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Anyone try the Jasmine LP2.0SE?

I have a Ray Sammuels Nighthawk battery operated phono pre which is a pretty darn good performer. It took me some cartridge and cable juggling and a whole lot of tweaking around, but I managed to achieve a musical synergy with it with one of the amps (a modified Dynaco ST-70) I have on hand.

As good as I can get it to sound with the el34 amp, however, I've been striking out with the battery operated phono pre and a solid state amplifier in the loop (both Firstwatt F1 & F1J) with all else equal.

The Jasmine is pretty much at the same price point and I'm wondering whether anyone can offer any feedback on it. Someone who has steered me very right in the past with speakers and amplification dubbed it a giant killer and claims it killed a Manley Steelhead in his own rig--yet there is little info on it out there...

The things I really like about the NH are its transparency, dynamics, dead quiet (so long as placed away from noisy electronics) and versatility. What I wouldn't mind improving on are harmonic density and centering the balance a bit which might be tipped northward a tad.

FWIW I'm using a Well Tempered Reference and Zu 103 cart (after much juggling the low compliance high mass Zu is doing me well in this position--I also have a 103D in a box).

Can anyone offer feedback on it? If its such a great performer why has it gone unnoticed?
gopher
birddogthecat's avatar
birddogthecat
46 posts
 
The MKII replaces & upgrades the SE. Read email sent to me by distributor:

"There are two major changes.

One is that old integrated RCA terminals are changed to independent better RCA terminals, then there is more space between the terminals for letting audiophile to connect thicker signal cable.

Two is that some of the main capacitors are upgraded from +/-10% precision to +/-5%.

In my listen feeling, the basic properties of sound is no change, only the S/N ratio has a small range of improvement. This change can be measured with the instrument, but hard to be heard by ear. Except you own a pair of golden ear."
birddogthecat's avatar
birddogthecat
46 posts
 
Gopher,

No luck whatsoever in locating replacement connectors for the umbilical DC power supply. It may be necessary to replace both the female (mounted on the chassis) and male connectors with one of the Cardas or other manufacturerÂ’s parts.

I will look further into the matter over the 2 week Christmas Break from teaching that begins Friday. If I come up with anything, I will post.

Christopher
gopher OP
499 posts
 
I have a source for the connectors. They are $10 with a minimum shipping cost of $16 (smallest weight DHL).

If anyone wants in, we can put an order of a few together to make it worthwhile...

I figure $15 a person would be fair?

Drop me an email.
redglobe
223 posts
 
Dear Gopher,

I replaced the 1uf capacitors with Jantzen Superior Z-caps of the same value. I experienced no loss in sonic quality. Everything was to the positive: like lifting a veil off the upper mids and high end. I am completely thrilled with the results. The caps cost $25. I used solder braid to remove the original solder and silver solder for the new caps.

You will need to desolder the voltage supply and the ground. Just premark the wires so you get the reconnection correct. Also, note the position of the input setting.

Humble Hifi reviews these capacitors along with many others under the section Cap Test. It is very informative.

Did the DC connectors have a marked improvement in sound?
redglobe
223 posts
 
Dear Gopher,

Clarification of my response: The Jantzen caps are a neutral sonic device, as they should be. The concept is to allow the music signal to pass through cleanly without distortion or coloration. That is what I hear with the modification.

As explained to me by experts in the audio design field: Lower quality caps have gaps in their windings that induce distortion. The Jantzen Superior Z caps are highly precision wound and provide clean transmission of the signal.
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