Update: after a week of playing off & on (probably 40 hrs) it's leaving a bit to be desired with a case of the uglies. Granted, I did get a new unit and reassembled the mods, plus the LPS really gives some serious oomph to everything. BUT, it's also currently highlighting some S's and T's a bit hot. Hoping everything calms down in a week or so, otherwise I'll maybe roll stock opamps back in and look at capacitor swap to try and smooth things out. I'm guessing I just made too much of a good thing with all the detail seeking combined with new board setting in. Just would like some more body in the 200-800hz range.
Right now, there are lots of things awesome about it as it's very articulate with TONS of kick down low. Fingers crossed 🤞 it smooths out a bit over next week or two. It's all good as my pre has tone controls, so the treble knob is just a little turned down.
EDIT* I did just figure out that my first amp that I messed up was a V3 dated 4/10/25 and my "new" one recently assembled is a V2 dated 1/08/25 and I did notice some differences in the circuit designs. Most notably around the low pass filter section but a few others elsewhere on the board. Weird that I would get a previous gen model even when I purchased both through Amazon roughly 4 months apart.
Lloyd,
Being you have a new LPS and new A5, your correct, it will take some time to burn both components in. In my case, my LPS Acopians had been used in a recording studio environment extensively, with many hours of usage. Therefore, they didn't require burn in time, luckily.
When you mention the sound being a little hot, are you using any silver wire interconnects between the amps? They can be very bright sounding, versus copper wire interconnects. Is the new set up running quietly?
Is your preamp a true tube preamp or a hybrid combination? This is where a tube preamp, tones down the analytical traits, typically associated to class D amps. This really benefits the A5 / LPS adding some tube warmth quality, as well as providing a larger sound stage.
If your still experiencing the sound being still too bright to your taste, after burning in for a few hundred hours, as you mentioned,re-installing the stock op-amps may tone it down on the top end some. Although, I still think my SX52B's sound better than the stock NE5532's, which are warmer sounding. In your case may be another soluction too, if your still experiencing harshness on the top end.
Have you noticed how much cooler the A5 is operating, now it's being powered with a LPS, versus a GaN power supply? Mine is literally a 100% cooler. Good to hear you have it operational now, so you can enjoy the benefits of you efforts put forth, on your DIY build. I like the wood chassis. Have you finished the wood, by staining and applying a finish coat yet?
Looking forward to hearing more imput regarding your new LPS/A5 build. I'm thoroughly enjoying mine!
