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Audio note Dac question

Hi

I don't hear much talk on the Gon about the Audio Note Dac kits. I know they may be a bit dated but they still look interesting to me. I am in the market for a new dac and really like building kits when ever I can. I was considering either the 2.1 or the 3.1 kit. If anyone can shed some light on them it would be a great help.

I am also considering the Benchmark Dac 1 usb. I had one when they first came out with the NE5555 opamps and ended up selling it. I wasn't that impressed with it at the time, then again the system I have now is much better than what I had. I have also heard they sound better with the LM4562 opamps.

Thanks for the help
Frank
128x128fc911c
grateful's avatar
grateful
104 posts
 
On another inspection of the kit web site, I see the 2.1 kit can be had in 12AU7 drivers instead of the 6922 - this may be of interest. I use 12AU7 Mullard “long plate square getter” in my MP3 preamp and love them, plus I believe 12AU7 are more competitively priced than comparable 6922 tubes - anyway, my 2 cent

My DAC board uses 5687 drive tubes (kit 2.1 c / 3.1 +) and I use 7119 Amperex lovingly.
fc911c's avatar
fc911c OP
44 posts
 
Thanks Grateful for all the info.
rodge827's avatar
rodge827
621 posts
 
anyone else on the AN Dac??

Yes
I had a very tricked out 2.1b Signature AN Kits Dac. AN silver outputcaps,6922 tubes, upgraded BG caps on the digital board, and seriously upgraded BG caps on the M2 power supply board. I had the Dac for about two years and had to sell it for financial reasons last summer. Makes me sick everytime I think about it! AN Kits Dac's really do offer a very real alternative or compliment to vinyl.
Good Luck,

Rodge
fc911c's avatar
fc911c OP
44 posts
 
Thanks Rodge, sorry you had to part with it. Exactly what caps were changed on the M2 board?
rodge827's avatar
rodge827
621 posts
 
Fc911c,
Sorry for the late response. I'm not sure of the values of the caps as I did not build the dac. Since I suck with a solder gun, I had the dac built by a friend who has the same unit. He is very "secretive" about what he does, and therefore wont tell me of the caps used. I went through the pics that I had and couldn't make out the values. My thought would be to ask Brian Smith the values on the new upgraded M2 board and replace them with Black Gates. When my dac was built Brian was only offering the standard M2 board with smaller caps. Hence the upgrade to larger BG's.
Rodge
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