FloridaBoy -
I just received my Orchid on Friday - two days ago. Been burning it in since then. Still using stock tube. I like it. It's a nice DAC. I freely admit that I am not a connoisseur of DACs and have limited experience comparing them. It sounds better than the DAC in my Naim CD3.5 cd player and better than the Cambridge Audio DACmagic 100 I've been using. It provides a little more insight into the musical performance than the other DACs. I've been reading a lot (why oh why do I do this? I seem to obsess over reading all kinds of threads on various fora about tube rolling in the Orchid...) and am planning on purchasing an adapter that will allow me to use an ECC88/6922 in place of the 6N3/5670 stock tube. You've probably read the same thread(s) as me about tube rolling in this thing.
BTW, I'm considering picking up one of the AbbasAudio DACs so I can compare them and then selling whichever one I love less. Do you still have both DACs? Which do you prefer?
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MarkusTubesNow
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Analog sources: Garrard 401 in custom Baltic birch plinth, Jelco 850L 12" arm, Dynavector 17D3 into custom LCR phono stage, LP12 w/Ittok temporarily removed from system, Sony 2251/stock arm/Signet 33Ea into Plinius Jarrah phono stage, Nakamichi Cassette Deck 2, Numark dj turntable for playing 78s
Digital: Old laptop streaming Spotify or Cambridge CXC into MHDT Orchid with Amperex 6DJ8 tube (via socket adapter), Naim CD 3.5 cd player
Preamp: Supratek Cortese with LCR
Power amplifiers: Audio Electronic Supply (AES) SE-1 300B SET, Quad 909
Speakers: Quad ESL 2805, JBL 4430 studio monitors (93 dB efficient, so they work well with the 300B amp)
Power: Goal Zero Yeti 1250 lead-acid battery generator, Core Power power cords into the amps, otherwise all stock power cables (Note: the Yeti has been a significant system upgrade)
What's next: maybe some new production 6SN7 tubes or some quasi-mesh TJ Full Music 300Bs in the SE-1.
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