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Re: sneak preview of the RAKK dac

Posted by Dave Davenport (M) on June 30, 2004 at 07:43:44

In Reply to: Re: sneak preview of the RAKK dac posted by akltam on June 30, 2004 at 02:37:57:

Hi Alan,

If you notice there is a relatively open area where the capacitors are above the outputs. As part of our evaluation in one of our early prototype models we installed Black Gates instead of the tantalum capacitors. Comparing one-on-one between a RAKK DAC with the tantalum capacitors versus a RAKK DAC with the Black Gates, both Kevin and I preferred the tantalum capacitors. I had expected the BG to sound superior and was surprised at the result, but then that is why we did the experiment.

I have done a lot of component comparison over the last couple of years since I started on the Line Stage odyssey and have found one underlying principal: There is no one type component that sounds best in all cases. Results are impossible to predict because they are circuit and location dependant. I have never found that a crappy component sounds good, rather some good components sound better than other good components in some locations.

During the development of the Raleigh Audio Line Stage, which was the base for the RAKK tube output, I evaluated resistors. It was an extensive test that took several hundred hours of critical listening. First I placed all of one type resistor in all locations. Then all of another type, then another and another... Metal film, carbon film, metal composite, wire wound, carbon composite, tantalum etc. The best sounding was the tantalum resistor. But I didn't leave it at that. Starting with all tantalum resistors I focused on one single location. With tantalum resistors everywhere else I cycled all of the resistors through this one location. I found that in this one location a different type of resistor sounded better than the tantalum. Then with this new "best" resistor in that location and tantalums everywhere else I moved on to the next location and cycled all of the resistors through that location. When I had finished, there was not a tantalum in sight. I ended up with a mix of Kiwame, Mills and Caddock resistors. This is not to say that a tantalum resistor would not sound best in some location in some circuit.

There are similar results with capacitors. For example, I found that the Solen capacitor sounded the best for the filter in the Minimal Reactance power supply. But the Solen was not the best sounding in the parafeed capacitor location.

So feel free to experiment, and your results may be different from ours because your preferences may be different from ours, but understand that the tantalum capacitors that we chose (there are different types of tantalum capacitors) are not “expedient” or a compromise but rather were chosen because they sound better.

Dave

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