Eastern Electric DAC mods

roscoeiii · « **Reply #80 on:** 10 Nov 2010, 03:11 am »

Bill,

I'd like to extend my condolences as well. I hope that the support and goodwill of the audio community can provide at least some comfort in this difficult time for you and your family. One of the things that I most value from this hobby is the wonderful community surrounding audio. I hope our goodwill, best wishes and support provides you some degree of comfort in this difficult time. Best, as always, to you and yours.

-Roscoe

tabrink · « **Reply #81 on:** 10 Nov 2010, 03:18 am »

Bill'
You and your extended family will be in our prayers to make this sad day pass and your loss be granted swift passage to heaven above!

God bless you and family and may His word infiltrate your souls.
Tom in Kansas City

JLM · « **Reply #82 on:** 10 Nov 2010, 08:03 pm »

We lost our first born at age 6 after a history of illness, so I can relate and share in your loss.

Bill O'Connell · « **Reply #83 on:** 10 Nov 2010, 11:09 pm »

It is just so sad.

Thank you all for your prayers and your thoughtfulness.

Blessings,
Bill

Wayne1 · « **Reply #84 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 02:28 am »

At long last, the tour modded EE DAC is ready to go out.

I have contacted three people tonight to see if they would be ready and willing to listen to the DAC and post their thoughts about it. Two have equipment problems and their systems are down and one does not want to hear it because he fears he will be forced to spend too much money to get his modded

Is there anyone out there that has a stock EE Mini-Max DAC and has a working system that would be will to evaluate and post about the modded DAC vs the stock unit? I should be able to ship this unit on Friday or the coming Monday.

This DAC has mostly passive component mods. All the capacitors have been changed. Additional bypass and supplemental caps have been added under the board. The diodes for the DAC section have been changed. The tube output section has been completely reworked. The I/E op-amp has been changed. I have left the switch and volume control alone.

This mod will likely retail for $750.00.

I should be shipping the first full mod to Bill@Lake George by the end of the year. The next two full mods should go out early in January. There is at least a two month lead time for the full mod. It did take me 7 months to work out all these changes.

Thanks go out to Bill@Lake George for his patience.

mjosef · « **Reply #85 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 05:40 am »

Mhnnn...I have been auditioning quite a few components lately, the Modwright KWA100 amp, the stock (sort of) EE DAC vs. an older Zhaolu (modded) DAC, a Sherwood SACD player, cables ... if no one steps up, maybe I can give it a listen...I am at the point where I just want to enjoy music without the weight of assessing one component vs another, so it will have to impress otherwise my comments may border on the blah.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #86 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 03:49 pm »

Thanks for the PMs and posts.

The modded EE DAC will first make it's way to KC to spend Thanksgiving with tabrink. Then it will head east. Perhaps BRM will have a preamp by then. If not then mjosef and the NYC group can listen for a bit. It will then go south.

If anyone else is interested in getting in on this first leg, please PM or E-mail me.

Thanks again,
Wayne

Wayne1 · « **Reply #87 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 06:55 pm »

It looks like the modded EE DAC may visit Ohio before it gets to NYC.

Please keep letting me know if anyone else want to take a listen.

I will ask you to keep the evaluation sessions to a week or less and to pay for shipping to the next location. FedEx Ground would be the preferred carrier.

eclein · « **Reply #88 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 07:04 pm »

Wayne is this tour open to anyone??
Ed

Wayne1 · « **Reply #89 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 07:31 pm »

Eventually it may well be an open audition. For the first leg, I would like to just have people who already own an EE DAC compare a moderately modded one to their own stock unit.

After that, then I don't see any reason why the unit can't go on tour for folks who want to compare the modded unit to their present DAC. This is all subject to Bill O'Connell's approval. He is selling out all the EE DACs he can get his hands on now.

FWIW, I just did such a comparison, stock to modded. I don't think anyone would have a hard time telling them apart.

eclein · « **Reply #90 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 07:32 pm »

Ok...thanks Wayne.

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #91 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 07:36 pm »

I am woefully overdue my new preamp and am not sure why it is taking so long. I was psyched to be in the front of the line but it would be disingenuous to take delivery today. I love my stock one so am excited to hear the modded one!

ablefire · « **Reply #92 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 02:56 pm »

I live in NYC and would like to hear the unmodded and modded minimax DAC. If the "NYC group" are open to it, I would like to arrange a listen.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #93 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 05:01 pm »

The Level 1 modded EE DC will finally be going on the road on Monday!

It's first stop will be to KC over Thanksgiving. From there it is off to Ohio. There may be some side trips to Cleveland and Detroit for additional auditions. After the mid-west it will be time for the Big Apple.

I am not sure how long it will be there. If you are in NYC and would like to audition the modded EE DAC, please get in touch with. me. Perhaps someone there would be willing to host a rave just to compare the EE DAC to the modded one.

After it's stay in the north east, the modded DAC will be going south.

I would hope by this time there will have been a consensus reached about the sound of the modded unit vs the stock. I would be willing to let potential new purchasers of the EE DAC compare the modded unit to their present DAC.

In fact, something of the sort may happen in Cleveland.

I'm hoping the DAC will arrive safely in all the cities on the tour. I will be including the stock power cord as well as a BOLDER Nitro power cable. I may also include a digital cable so comparisons of cables may also be done. The purpose of the tour, after all, is to get comments about my work and hopefully generate some sales.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #94 on:** 20 Nov 2010, 06:00 pm »

I just wanted to note something here. The EE Min-Max DAC WILL play high-res files up to 24/192 with NO PROBLEM. In reading the review on 6 moons, it was not clear to me if Srajan was able to get it to work properly.

I just ran some files from my laptop to the EE DAC using Foobar 2000 and the M2Tech Hi-Face. I used the BNC input to the DAC. It had no trouble accepting and playing 24/192, 24/176, 24/96 or 16/44.1. There were no dropouts, stuttering or glitches.

If you are looking for a DAC that sounds great playing ALL resolutions, you should consider the EE Mini-Max DAC.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #95 on:** 27 Nov 2010, 04:20 am »

Tom,

I glad you are enjoying the DAC. If you really want to hear what your music files sound like, you should get your Touch modded and use a linear power supply with it

Do you have any 24/96 files that you can play through the Touch?

Perhaps you can describe what differences you can hear between the stock and modded EE DAC.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #96 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 12:27 am »

A new addition to the mods for the EE MiniMax showed up today.

A pair of Pavane/Psvane Reference 12AU7-T

These are VERY nice. I bought a pair to try out. After just an hour of listening, I know these will be what I suggest for everyone to use. I guess I will have to talk to Rachel to see if I can get these to distribute with the mod.

I think I'm going to send out the second tube on the tour to get more feedback on it. It is too late for Tom, but I'll send it along to Carusoracer for evaluation. Hopefully he can figure out a way to pack it in the box for the rest of the tour.

carusoracer · « **Reply #97 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 12:16 am »

Very positive comments.
Wayne, I will look for the Pavane Tube since you will be sending it out independent of the DAC. I will try and put some hours on it before taking the final critical listen with the modded DAC.
I have a few exotic 12AU7's from my EE Mini Max/DAC tube rolling ventures.
If you need anything to verify before shipping please send a PM.

Wayne1 · « **Reply #98 on:** 2 Dec 2010, 03:49 am »

I've put close to 100 hours on the Pavane 12AU7-T. It is without a doubt a keeper.

I have communicated with Rachel at Grant Fidelity and I will be able to include the Pavane tube with the mods. I am not allowed to sell it separately. Rachel did tell me that the price of the pair will be going up in January to about $100.00.

If anyone orders the mods from this point onward, the price will be adjusted to include one Pavane Reference 12AU7-T. Another inclusion will be an ACME Audio silver plated, ceramic fuse. I just got some in that will work with the modded DAC. They do make a difference.

I also found, in my system, the orientation of the fuse in the holder makes a difference to the sound. I am not sure why, but it is easily audible. I have sent a Pavane 12AU7-T and the silver fuse to carusoracer to listen to. They will be included for the rest of the people in the tour to audition.

The fuse is marked on one side. This should make it a bit easier to try it out to see if how it is placed in the fuse holder makes a difference in your system, to your ears.

jtsnead · « **Reply #99 on:** 2 Dec 2010, 02:50 pm »

Hey Wayne,

Can you describe what way the Acme fuse is installed for best
sound