I want, not when I am relaxing and listening to music.

Martin

[Rclark]

Doug, with the sound I have now, I can't imagine a pre improving things unless it was super high end. I dont really need any gain I dont think, my erc-2 puts out a huge signal.

 This will be the absolute dead last thing I experiment with,  but I can see myself giving ut a go.

[pjchappy]

Sorry it took so long for me to get to this.

I removed several contentious posts from later in this thread.  Let's please keep this on topic!


Paul

[medium jim]

What are "potted" components?

Also potting is done to keep things from being microphonic, commonly done with guitar pickups and as already noted electrical components.  Yes, to hiding what's under the hood so to speak, Howard Dumble who is one of the gods of Guitar Amps does that so nobody can figure out why his amps sound better than most everyone elses.

Jim

[Letitroll98]

Correct on both counts Jim.  Although I've spoken to Allan about this and in this case it's definitely potted for security, or as Allan says, "To give those guys over on DIY a good riddle." as well as some other interested parties.  He's not getting rich on these, but the hard work he's put in should be protected. 

Oh, and thanks to Paul in Admin for taking the time to clean up the somewhat complicated mess the thread had gotten itself into and restoring it to it's rightful place at C&C.  It's one of the most perennial threads here and I'd hate to lose it, I'm sure we all know how to stay on point here.

[raysracing]

I am thinking about selling my Cambridge DACMagic for a Grant Tube Dac 11 for several I think good reasons. One is the headphone amp which I have none in my system right now. Also my Optocoupler has one input, but a Tubedac offers me several inputs all of which I can use.

Again as I asked before I am worried about introducing another volume control to the scheme. My system is so simple right now. I would also eliminate my Grant Tube buffer from the system eliminating two more cords and another power cord.

Any thoughts if this will be a bad idea? I cant see any downsides right now, but I dont know much.

I am sure this is going to make many cringe, but I bought two RCA splitters and am running my DAC and phono pre to my Optocoupler at the same time. I am just careful to not have both on at once.

TIA,
Ray

[gooberdude]

I have both in my system ray.  I'd hold onto your dac while demo'ing the gf.

The dac-11 is just fine but it's best when the tube output is used.  As best I can tell the fixed output that I use with the ws is the non tubed output and isn't all that great.  I'm listening now with the ws out of the chain and prefer it.

The issue is with the dac-11 though.

[raysracing]

I have both in my system ray.  I'd hold onto your dac while demo'ing the gf.

The dac-11 is just fine but it's best when the tube output is used.  As best I can tell the fixed output that I use with the ws is the non tubed output and isn't all that great.  I'm listening now with the ws out of the chain and prefer it.

The issue is with the dac-11 though.

What if I ran the Tubedac through tube output with volume maxed? Thanks for your observations. I would like to use tube out as well. If not sort of defeats the purpose to me.

Sadly I always need to sell something to buy something else.

[doug s.]

What if I ran the Tubedac through tube output with volume maxed? Thanks for your observations. I would like to use tube out as well. If not sort of defeats the purpose to me.

Sadly I always need to sell something to buy something else.

my experience w/other equipment - preamps and integrated amps used as amps - is if you max their wolume pots, it effectively acts as a bypass for them.  and, you could always physically bypass the pot by wiring it out of the signal path...

i second gooberdude's suggestion not to sell your present dac until you can scrape up enough cash to purchase the g-f unit w/o having to sell what you presently are using.  it is definitely best to demo something while you still have what you were using before.  then sell the one you prefer the least. 

doug s.

[BFitz]

I am sure this is going to make many cringe, but I bought two RCA splitters and am running my DAC and phono pre to my Optocoupler at the same time. I am just careful to not have both on at once.

I can see wanting it simple, but not too simple. The problem here is the one output is driving the other output, even when off. Not optimal. Why not make / buy a little switchbox? A DPDT switch would give 2 in, one out X 2 channels.

[Rclark]

 Still loving my Warpspeed 

 I may end up purchasing a fully built version so I can have balanced signal from source all the way to my next amps.

[rodge827]

Why not make / buy a little switchbox?

Decware has a six input switch box that would work well for $119.00 + shipping.

http://www.decware.com/newsite/rotary.htm

Rodge

[BFitz]

my experience w/other equipment - preamps and integrated amps used as amps - is if you max their wolume pots, it effectively acts as a bypass for them.  and, you could always physically bypass the pot by wiring it out of the signal path...

A comment on this one - be careful. You need to really have an idea what the level is out of the active preamp coming into the LDR based control before embracing this one.

For instance, my VTV design 6SN7 based active tube preamp has about 15X gain at max volume. If I used it this way, I'd be feeding 15-30V rms to my LDR control, for sources that put out a standard 1-2V rms.
This may put a strain on the LDR's - like any resistor, they can only take so many watts before overheating. The specs here are clear - 50mW is the max power dissipation for the "cell", which I take to mean the resistive unit. If the LDR is at say 500ohms, even at 10V it is dissipating 200mW - 4X the limit.

http://www.silonex.com/datasheets/specs/images/pdf/104057.pdf

The problem here is the preamp's gain, which is fixed. Normally there is a pot in FRONT of the gain stage, to attenuate the signal. So you end up greatly attenuating the signal, only to greatly amplify it again, to get back to where you started, at say 1V.

Now, doing so may sound better, so cool. But you can see why others have gone to zero gain buffers to eliminate this huge attenuation followed by huge gain thing going on in some designs.     

And last, let's talk distortion. It's fairly well know from past results presented elsewhere that the Silonex LDR distortion is a function of amplitude. The higher the input level, the higher the distortion. I have not run my own tests on this one point, but it's something to be aware of, (for good or for bad). Maybe the distortion sounds good for people.

In fact, from my tests, done at a typical 0.7Vrms, things are pretty clean at say -10 or -20 dB attenuation with my design. I have a couple of real time FFT instruments, an Ono Sokki CF-6400 and HP 3562A, so always look at distortion and harmonics that make up the distortion. At 1kHz, fully CW (0dB attenuation) in my tests, there are no harmonics down to almost -100dB, which is pretty amazing.
Last thing - be aware that all these LDR designs present an unusually low load to the upstream component. I say unusually, because in the past it was typical to think of minimum loads as being say, 10K ohms. Well, some of these designs can present a load of 400-500 ohms! It depends on how you do the control, and where you operate it. But simply look at the data sheet above - anytime the LED current is above 1ma, resistance is below 250 ohms. Below .2ma, it's below 1k ohms. Do some components distort more when driving loads this low?

Yes, they do! Maybe we like that.

But if so, you can try using a 500ohm or 1k pot instead, it would be an easier way to get the same effect. 

 

[Warpspeed CE]

First off, thanks to AC for the Quarantine time and then reinstating this Thread back...I appreciate it.

In fact, from my tests, done at a typical 0.7Vrms, things are pretty clean at say -10 or -20 dB attenuation with my design. I have a couple of real time FFT instruments, an Ono Sokki CF-6400 and HP 3562A, so always look at distortion and harmonics that make up the distortion. At 1kHz, fully CW (0dB attenuation) in my tests, there are no harmonics down to almost -100dB, which is pretty amazing.

BFitz, I'm not back here to restart an argument but the above quote is all that make sense to me from your post. The other statements also show you still don't have a good handle on how the optocouplers work...


For users who want to try the W'speed with an active preamp, connect the W'speed before the active preamp and not after it. This way you still control the line levels from your Source and not the amplified levels from the active preamp. This way you can max out your internal carbon pot...although you will still have the wiper of the pot in your signal path you will hear the difference the W'speed brings to the table. If you think it is quite good then you might as well solder a jumper across your carbon pot. If you decide to remove the pot, check with your preamp manufacturer first if an input to ground high value resistor is needed in the pot's place.

[doug s.]

"...A comment on this one - be careful. You need to really have an idea what the level is out of the active preamp coming into the LDR based control before embracing this one.

For instance, my VTV design 6SN7 based active tube preamp has about 15X gain at max volume. If I used it this way, I'd be feeding 15-30V rms to my LDR control, for sources that put out a standard 1-2V rms.
This may put a strain on the LDR's - like any resistor, they can only take so many watts before overheating. The specs here are clear - 50mW is the max power dissipation for the "cell", which I take to mean the resistive unit. If the LDR is at say 500ohms, even at 10V it is dissipating 200mW - 4X the limit..."

this is something to consider, for sure...   all i know, is i have been running my eva-2 for 2 years now, after my melos, which has a pretty decent gain.  everything is still perfectly functional.  and, if there were any more distortion being introduced, i don't think my  reaction would be that my system is now more transparent than it was before...

doug s.

[maxwalrath]

  all i know, is i have been running my eva-2 for 2 years now, after my melos, which has a pretty decent gain.  everything is still perfectly functional. 

Have you tried it before the Melos? If so what were your results? If not, why not? Just curious as someone who will be going down a similar path soon...