Popular Post davehg Posted April 10, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted April 10, 2021 I finally took Peter’s recommendation on moving from my Sbooster powered D2 to a stock T2. The T2 is currently on endless loop playback to burn in, but in just the first few days I could hear it was a distinct improvement. I A/B’d a stock D2 against a stock T2 and it was no contest - the T2 had quite significant improvements. My dealer offered a generous trade in on the D2, so it was a no-brainer. I thought about keeping the Sbooster to try on the T2, but what I was hearing with the stock PS was plenty food, so for now I’m staying stock (plus nice to leave a new unit unmodified. I’ve done a significant system upgrade the past year, moving to DeVore Nines, a gorgeous Leben CS600x, and a Manley Chinook and Hana SL combo for my VPI Prime. The D2, as good as it was, was outclassed and swapping the T2 in, the digital can now keep pace. thingswelike, sonodynesrp205 and wklie 3 Headphones: Audeze LCD-3 / Focal Clear/ Sennheiser HD650 Speakers: Devore Fidelity O/96 and Graham Chartwell LS3/5a Amps: Leben CS600x / Bottlehead 300b amp and 300b preamp custom Digital: Lumin X1 and T2 / A&K 120 I DAP Cables: Foundation Research LC1/2 and Cardas Golden Reference AC, Acoustic Zen Absolute, Silver Ref. II and Cardas Clear and Light ICs Link to comment
davehg Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 7 hours ago, sonodynesrp205 said: Good to hear that. I will use Exposure volume control. One more question - will be T1 a better match for my system? Maybe I can find used T1. regards, Simon I was in the same boat. I ended up with a D2 and Sbooster power supply which I felt was the right choice. The upgrade to the T2 was more significant in my opinion. sonodynesrp205 1 Headphones: Audeze LCD-3 / Focal Clear/ Sennheiser HD650 Speakers: Devore Fidelity O/96 and Graham Chartwell LS3/5a Amps: Leben CS600x / Bottlehead 300b amp and 300b preamp custom Digital: Lumin X1 and T2 / A&K 120 I DAP Cables: Foundation Research LC1/2 and Cardas Golden Reference AC, Acoustic Zen Absolute, Silver Ref. II and Cardas Clear and Light ICs Link to comment
davehg Posted April 8, 2023 Share Posted April 8, 2023 On 4/6/2023 at 10:25 AM, Siddhi said: What SFP module are you using? There are laser diodes and there are LED diodes. The led version is of much lower quality. By the way, like a CD player, the laser diode must burn-in, so leave it for at least a week and then do a test. My X1 had a horrible sound for about a week, but after about 500-600 hours it reached a level from which I no longer heard any change Interesting- I recently upgraded from the T2 to the X1 (Peter recently linked to my impressions a few posts back). The X1 is stellar - not that the T2 was a slouch. The X1 has really raised the level of fidelity in my system such that I’m no longer preferring vinyl playback across the board. I had a listen to the DCS Bartok (non apex) which was also stellar, and I heard in the X1 the things that also impressed me in the Bartok. The higher price of the Bartok plus my very positive long term experiences with Lumin (or should I say, Peter) made the decision quite easy to purchase the Lumin. I soon purchased the Trendnet SFP switch recommended by Lumin along with two TrendNet SFP single mode modules. Given the general high praise for SFP on the forums, I was surprised that I greatly preferred Ethernet - it wasn’t even close. Compared to standard Ethernet (no fancy CAT6 cables or audiophile switches), the SFP setup using the Trendnet switch and modules and a fiber optical cable from Fibercables sounded brighter and more sibilant with digital glare (descriptions which I don’t really associate with the X1). I suspected either the switching power supply for the SFP switch might be to blame, or the SFP module. Not sure if these require burn in/break in. I use a Niagara 1200 and high end power cord for the X1, and I have a somewhat fancier Ethernet cable en route to test. I looked at the tech specs and I can’t tell if the TrenNet SFP module is laser diode or LED. Here’s the manufacture details https://www.trendnet.com/products/sfp-transceiver/sfp-single-mode-lc-module-10km-TEG-MGBS10_4-v4 How can you tell which SFP modules are laser? And is my switch compatible with either type? Willing to test a different SFP module if there is a chance mine aren’t up to snuff. Headphones: Audeze LCD-3 / Focal Clear/ Sennheiser HD650 Speakers: Devore Fidelity O/96 and Graham Chartwell LS3/5a Amps: Leben CS600x / Bottlehead 300b amp and 300b preamp custom Digital: Lumin X1 and T2 / A&K 120 I DAP Cables: Foundation Research LC1/2 and Cardas Golden Reference AC, Acoustic Zen Absolute, Silver Ref. II and Cardas Clear and Light ICs Link to comment
Popular Post davehg Posted April 27, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 27, 2023 Well this is fun - I had disconnected the optical switch, finding I preferred Ethernet. I purchased an upgrade cat6 cable, but didn’t really hear a difference over stock Cat6. Just for fun, I tried listening to the optical connection one more time. However - instead of plugging the optical switch into the 8 port switch that was itself wired via cat 6 to my modem, wired the modem (using the upgraded Ethernet cable) straight into the optical switch. I had been using an 8 port switch in between as I used the switch to send Ethernet to other devices in my room, like my TV and game console and AV receiver. Wiring direct from modem to optical switch sounded much better and way less sibilant. By contrast, going from the router through a switch then out to the optical switch then into the X1 sounded harsher and more sibilant. I need to A/B with the Ethernet connector from the modem direct to the X1 to be sure the optical is still superior, but this is progress. DrNikonian and vintageaxeman 2 Headphones: Audeze LCD-3 / Focal Clear/ Sennheiser HD650 Speakers: Devore Fidelity O/96 and Graham Chartwell LS3/5a Amps: Leben CS600x / Bottlehead 300b amp and 300b preamp custom Digital: Lumin X1 and T2 / A&K 120 I DAP Cables: Foundation Research LC1/2 and Cardas Golden Reference AC, Acoustic Zen Absolute, Silver Ref. II and Cardas Clear and Light ICs Link to comment
davehg Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 I went back and forth comparing the optical to the Ethernet connection (using a Pangea Ethernet cable). While running direct from the modem to the SFP switch sounded better, I still come back to preferring Ethernet cable. Less glare and sibants. Maybe an LPS on the SFP switch might help? Headphones: Audeze LCD-3 / Focal Clear/ Sennheiser HD650 Speakers: Devore Fidelity O/96 and Graham Chartwell LS3/5a Amps: Leben CS600x / Bottlehead 300b amp and 300b preamp custom Digital: Lumin X1 and T2 / A&K 120 I DAP Cables: Foundation Research LC1/2 and Cardas Golden Reference AC, Acoustic Zen Absolute, Silver Ref. II and Cardas Clear and Light ICs Link to comment
Popular Post davehg Posted June 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted June 2, 2023 Earlier I expressed a preference for Ethernet over optical connections for my Lumin X1. A user suggested I swap the Trendnet SFP modules for some pricier Finnisar SFP modules ($12 vs $55 ea). swapped the Finnisar in and whatta you know - they sound much better. The glare and glassiness are gone now, much smoother sounding but with all the detail. so I’m joining Team Optical now! The SFP modules I bought were Finnisar FTLF1318P3BTL thingswelike, wklie and Blake 3 Headphones: Audeze LCD-3 / Focal Clear/ Sennheiser HD650 Speakers: Devore Fidelity O/96 and Graham Chartwell LS3/5a Amps: Leben CS600x / Bottlehead 300b amp and 300b preamp custom Digital: Lumin X1 and T2 / A&K 120 I DAP Cables: Foundation Research LC1/2 and Cardas Golden Reference AC, Acoustic Zen Absolute, Silver Ref. II and Cardas Clear and Light ICs Link to comment
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