DK Design VS.1 Reference mkII - Optimization

I found that tube rolling made a big difference, but the choice of tube preference depended on equipment and also personal preference in sound.

Also, I found that leaving it on virtually all the time made a big difference. It takes many hours to warm up. To play it in the morning turn it on in the evening.

Art

I have to agree with Art it sounds much better when left on. Besides tube rolling (I use Mullards)I put ERS cloth around and on top of the transformers which helped flesh-out the midrange and opened the soundstage noticeably. Check out www.Tweekgeek.com for the ERS cloth.

Sbayne, interesting especially considering the didgital metered display which may be a source of rfi interacting with the transformers.
On the inside rear panel, do you think the speaker output wiring proximity to the preamp tubes might cause any interactions?
Also stock power cord or? Mine did not come with the factory ac cord so I am needing to find something synergistic that moves the performance in the right direction.

Jomoinc, ERS cloth on the output wiring may help - I will may try that. The power cord makes a significant difference too. I was using a ZCable Cyclone for awhile which sounded VERY nice which it should since it cost more than the amp. I now use a ZCable black lightning which solidified the bass a little more and took that last bit of edge off the upper mids and lower treble which may have been tube glare in my system. I've also used SignalCables basic power cable on it which was ok but it didn't control the bass as well as the ZCable black lightning.

One tweak that I tried that makes a BIG difference is playing the amp with the cover off. When the cover is on, electromagnetic waves bounce off the metal and back into the amplifiers circuitry. When the cover is off, you will be surprised how much better it sounds.