I should reserve a lot of commentary until I have had at least a couple of weeks with the "new" unit but on first impressions here goes. The first thing I noticed on the very first song that the needle was in the groove for was that the bass was more pronounced, nice deep bass. I listened to a few albums I know quite well and everything had more meat on the bone so to speak. On the upper end, there certainly is better imaging with cymbals and bells jumping out of the sound picture amazingly at times.
I have had the parts for quite a while but just got around to having them put in now. I wish now that I had not waited like I did. Kevin is a master, making a great sounding phono stage to begin with and now getting it to sound even better. |
Maineiac
Great News!,glad to hear, I too being a Maxxed-out owner cannot believe this phonostage can get any better.In what ways has this outstanding unit been improved upon?
Mine was scheduled to be upgraded last month but Kevin told me to wait on a few parts namely the new backing plate to accommodate a few modifications I'd like to add. So until that time I have to take your word for it.Please tell
braab |
I just got the mods in my unit and so far everything is sounding excellent. |
It uses a transformer for the MC input, the MM does not and as a consequence is single ended. I just assumed (my bad) that someone buying a maxed out kit would be using a MC. If you want balanced inputs with the MM input stay tuned in. You never know what might be coming down the pike in future months. |
Thank you, John. Do you mean to say that the Maxx'd Out uses a transformer on the input side? I was not aware of that, and it is not obvious from the photos on the website. So is this new transformer upgrade employed at the input? I thought you were talking about an upgrade for the built-in SUT in the MC output stage. |
Sorry. I went to the URL you provided above, and I see that the latest upgrade is a change in the JFET used in the hybrid cascode at the preamp input. The post says nothing about an input transformer, one way or the other. |
Thank you, John. Do you mean to say that the Maxx'd Out uses a transformer on the input side? I was not aware of that, and it is not obvious from the photos on the website. So is this new transformer upgrade employed at the input? I thought you were talking about an upgrade for the built-in SUT in the MC output stage. |
It has "true" balanced inputs through its RCA jacks. Just use the switch to lift the ground connection. That's one of the virtues of transformer coupling. You can always have balanced connections. |
Can the Maxxed Out K&K phono be configured for true balanced INPUT, using XLRs instead of RCA jacks? (I know that it can be built for balanced OUTPUT.) Thanks. |
The audiogon editor seems to have truncated the web listing. You can view it at the K&K forum under data sheets and LL1638. |
Well, I have finally upgraded my 3 stage differential phono pre with only a couple of hiccups. Blowing fuses on turn on that seems to be the result of a weird problem with the power switch and a lack of signal in the left channel. In my hast to finish I neglected to solder one of the connections from the board to the interstage transformer. My bad. In my defense, this upgrade was a little more involved than that of the SE version. Four plate loads, four FETs, replacing 10 MOSFETs in the B+ and cathode "tail" current sources, building a new higher voltage negative choke input supply and a PS mod. As to that PS mod, if you want to make a nice upgrade to your phono pre it will not cost you any money, only some of your time. It involves rewiring the PS choke as a "common mode" choke. You can refer to the Lundahl data sheet for the connections.
http://www.lundahl.se/pdfs/datash/1638.pdf
I was so impressed with the improvement that I have rewired the chokes in my line stage and my mono-blocks to good effect. |
I just installed the new plate-load CCS mod and new input FET last night. Initial impressions are extremely favorable. I'll need at least a couple of days to let everything settle and break in after which I'll post more detailed sonic impressions. |
I've got the parts now and I'm planning on spending the weekend upgrading my differential series feed phono pre. Also have on hand the parts to upgrade my buddy's SE phono pre. I plan on tackling that later in the week. I'll post on how it all goes. |
I corresponded with Kevin today and he said that he would have everything wrapped up and ready like in the next two weeks. I think the cat got out of the bag a little ahead of schedule for him. |
Thanks John...Just got off the phone with Kevin.. some questions on my newly built unit.
Looks like this latest upgrade will be ready in a few days.
Another great upgrade to look forward to from KandK!
What a guy.. |
Cool, looking forward to that. I wish I understood what he was saying but I will take his word for it. |
John, thanks, I had followed up on that. Perrhaps we need to wait until the details are finalised and on the website |
David12, here's the thread: http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/KandK/messages/8328.html |
Thats very useful, thanks John. The full details do'nt seem to be on theK&K site yet. I will check them with interest when they are. |
I have the latest upgrade from Kevin,its a must have.(Unbelivable)sound quality.I`ve had other upgrades from Kevin,this is the best i`ve heard from his phono stage yet.Ask Kevin about it.The sound quality is that of the Big boys phono stages in audio.Its really good. |
