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Sean Jacobs (Custom HiFi Cables) DC3/4


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There is actually more to the story and some future plans I’d like to get some feedback on. 

 

I left my system above with an Innuos Zenith SE kicking some serious ass. With the upgraded, optimised network I now had SJ power supplies from Modem to USB output and I was more that delighted with the result, which I considered to be some of the best sound I’d ever heard, anywhere. Clearly I could do better if I upgraded my room to a custom build and my speakers to some of Magico’s top of the range but why bother when every listening session was such a complete and total pleasure? The only thing was, my analog system was utterly redundant. Not as dynamic, not as rhythmical, not as holographic, not as pure, as transparent and without the ability to utterly grab your attention, it was no longer worth all the messing around with record and stylus cleaning or just handling vinyl records and super delicate styli in general.  When Innuos announced the release of the Statement I didn’t hesitate and traded in both the Zenith SE and the Michell. I kept the Zenith until the Statement delivered. For me the appeal of the Statement was in the engineering.  Specifically designed to minimize EMI and RFI, with in-house developed, SQ optimised InnuOS Op System, and genuinely genius topology for the clocks, customized MOBO and SJ designed power supplies, I believed the Statement to be a major step forward in server technology and I wasn’t wrong.  While the Zenith SE did everything right and lacked nothing in terms of SQ and was, in my opinion an almost perfect product for its price, the Statement added a whole plethora of musical qualities. The way that musicians played together was enhanced, subtle rhythmic interplays and nuances revealed and most difficult of all to describe, the genius and unique talent of musicians showcased as never before. The soundstage ceased to be a soundstage and became a recording venue or soundscape created by master recording engineers. Some soundscapes were like firework displays in terms of how sounds flew around, bloomed and decayed. Simple notes became glorious essays of percussive pinpoint source, bloom then directional decay into distant inky blackness.  Then I added some Chord individually screened umbillicals and yet another level of detail was revealed, notes sounding like they were ‘made by’ rather than ‘coming from’ instruments, the listener able to sense the trumpet or saxophone horns, the body of the guitar, the subtle mouth noises of singers, the ‘collectiveness’ of massed strings. I knew DC cables could make a difference, so I followed Nenon’s advice and tried some Ghent Audio Neotech UPOCC JSSG360’s, which again brought improvements in the focus and specificity of instruments. Indeed they brought such significant SQ improvements that I decided to take more of Nenon’s advice and try his Mundorf Silver/Gold JSSG360 cables . The result of this was to make my system spookily holographic with a level of transparency and purity I have never heard before. My system now transports the listener to fully developed recording venue or studio created soundscape that is totally and completely independent of the listening room, whose dimensions are no longer part of the sonic equation. The contradiction between visual and auditory is now so immense that you can only listen with eyes closed. The reason I mention all this is to give an appreciation of what happens when you improve your DC supplies. Normally, as a system improves, those improvements in SQ get harder and harder to come by. This does not seem to be the case with digital DC supplies. The better and more revealing my system gets, the greater the contribution of each improvement.  Frankly. Its hard to understand (at least for me) why a DC cable to a network switch should even be audible let alone make a night and day difference, until you consider that what a network switch is doing is actually modulating the DC power to create an analog representation of zeroes and ones. In that scenario, anything riding within the DC power is going to become part of the digital feed, to then interact with clocks and DAC’s. It therefore seems logical that the higher the DCs quality, the better the SQ. If you follow this concept, then it’s also perfectly logical for a better DC supply or cable to have a major effect on SQ.  If you continue with this argument, then adding a $3000 power supply and cable to an $800 switch would be entirely logical, as all you’ve essentially done, in terms of SQ is to create a $3,800 switch! 

So, back to my system and SJ’s Supplies, my next step is to once again follow Nenon’s advice and upgrade all my DC3s by adding Statement level transformers, Mundorf Silver/Gold DC cabling and DC4 regulators. At some point I may also consider substituting a Melco S100 switch for the AQVox SE , although I’d really only do this on a 30 day trial basis, given that my AQVox with its SJ power supply and Mundorf cable sounds nothing like the original OEM product. 

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46 minutes ago, magnuska said:

As I wrote earlier in this thread I have a dual rail DC-3 on order for delivery in July. For now its ordered without the addon with Mundorf caps. This addition costs 250GBP. What do you say? Is it worth it? Or would this money be better spent elsewhere, like upgraded DC cables? 

I will power the etherRegen with one rail 12volt and the other 7volt will power an Ideon audio USB regenerator. 

 

Cheers /Magnus

Hi Magnus, 

If I were in your shoes I’d go for the Mundorf caps now and add a DC cable later

Why?

  • The Mundorfs enhance SQ well in line with their costs, so are well worth the money
  • Adding Mundorfs later means sending your DC-3 to Sean, with the down time that involves for the upgrade plus shipping
  • It adds shipping $$$ and hassle
  • It means 2 lots of running in, which is a bit of an up, down, UP^ process as regards SQ
  • Its hassle free to upgrade the DC cables
  • It gives you the chance to build or buy DC cables using Nenon’s Mundorf silver/gold JSSG360 recipe which sound AMAZING with the DC3
  • Running in the DC cables also takes time but is more of an up, UP, UP^ process so not at all bothersome.   
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1 hour ago, TheAttorney said:

 

Sean's ultimate DC4 uses different caps. From his website...

 

"The new DC4 regulator design uses the very best components - we use a full set of Vishay Z-foil "naked" resistors for the regulator section, and extremely low noise resistors for the (non-critical) CX section and for one filter network of the regulator itself. We also now use Vishay bulk film capacitors for all decoupling duties, as well as some very special Audio Note KAISEI capacitors for all the important regulator module capacitors. These are a relatively new capacitor, designed by the same team behind the legendary Black Gate capacitors. The CX module uses the same Nichicon KZ "MUSE" capacitors as the DC3 design, as we found that the AN capacitors made no difference at all here."

 

The above implies that Sean thinks these new caps are better than the Mundorfs.

 

In my less sane moments, I've been considering getting a 3-rail DC4 to replace DAVE's built-in SMPS, as per Triode-User's review. If I do go down that route, I would try very hard to get Sean to up-front replace his Neotech copper wires with the Mundorf Silver/Golds - at least in all places after the regulator.

Objection!  As far as I understood in the full text, the DC4 uses the same Mundorf reservoir capacitors....twice as many as the DC3 in fact. The piece you quoted refers to the DC4’s regulator modules

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That’s not really how I would interpret it 😗 I don’t read any inference of the relative importance of reservoir vs regulator, just the fact that the very best capacitors have been used for each and every application.  The DC4 is more expensive because it is from the ground up a ‘cost-no-object’ design, where performance is the only criteria. If you were to make a list of where the extra money has gone vs a DC3 it would cover practically every single element including:

  • Circuit board materials, tracks etc
  • Circuit design, optimisation and additional circuitry
  • Componentry
  • Casework
  • Internal wiring
  • Connectors, sockets and plugs
  • Capacity, custom design and multi-level screening of the transformer
  • Rectification and reservoir capacitance design and increased current capacity
  • Vibration control and isolation for internal components 
  • Isolation from external vibration
  • EMI and RFI control 
  • And finally a little bit of branding with the Sean Jacobs logo 

Given the level of system improvement I got with the DC2 then DC3, I would expect, based on the above that the DC4 will deliver SQ improvements that represent excellent value compared to other items I could upgrade, for example speaker cables, amplifiers, DAC etc that would cost a lot more $$$$. Once this Covid pandemic has passed and I’m out of exile, I’ll be in a better position to judge 

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
5 hours ago, vutranchitam said:

Blackmorec, are you still using AQVOX SE + GIGAFOIL v4 power by DC3?

I’m using same combination as yours but without DC3 so i want to add LPS but Nenon advises me to change to M12 Switch + DC4 (remove Gigafoil v4 from the chain). How do think about this suggestion sir?

Hi Vutranchitam ,

 

Yes I’m still using an AQVox SE powered by DC3 but don’t have nor have ever used a Gigafoil V4, so I can’t really comment. However I’ve followed Nenon’s advice on a number of occasions and its always proven to be spot on. The M12 with DC4 sounds like a winning combination if you want the ultimate in network switches and power supplies. Nenon has a lot of experience in this regard so I’d have no reason to doubt the veracity of his advice.  In my experience a great switch combined with a great power supply can deliver stunningly good results, often beyond even very optimistic expectations. 

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