[crooner]

Thanks for the reply Danny. I was too, surprised, to learn it was TNT the carrier since your invoice stated "USPS".

Because the Postal Office leaves a little card at the door when they attempt delivery, I didn't worry much about having to be at home. I figured I could go to the postal office the following day and pick-up the unit.

The TNT people tried to deliver the package on Wednesday first and then today they made a second attempt (9:06 AM, I left the house around 9:00!) . This is not unusual, what really makes me mad is the fact that no door card or note was left. It was later today that I received a call from a customer service rep at TNT, telling me the whole story..

I was really hoping to get this DAC before the weekend since I will have time to set it up and listen to it.

I called customer service and they assured me the package would be delivered tomorrow. I certainly hope so!!!

[Loftprojection]

Good stuff, hope you write a nice review for us!  Happy listening this weekend.

[FredT300B]

I replaced the stock coupling caps with Sonicaps today - a small but audible improvement in resolution even before any break-in time. This was much easier than I anticipated. See the link below for pictures

http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/1211061/1/56650426

[MarkM]

I fired up my DAC last nice and must say I am impressed with the stock unit.

Out of the box it is much better than my Denon 2910.  Was looking to sell the Denon until I stumbled upon this bargain of a DAC!  

Fred, did you add a Solen cap on the power supply?

I will start with the power supply and of course upgrade the output caps.

[FredT300B]

Fred, did you add a Solen cap on the power supply?

The first mods were to add the filter choke and then the Solen cap. The Solen just bypasses the second ps filter electrolytic. I added the choke only because I already had it in the parts bin and there was a nice space on the chassis next to the circuit board - a choke can't hurt anything and wherever I have added one before the component has become quieter. If I were starting from scratch I believe I would install a Black Gate cap in that postion instead of the choke.

The Sonicaps are the mod that I believe make the biggest difference, especially if you already have like-quality caps in your preamp, amp, and speaker crossovers.

[Charles Calkins]

Hey you guys are getting me excited!!
 I ordered my DAC-60 with the sonic craft mods. I'm chomping at the bit waiting for it to get here. Danny says the wait will be worthwile.

                           Cheers
                           Charlie

[crooner]

I got my DAC-60 today. Arrived safe and sound.
It was shipped in the original Lite Audio box with no outer packaging. Still, since it travelled by air, it was sufficient to protect the unit.

I saw no tube boxes so I guess the tubes come already installed. There's a standard IEC AC cable. No manual though. I guess operation is self-explanatory  

Nice heavy unit. Heavier than my $2400 retail Audio Research PH3! The faceplate is thick just like the one ARC uses. High quality.

Haven't popped up the lid yet. I plan to recheck all connections and perhaps add a dab of Blu Tack to the quartz crystal, the only mod I can actually do right now  

I bought a nice .6 meter digital cable for it. It's made by Sonic Euphoria, an outfit that I believe is owned by Jeff Sound Values right here in San Diego.

I am going to take some pics and get back to ya guys!!

[crooner]

Mark, I also own a Denon 2910. Nice universal player. It does a great job with the high-rez formats, but unfortunately it's not so hot on regular 44.1 kHz "redbook" material. I found it was at least as good as my old Rega Planet, but that unit was made almost a decade ago.

I plan to keep the Denon for my small collection of SACDs and DVD-As and perhaps the ocassional Casablanca DVD re-run  

However, I am sure the SB3 plus DAC-60 will steal the show!

Best regards,
crooner

I fired up my DAC last nice and must say I am impressed with the stock unit.

Out of the box it is much better than my Denon 2910.  Was looking to sell the Denon until I stumbled upon this bargain of a DAC!  

[crooner]

Well folks, I unpacked the DAC and took some photos before and after installation. Tubes are russian 6922s by Electroharmonic. I am not rolling tubes yet, so I left them in. I want to try the unit with the stock tubes first.

I did apply a couple of dampening rings to them. The rings came from my PH3 preamp. I am not using them since I didn't want to ruin the "bugle boy" lettering of my prized Amperex 6DJ8s  

I also added a dab of white Scotch adhesive putty (equivalent to blu tack) to the quartz crystal.

Construction quality of this thing is superb. Thick glass epoxy PCB. Very nice looking parts. Gotta love that big blue LED display!

Something funny happened when I hooked the massive Sonic Euphoria digital cable between the SB3 and DAC-60. The cable weight was pulling the SB3 to one side! I had to add a couple of Scotch rubber feet to the back of the Squeezebox to stabilize it in place.

The unit locked immediately to the SB3's digital signal. First impressions are very positive. Music is extremely smooth, highs are slightly subdued and the midrange character is completely different from the SB3's standard DAC and analog buffer.

Of course, this thing needs to run for quite sometime in order to listen critically.

To be continued....

[FredT300B]

Nice pictures, Crooner

I found the highs were subdued at first too, but it opened up afer a few hours. After it's has some time to break in I wish you would roll the Amperex 6DJ8's through it and give us your impressions.

[crooner]

Thanks Fred!

Yes, will do. With the EH tubes the DAC's noise floor is very low. Absolutely no thermal noise at all even with demanding low level passages. With the Bugle Boy's I am sure it will be no different. What the Amperexes have in spades is midrange "bloom".

The SB3 is a revolutionary product. With the DAC-60 it kills any CD player under $2000 at it certainly gives SACD and DVD-Audio a run for the money!

[Charles Calkins]

Crooner:
 That's got to be the mother of all digital cables.

                   Cheers
                      Charlie

[marvda1]

i am thinking about getting the dac 60, has anyone tried jj tesla or amperex orange globes in the dac 60 ?

[crooner]

LOL! That's what I thought when I got it. Looks like a rattlesnake or something.
For $65 looked like a deal to me. Apparently these folks use the same cable as Cardas. It certainly looks the part!

Crooner:
 That's got to be the mother of all digital cables.

                   Cheers
                      Charlie

[d.f]

any more opinion of this dac..?

very interested to know how you guys thinks it compares with the big boys; Benchmark DAC1 and Bel Canto DAC2..?

[crooner]

I haven't heard the Benchmark but I suspect the DAC-60 would compare very favorably. I like the design of the Lite unit better. The Benchmark was originally made for the pro-market. The DAC-60 is audiophile grade 100%. Blends great with the rest of my stuff.

Let's hear some opinions from folks who have heard both!

[Rocket]

Hi Crooner,

What are the quality of parts in the unit?  i.e. brand.

Regards

Rod

[crooner]

They are not the usual boutique capacitor parts. However, there are Dale resistors and Sanyo OSCON caps. Lot's of Japanese parts in there. PCB board is nice and thick. Good layout. The regulated stages use real extruded aluminum heatsinks. Funny but my $2K Audio Research uses the thin aluminum types. Much cheaper.

Good news is upgradability. Easy to mod. To my ears it sounds great as it is, but if I ever change my mind, it's a snap to replace caps.

Hi Crooner,

What are the quality of parts in the unit?  i.e. brand.

Regards

Rod

[skrivis]

a technology with non-moving parts. No clocking errors no jitter, etc.

I keep seeing people talk about jitter. I thought that most modern DACs reclocked the signal so jitter isn't a problem anymore?

[Loftprojection]

Soooo Crooner, was it a nice weekend?  Is the DAC nice or what?  We are impatient you know!  haha