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PS Audio Stellar Gain DAC/Pre-amp as first foray into separate pre-amp?

Well, I've been researching and considering various pre-amps with home theater bypass, but just came across this much more affordable PS Audio Stellar Gain DAC/pre-amp.  The idea is to get something for two channel audio that has home theater bypass, so as to be able to continue to use my Denon AVR for movies and multi-channel SACD and DVD-Audio.  But I want to improve the CD and flac playback I'm now getting out of the AVR.  I would also want to get better two channel SACD audio quality than I get through the AVR over HDMI, but it seems that I would have to purchase a proprietary PS Audio SACD player that has the I2S connector to make that happen. 

The plan would be to connect my universal player via optical or coaxial digital to the Stellar Gain DAC, instead of my current signal path of the Oppo into the AVR via HDMI.  I would also connect my turntable(high output MC cartridge) to the Stellar Gain unit.  I could also connect the optical digital output from my 4K TV to the Stellar gain.  The Stellar Gain unit would be connected to my Krell FPB 400cx power amp via XLR cables(I'm not sure if this would be a good output impedance match). 

The Stellar Gain DAC/pre-amp seems very reasonably priced, at $1,700, for its capabilities and for the sound quality indicated by professional reviews.  Plus, near mint used units are available for ~$1,200.  Thoughts? 
mtrot

Showing 9 responses by auxinput

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Cool.   One comment about Audio Sensibility.  If you are looking at the Statement Silver or the Signature Silver DIN phono cables, I don't think you can get anything better (if silver is what you are after).  I have experience with the Impact and other Audio Sensibilty copper cables.  Even though he uses OCC copper in these, they are NOT solid-core, and aren't that great.  If you are looking for an OCC copper based tonearm cable, I would recommend the Wire World Eclipse 7 tonearm cable instead.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
I think the Steller Gain DAC would be absolutely awsome in your system because of several factors:

-  SACD and PCM audio is already compromised by HDMI interface and reduces the sound quality due to timing/clocking issue inherent in the HDMI protocol.

- Steller Gain uses fully discrete Class A analog circuits which would just "sing" in comparison to your Denon

- The i2s is pretty much the best digital transport signal to send digital audio.

- Steller Gain will also be used in "Home Theater Mode" as a pass-through for the Denon when doing multi-channel movies.  The Class A analog stage of the Steller Gain will actually improve the left/right signals from Denon and give it more "life" and "singing".
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
The i2s connections are usually proprietary to the manufacturer.  Just because Steller Gain uses an HDMI plug/cable for the i2s does not mean that any old SACD player that has i2s HDMI output will use the same HDMI pins for the signals.  There is no "industry standard i2s connection" like there is for digtal COAX or HDMI.   You may end up having to buy a PS Audio transport if you want i2s (PerfectWave Transport $1999 or DirectStream Memory Player $5999).

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However, just have your current disc player convert SACD to PCM and use the digital COAX output to connect to the Stellar Gain.  I can almost guarantee that this will be immensely better than pure SACD through the Denon.  I know it won't be true SACD/DSD, but I think you'll be very surprised on how good it PCM can sound.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
I have not done much USB cable testing, but usually solid-core and silver or silver-plated are the best digital transmission wires.


For RCA or XLR interconnect, I make all my own cables using 20awg solid-core braided conductors and Furutech Rhodium RCA/XLR connectors. However, if you're looking for a manufactured cable, either Audioquest or Wireworld are the two that I would generally recommend. Gold-plated connectors will generally sound warmer with rolled off highs. Silver-plated will increase the speed, but they could become bright/harsh.
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If you're looking for the best pure solid-core silver, the Audio Sensibility has a model that's called Signature Silver XLR. At $1100, you can't buy another cable that uses pure OCC Silver solid-core conductors (they use 3 different gauge conductors per XLR pin: 20/22/24). They put on Futurech gold-plated XLR to help add a little warmth back in. It's an excellent resolution cable, but with all silver, it can easily push the system over the line into too harsh/bright.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Ah, you didn't mention what player you have.  If you have an Oppo 105 or 205, then it would be much better to use the Oppo to "play the SACD" and output pure analog using the 5.1/7.1 RCA analog outputs to your receiver.  Much better than sending SACD over HDMI and having the receiver decode/DAC the SACD data.
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For digital COAX, my standard "low cost" recommendation is the Beldon 1694A from Blue Jean Cable.  Make sure you get a minimum 6 foot cable (even though you don't need it).  A digital cable that is too short will have signal reflections back to the transmitter and cause errors in the square waveform pulses.   The 1694A is $20 plus shipping for an ultra cheap solution that I have found beats a lot of other cables.
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For a big step up, I would recommend the DH Labs D-750 digital COAX.  Solid-core silver plated conductor (which is what you want for digital transmission).  A 2 meter cable is typically around $225 or so, unless you can find one used.
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Or you can look at some of the Audioquest cables in between.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Heh, just like speakers, once you ask "what cable should I buy", you will get 18 different answers! lol. However, in all my R&D and testing, I have always found solid-core to just sound better than any stranded conductor cable. Audioquest pretty much uses only solid core (except for their cheaper power cord and speaker cables). Wireworld is not quite fully solid core - but it's not that bad because they align all the conductors in a row side-by-side instead of clumping them together in a single bundle.
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Since you're using Oppo 203, you could still try using pure analog out of it as well. You could try first with just left/right to get a sense of what it sounds like through the Denon AVR and then invest in another 3 RCA cables if you feel that's good enough for multi-channel SACD (if it's better than SACD through HDMI).

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Another thing that will significantly improve the Oppo quality is to get one of those linear power supplies from companies like Oppomod or Clones Audio. These are in the $300-400 range and will be a great improvement over the stock switching power supply. And it will allow you to do fuse upgrades in the Oppo.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Yeah, often you get what you pay for.  You could try the Kimber TAK-CU for $265.  I think that's the next nearest thing to solid-core.   Audioquest has their Wildcat for $89 - it is solid core, but I don't know if it performs well for phono.  lol.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Awsome.  Sorry, but I don't know much about phono cables.  I have done a lot of testing on general interconnects, hence my recommendations for the Wire World.  You could try posting in the "Analog" forum to ask about DIN phono cables.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
If it is a brand new unit, I would burn it in for at least 200 hours before making a judgement.  That being said, it is possible that you may be getting a slightly softer sound because it is going through another set of interconnects and the PS Audio does have a Class A audio stage.  If you have gold-plated RCA connectors between the Denon and the Steller Gain,  they can be softening the highs as well.  If the Silnote cables are new, they will need to be burned in as well.
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