[Big Red Machine]

Paradisea  TDA1545A Non-OS Vacuum Tube DAC

Just got this off Ebay.  Used it for about an hour.  Very nice but just shy of being able to replace my new CDP.  I had to try it so I grabbed it to see for myself.  Very nice unit.  Does not come with a power cord BTW.

You save the $35 shipping I paid and you don't have to watch Ebay to wait for one to pop up.

[Big Red Machine]

Description from the Ebay ad:

Features: 
1.      Golden sound form legendary multi-bits Golden DAC ages. 
2.      DUAL power supply input AC115V / 230V, (will work on 110-120V, 220-240V, 50/60Hz (Specify your voltage if you win)
3.      Acceptable digital inputs: SPDIF Format Fiber optic Toslink and Coaxial RCA and BNC input
4.      Dual power supply for DAC and Vacuum Tube filament
5.      Vacuum tube used 5670 tube with socket. You can try with other tubes of 5670 families: 2C51, WE396A, 6N3Pi (6H3pi), 6CC42…by yourself. 
6.      Vacuum tube is working in dual low voltage (+19V and –19V, unloaded)
7.      94V grade fiber glass PCB
8.      Acrylic case: 5mm transparent black top, sides and bottom; 5mm transparent black front and rear panels, please check photos.
9.      Case dimension: 23cm (W) x 6cm (H) x 15cm (L)
10.  Engraved front and back faces.
11.  Massive hi-end components used including:
    Specially Designed 230/115 Volts high efficient Semi-toroidal Power Transformer
    Philips ultra fast/soft recovery diodes BYV26C
    Elna audio capacitors Silmic, R2O caps
    Specially designed MHDT laboratory film and foil capacitors for best sonic and long last reliability.
    Sanyo OSCON capacitors
    
 Hi-Frequency BRED/Filter, EMZ 1%Styroflex capacitors.
 Hi-end quality on board pure copper RCAjackets
12.Active Components including CS8414, TDA1545A, TL431(1%),LT1085, OPA2604 (as I/V)
13.State of art TDA1545A Non oversampling schematic and layout;no jump wires all over. No chassis wiring all over.
14.On board high end Nais TX2 relay toeliminate power on/off pop up noise, about 5 seconds delay time when power on.
15.Digital input from RCA (BNC) or Toslinkis selected by onboard toggle switch to achieve bestisolation.
16.No pain no hum!
17.On board LEDs indicate: (Visiblethrough transparent black plate)
■Green Led: Digital Signal Locked
■Red Led: Error Digital Signal (no signal or error insignal)

[kck]

Edit: PM sent

[Big Red Machine]

New price - $490

[doug s.]

i am curious - how can you tell after just one hour that it's not quite up to your cdp?  i would wanna run it in at least 100 hours before giving it a serious listening test...

doug s.

[bpape]

Agreed.  And in addition, swapping out the stock tube for a WE396 or a Bendix Red Bank changes the sound a lot.

Bryan

[woodsyi]

NOS with tube buffered output.  It's different. You could tell after an hour that this isn't your cup of tea if you tend to like more incisive details from your digital source.

[Big Red Machine]

Anybody know the output voltage and its compatibility with passive pre's?  Could I measure it with a VOM?

[doug s.]

NOS with tube buffered output.  It's different. You could tell after an hour that this isn't your cup of tea if you tend to like more incisive details from your digital source.

thanks, rim, for the clarification.  seemed a bit odd, to me...  personally, i think i prefer os to non-os.  at least, i preferred my modded art di/o to the audio mirror non-os dac that many folks here seem to like.  and, you know i like my audio mirror 6c33c tube amps, so there's nothing i have against audio-mirror...   

best,

doug s.

[jrebman]

If anybody decides to buy this DAC and you want 3 nice NOS tubes for it, PM me.  I have a WE396A, a late 50s vintage GE 5 star 5670 and Raytheon 5670 all in great condition and that I've never opened from when I bought them from another AC'er some months back.  Just don't have room in my system for an external DAC.

-- Jim

[Big Red Machine]

Sale pending on the DAC (check payment).

[doggie]

Have you sold the paradisea yet?

YGPM.