Don Sachs Owners Thread

@rbautista congratulations on the DS preamp. It is quite an ear opener. I think the remote is set to the preamp and doesn't have to be "paired" . Don't believe there is any way to change this. Bummer. Since you changed the batteries, the only other thing I can think of is try cleaning the remote's IR window. A long shot, but easy to do. 

Good luck,

aldnorab

I sent an email to Don asking about upgrades and my remote. My remote stopped working and thought it was dead batteries. Replaced them and still don’t work. In my music listening excitement, I got startled how good the vocals and emotions that was coming through from Josh Groban’ Noel album that my remote feel between the cusions. When I took it out, that’s when it stopped working.

is there a button sequence to pair the remote or is my remote just busted?

You'll be amazed if you're DS2 doesn't have the ODAM caps already. That's where I am now. It's so good that improvements surprise me, it escapes reason because it sounds so close to live as it is! Don is using Spatial Audio now, so I suppose that I could find an improvement there, but that's more than I am willing to pay, and they don't appear to be making them, or anything as Clayton is apparently in the hospital. The tubes I told you about will give fuller sound without sacrificing detail. It's as if the tubes you have run out of steam before the instruments should, but until you hear them, you won't believe it because the Chinese tubes are very good. If I had not heard the other tubed I would have been quite content with them.

I’m unsure how many hours the DS has.  The prev owner didn’t provide much info on the questions I was asking. Just that there weren’t any issues.  For the price, I got it, I was taking a bit of gamble.  Especially since he wanted to do COD which I didn’t know still existed.  
 

good point about the  dac tubes breaking in too.  I’m using Sylvania 6201 gold pins

I’ve been listening for a couple of hours today and am really enjoying the transparency.  Big, wide, deep soundstage.  The accuracy of how instruments sound.  I can hear differences in piano tonality.   Prior, a piano sounded like a piano   Now a piano sounds like a Steinway, Yamaha, etc. The bass digs.   Looking forward to the suggested updates to the DS to be done.  
 

Sometime tonight, I need to take a break so I post an ad for my Placette passive and to do some house chores 

That's interesting, has it been broken in? Since you recently re-tubed your DAC, it may be its tubes improving. The DS2 shouldn't be shifting sound in my experience unless something has been changed.

Very kind of you.  If I can’t source any, I’ll be sure to reach out to you. 
 

I’m on my 3rd hour and an improvement just happened where soundstage detail in the back got clearer. 
 

I may have some set screws if he's on vacation, but finding them may take a miracle. My work area is a disaster area.

I definitely will ask him @lous when I get the power cord.  I also need ask him for a screw and wrench for one of the knobs.  One of them fell off and noticed it was missing the screw.  Prior owner didn’t mention this but this is a very easy fix. 
 

I also like how my casing is in black which I prefer and not silver. 

You should ask Don if your preamp has ODAM capacitors. If not you haven't heard anything yet.

Just acquired a DS pre with the rare HT bypass feature that I need for my setup.  Didn’t think I would one with the HT bypass so Christmas came early for me.  Very easy to enjoy this hobby with a wife that supports and also enjoys music as much as I do. 
 

I’m not sure what tubes are installed since I couldn’t make out but the previous owner thinks they are the Shunguang that Don ships.  The rectifier is a Sylvania. I have my Threshold 350e in output 1 and sub in output 2.  Not sure if I need to switch them around but I think it sounds good in this config.  I have the gain on both channels full throttle since Don’s instructions says that’s how he runs his pre and it makes it easier so need to count the clicks. 
 

Compared to my Placette passive pre (w/ht bypass) that I’ve had for 15yrs, the DS is definitely a qualitative upgrade in all areas.  Transparency, imaging, micro-detail, bass.  All the sonics of the Placette are still there but improved.  I was expecting better imaging but with the DS it had me realize how “loose” the imaging was with the Placette. 
 

I may try different tubes in the left sockets but am really enjoying right now.  Almost 2hrs since I turned on and it just keeps getting better.   The one thing I will be upgrading is the power cord.  Previous owner gave me a generic cord and on Don’s site he has a power cord for $89 and improves the ore by 20%.  Sounds like a no brainer. 
 

I’ll report back how the audio progresses but I don’t think I will be upgrading for another 10yrs or so. 

Thanks @mogelsvs ​​​​​@bugredmachine . Glad to know it doesn't draw much. Still undecided about the power regenerator. I have my own power transformer, out on the pole. But, things inside the house can also cause problems. The PS Audio is on sale this month. 

Thanks,

Doug A

It uses a one amp slow blow or 2 amp fast blow. Does not pull much.  FYI, the most I ever measured a total system draw at full tilt Class A amps as well for ALL components was under 5 amps. SOmetimes components make a large draw on turn-on, but once running you would be surprised how little current you are running.

I asked Don a while back and was told one amp at the most.  

Anyone know the power draw of the D Sachs preamp? Considering a power regenerator. 

Thanks,

Aldonrab

@lous  good to know. After the 2nd set of Linlai finish breaking in, I will compare them to my other tubes. 

Thanks,

aldnorab 

Don told me that the buffers were not critical. If you have plenty of money, use whatever, but if not you may want to use a less expensive tube as a buffer.

The D. Sachs D2 linestage sounds really great now that the 4 Linlai E 6SN7 tubes have broken in. It is large and imposing with such large tubes stacked on double socket savers. It takes up a lot more shelf room. The tubes seem to do everything darn well. My various old stock tubes might do 1 or 2 things better, but then really fall down in other areas. The Linlai are very even handed.

Bought a PS Audio S300 amp during their sale. It keeps the room a lot cooler than the 8 tube 6550 amp and Pioneer class A. Now it is a race between the linestage and Ayre Codex DAC for hottest component.

Thanks,

aldnorab 

I did replace my rectifier resistor tonight. The previous one was, in fact, blown, and open. The new resistor is a 0.22 ohm.

It does not make noisy tubes quieter btw.

It's tight but all four LinLai tubes fit without adapters etc. 

@mogelsvs ,Thank you.

@danmar123 Yes - I have 4 LinLai tubes in my DS2.  I prefer two pairs of these to using Psvane 181-Tii, globes or Shuguang WE61n7 in the buffer position.

Cheers, Soren  

Is there anyone using 4 Linlai E with DS D2?

I would have to stagger them. I just curious if 1 under each tube will be enough w/Psvane.

I plan ahead in case of an oops or if I want to stagger, or...

Thank you.

Shouldn't I only need 2?

@bugredmachine , since I eliminated cable, there's no humming come from either my A/V or my analog. I use the terminal block for convenience, w/no harm done!

Forgot to mention; running a 5852 tube is okay IF you have the proper resistor in place. My PCB has the old 1 ohm resistor and that is too high for the higher current 5852. You need a .1 to .22 ohm, 1 or 2 watt to be able to run both 6X5 and 5852 tubes.

I may have damaged my 1 ohm with the 5852 so I am replacing it this week. That resistor protects the transformer and rectifier per Don.

Keep in mind the ground tab on the preamp is the same as the ground on your IEC inlet and all the outer shells of every audio connector on the unit. Essentially they are all chassis ground and the electrical ground. So be careful to not create a ground loop from the IEC inlet back out to some other ground point on the electrical grid of your house.

I have my ground tab to a dead-ended EMI absorber (DIY) which is basically a galvanic (opposite a battery) cell. I have photos in another thread here somewhere. I don't really hear any benefit. My money was better spent on the purple fuse and the 2 ADD-Power Wizards.

Not at all. I just made all grounds for sake of piece of mind. And yes 47k is my lowest. On my AMP, (Prima Luna) HP, I'm running KR's KT88 & loving the sound!

@danmar123 interesting. If you unhook the ground at the D. Sachs does the noise level or sound quality change? I'm only running a ground wire from the turntable to phono stage.

What is the lowest input impedance anyone has happily used the DS Model 2 with? My lowest is 47K. Considered adding a class D amp for summer use. The highest input impedance I've found on an affordable one is 25K. One was 5K! Tubes don't like low input impedance. Don't want rolled off bass.

Thanks,

aldnorab

I have my DS grounded to a 10 gang terminal bar, the shares 2-TT, phono pre-amp & my Pioneer sx-1280. Then connected to the ground @ the outlet. Works perfect!

@bugredmachine good to know. Haven't tried any specialty fuses. What sonic benefits did you hear with the D. Sachs linestage?

Just noticed the ground connector on the back. Anyone have it connected? If so, what component.

Thanks,

aldnorab

Jumping the shark to a new topic, I did add a Purple fuse in the spring and it made a very nice improvement. Even more so when I added the contact treatment from High Fidelity.

I keep squeezing this preamp and it keeps giving me more. 

@aldnorab I really have forgotten my formulas, but no, Don installed .47uf caps for a 50ohm load, and 1uf for a 100k ohm input amp. Then there's this;

The chart they show shows increased impedance with increased capacitance. 

@lous thanks. Wouldn't the cap values be reversed? Lower input impedance needs higher cap value?

Thanks,

aldnorab

I threw out this question on the Linlai thread. Has anyone tried the non-Elite versions? I ordered set anyways to "have". 😎

@aldnorab

Yes, if you have 2 outputs, you should probably put .5uf on one output for the 47K amp, and 1.33uf for the 130K amp, and mark them. You may wantto check with Don, but I believe that those values will give you better impedance matching, and minimize frequency roll off.

BTW, the old tubes you were using are okay for an older Freya preamp, due to its issues that need compensation. The tubes on the right are buffers and are less critical, the ones on the left should ideally be E-6SN7s and second to them, in current production tubes would, would be one of the various Treasure tubes. The E-6SN7s are going to just barely fit. The latest preamp addresses that.

Best Regards,

Lou

@bugredmachine thanks for the capacitor and circuit board images. Amazed at how much smaller the new caps are. For this hobby, it is great to have soldering skills.

@lous  the previous owner sent the model 2 to Don for updates. It has the 6BY5 rectifier, not sure about the caps. I'll have to pop the bottom and take a look.

Yesterday I removed the Pioneer M22 (30 watts x2 class A) and tried the similar speced Pass A3 volksamp. The Pass is MOSFET and the Pioneer is bipolar. There are differences, but both sound fine. I was worried about their lower 47K input impedance vs the VTL ST150's 130K. There was a little less bass but that could be transistors vs tubes and the VTL having twice the power in triode mode. Still fun to hear the D Sachs linestage with all these amps.

Thanks,

aldnorab

"I just out in some 'treasures' tubes and they are nice versus the Shunguang I had in there." It depends upon which Shunguan tubes. They apparently no longer make the tubes Don was shipping with his preamps, but they smoked everything Chinese or NOS that I had heard until the E-6SN7s. 

Don has a rectifier upgrade, and if you have an older version, a coupling cap modification which together, IMO, amount to a 20% increase in sound quality if you are using the E-6SN7 tubes.

Here are the physically smaller ODAM’s installed in the spaces previously occupied by the Mundorfs:

Here are the Mundorfs I removed:

Gents,

I am picking up my Wells Audio first-gen Innamorata on Friday at Jeff Well's studio.  I currently have the Wells Audio Majestic which was uniquely configured as a pure power amp and it absolutely betters my former McCormack SS amp in all respects. I am sure that the there will be even more of the same "goodness" with the Innamorata that I currently hear with the Majestic.  I heard the Innamorata at Jeff's studio 10 years ago and have since heard it at several audio shows and it always make feel as if I were listening to a very quick and accurate tube amp.  Just like with Don's gear, I somehow knew that Jeff's amp was something that was really special, a legacy piece of gear.  Between the Kootenai and the Innamorata, I am going to be "amped" up for a good long time.

The Wells is nice and quiet but more laid back and not aggressive in any way. It does not "take control" like my present Coda does. Wells is well-built and very elegant.

@whitestix Thanks for the description of the Kootenay.  It sounds like a wonderful amp and great complement to the DS2.

You got me looking up Wells Audio.  Their amps seem very well reviewed.  Which model 'matches' the Kootenay in your setup?  I have been thinking of replacing my trusty old Pass Labs, which also spits out a lot of heat.

Cheers, Soren

Barondla, 

I told Don that I would never again consider a tube amp that did not auto bias and he assured me that he sorted this out with the Kootenai and the LED meter on the Kootenai has been locked on solidly since I got the amp for all 4 power tubes. By many accounts, the Carver Crimson 275 amp is a good performer, albeit with questionable current output, but it too required manual biasing which to me would be a PITA.   With modern electronics, this auto-biasing feature ought to be de rigueur for all tubes amps. 

The Dyn's are to arrive in a couple of days and since you asked, I will report back how well the Kootenai performs driving the consistent 4 ohm load they present. They will be compared to my Buchardt S400 SE speakers which are quite good.  

@whitestix the Kootenay amp is very interesting. Wish my tube amp didn't require me to bias it. Looking forward to reading more posts about it and how it performs with the new speakers.

Thanks,

aldnorab 

Soren,

The Kootenai amp is really outstanding, far better than the HK Citation II and V amps that Don earlier fully modified for me.  Its 60-wpc drives a lot speakers just fine with remarkably solid base response, a warm liquid mid-range and extended high end.  It has none of the sluggishness as several my former CJ tube amps had;   it is as quick as any excellent SS amp.  The true magic of the amp is its outstanding soundstage, front to back, side to side, and up and down.  The amp provides a glimpse of "being there" with the music, which is additive to the sound of his preamp.  While it might not be exactly as quiet as the better SS amps, to my ears, it is very close, pretty much dead silent.  

When Don first told about his idea to create his Kootenai amp, I was at that point annoyed with tube amps because of the PITA biasing of my HK amps, but the Kootenai is self-biasing/auto-biasing (I don't understand the difference, honestly) and when a pal brought his Kootenai by for an audition, both of our jaws dropped driving my Spatial Audio speakers when compared to my Platinum-upgraded Modwright DNA .05 SS amp.  I currently run the Kootenai in the cool months here in Northern CA and a Wells Audio SS amp the rest of the year.  The Wells Audio amp is a SS amp masquerading as a tube amp and is as fine as the Kootenai, but at a dramatically higher cost.

I have a pair of Dynaudio Confidence C-1's in transit to me -- a relatively constant 4 ohm load, and Don assures me that the Kootenai will drive them just fine.

Back to the DS2 preamp.  Roger Modjeski of Music Reference fame, told me at a Burning Amp gathering in San Francisco that 6SN7 tubes were more appropriate for old TV's than for preamp circuits, inherently too noisy for audio.  Modwright and Supratek employ them to excellent advantage, perhaps others too.   Don's preamp is a fully-developed iteration of Roy Mottram's of Tubes4Hifi SP14 preamp, which employs the same tube configuration, the development of which has been fully sanctioned and applauded by Roy.  I had Roy's stock SP14 for a while and it not nearly the equal of Don's version, but it definitely will give one a strong sense of the magic of a 6SN7 tube preamps for a very economical price and if you have the skills, cap upgrades are pretty easy to do and very beneficial.  Tubes4Hifi make very well-made power cords and speakers for very reasonable price, as well.

As Don has always said, "there is magic in 6SN7 tubes."   My ears tell me that he is exactly right. 

...

I only bought 2 tubes for the left sockets. Of course, no time on these, but out of the box they are not better than the shunguang Treasures CV181-Z's to me. I'll switch back to those tonight as I expect my Stealth Indra's to show today.

Just chiming in on the Linlai tubes.  I run four of these in my DS2 and they are very quiet.  They sound absolutely fantastic.  To my taste they are better than the recent offerings from Shuguang and Psvane.  With LinLais in place, I have no desire to explore further.  

@whitestix - How is that KT88 power amp?  I have enjoyed the DS2 for a few months and given how nice it sounds, I have been wondering if the matching amp should be on my wish list.

Cheers, Soren