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New Luxman DA-06 doesnt sound so great. Will it get better?

Hi, I recently received a Luxman DA-06 dac (new, gray market Japan import) and it the sound doesnt seem to have any life.  It sounds a bit dull, uninvolving, and just low fidelity.  The best way can explain it is that it sounds like when a phono cartridge has a bad impedance mismatch with a preamp or if the signal gain is too high and it is clipping .  The unit only has less than 15 hours on it.  I wanted to know if this is normal and it would clear itself up or I have received a bad unit.  I have tried it in 2 different systems and it sounds the same. I have tried both outputs, balanced and unbalanced.  I have read this dac requires 100s of hours break in time and I hope the sound improves.  Anyone has any experience with this and could share their thoughts?  I would greatly appreciate it.  
audioman2015
lynott
87 posts
 
If it requires hundreds of hours of break-in (per Luxman, I assume?), then give it the required time, and you should be rewarded for your patience. The Isotek/Esoteric burn-in disc is a useful tool.

Don't give up on it yet!
audioman2015 OP
103 posts
 
100s of hours is what I read on forums with owners of the DA-06, not sure what Luxman's policy is regarding burn in.  Ive had very good luck with gray market imports.  There is no reason for me to believe that this is a counterfeit.  The build quality is outstanding, came with paperwork, and the insides are genuine.  Yes, I opened it up and took a good look inside.  Heck if this was a counterfeit, why would they waste their time doing that when they could be designing their own equipment because they are that good!  
paul79
174 posts
 
Wouldn't surprise me if that step down wasn't killing the music....

If it was me, I would see about sending it in to Luxman to get the right transformer put in it for your voltage requirement.
audioman2015 OP
103 posts
 
Yeah I read much about using step down transformers.  Some say it degrades the music quality others say it increases it.  There are several transformers from the plant to my home, not sure why another one would degrade the quality.  I dont see how but I could always put a scope to the 100v to see if there excess noise or a distorted waveform.  I will do that during the week, we have some nice Tektronix scopes at work.  
paul79
174 posts
 
You can’t compare the power grid setup to what you have there. It is all about having low impedance power delivery for digital gear IME, so that transformer really cannot help things.... You need fast current delivery for these high speed digital devices.
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