ModWright Modified Transporter - The Wave of the Future!

mr_bill · « **Reply #180 on:** 24 Mar 2008, 08:56 pm »

Quote from: Srajan Ebaen on 24 Mar 2008, 06:22 pm

Indeed. Tube rolling alone would fill a whole review and would be a fun angle once the modified Transporter's "standing in the community" had been established so people knew where, roughly, to place it. Seeing I had the unusual opportunity to have two digital machines in house which both had digital i/o ports, I felt I'd go there. I'm sure you'll come up with plenty of scenarios I didn't touch on. Which, as you said, is particularly apt with a piece this flexible

Plus, I've resisted the whole server thing for so long and never got on the SACD/DVD/A bandwagon either, I had to approach this from the pop-my-cherry angle while you're in far deeper with the subject...

Srajean,
Did you use the RCA or XLR outputs in your evaluation?

Philistine · « **Reply #181 on:** 25 Mar 2008, 02:28 am »

Great review Dan - congratulations.

Srajan Ebaen · « **Reply #182 on:** 25 Mar 2008, 07:02 am »

I used the RCAs since the amps or preamp I wanted to use didn't have balanced connectors.

However, it's been my experience in general that fully balanced digital machines sound as good on their RCAs as XLRs and that differences are due more to the following component and how its RCA vs XLR inputs are configured. My Ancient Audio player too is fully dual-diff and its designer will tell you that there is no sonic difference between its outputs - which I have tried on my Supratek preamp and found to be true.

Not to say Dan's doesn't behave differently but I personally wasn't concerned. It sounded mighty fine

If one does notice a difference, as I said, it'll be difficult to ascertain whether it's really the Transporter and not the following preamp (or amp/integrated) that's responsible for the difference.

Danny Kaey · « **Reply #183 on:** 25 Mar 2008, 03:13 pm »

the whole XLR vs. RCA debate reminds me of the FLAC/Wave debate...

while obviously unrelated, there are some similarities in what is being debated... some say FLAC while being an identical, ie. bit perfect copy, can have sonic differences compared to their Wave counterpart - being that the files are in fact identical, I think this could be the result of the units processing engine and file decoders being heard, not the difference b/w the two file formats themselves.

That being said, I circumvented the entire fuss by only copying my discs to wave files and in some cases the aforementioned LAME 320 mp3 format... storage is so damn cheap that this can no longer be used as an argument for considering FLAC or any other lossless format.

Mr P · « **Reply #184 on:** 5 Apr 2008, 04:01 pm »

I have a question regarding tubes. Is the 6DJ8/6922/7308 family of tubes interchangeable with the 6N1P in the Transporter? I ask because it is an acceptable change in my current pre-amp. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my modified Transporter.

Thanks,
Mark

ted_b · « **Reply #185 on:** 5 Apr 2008, 04:39 pm »

Quote from: Mr P on 5 Apr 2008, 04:01 pm

I have a question regarding tubes. Is the 6DJ8/6922/7308 family of tubes interchangeable with the 6N1P in the Transporter? I ask because it is an acceptable change in my current pre-amp. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my modified Transporter.

Thanks,
Mark

No, it's not. The other candidates include 6H30's (my least fave), 6CG7/6FQ7, 6BQ7 (my fave so far; gonna try Frank's 6H30 cryo idea, though) and the 6BK7 varieties.

Frank S. · « **Reply #186 on:** 5 Apr 2008, 05:11 pm »

Ted- just remember the the 6H30s are the DR variety- not just any 6H30. After several weeks I stand by my initial post that the GZ32 and the 6H30DRs are a killer combo together. YMMV.

ted_b · « **Reply #187 on:** 5 Apr 2008, 05:33 pm »

Quote from: Frank S. on 5 Apr 2008, 05:11 pm

Ted- just remember the the 6H30s are the DR variety- not just any 6H30. After several weeks I stand by my initial post that the GZ32 and the 6H30DRs are a killer combo together. YMMV.

Frank,
Thanks for that. I will make sure I get the right ones. Right now I just replaced the fine Black Sands Violet Z1 pc with the new well-reviewed and Modwright-is-gaga-over Lessloss pc. I'll give it a few days and report back (here and on Audiogon, which is why Liudas gave us a deal on these...he wants Audiogon feedback/reviews).

Ted

IronLion · « **Reply #188 on:** 5 Apr 2008, 05:45 pm »

Ted, I'm definitely interested to hear your thoughts on that LessLoss PC. I was looking at those a while ago.

Edit: Is Dan Modwright really crazy about them?

ted_b · « **Reply #189 on:** 5 Apr 2008, 06:05 pm »

Yep, he loves them on his stuff. He's using them in the Munich show (possibly exclusively).

rydenfan · « **Reply #190 on:** 5 Apr 2008, 06:15 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 5 Apr 2008, 05:33 pm

Frank,
Thanks for that. I will make sure I get the right ones. Right now I just replaced the fine Black Sands Violet Z1 pc with the new well-reviewed and Modwright-is-gaga-over Lessloss pc. I'll give it a few days and report back (here and on Audiogon, which is why Liudas gave us a deal on these...he wants Audiogon feedback/reviews).

Ted

I have one breaking in right now as well. It has only been in since last night so it may not be too fair to discuss it yet. However, so far it is nice and detailed but maybe a little loss on the lowest portion of the bottom end? But it still needs more time before a proper evaluation.

modwright · « **Reply #191 on:** 6 Apr 2008, 04:52 pm »

Yes, I VERY much like the LessLoss AC cables. I bought a pair because I was intrigued with the engineering that went into them. I was PLEASED to have my ears confirm theory. In short, they just allow the music through and I hear MUCH greater liquidity and a natural presentation to the music. I hear greater micro-detail and dynamics and things just sound more natural and MUCH more open.

I will qualify this by saying also, that I am NOT an advocate of spending A LOT of money on cables, compared to the value of the rest of your system. Cables DO make a difference, but it is misdirection (IMHO) to think that a mediocre system will be transformed by addition of top-flight cables. Cables can only be the bottleneck in your system if they are limiting performance.

Having said this, the price of the LessLoss power cables offer a TREMENDOUS improvement to a good system without spending a fortune.

Well done Liudas! VERY happy to be using the LessLoss power cables in Munich, in conjunction with Serguei's Stealth cables - interconnects and speaker cables. It will be a great show!

Thanks,

Dan

Philistine · « **Reply #192 on:** 6 Apr 2008, 05:02 pm »

I'm interested in the feedback on the Lessloss PC - after Dan mentioned it I ran the presentation from their site, which looks convincing, and checked the reviews on Audiogon. The Audiogon reviews are, in the main, positive but a few more comparative data points will help, so you Guinea Pigs will help with this.

Tubes - I've now settled on the GZ32/6BQ7 combo, but still find the basic 6H30 at the bottom of the pile with regard to sonic performance, so again I'm interested in a few more data points on the cryoed super duper version before taking a listen.

I'm spending more time listening and less time forum jumping, the Modwright TP is too involving. So will sit back and listen to music while you guys do the experiments for me

Thanks.

rydenfan · « **Reply #193 on:** 9 Apr 2008, 01:43 pm »

So, over the last 5 days or so I switched out the stock tubes of the Transporter for a Cryo'd 5AS4 Rectifier and a cryo'd pair of 6BQ7's. I gave them a good 100 hours or so before truly analyzing them. I found them to have a little more refinement and detail over the stock tubes, but I would find my mind wandering while listening to music; something I had not experienced before. Somehow I was less engaged than before. Last night I but the stock tubes back in, and BAM, I was sucked right back in. I do miss a bit of the intricacy of the other set but I am much more involved in the music again. Anybody have any suggestions of what to try next?

ted_b · « **Reply #194 on:** 9 Apr 2008, 04:20 pm »

Quote from: rydenfan on 9 Apr 2008, 01:43 pm

So, over the last 5 days or so I switched out the stock tubes of the Transporter for a Cryo'd 5AS4 Rectifier and a cryo'd pair of 6BQ7's. I gave them a good 100 hours or so before truly analyzing them. I found them to have a little more refinement and detail over the stock tubes, but I would find my mind wandering while listening to music; something I had not experienced before. Somehow I was less engaged than before. Last night I but the stock tubes back in, and BAM, I was sucked right back in. I do miss a bit of the intricacy of the other set but I am much more involved in the music again. Anybody have any suggestions of what to try next?

Ridlin.

rydenfan · « **Reply #195 on:** 9 Apr 2008, 07:12 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 9 Apr 2008, 04:20 pm

Ridlin.

Thanks Ted! With friends like you, who needs enemies?

IronLion · « **Reply #196 on:** 9 Apr 2008, 07:15 pm »

PS- My Modwright TP (Black) shipped yesterday, two weeks early! Good thing I got my wireless network running last week!

Double Ugly · « **Reply #197 on:** 9 Apr 2008, 08:35 pm »

Quote from: IronLion on 9 Apr 2008, 07:15 pm

PS- My Modwright TP (Black) shipped yesterday, two weeks early! Good thing I got my wireless network running last week!

Congrats, Lion. If what I heard in Denver is realized in your room, I suspect you'll be a very happy man.

Especially once the Minis arrive.

FWIW, Fred Smith claims my Transporter should be in Dan's hands sometime today, so hopefully the modifications to my unit will go as smoothly and quickly as yours. I'm greatly looking forward to qualifying for MW Transporter Club membership.

Care to sponsor me?

rpf · « **Reply #198 on:** 9 Apr 2008, 10:02 pm »

Quote from: rydenfan on 9 Apr 2008, 01:43 pm

So, over the last 5 days or so I switched out the stock tubes of the Transporter for a Cryo'd 5AS4 Rectifier and a cryo'd pair of 6BQ7's. I gave them a good 100 hours or so before truly analyzing them. I found them to have a little more refinement and detail over the stock tubes, but I would find my mind wandering while listening to music; something I had not experienced before. Somehow I was less engaged than before. Last night I but the stock tubes back in, and BAM, I was sucked right back in. I do miss a bit of the intricacy of the other set but I am much more involved in the music again. Anybody have any suggestions of what to try next?

I don't have a Transporter (yet

) but I have tried a lot of rectifiers in both the LS36.5 and the Modwright Sony 9100. The best ones I've found are the Mullard GZ32 and GZ37 (black bases, if you can find them).

ted_b · « **Reply #199 on:** 9 Apr 2008, 10:56 pm »

First off, Jim. I will easily sponsor you into our ever-growing Club. You helped turn me on to Bob Smith and Company; I'm glad to help you through the hazing here.

Yeah, my fave rectifiers in my TP are the Sylvania Mullard 5U4G I own, plus the Phillips branded Mullard black base GZ32 (non-cryo'd but nice). Just didn't like the 5AS4 but never heard it cryo'd either.