Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11 launched

Got mine today not sure of all the hook ups. it will be hooked up to the PC and to my current Jolinda Cd player and Melody H34 amp
 
Just got mine opened up and I put in a Bugle Boy 6DJ8. I'll be checking it out shortly.

One Warning!!!!

Mine was set to 220v, double check for correct line voltage before powering up.
 
There should be a a quick instruction sheet in the package with the warning to set the to the right voltage before running.

Should look like this, where you can see the 115v on the switch for Canada and the US:
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Cheers,
Ian
 
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Come on Ian, how many of us do you think will be reading that prior to power up?

First impression is that it has less gain than the -09, which is great for my application.

I'm listening to "Muddy Springs Road" by Omar and the Howlers right now, which is a good test with a strong bass, dominant organ, and crunchy blues guitar. I'm running lossless files from my Mac Mini into the optical input. Pretty good so far!
 
I plan on using using one of the switched outlets on the back of my pre-amp instead of fishing around in the back. I must agree though on the back certainly doesn't seem to be the best place for an on off switch.:no:

More than one of my Mac computers have power switches on the back. And those are not easily found. This one will be easier. If an old man like me with very rough fingers can find the Mac switches, this will be a cake walk seeing they are roughly the same size. (Say 7x7x3)

Hey Ian....are these coming with or without tubes? DJ8's are in short supply at my house for some reason. And I HATE buying the new versions of these tubes. Not sure what I have in the other ones listed. Have to crack open my cases to see what I have.
 
Come on Ian, how many of us do you think will be reading that prior to power up?

First impression is that it has less gain than the -09, which is great for my application.

I'm listening to "Muddy Springs Road" by Omar and the Howlers right now, which is a good test with a strong bass, dominant organ, and crunchy blues guitar. I'm running lossless files from my Mac Mini into the optical input. Pretty good so far!

Ever plug something 115v into 230v?, things get toasted real quick. When set to 230v and plugged into 115v it just won't work, no damage. Yes I understand some won't read anything when getting new toy :), hence the 230v, which is why we asked for them to be set at 230v so that we don't have toasted new TubeDAC-11's across the ponds.

Volume control should have more low level volume range control than the 09 for most and no indents this time. We do listen :)

Cheers,
Ian

please do check voltage switch first
 
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More than one of my Mac computers have power switches on the back. And those are not easily found. This one will be easier. If an old man like me with very rough fingers can find the Mac switches, this will be a cake walk seeing they are roughly the same size. (Say 7x7x3)

The position of the switch right next to the IEC is a piece of cake for me. I don't turn things off very often anyway.



Hey Ian....are these coming with or without tubes?

They are coming with a Chinese 6n11 or something like that. Check your gmail PMs......


Ever plug something 115v into 230v?, things get toasted real quick. When set to 230v and plugged into 115v it just won't work, no damage. Yes I understand some won't read anything when getting new toy :), hence the 230v, which is why we asked for them to be set at 230v so that we don't have toasted new TubeDAC-09's across the ponds.

Understood!



Volume control should have more low level volume range control than the 09 for most and no indents this time. We do listen :)

This does work much better for me. Pretty much the full range of the volume control is usable!


please do check voltage switch first
 
More than one of my Mac computers have power switches on the back. And those are not easily found. This one will be easier. If an old man like me with very rough fingers can find the Mac switches, this will be a cake walk seeing they are roughly the same size. (Say 7x7x3)

Hey Ian....are these coming with or without tubes? DJ8's are in short supply at my house for some reason. And I HATE buying the new versions of these tubes. Not sure what I have in the other ones listed. Have to crack open my cases to see what I have.

They come with a 6N11 tube, a decent sounding tube, I'm sure there will be all sorts of tube rolling options from AKers.

Don't forget, 50 hour burn (with music) already done, so get 50 more hours on the stock tube so that you always have the reference of how it sounds stock on the tube outputs.

Cheers,
Ian
 
Ugh.. Looks like my unit was delivered, but my neighbor signed for it. I wish delivery companies wouldnt do that. now I have to try to get hold neighbor Bob. now I have to wait. I hate waiting.
 
Yay, got my unit this afternoon from Bob! lol. just starting out listening, and so far so good. one disappointing thing though. for some reason, the unit will not sit flat on a table. its like one of the "legs" is the wrong size. or customs bent the whole thing. which is unlikely.

I'll try swapping the rubber feet around to see if that helps. a surprising discovery indeed.
 
Also got mine in today. Just had a short listening session but certainly quite favorable. Instruments and singers seem to be separated more instead of being clumped together. And the tube does seem to take the edge of the digital harshness. There's also more gain than I had with my cd player; not that I needed it. One other thing I noticed is while it does help make a crappy cd sound better you can still tell it's a crappy recording.
I do have a question though; I wonder which is the preferred method of hookup? I'm using the co-ax right now but I'm wondering if the optical would be even better?
 
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Dac-11

Received my DAC-11 and satisfied with the result. Just want to know if it's okey to hook up a powered subwoofer with one input using a Y cable to accommodate DAC's line output.
 
Received my DAC-11 and satisfied with the result. Just want to know if it's okey to hook up a powered subwoofer with one input using a Y cable to accommodate DAC's line output.

Most will use the SS (line out) outputs for the sub and the Tube outputs for the mains. Likely no problem using a Y from the Tube outputs if you want.

Cheers,
Ian
 
Also got mine in today. Just had a short listening session but certainly quite favorable. Instruments and singers seem to be separated more instead of being clumped together. And the tube does seem to take the edge of the digital harshness. There's also more gain than I had with my cd player; not that I needed it. One other thing I noticed is while it does help make a crappy cd sound better you can still tell it's a crappy recording.
I do have a question though; I wonder which is the preferred method of hookup? I'm using the co-ax right now but I'm wondering if the optical would be even better?

You have both cables included, if you have source that outputs both, hook them up and have a listen. All that you can expect with crappy recordings is to hopefully make it listenable, nothing is going to make it a great recording :)

Cheers,
Ian
 
Most will use the SS (line out) outputs for the sub and the Tube outputs for the mains. Likely no problem using a Y from the Tube outputs if you want.

Cheers,
Ian

Actually I read the question as going from the stereo out of the -11 and going 2 into 1 to the mono input of the sub.

Maybe I'm wrong, but just in case. Tying the outputs together might not be a good thing.
 
using DAC-11 line output into mono powered subwoofer

I've wanted to try but I'm worried something might happen with the DAC-11. Just in case, is it covered with warranty?
 
I've wanted to try but I'm worried something might happen with the DAC-11. Just in case, is it covered with warranty?

Go for it and if it blows up, we'll repair it and tell others not to do that :) I'm 99% sure that it will be fine. Don't have stereo to mono cable or meter leads like that here to test it with.

thanks specialidiot, I had misread andyboy's post, I think.

Cheers,
Ian
 
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