NEW! THE AVA FULL DIFFERENTIAL SYSTEMS

Dan Kolton · « **Reply #40 on:** 5 May 2008, 12:33 am »

Yeah, I asked Frank if he had the standard Ultra system at AKfest for comparison. He said, "no, it would sound broken" Both systems sounded very good.

dB Cooper · « **Reply #41 on:** 5 May 2008, 03:06 am »

Funny, I bet it sounded pretty good a couple weeks ago.
Consult some of the early back issues of Audio Basics. I think it was in the first year or two there was an article describing what Frank called the "Wonderful Today, Trash Tomorrow syndrome."
Could this be coming into play in his comments?

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #42 on:** 5 May 2008, 01:54 pm »

Where have I heard that before?

Cheers
Charlie

rockadanny · « **Reply #43 on:** 5 May 2008, 02:52 pm »

Anyobody interested in a broken Ultra 550 - cheap? It sounded great on Thursday before I headed up to AK Fest. Now it sounds like crap! It must be broken.

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #44 on:** 5 May 2008, 02:58 pm »

The broken gear club is getting bigger and bigger as the day goes on.

Cheers
Charlie

TomS · « **Reply #45 on:** 5 May 2008, 03:26 pm »

Quote from: rockadanny on 5 May 2008, 02:52 pm

Anyobody interested in a broken Ultra 550 - cheap? It sounded great on Thursday before I headed up to AK Fest. Now it sounds like crap! It must be broken.

Just send it to me. I'm sure I can fix it. Lets see - connect IC's to pre, speaker wires, plug AC cord in, turn power on, play music, happy camper

Dan Kolton · « **Reply #46 on:** 5 May 2008, 03:38 pm »

Sorry! I was only quoting Frank, and I wish I hadn't. He doesn't deserve this sort of invective. Yes, my Ultra D/A and Pre-amp. still sound great, and I can't take advantage of the differential system because I have Orion speakers which use an electronic crossover/equalizer and 8 channels of amplification. I'm not likely to acquire 3 more xo/eqs and 4 Ultra Diff. amps (or 2 Omega Star).

Charles Calkins · « **Reply #47 on:** 5 May 2008, 04:40 pm »

Wowowow!!

I got a big headache just thinking about all the wires and cables that you have.

Cheers
Charlie

ricmon · « **Reply #48 on:** 5 May 2008, 05:11 pm »

I was at the AK fest and heard both FD systems. The Omega Start line seemed quite manageable in that it's a 2 chassis configuration. And it sounded really nice. The 550 based system basically looked like any mono block set up. Unfortunately the Ultra based system seems to need some room so you can crank the volume to really appreciate what it can do because to my ears it sounded like the basic stereo setup. Frank and Jim also need to add a turntable to their demos. Also Frank should deep 6 the multiple speaker set up an demo with just the HT-3's with nothing on either side of them (the Song Birds were set up next to the HT-3's). and let the attendees music play to completion ( Jim stopped my song right at the performance climax very anticlimactic).

martyo · « **Reply #49 on:** 5 May 2008, 05:50 pm »

Quote

and let the attendees music play to completion ( Jim stopped my song right at the performance climax very anticlimactic).

Same thing happened to me at RMAF, although the guy sitting next to me wanted to know who played the music and in 3 other rooms I auditioned that cd someone wanted to know who the band was. I preferred the rooms where they gave me the remote and let me listen at MY music at MY level rather than a carefully crafted demo. Oh well.......

rlee8394 · « **Reply #50 on:** 12 May 2008, 11:30 pm »

Frank,

Any chance of a Transcendence Eight based Full Differential system in the works??

Ron

Listens2tubes · « **Reply #51 on:** 31 May 2008, 12:46 am »

Frank, Will the preamps have any XLR input jacks for CD players with balanced XLR outputs? My CEC CD3300 has both RCA and balanced XLR out and is said to sound better using the balanced outs. Also, my setup uses a 27ft run between my pre and amps which makes balanced cables preferable.

Airheads4Ever · « **Reply #52 on:** 3 Jun 2008, 03:57 pm »

The integrated ΩmegaStar Differential Preamplifier/DAC seems like an opportunity for my "greatest wish" in AVA gear.

That would be built-in front panel switching between two digital sources. More than two? That's OK too. I've read here that / why Frank hasn't done it before, but this integrated unit is different.

With that option, we could switch between CD transport and SqueezeBox input on the faceplate. Or switch from analog to desired digital source with only one action and no need for external boxes.

The idea for me is to make life simpler and improve the WAF.

Mark

Toka · « **Reply #53 on:** 8 Jun 2008, 04:09 am »

Looking forward to a more in-depth comparison between the OmegaStar full differential setup and the 'normal' Ultra setup (due to price similarity if nothing else). Somewhat hard to imagine the OS beating the Ultra across the board (meaning more than the digital input), but I suppose anything is possible. One other thing I'm not clear on...can the differential systems use a remote?

grenamc · « **Reply #54 on:** 6 Jul 2008, 02:54 am »

Quote from: Listens2tubes on 31 May 2008, 12:46 am

Frank, Will the preamps have any XLR input jacks for CD players with balanced XLR outputs? My CEC CD3300 has both RCA and balanced XLR out and is said to sound better using the balanced outs. Also, my setup uses a 27ft run between my pre and amps which makes balanced cables preferable.

I am a little interested in the XLR balanced inputs myself. I have a stock SlimDevices Transporter that I intend to mod through ModWright Instruments. The TP is a fully balanced analog stage with + and - left and right passed through the balanced outs. If the balanced inputs on the Full Differential system from AVA will allow this input as no different than the output from the Differential DAC, I will definitely be excited to get one in my system. If not, I may want to look into other options.

Thanks
-Michael

Toka · « **Reply #55 on:** 6 Jul 2008, 05:56 pm »

You could likely get a cable with an XLR on one end that terminates into 2x RCA's.

MarkD · « **Reply #56 on:** 7 Jul 2008, 02:54 pm »

This is possible a stupid question, but... Would it be possible to use the differential dac/preamp with one power amplifier - even temporarily?

I have a 10 year old Fet Valve SL preamp, and was saving for a DAC. The preamp isn't worth upgrading IMO (Frank recently sold a used one for less than the upgrade would cost and it can't use the newest tube anyway. This is NOT a criticism, I didn't buy it for upgradeability.) My next purchase was going to be a new Ultra preamp.

Anyway, a $2500 DAC and another power amp would be a large expense at one time. However, $2500 less the $900 I'll have saved for the DAC less whatever my preamp would bring is starting to get to affordable - if I can wait to buy a second power amp.

gjs_cds · « **Reply #57 on:** 7 Jul 2008, 03:56 pm »

Quote from: MarkD on 7 Jul 2008, 02:54 pm

This is possible a stupid question, but... Would it be possible to use the differential dac/preamp with one power amplifier - even temporarily?

If I have a decent understanding of Frank's new line--no. Each channel (right or left) will require 2 channels of amplification (positive and negative). Thus, you could listen *mono* w/ one amp--should you so desire. (Maybe.) But if you want stereo sound, you'll need 4 channels of amplification.

ricmon · « **Reply #58 on:** 7 Jul 2008, 04:50 pm »

I'm in the process of acquiring 2 Son of Ampzilla amps and was wondering if there are any limitations on amp topology that can or can not be used with the differential pre amp excluding mono blocks. If there are no problems with this set up it will make the transition to a full differential system easier. Because I can use my traditional CDP until I could afford the differential DAC.

avahifi · « **Reply #59 on:** 7 Jul 2008, 05:49 pm »

To answer a few questions:

First of all you can "get by" with a single stereo amp. You would just connect the left + signal and the right + signal to your stereo amplifier and it will work as with any normal preamp. Both channels are putting out full range plus and minus signals so you can use only one of each without problems. You just won't enjoy the benefits of the distortion nulling until you add a second stereo power amplifier.

Regarding the Son of Ampzilla, assuming it is standard common ground construction, a pair of them should work just fine, way better than you would ever expect the amplifiers to perform.

Regarding MarkD's question, I would suggest he just invest in a new Insight DAC. Given the huge performance boost we have made with the new Insight solid state equipment, that may be as far as you want to go at this time. The Insight DAC of course will be valuable trade up material if you want to go to the differential setup in the future.

No XLR connections planned at this time. The TP device with balanced outputs may or may not be as good a performer as the circuits in the planned Insight preamp/DAC combo, I suspect "may not" is likely. The combo preamp/DAC takes a single RCA jack input from the DC player/transport and is designed to drive any pair of stereo amplifiers, using two sets of RCA stereo cables, so XLR fittings are simply a costly redundant consideration.

No plans for building digital input switching into the combo preamp/DAC or any of our separate DACs. There are very nice low cost switching boxes available for less than the cost of us building them in.

The only planned combo and differential front ends at this time are the Insight solid state series. The combination of the new circuits plus differential mode operation makes using tube or hybrid circuits for these purposes very expensive with only minor sonic improvements. Its just not worth the high extra cost.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine