Paaf's

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-02-22 18:40

Hello, I am new here.

(I am currently looking for a 2nd hand Linn DS, as source!)

Sources:
Systemdek I 900 + AT110
Rotel CD... old price winner
TV+Bluray too (Panasonic 3D Plasma blabla)

Amps:
Linn Wakonda (Brilliant Slimline PS)
Linn Majik 2100 (Dynamik PS)

Speakers:
Dahlquist DQ-8

Weird? :)

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2012-02-22 18:45

Welcome!

Thought about a Majik DSM and replace the Wakonda as well?

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-02-22 18:59

Thanks!

Yes, that is a good suggestion. I might beat myself up for just getting the 2100 though. :)

How is the RIAA in MDSM compared to Wakonda? The Wakonda RIAA was a sweet improvement from my HK6800 amp.

anthony · Post by **anthony** » 2012-02-22 20:41

Paaf wrote:Thanks!

Yes, that is a good suggestion. I might beat myself up for just getting the 2100 though. :)

How is the RIAA in MDSM compared to Wakonda? The Wakonda RIAA was a sweet improvement from my HK6800 amp.

The RIAA benefits from the Dynamik ps, it is very good.

Another option, depends on budget is an ADSM.

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-02-22 23:19

If there were 2nd hand ADSMs around, that would be a great choice. Maybe next year..

If I get a MDS or ADS, do I have to upgrade also my preamp? Gaah. :)

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-06 00:14

I have a Panasonic 3D-Bluray player that I use as CD-player nowadays... (don't kill me pleeease!). Actually it performs better than my prizewinner Rotel which now again sits in shame in the closet..

I was playing around with cables, and tried a few random I have, one thick Audioquest, another noname OFC one etc. I discovered that I got a LOT better sound with Linn Black... WOW! It lifted a huge heavy veil, and there was details, air, warmth, and... music!

I was playing a CD which always sounded very boring and dull, despite me usually liking that kind of music. This time I was moved emotionally and understood the music better - and my GF came into the room saying spontaneously "what a nice song!". Cool stuff.

(Wakonda goes via another Black into the M2100).

Which speaker cable would you suggest between my Linn M2100 and my old Dahlquist DQ8 speakers? K20? K400? With/without biwiring?

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2012-03-06 10:09

K400 is better than K20, but obviously more visible too.

As you're not too far from Fredrik, he does some very nice K400 cut in half which is what I use. It's more tuneful and dynamic than my old K600 terminated here in the UK, although that wasn't using the superior Linn Knekt terminals. I put some photos here:

http://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewtopi ... ght=banana

This is particularly worth reading too:
http://www.lejonklou.com/?page=45

Single vs Bi-wiring seems to be speaker dependent. I prefer single on my 140s. I think Fredrik has stated here that he prefers single on his 109s. Both Anthony and Fredrik prefer bi-wiring 242s.

Post by **lejonklou** » 2012-03-06 13:07

Charlie1 wrote:Both Anthony and Fredrik prefer bi-wiring 242s.

I haven't yet evaluated this in a proper way, so I can't say which I prefer.

The more wires, the bigger the sound gets. But it also becomes less homogenic. In addition, the multi-cabling can often not be terminated in the same optimal way as a single cable can.

It seems there is no short cut to evaluating the available options by ear.

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2012-03-06 13:14

Appologies Fredrik - got my wires crossed there.

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-06 23:05

My current speaker cable, anyone recognize what they are and do you know if they are any good? I think they cost 1350 SEK (some 12-15 years ago).

[Edit: resized the photo down to 100KB instead of the ridiculously large 2.5MB.]

ThomasOK · Post by **ThomasOK** » 2012-03-07 00:17

It looks likely to be some version of Kimber cable to me. I haven't done direct comparisons but I doubt it would compete effectively with K20 or K400 musically.

ChrBea · Post by **ChrBea** » 2012-03-07 10:49

Looks like the old Kimber 4TC to me. Personally I don't like their sound. I'd try K400, or QED (Original) for a low-budget alternative

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-07 12:02

Thank you all! I remember they opened up the sound, more clear treble etc, but on the other hand I upgraded from power cables used as speaker cables. :)

The QED you suggested is approx £6/m, and I'd need approx 5m total. Should I just use them without banana plugs?

I know it's probably funny someone asking this, but how are the Clas Olsson speaker cables of various gauge? I only ask because of some comments that some of their power cables are OK. Speaker cables are £10-20 for 10m (which would enable bi-wire experiment too).

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2012-03-07 12:06

What mains cables are you using Paaf?

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-07 12:19

The Wakonda I think has original. The M2100 uses some generic I had left over from some failing computer equipment. Even if the UK seller hadn't forgotten to put the cable in the box, it would be of little use here in Sweden.

Charlie1 · Post by **Charlie1** » 2012-03-07 12:21

Paaf wrote:The M2100 uses some generic I had left over from some failing computer equipment. Even if the UK seller hadn't forgotten to put the cable in the box, it would be of little use here in Sweden.

OK, you might want to read through this thread then...

http://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewtopi ... ight=mains

This is the main post though if you want a shortcut version:

Hugo wrote:I think I should post the results of my experiences with Klimax Kontrol, Klimax DS and Unisisk 1.1: Things are not always as the seem to be...

I had my Klimax Kontrol checked by my dealer and he did not find any fault in it, it sounded perfect (compared with his KK). So I had to check anything that was left and found the issue in the power cable.

The power cable I used with my KK was a "non-Linn" standard cable that had the Linn-standard ICE-plug and cable but a different power plug. I must have messed up the cable as I changed my TV set months ago. Now with the Linn power cable my KK sounds much better again - and you can clearly hear the difference between DS and 1.1!

So leassons learned:
(1) Do only use Linn cables or plugs (or others that you have very carefully tested).
(2) Do not underestimate the importance of even the smallest parts of a Linn system - they can significantly decrease the overall performance.
(3) Do not mess cables up ...

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-07 18:19

Surprising. Easy upgrade, though! I suspected I would sooner or later replace the power cable, but had thought it would be just a "final touch" or "last few %" fix after I fixed other things, such as a weird speaker issue - not to mention getting a proper source.

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-08 00:18

And on to the speakers...

I have known for quite a while that one of my speakers has some problem. I thought that the tweeter is somehow broken, not 100% since it still obviously plays, but less "air", less details etc. It was placed in a corner which can cause strange effects, but...

Yesterday I swapped places of the speakers, and the problem moved. Now the difference was different, "bad" one had less details in general, especially midrange.. Odd.

Next step would be to unsolder both tweeters and swap them to find if it's the crossover filter or the tweeter which is banged up, before buying tweeters. But soldering my precious speakers... no, first another test...

I removed the jumper on the bi-wire/amp connectors on the speaker. Amp into tweeters only. Weird, it sounded almost identical on both. Then bass only, and now I noticed that the "bad" one has less deep bass and less details, basically just like a cheaper speaker. I swapped between only tweeters and only bass several times with different music and after a while I suspect that there s a SMALL difference between the tweeters in details, and a more noticeble difference between the bass elements. Uuuuh. Both broken?!

If it had been ONLY the bass, then perhaps I could get away with only replacing something in the bass crossover filter. Perhaps an electrolyte capacitor got old. But could BOTH crossover filters on only ONE speaker be bad? Seems unlikely.. So perhaps both tweeter and bass element on it are banged up. Or...

Really, it will be too much time and money to change both bass and tweeter AND then still maybe have a crossover problem. I love the speakers but... not that much.

Any ideas?

[EDIT:
I digged into the speaker late yesterday, and found no crossover electrolyte capacitors, however of course other capacitors. These also age I guess, and they ARE after all 20yo. Isn't it unusual that it only happened to one of the two speakers?
One theory I have is that the tweeter and bass share (at least) one degraded capacitor, which therefore affects the sound of both tweeter and bass. Perhaps it's common. It would also explain what I read somewhere that these speakers are prepared for bi-wiring not bi-amping.]

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-08 13:03

Crossover filter:

The black ones are some kind of capacitors, the coils are pretty obvious indeed, but what's the yellow can? 10K what?

[EDIT: I have learned that it's just a cap, special made for Dahlquist. 10K means microfarad. I reverse-engineered it to be for the bass, so now I just have to find a replacement, usually £5-20.]

Post by **lejonklou** » 2012-03-08 18:15

How do you know that cap is faulty? Looks like a plastic film to me, which hardly ages at all.

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-09 01:58

Odd. Then I have no clue right now..

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-10 22:52

Swapping the bass elements had no effect, implying it must be the crossover. Visit to a local shop, got a replacement cap, plus the series resistor just in case. Total cost 50kr!

Including some useful hints.

Several hours frustrating work later and YES! Speakers are now in perfect order! *PHEW*

:-D

EDIT: Imagine if I had bought and replaced the tweeters, as was my original theory... lol!

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-15 16:51

Big upgrade!

Seller will send my Linn Majik DSi / D tomorrow from the UK.

What cables are usually included with the Majik DSi? Any digital or analogue IC?

Paaf · Post by **Paaf** » 2012-03-22 12:14

Yesterday I installed my Majik DS-i/D. Awesome!

Both analogue input from TV and Bluray is significantly better than M2100+Wak, and sound from turntable even more so. I expected a small upgrade but not this much, so it was a nice bonus. (Cudos to charlie1 and anthony!)

By the time I had everything running with the DS-part I was getting a bit exhausted, but it works and sounds good too. Good mp3s sound better than bad FLACs. Probably the difference is in the music production which no equipment can fix.

Is the headphone part of the Wakonda better than that of the MDSM? It seems so to me, so far.

Thanks