Making baby steps into Hi-fi

[surajit333]

Hi Hydra,

Your thread has been such a pleasure to read. Information has been documented and sequence so well. You are sir, a very good writer too, you have been able to put in words many things which are difficult for an average Joe. Any updates on your "big" upgrades? Also can you please lead me to a forum/website on how to create a music PC like yours, I am clueless on what to buy and why.

Regards
Surajit

 

[hydra]

An addition to my kit: A Theta Reference Pedestal from SoundFoundations for my TT. Thank you, MAGMA!

 

[magma]

looks great

glad youre happy

rgds
ALi

 

[hydra]

A new addition: Lyrita DHT Preamp



Virenji had sent it in a virtually bullet-proof plywood box. It actually took me a while to open the box!

It took some time to locate it in my rack, with quite a bit of rearrangement and rewiring: I had to move the CDP from the top. I've also run out of space now.

I've got it up and running just now. It sounds lovely right out of the box!

 

[shuv]

Wow, looks beautiful. Damages? How many inputs are there? Any chance of getting a remote with this? And yes, congratulations!!

 

[Santy]

Congrats hydra

It appears that you are not going to rest until you explore all verticals of hi-fi; TT to CDP, from DAC to Tubes, from PC to Car audio, from isolator to diffusers, what is next?

BTW where in the chain is the Lyrita pre?

 

[reignofchaos]

Nice looking setup. Just one query - where is your phono preamp located? I assume its right beside the TT? You may not want the low voltage signals from the tt to travel all the way to your main rack. It might make sense to place the phono right under the TT and have the amplified signals feed your NAD.

 

[apk]

A new addition: Lyrita DHT Preamp

I've got it up and running just now. It sounds lovely right out of the box!

Congratulations Hydra!

Viren's DHT pre-amp is fantastic to listen to (I have heard them at his place sometime back).

Best,
APK

 

[vinehs]

Congratulations !
looking forward for the snaps...:clapping:

 

[ranjeetrain]

Lyrita DHT Pre? WOW!

Impressions please

 

[hydra]

@shuv, thank you! Virenji built this one with 2 parallel outputs and 3 inputs. I don't think a remote would be an option. I wouldn't want one anyway -- lesser electronics, and I think a remote somehow takes away from the overall personality of the preamp.

@santy, thank you! Heh, heh, it does look that way doesn't it? But the journey has also been quite educational! In fact, I'm at a crossroads now, about the next (big) step/s. Speakers with low efficiency drivers + high current SS amp OR single driver high-efficiency speakers + tube amp. My next purchase will have to an amp, and that will decide which way I'll go.

The chain is like this:

Music PC > Rega DAC > Lyrita DHT Pre.
CDP > Rega DAC > Lyrita DHT Pre.
Rega RP3 > CA640p > Lyrita DHT Pre.
Logitech BT Adapter > Lyrita DHT Pre.

The DHT Pre feeds the power-amp section of the NAD C326BEE.

 

[hydra]

@roc, you have identified the one thing I've not been comfortable with for some time now. The phono pre sits in the lowest rung of the main rack, quite close to the TT Pedestal. (You can see the sliver of silver in the pics above). But I'm really not happy with it's position.

Now, the low-level interconnects from the TT travel about 2 feet to go into the Phono pre , and the interconnects from the phono-pre then travel up the rack to the top, into the DHT Pre.

I ran out of space in the rack yesterday, and I've had to put the CDP next to the TT pedestal in a temporary setup. I'll need to get a good rack and a good power extension box soon, to clear up the current wiring (and space) disaster, and get everything except the TT and the phono-pre into a single rack. I'll also find a way to move the phono-pre. I really don't want to place it on the floor under the TT Pedestal. I clean my house myself, and cleaning the floor around the kit is already a bit of a hassle heh heh.

 

[hydra]

@apk, thank you! Yes, it sounds quite fantastic, in comparison to what I was used to, so far. It is a HUGE step up!

@ranjeetrain, I'm really happy with it! My first impressions are nothing but positive. I stayed up till 4AM yesterday night listening to my usual reference CDs and LPs. As I said above, it is a HUGE step up. Many things have changed for the good, but a couple of things have taken a minor step back. But I'm fairly sure the issue is NOT with the DHT Pre, but with some new issues that have come up with the hurried rearrangement of the kit, like:

1) The siting of the CDP (now in a temporary, top heavy, shaky pedestal-like thing), right next to one of the speaker stands.

2) The maze of wires crisscrossing each other, and going every which way: My rack the and satellite pedestals for the TT and CDP have become a sort of nightmare with the physical order and placement of components not quite right, power cords coming in from 2 directions and different heights causing interconnects and power cords to crisscross in places. There are also digital coaxial interconnects and power cords crisscrossing in places, and even a stretch where the RHS speaker cord and a power cord are running side by side nearly next to each other. I need to do something about this.

I need to get these two things fixed, more for peace of mind, and for certainty that there is order in my world, than for purposes of improving the music itself. Once that is done, I'll know that any new positive/negative changes are mostly due to the new component. At that point, I'll be 100% confident about what I say about the preamp

I'll be able to improve the dressing of the wiring over the next few days, but to really fix this issue, I'll need a new rack and a quality power distribution box.

 

[Santy]

The DHT Pre feeds the power-amp section of the NAD C326BEE.

Oh.. I forgot that these NADs have jumper option between pre and power outside the cabinet. I am a past NAD owner myself. Will wait for your listening impressions.

 

[apk]

@apk, thank you! Yes, it sounds quite fantastic, in comparison to what I was used to, so far. It is a HUGE step up!

@ranjeetrain, I'm really happy with it! My first impressions are nothing but positive.

Nice to read about your listening impressions. The combination of valve pre and solid state power is said to give the best of both worlds (finesse and slam), and many on our forum have gone down that path. Glad to know that it is working out well for you.

Best,
APK.

 

[ranjeetrain]

1) The siting of the CDP (now in a temporary, top heavy, shaky pedestal-like thing), right next to one of the speaker stands.

2) The maze of wires crisscrossing each other, and going every which way: My rack the and satellite pedestals for the TT and CDP have become a sort of nightmare with the physical order and placement of components not quite right, power cords coming in from 2 directions and different heights causing interconnects and power cords to crisscross in places. There are also digital coaxial interconnects and power cords crisscrossing in places, and even a stretch where the RHS speaker cord and a power cord are running side by side nearly next to each other. I need to do something about this.

I need to get these two things fixed, more for peace of mind, and for certainty that there is order in my world, than for purposes of improving the music itself. Once that is done, I'll know that any new positive/negative changes are mostly due to the new component. At that point, I'll be 100% confident about what I say about the preamp

I'll be able to improve the dressing of the wiring over the next few days, but to really fix this issue, I'll need a new rack and a quality power distribution box.

Sorting out the cables alone could make a lot of difference. You know where you want to start.

 

[reignofchaos]

Oh.. I forgot that these NADs have jumper option between pre and power outside the cabinet. I am a past NAD owner myself. Will wait for your listening impressions.

My personal experience many moons ago is that the power section of the nad is actually very good for the price. Its the pre that is compromised on to save costs in the design. Put an external preamp and most nad integrated amps sing rather well.

 

[hydra]

I spent some time on the cable mess behind and around the rack and I've managed to sort it out reasonably. It still needs some improvement, but for that, I think I'll wait till I get a new rack and a good power distribution box.

It has now been more than a week since I set up the Lyrita DHT Pre. I've put in about 35-40 hours on it now, and I thought I'd write a bit about what I think about it.

Overall, I'm very happy with the DHT Pre. It has taken my enjoyment of music up a huge step. The last time that I had such an improvement was when I introduced the Rega DAC into the setup.

The improvements it has made mostly has to do with three things:

1) The music sounds very open. There's a lot more detail and air, there's a special ease to the way the music flows, and the room feels bigger in terms of width and height. (I'll be contradicting this somewhat in a bit, but I still feel this). To use what's perhaps a clichd phrase, in the context of NADs, a veil has been lifted, and how!

2) The PSB Image B6 + NAD combination typically has a sound that more bass-heavy than necessary, or natural. I'd managed to tame it somewhat, by keeping the speakers as far away from the wall behind them as I could in my room. But once the Lyrita DHT Pre was introduced into the chain, the bass-heaviness has disappeared. Particularly, the midbass region has now been toned down into what I'd think is a more natural level, without any loss of impact. (In fact I feel there's quite a bit more visceral impact now, particularly in drum sections.) And in terms of the lower bass, it's just there, without making itself known overtly, or drawing specific attention to it. I love this!

3) The kind of improvement the Rega DAC had made earlier, in terms of pace and rhythm, seems to have been taken up a notch, once the DHT Pre was brought in. I don't know if it's just the honeymoon thing, but I seem to feel a lot more drawn into the music than before. And the uh, "foot-tappingness" quotient seems to have gone up a LOT!

I did mention in my earlier post that I felt that there were a couple of things that have taken a step back. Perhaps the second thing is a non-issue, as I don't quite feel it now:

1) There is a very very slight hum from the speakers (when the power amp/NAD is on, and there's nothing playing) that can be heard only when I'm standing with my ear right next to them. I guess this cannot be avoided with tubes in the amplification chain. I initially thought it had to do with the rat's nest of wires behind the rack, but it was not so. (I put the pre-power cable jumpers back into the NAD to test). This is nothing that's bad, really, and probably something that needs to be lived with, to enjoy tubes.

2) On the day I set up the DHT Pre and listened to it for the first time, I felt that the soundstage had narrowed down slightly from before. I do know this is in direct contradiction to what I said above, about how the room feels bigger. The room does feel bigger, as though the music is playing in a far bigger space -- width wise & height wise. But to me, the instruments did feel a little less spaced out (or closer together than before), at least during the initial couple of days. Now, this does not feel as apparent, or this problem has ceased to exist: Either I'm getting used to it, or the Pre and the tubes are breaking in and fixing this themselves.

Summary: A great addition to the kit, that's letting me enjoy music much better than before.

A side note: This is somewhat crazy and goes against convention. Since the DHT Pre came in, I find that the same music sounds significantly better from the CDP now, than from the Music PC. Before, it used to vary between the two, and I wasn't quite sure which was "better". Now, The difference between them seems far more, in the sense that music from the CDP (as a transport) is far more involving, than music from the Music PC (as a transport). I know this is a very subjective statement, but I do feel this.

 

[apk]

Nice to hear about your experience with the Lyrita Pre. Did you get a chance to hear the Lyrita with any other power amp? I have heard the Lyrita DHT, but only with Lyrita power amps. Good to know that the DHT pre works well with SS amps also.

BTW, a very happy Onam to you!

Best,
APK

 

[hydra]

apk, thank you for the wishes

Yes, the DHP Pre works very well with the power section of the NAD! I've not yet tried it out with any other SS Amp.