Several weeks ago I received the Empirial Audio modded dAck!, then had the output increased, and then had the V-Cap upgrade. I have over 100 hours break-in now, and I thought I'd share some reactions. I can't provide a direct A-B comparison because there have been several changes in my system, so I can describe what the dAck! sounds like in my current setup.
I haven't fine tuned my room, but I have an Eighth Nerve roompack plus and I added their framed response controllers behind the listener. Behind the speakers in the corners are 18" Jon Risch bass traps and in the center of the wall two Jon Risch 2'x4' fiberglass panels 10" from the back wall. The speakers are 58" from the back wall and 24" from the side walls in a 10.5' by 18' room. Listening spot is about 100" from each speaker and the speakers are about 66" inches apart.
Source is EAC lossless WAV played with Foobar through an ASUS A8N motherboard SPDIF out to Luminous Audio Allegro digital with inline Bybee to the dAck!. Luminous Audio Synch Ref copper RCA into Sonic Euphoria passive preamp, Luminous Audio Synch Ref copper RCA into Dodd Audio 120W monoblocks with Herbie's tube dampers and sitting on Herbie's Tenderfeet with the Gabon Ebony ball on a maple shelf sitting on Mapleshade brass conepoints. Herbie's IC dampers on all connections. Eichmann power cords. Speakers are Epiphany 12/12 line sources.
I've had a stereo since finishing college. Blew EPI speakers playing Emerson Lake & Palmer on Phase Linear 400 in graduate school, and years later wound up with Eminent Technology LFT3 planars using Conrad Johnson pre and VSP Transmos MOSFET amp. I'm most familiar with jazz and blues but enjoy some chamber music and classical. I spent 25 years playing trumpet with about 10 years of that picking up both union and non-union jobs in small groups and a couple of 16 piece big bands.
Since I started experimenting with stereo again about 5 years ago, I have had Audio Refinement, Bryston, VAC, BAT and Meitner equipment and Vandersteen, AudioVecteur, and Talon speakers. I am nowhere near an expert on reviews or equipment, but it's fair to say that my current system is the most listenable and enjoyable to date.
These comments are based on listening to Pomp and Pipes-Vikings From Finland, Diana Krall-Only Trust Your Heart, Cyrus Chestnut-Revelation, Bill Evans-XRCD Waltz For Debbie, Sinatra and Jobim, Mozart-Anima Eterna Clavier-Concerte 18&19, Gene Harris-The Best Of The Concord Years, and a few others like Jesse Cook, Jimmy Smith, Russell Malone, and Christian McBride. Some much music - so little time. I only have a fraction of CDs transferred over to harddrive, so lots of things weren't available.
When I picked up the Dodd amps from Gary, we took just a couple of minutes to compare the modded dAck! to his original dAck!. The increase in high end extension was clearly apparent. I am struck by the cleanness and clarity of sound, separation of instruments, tonality, and texture. The resonance of drum heads, brush sounds on snares, hall reverberation, texture of sax and trumpet, and snap of bass strings are clear but without hyper detail or sizzle. Both high and low frequencies seem evenly represented. Bass impact and depth are very good. The midrange is still warm, listening to Tierney Sutton's Dancing in the Dark as I type, and her voice is very present and soft with distinct brush work on cymbals and clean bass underneath. Soundstage is deep and wide. Damn, this track #5 is distracting. Is she talking to me?
Hard to find a fault with this presentation. This is not so much a comparison of the original to the EA modded dAck!, since I can't do a direct comparison, but a description of the current incarnation. I'm really happy with this sound.
I'm currently in the process of breaking in an Off-Ramp Turbo to replace the Allegro digital IC.
Hope this is of some value to others considering modifying the dAck!
Stephen R. Close
