Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread

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trackball02

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #120 on: 4 Nov 2013, 07:50 pm »
I'm interested in updating my EE DAC Plus with the DEXAs.  I'm a novice on how to do this and my unit is completely stock.

Does anyone have a complete parts list and an web source to acquire all of the pieces and approximate cost?

Also, are there any on-line step by step illustrated  instructions?

Thanks.

Rocket

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #121 on: 4 Nov 2013, 10:48 pm »
Hi,

The Dexa's are easier to install than the brown dog adapters so you should be okay.  Try page 14 or 15 of this thread where BRM describes how he did this.  There is also a review by Doug Schroeder where he details how he installed the opamps.

http://dagogo.com/audio-blast-eastern-electric-minimax-dac-plus-discrete-opamp-rolling

http://www.newclassd.com/index.php?page=55

I'm not tech savvy but I was able to successfully two separate opamps in the eastern electric dac plus.

Cheers Rod
« Last Edit: 4 Mar 2014, 06:57 am by Rocket »

Noseyears

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Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #122 on: 12 Nov 2013, 07:35 pm »
Yes, the DEXA's, to me, were head and shoulds above the Bursons.  The Bursons were very mellow and DEXAs seemed to match the Salk speaker's capabilities well.

The Burson's doesn't have the Wow factor like the Dexa's but they improve significantly after some extensive burn-in.

I think this comparison made by Jonathan Lo (enjoy the music) is spot on.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1212/eastern_electric_minimax_dac_plus.htm


Rocket

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #123 on: 13 Nov 2013, 10:11 am »
Hi Guys,

I think I prefer listening to the EE dac plus with the tube in the circuit and the one dexa opamp option.  While I think using the ss and two dexa opamps in the circuit provides a bit more clarity the  extra tubey sound of the midrange using the tube option sounds a bit better to me.  Anyway I'm getting superlative sound from my system now.  I didn't consider the burson opamps because they were a bit more expensive and I would have had to leave the top cover of the dac.

Cheers Rod

Noseyears

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Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #124 on: 16 Nov 2013, 05:54 pm »
Rod, the DIP version of the Burson's don't fit with the lid on. Some folks used the fly-lead version and found a way to fit inside the unit without any problem.

Anyways...i heard rumors that burson is coming with a new version of their discrete opamps soon. Getting anxious now.

Cheers  :thumb:



TJHUB

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #125 on: 16 Nov 2013, 07:26 pm »
Hi Guys,

I think I prefer listening to the EE dac plus with the tube in the circuit and the one dexa opamp option.  While I think using the ss and two dexa opamps in the circuit provides a bit more clarity the  extra tubey sound of the midrange using the tube option sounds a bit better to me.  Anyway I'm getting superlative sound from my system now.  I didn't consider the burson opamps because they were a bit more expensive and I would have had to leave the top cover of the dac.

Cheers Rod

Everyone's setup reacts a little differently to things, but your comment leads me to believe you would have been better off with the Bursons.  I have them, and my setup is not warm sounding. 

I tried something like 10 different tubes in my Plus, and I never found the clarity, separation, and bass I wanted from any of them.  From the first moments of listening to the 4 Burson opamps (with the tube pulled - makes a big difference), I knew I had something great.  It's been that way ever since. 

I have the DIP version of the Burson's.  I had the fly leads version in my last DAC.  When I shoved the leads into the opamp socket, I stretched out the socket holes making them useless to revert back to anything else.  That was a mistake I'll only make once.  The DIP version sticks up above the case by about 1/8".  I purchased some simple standoffs and longer stainless steel screws to mount the lid high enough to clear the opamps.  It looks fine.


pjnad

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #126 on: 26 Dec 2013, 01:45 am »
Hi All and Happy Holidays!

I just installed the Dexa discretes into my ee dac plus earlier today; these are replacing the 2107/827 combo that I've been using. I am finding them to be sort of "bright" and am wondering about break-in. I see that BRM in an earlier post stated that he didn't notice much of a break-in period; it's been my experience that almost all my electronics , tubes, and cabling have changed over time...
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Paul

Jon L

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #127 on: 27 Dec 2013, 04:23 am »
Hi All and Happy Holidays!

I just installed the Dexa discretes into my ee dac plus earlier today; these are replacing the 2107/827 combo that I've been using. I am finding them to be sort of "bright" and am wondering about break-in.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Paul

At first, I thought the Dexas were making my EE Plus DAC "bright" also; however, I found out the EE Plus (at least mine) had the output phase reversed, i.e. pushing the phase button to red (reverse) light actually gave the correct phase, which was considerably more musical and warm, less thin and hard..  Try it both ways  8)

Bill O'Connell

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Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #128 on: 27 Dec 2013, 04:19 pm »
I found the Dexa's need about 70 hours to settle down

pjnad

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #129 on: 27 Dec 2013, 11:15 pm »
At first, I thought the Dexas were making my EE Plus DAC "bright" also; however, I found out the EE Plus (at least mine) had the output phase reversed, i.e. pushing the phase button to red (reverse) light actually gave the correct phase, which was considerably more musical and warm, less thin and hard..  Try it both ways  8)

Thanks Jon, I will give it a try to see. I had played with the phase when I first got the dac and haven't really touched it since...

Bill,
Good to know...I have about 30 hours on them so far and I have noticed some improvement; the sound is not as forward as it was originally and some of the brightness/glare has calmed down. Last night I was able to listen for a bit and I noticed a pleasant increase in resolution but vocals were a bit thin.
I will give it a listen again tonight....

pjnad

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #130 on: 29 Dec 2013, 03:48 pm »
So, I have about 50 hours on the Dexa's now and the brightness/glare has calmed down and is much improved. Unfortunately, now the bass has changed for the worse, it is somewhat more bloated and there seems to be heavy overtones. I have tried Jon's suggestion and switched the phase button and this helps somewhat. I'm hoping that with some more hours on them this will correct itself, but i don't know....

TJHUB

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #131 on: 29 Dec 2013, 04:10 pm »
So, I have about 50 hours on the Dexa's now and the brightness/glare has calmed down and is much improved. Unfortunately, now the bass has changed for the worse, it is somewhat more bloated and there seems to be heavy overtones. I have tried Jon's suggestion and switched the phase button and this helps somewhat. I'm hoping that with some more hours on them this will correct itself, but i don't know....

I hate it when someone does this to me, but I still want to comment.  I'm VERY surprised by comments about the absolute phase button.  Reversing it should do very little to the sound.  At least this is true for me.  Jim Smith from Get Better Sound states that the absolute phase is "correct" when you play a track with a nice centered vocal and the vocalist sounds closest to you.  It is not an easy thing to determine.  And please note that it is absolute phase I'm talking about.  Not the phase between speakers.

As far as break-in on the opamps, I'm not surprised that you will hear points of weirdness in the bass at this stage.  Bass usually seems to be the last to settle in.  Just give them upwards of 100 hours to fully break in.  At that point you'll know if they are going to work for you or not. 

pjnad

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #132 on: 29 Dec 2013, 04:20 pm »
I hate it when someone does this to me, but I still want to comment.  I'm VERY surprised by comments about the absolute phase button.  Reversing it should do very little to the sound.  At least this is true for me.  Jim Smith from Get Better Sound states that the absolute phase is "correct" when you play a track with a nice centered vocal and the vocalist sounds closest to you.  It is not an easy thing to determine.  And please note that it is absolute phase I'm talking about.  Not the phase between speakers.

As far as break-in on the opamps, I'm not surprised that you will hear points of weirdness in the bass at this stage.  Bass usually seems to be the last to settle in.  Just give them upwards of 100 hours to fully break in.  At that point you'll know if they are going to work for you or not.

I appreciate your comments...I never heard much difference in reversing the phase through the switch on the ee previously, now there is a somewhat mild lessening of the "bloom" and heavty bass overtones. Thinking back to breaking in various cables and tubes I agree that the bass does go through some uncomfortable permutations before it sounds good...so, I guess that I'll just have to be more patient  :roll:

TJHUB

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #133 on: 29 Dec 2013, 04:27 pm »
I appreciate your comments...I never heard much difference in reversing the phase through the switch on the ee previously, now there is a somewhat mild lessening of the "bloom" and heavty bass overtones. Thinking back to breaking in various cables and tubes I agree that the bass does go through some uncomfortable permutations before it sounds good...so, I guess that I'll just have to be more patient  :roll:

Fair enough. 

Breaking things in sucks.  I'm doing it with interconnects now.  I don't even ant to listen any more, and I still have a week to go.

pjnad

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #134 on: 29 Dec 2013, 04:50 pm »
I know the feeling...and it's going to be a rainy > snowy day here...

Rocket

Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #135 on: 30 Dec 2013, 12:00 am »
Hi,

I read a previous post of mine where I stated that I preferred the tube option and with the Dexa's.  How things have changed!.  I can definitely hear an improvement with the SS dexas over the tube option.  TJHUB - everything you mentioned in your post is my impression as well.

I used a combination of opamps before with bulldog adapters and the dexa's are definitely more transparent and basically improvements the dac by a good margin.  I didn't really have much of an issue with burn in though.

Regards Rod

Bigfishhk

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Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #136 on: 4 Mar 2014, 12:11 am »
I enjoyed the EE dac very much when I had it and like the Dexa's best.  With the huge influx of DSD-capable dacs the EE just can't stand up to the competition.  In a different league for sure, but my Lampizator can run circles around the "lowly" EE.  And when you throw in dacs like the BMC and others at or around $1600 why wouldn't you stretch for that next step up in performance?  I liked the tube and chip rolling accommodation of the EE but in the end it seemed to be ahead of its time but then behind as others were planning their releases.

I am considering at long last upgrading to DEXA op amps. I'm about a year behind the curve!
I normally use the EE dac in SS with tube pulled.
REading this old thread seems like maybe I should consider the choices including going for a DSD DAC rather than upgrading the EE.
Having said that I have no music at all that is DSD format and have no experience with it.

So any suggestions about value of upgrading to DEXA op amps  vs buying a DSD dac in the max $1200 range would be appreciated.

thank you
Tom

system:
SB TOUCH
NAD 545 bee cd player(rarely used)
EE minimax DAC +
Rogue 99 tube pre amp
Rogue 90 tube power amp
Salk Song towers
Rythmik subwoofer

Bill O'Connell

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Re: Eastern Electric Minimax DAC opamp rolling thread
« Reply #137 on: 4 Mar 2014, 02:32 am »
We will be introducing two new DAC's in mid April, The Junior which will be SS with USB capable DSD for about $850 and the Supreme with USB DSD capability,tube & solid state selectable ,with Digital readout front face plate, 3 other digital inputs  24/192 for about $1300.
 No M2Tech driver required.
 PM if interested.
 Thanks,
 Bill