Dicky Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I rarely post and this is my first OP but I'd like to make a case for what I believe is an extraordinary DAC at an incredible value. There's a 2 year old thread on this DAC at Audiogon but as I have no posting history there I thought this would be the more appropriate place to share my thoughts. Simply put, this is a killer DAC. I took receipt of it 2 days ago and with only 8 hours of playing time it has performed far beyond what I would have thought possible for a $2500 purchase. It's replacing an Ayre Codex and, frankly, there's no comparison. The tone, imaging and dynamics of what the Audio Mirror produces is superb and light years ahead of what I've had before (including an Exogal). I'd be interested to hear other impressions, particularly from those who may have heard the Audio Mirror compared to a Lampizator, a Mojo Mystique, etc. Without personally hearing the aforementioned DACs I can't comment comment on the Audio Mirror's performance relative to much higher priced DACs but I know what I'm hearing is very special. A Terry London review at Stereo Times (http://v2.stereotimes.com/post/audio-mirror-tubadour-iii-se-nos-tube-dac-by-terry-london/) mirrors my thoughts. Vlad, the owner of Audio Mirror, also makes an incredible Mono Block SET amp that has been enthusiastically reviewed. He's based in Minnesota, a pleasure to deal with, and deserves, to my mind, the support of those who value beautiful sound. Link to comment
k27R Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I also have one of these and yes, it is quite good! Replaced my Audio Note UK 2.1x Signature and Chord Hugo TT I had previously Link to comment
Dicky Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share Posted October 30, 2020 Well, that confirms what I'm hearing. Particularly the replacing the Audio Note part. I'll live with the DAC a few more weeks before offering any more thoughts on its sound qualities, as it reportedly benefits from a fair amount of hours to get all the way there. Link to comment
mevdinc Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 This DAC also interests me, would be interesting to read more user experiences and comments. mevdinc.com (My autobiography) Recently sold my ATC EL 150 Actives! Link to comment
Audiophile53 Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 I own the Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE and I find it to be a very musical DAC. It is also built with high quality components and expensive capacitors. Link to comment
Chorus Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 I just took delivery of the $1500 model a few days ago. After getting some hours on it I love it. Vlad says it can be upgraded so now I am very tempted. Ideas? Link to comment
Audiophile53 Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 I bought my Tubadour with all the upgrades at the outset so I can't speak to the difference but I can tell you that Vlad has obviously heard both and he suggests the upgrades so I would not hesitate to upgrade the DAC. This DAC is very musical and analog like. I play vinyl with high end equipment and the Tubadour gives it a run for the money. Go for it. Link to comment
RDSChicago Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 I have the upgraded SE model. I just wanted to sing Vlad’s praises. The left RCA output wasn’t working. Vlad kindly not only paid for round trip shipping but quickly repaired the DAC free of charge. From Vlad: “It was something really simple. The center pin of the RCA was pushed in. I replaced both RCAs with silver ones. I also installed better filtering caps on the USB input which should give you better sound from USB. Sorry for the troubles.” Not only is this a great DAC but Vlad provided stellar customer service! Kudos to Vlad. Link to comment
Chorus Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 RDS, I was told by several people that he more CS oriented than he probably should be. Thanks for the good word! Link to comment
Topk Posted April 20, 2021 Share Posted April 20, 2021 On 10/27/2020 at 3:52 AM, k27R said: I also have one of these and yes, it is quite good! Replaced my Audio Note UK 2.1x Signature and Chord Hugo TT I had previously Hello! Wow. I wanted to buy the AN 2.1x signature actually! How would you compare both? Very very surprised the tubadour is better, can you please give more details on the differences and why you prefer the tubadour. I’m genuinely interested. Thank you very much in advance! Link to comment
Popular Post k27R Posted April 21, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted April 21, 2021 They're on similar levels, I'd say. The AN could just more finicky with tubes and cables. I had the most current version of the 2.1x Sig, purchased new from an AD, lived with it for about a year but I never gelled with it... even with my full AN system at the time. Had a big dynamic sound, but definitely not the most resolving and a little too forward for my taste. Found it to be very sensitive to the 6922 tubes and power cable, and I don't think ever landed on a good musical combination. It was always a bit dry sounding to me. Perhaps if I tried more, I would've landed on something good. Tubadour III SE with its stock tubes is very good as-is (I've tried others). More details, better layering, and more natural harmonics come through with this DAC. More musical overall. I've found it to also be sensitive to power cables though. With that said, I also have a Holo May KTE on order :) I'm expecting it to be better. I may or may not keep the Tubadour for the second system! Topk and shahed99 1 1 Link to comment
Chorus Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 I have a friend who recently bought the May++ top of line $5k+. I plan to visit him in the next few months and bring mine for a comparison. I would expect at 3x the price his should be a lot better. Interesting your AN experience. I know someone with a 4.1? kit AN DAC he wants $3k for. He wants to build the 5.0 Kit now. Vlad has experimented with his offering long enough to have setup the right tube and chip. I think the AN uses the same AD1865 chip, correct? Link to comment
Topk Posted April 21, 2021 Share Posted April 21, 2021 5 hours ago, Chorus said: I have a friend who recently bought the May++ top of line $5k+. I plan to visit him in the next few months and bring mine for a comparison. I would expect at 3x the price his should be a lot better. Interesting your AN experience. I know someone with a 4.1? kit AN DAC he wants $3k for. He wants to build the 5.0 Kit now. Vlad has experimented with his offering long enough to have setup the right tube and chip. I think the AN uses the same AD1865 chip, correct? Yes, same chip. You can also use this chip in the Aqua La Voce s2 DAC as optional board. Link to comment
k27R Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 On 4/20/2021 at 9:01 PM, Chorus said: I have a friend who recently bought the May++ top of line $5k+. I plan to visit him in the next few months and bring mine for a comparison. I would expect at 3x the price his should be a lot better. Interesting your AN experience. I know someone with a 4.1? kit AN DAC he wants $3k for. He wants to build the 5.0 Kit now. Vlad has experimented with his offering long enough to have setup the right tube and chip. I think the AN uses the same AD1865 chip, correct? Vlad also uses some high end parts in the SE version, so its quite good. Can't comment on Audio Note Kits since its quite different from Audio Note UK, but with the latter, they uses better and better parts as you go up the line. It's gets expensive, but in my experience the jump in performance at each level is significant. Link to comment
Chorus Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 I am now 6 months into ownership of Vlad's DAC. He now offers a rechecking upgrade that I took advantage of this month. I am also rebuilding my primary speaker's XOs so I will have to report back later with results. Link to comment
Audiophile53 Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 What is a rechecking upgrade? Link to comment
Chorus Posted August 8, 2021 Share Posted August 8, 2021 Oh Sorry. Rechecking is when you should have proofed your post because the word you used is not in the dictionary. Link to comment
Audiophile53 Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Rechecking was your word. "I am now 6 months into ownership of Vlad's DAC. He now offers a rechecking upgrade that I took advantage of this month." Link to comment
RDSChicago Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 I bet he meant reclocking?? Link to comment
Dicky Posted August 27, 2021 Author Share Posted August 27, 2021 Having started this thread 10 months ago, I had been very much still enjoying the Tubadour until this week when one of the tubes went bad. Has anyone replaced tubes in this DAC? If so, how? They appear to be soldered. The task looks daunting but perhaps it's easier than I'm imagining. Any advice would be much appreciated. Link to comment
Chorus Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 Dicky, Put it back into Vlads box. Send it back and pay for the repair. This isn't YouTube my friend! Link to comment
k27R Posted August 27, 2021 Share Posted August 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Dicky said: Having started this thread 10 months ago, I had been very much still enjoying the Tubadour until this week when one of the tubes went bad. Has anyone replaced tubes in this DAC? If so, how? They appear to be soldered. The task looks daunting but perhaps it's easier than I'm imagining. Any advice would be much appreciated. They're two tubes each soldered into a 9-pin base. Just order replacements from Vlad. He'll provide them soldered onto the base already, so you'll just need to pop out the old assembled tubes and pop in the replacements.. Nenon 1 Link to comment
Dicky Posted August 28, 2021 Author Share Posted August 28, 2021 Thanks, k27R. I'm emailing Vlad now. Link to comment
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