Zyx Universe. O.24 mv vs .48 mv with low eff spkrs

Al - I'm having the V2 upgrades being done by Lou at the moment (I found a great deal on a used pair)

I will definitely look into the jumpers

I've been so enamored by the original Universe I can't imagine what a ii will do.

I recently did Thom Mackris' Galibier upgrades - armboard and new motor pod. Thom really nailed it with both of those, low level detail, tight focus, dead solid

Thanks for the update, Tom. I recall, as you're probably aware, that Thom uses the Ulysses as his reference speakers.

Enjoy! Regards,
-- Al

Al

love your room - that wood looks gorgeous with the Ulysses

I first heard the Daedalus in 2011 at RMAF

I went into that room to finally meet Thom. What a pleasure. We were chatting quietly in the back corner and I was amazed at how wonderfully the Ulysses filled the room and had a great tonal balance. As an upright player I was taken, as Esperanza Spaulding sounded like she was in the room

Doug wrote

If you feel like taking the time, it would be instructive to hear how the UNI2 behaves with your Salk speakers. My guess (only that) is that it would slightly improve the perceived lack of dynamic headroom.

Doug will do
maybe I mislead everyone somewhat, I have headroom with the Van Alstine, just wanted to see if it was worth getting more as I was on the upper range of my Doshi volume knob. Hence the .24 vs .48 mv question

The Atmasphere will not work with low efficiency speakers

I will add in one piece at a time, most likely the ZYX will arrive first

perfect indoor fun for the hot summer that hasn't quite hit New Orleans yet

I cleaned 30 lps with my Kl Audio ultra sonic yesterday evening in preparation for the anointing

yes Mehran is the best!

Audiotomb, there should be no issue if the volume knob is near the end or all the way up. Usually, all that a volume control does is attenuate the strength of the incoming signal, which the preamp circuit then amplifies by a fixed amount of gain. The only concern with the preamp circuitry should be the level of the signal input, the fixed (maximum) gain of the preamp, and the preamp's maximum output level.

If the signal going into the input jacks is 6V and you use the volume to reduce the input level to 1/10 (0.6V), or if the signal going into the input jacks is 1.2V and you use the volume to reduce the input level to 1/2 (0.6V), both are the same thing to the preamp circuitry. Whatever the input signal level ends up at, the preamp circuit will amplify that by its fixed (maximum) gain, which does not change with volume position.

I know that many audiophiles show a psychological adversion to having the volume turned all the way up, but as long as the preamp output isn't clipping or distorting, the physical position of the volume is a needless worry.

kind regards, jonathan

PS. There may be one or two unique preamps (such as Ayre's KX-R) where the volume does alter the internal gain, but such designs are quite rare.