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In the Forum: Didital Things
In the Thread: The Lavry Gold DA924 ++
Post Subject: The truly amassing result with the New Lavry.Posted by Romy the Cat on: 3/29/2008

I never hit such a huge jackpot as I just did with the Lavry DA-924. The most funny in that even that I did it absolutely blindly. I had some minor beef with DA-924 sound: upperbass/lower midrange and the slightly too much extended HF (very very clean HF however). I even experimented with HF passive filters after the DA-924 to slightly roll it off (as Pacific did). I did not dream that my minor parts swapping in the DAC PS will address both of the DA-924 in such a perfect way. However there is more to it.

DA-924 did very fine imaging and did OK all those “space” tricks. It was not the best DAC I have seen in term of space but it was still good. Well, if it was able do not screw up the “space”  of Sansui TU-1X running live broadcast then what else you can expect from a pieces of electronics – it does not get more “space” then that.  However, with slightly coming down in HF extension (always good for digital in my books) and obtaining the necessary weight in lower mid range the DA924 suddenly throw such a firework of “space” that it is shocked my believe in capacity of DIGITAL and this DAC particularly to the very foundation.

This Friday I left for work I setup my recording system to record the Friday matinee live broadcast from my local Symphony Hall. Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink led Boston Symphony with Bartók's Piano Concerto No.3, played by András Schiff. However my major objective to record was the second part – the Schubert's Symphony in C, The Great. I got home when WHRB just finished the live airing. I played the recording. The Schubert's was quite good. It was not the best I have heard but it was live and you can’t listen the Schubert work in studio sound – it just does not work for me with the “The Great”. BSO, screw up here and there but Haitink managed to get out of BSO the “large” sound that is VERY difficult for BSO. The BSO’s Symphony Hall is basically is a large garage and BSO hardly ever sounds “wide” and “large”. I know where microphones hanging in Symphony Hall and I know how BSO sounds during the live transmissions. Haitink did made BSO to sound “wide” and “large”. It was good Schubert's The Great… I did listen if and then later on on Friday I modified the DA-924 power supply.

I listened the “new” DA924++ driver from my CD transport and was very-very pleased with what I heard. Then, today, I decided to see what will be if feed the DA924++  with my FM broadcasts recorded files. The Schubert's The Great was already loaded in my WaveLab and I played it. Honestly I did not expect that is will be so stunningly different. It was not juts “wide” and “large” but it was intolerably spacious and enormously large.  It was so gigantic and colossal that the first I did was … stopped play, take my phase tester and re-check the polarity of the drivers. Of cause the drivers were fine but Macondo in it’s current position juts was not able to built a proper image of this size. I know that Nichikon KZ do very funky things with imaging for the first 30 days (that I expected) but not like that! The Symphony Hall’s garage got converted into open Concertgebouw stage and the sound of BSO became so much spread in huge space that it more sounded like Hector Berlioz conducted his infamous 1200-musician orchestra with 600 violinist and 250 cellists. The Schubert's work sound like from no-were, like the BSO just flew up and were playing in air – and it is all with absolutely defined imaging and very fine caring about the relation between the separate instruments and the sections. It was just simply amazing!

Well, if it goes like this down the road I will be forced to make some decisions about the DACs I use… Meanwhile I took some measures enabling Lavry DA-924 to run 24/7 (like my Bidat does)…

The caT

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