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From an MHDT to an Audio Mirror, quick impressions

A Tubadour IV SE I ordered on 10/12 appeared today.  It replaces a stock Orchid fed by an n130 Node with PD Creative power board and Sbooster LPS.  I’ve just finished a half hour session, including 15 min of warm up.  Right out of the box it’s showing off.  Smooth, articulate and quick with much tighter bass.  It keeps the musicality of the Orchid and improves on the pace.
The soundstage is deeper with a more “You are there” feel than the up front “They are here” feel of the Orchid.  That’s all for now.   For three times the cost I hoped for a noticeably better DAC.  What I got was a major surprise and a huge upgrade.  Really anxious to put some hours on it.

wlutke

Showing 2 responses by jjss49

jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

the best tube setup in a well modded mhdt orchid output buffer stage i have found is an amperex dutch ecc88 a-frame tube (o ring getter bugle boys are very close equivalents) using a garage 1217 6dj8 to 5670 pin adapter -- lovely spatial cues and subtle rendition of detail

for even greater detail old stock german siemens, philips, or hungarian tungsram tube can be used in that position - that is the fun of the tube output dacs... roll your own sonic flavor!!!

jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,612 posts
 

not surprised.... stock orchid with stock tube i assume?

mhdt’s are very organic sounding, excellent dacs for the $ -- but could be improved in the speed, slam and frequency extension at the extremes ...

but then again, as you said, given the price differential, vlad’s new tubador ought to be meaningfully better, right?

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