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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 3 responses by scthom

scthom
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@wlutke 

I’ve never done any tube rolling. Was it an easy swap to put in the Telefunken tube?

scthom
22 posts
 

@wlutke 

Thanks, I appreciate the advice.

scthom
22 posts
 
I’ll second wlutke’s impression of the AM Tubadour se lV. Initially I went from a Lumin D1 with an SBooster power supply to the Tubadour se lll. That was a huge upgrade! The se lll had much more clarity, detail, texture and timbre. A couple of months ago I sent it back to Vlad to upgrade to the se lV. This was definitely worth it. I have a depth and dimensionality to the soundstage that I’ve never had before. The detail is even better without any edginess. There is a slight warmth to the presentation that tempers the metal tweeters on my Totem Forest Signatures. I am super happy with this dac and have no plan to be looking for anything else.
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