Hi Lloydelee21,
Thanks for your kind reply ;-)
I’ve already listened the Stahl~Tek Opus DAC (with Opus CDT) and I’ve absolutely liked it and I think it's a good Converter (I’m speaking about RedBook only).
Based on these my two experiences I still prefer my CF; anyway I know my opinion is not full reliable because I couldn’t listened it in my system (all was different) so I can't know how the Opus could play with my CDT, Pre, Power, Speakers, Cables, Room...; I would like to compare it VS the CF and listen it in my system asap (the problem is that at the moment, in Italy, there aren’t any S~T distributors).
Have a nice day and BR, |
Prawax,
Grazie mille! Have you heard the Emm Labs DAC2X? I did not love Emm Labs CDSA when i heard it...but i have not heard the newer Emm players.
I have never heard Stahl Tek Opus...only the original Vekian...very impressive. But i liked the midrange voice of my Zanden. However, i have heard the Opus is much, much better, with better air, treble and mids. i hope to hear soon. I will let you know if i do...meanwhile, i will try to hear the Concert Fidelity as well. |
Hi Prawax,
I am curious...can you be specific about why you prefer your CF over the STahl-Tek? I know that you have not compared them directly the way you would like to...but i would appreciate any comments about this. Thank you! |
Hi Lloydelee21,
PREGO ;-)
Unfortunately I’ve never listened the Emm Labs DAC2X, sorry…
The CF-040 sound seems (IMHO) more analog than S~T Opus sound (more density, the music simply flows in the space with body and presence).
But I repeat that I’ve not compared them directly so I can’t be sure of this.
BR, |
Prawax,
Thanks!!! sounds great! |
Just as an update, i have been running my personal DAC 040 recently with a Mazda EZ81 (NOS, of course), and a pair of Tung Sol 12 BH7a's, (again, nos) and the result is an utterly mesmerising experience, i want for no more**.. Over the 12AU7's i have been using, the really low frequency has become so fluent and effortless, but by no means soft, it still has grip, i would recommend this tube!
I also have 080LsxV2/ZL120's on order.. Am representing CF in the UK now.
**(though maybe a Kallista/Calypso transport..) |
Hi Paul,
great news!!
With the 080LsxV2/ZL120's/040 (of course) and maybe MT top CDT, your system will be absolutely awesome ;-)
I would like to tell you my personal opinion about Kalista VS Calypso CDT; if possible, Paul, try to get a Kalista Ref.
IMHO, the Kalista features are better than Calypso; for example in the K. there are two acrylic plates, in the C. only one (also the K. Ultimate SE have one plate but its depth is about the double of the acrylic C. plate).
In the K. the cones are in stainless steel, in the C. are in anodized aluminum.
In any case Paul, my suggestion is to choose the Reference version with the Elektra PSU and Silent Base.
Thank you so much for your NOS tubes advice.
Best regards, |
Hello Piermauro,
Again many thanks for the info, i will most likely try to find a Kallista in due course, there are few in the UK but i know our distributer so maybe i will try one ;-)
Some news from Japan, i need to check whether i can discuss it yet here, but an upgrade to DAC 040 may be available soon, more details to follow..
On the tube front also, ECC 802s for classical, it works so well. I swap tubes depending on music preferences..
Best Regards,
Paul. |
Ok, so the DAC 040 (V1.0 & V1.5) is now upgradeable to BD spec. This involves the implementation of a Ni-Mh battery drive (automatically rechargeable) for the digital to analogue stage. Those that have heard this modification by Concert Fidelity in Japan are impressed and excited. Each countries distributor will know more soon!
All being well, we will have a new unit for comparison by christmas, so will update again then..
Best Regards to all..
Paul. |
Wonderful news! Thank you so much indeed Paul.
I will contact ASAP the italian distributor.
Pls, Paul let us know about the comparison.
All the best,
Piermauro |
No problem Piermauro, i will let you know as soon as we have the upgrade
here in the UK..
We have the 080 and 120 amplifiers here also now, they have been installed
for just two days, just incredible transparency..Also fast, with wonderful
texture and tonality.. This is state of the art, in minimalist circuitry.
Best Rgds,
Paul |
Ps68,
Did you manage to get hold of the battery modified DAC-040?
Eagerly looking forward to hear your impressions.
I have a DAC-040 arriving soon. |
Taksil, it will be with us late December/ early January I expect. As is, it is a wonderful dac given a good transport and valve selection.
Keep us posted on your impression, and let us know what partnering equipment you will be using.
Rgds,
Paul |
Hi Paul,
The CF DAC arrived yesterday. Revisiting my CD collection ever since.
+1 for Teejay's review of the 4 fundementals of the CF-040 DAC! |
Taksil,
That's great to hear, and I also agree that Teajay's perception of the qualities of this piece are spot on. I'm sure you'll hear digital differently now, and have fun with the tubes!
I see from your system (which is very good indeed) that you also use the CF080LSXV2, a perfect partner to the DAC! Both are really special, as are the ZL amplifiers, so much so that I have my ASR Emitter 2 for sale now, something I never thought I'd do!
Keep us posted on how it's going btw..
Rgds,
Paul
& Happy New Year to everyone here! |
Hi PS68...did you decide on your transport yet? |
LLoydelee21,, I have 040 that I am going to be selling because I am going to get a dac with vol controlcyrus. If you are interested, you can email me at downtowncyrus@aol.com |
LLoyd,
Not yet no, i will wait for a while on this as there has been a hefty investment in some ZL200's and stock, though i do see a MT K as icing on a very nice cake indeed.. |
Hi Paul,
I hope you are well.
Do you have some news about the comparison?
Pls, if possible Paul could you let me know the upgrade cost and if I can do the upgrade myself?
Thank you so much Paul.
All the best,
Piermauro |
Piermauro, Hello..
Today I received news from Japan that the upgrade is on final test, Tsuda-San is very thorough. It is not user upgradeable though, there is a new circuit added. Does Italy's distributor have some info for you?
All being well, the first UK sample will arrive late January, I promise comparison!
Again, best Regards..
Paul. |
Thank you so much indeed for your kind and fast reply Paul. I contacted the Italy's distributor some days ago and I'm waiting for the answer.
I'm looking forward to know your impression on the upgrade ;-)
Best regards,
Piermauro |
Piermauro,
It may be worth emailing CF direct for info if you do not hear back soon..
Best Rgds,
Paul. |
Just a brief update: the upgrade to the DAC040 is complete and I now have a sample here for testing :-))
Installation will be over this weekend, initial listening won't be until Sunday evening due to commitments but I'll be sure to post when the unit is settled and doing it's thing..
Best,
Paul. |
definitely look forward to reading about your observations! Enjoy! At some point, as discussed offline, would love to have a listen. I recently made a big move and found a complete, 2nd hand set (latest spec) Zanden 4-box. Having learned to switch out all the tubes to various NOS versions, and add a lot of HRS/EAT Tube damping isolation...it remains my favorite digital beyond Scarlatti, Stahl-Tek, Metronome Kalista Ref/C2A, Wadia...but i respect what everyone has said here about this DAC. |
Wow, congratulations Lloyd, you kept that quiet;-))
Could be an interesting comparison, I think the Zanden / CF could be well worth a shoot out?? I'll keep you posted, need to get the speaker isolation plinths produced in the next week or so, then I can get stuck in, your welcome to join in!
P. |
Hi Paul,
I just installed Stillpoints Ultra Vs under my speakers. Great stuff. Look forward to speaking shortly. |
Hi Paul,
great news!! I can't wait.. :))
All the best,
Piermauro |
I can say already that dynamics, along with the transparency that this DAC is known for have taken a big step forward, note formation is also very good now, the difference is not so subtle here!
I will add more when time with BD 040 evolves!
Best,
P. |
Congrats Paul! Look forward to reading more! |
Hullo:
I am a complete novice in the use and rolling of of tubes. But I too am lucky enough to have one of these wonderful CF DAC-040s. I notice that some people are using Tung Sol 12AU7, 12bh7 or 12bh7a with it. I have found the Tung Sol 5670 to work very well with my headphone amp (Elekit TU88 AS) and am substantially preferring the tonality Tung Sol to other 5670s, such as Sylvania Gold Brand 5670s on it. Does that mean I would quite possibly prefer the Tung Sol 12AU7 or 12bh7 or 12bh7a on the CF-040 relative to the Sylvania Gold Pin Gold Brand 12AU7? Would anyone on this forum have recommendations that I could use in this regard? For example, Paul, I saw your comment from October last year about Tung Sol. Any ideas anyone has for enhancing my enjoyment of this great DAC would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Hasan |
Hi:
FYI, to those who might be considering the use of 12bh7a/12bh7 tubes as I had been, I was just informed by Mr. Tsuda himself that these are not recommended for the DAC-040. BTW I am now using some Tung Sol 12AU7s and they are certainly very much to my taste.
Hasan |
Hi Hasan,
thank you so much for your advice.
BR, |
Hello Hasan,
Congrats on your choice of DAC, welcome to the elite!
With regard to tube selection in this dac, it is very hard to say which would sound better to you out of your choices, and replicating what worked well in your headphone amp would not necessarily offer similar results in the dac. Trial is the only real way of knowing I'm afraid, but this is trivially easy in this piece anyway. My current preference is for Mazda 6189 or the Tung Sol 12BH7. Sometimes the BH7 is a little congested, so for rock etc it is great because it has a deep and strong bottom end, with real punch. The 6189 gives a slightly more balanced output, very refined and holographic, great for jazz, classical, and pretty much anything really. I use the Mazda 6189 in the CF080LSX2 pre amp also.
With regard to actually using the BH7, there are some differences to AU7's, and you are perfectly correct, Masa Tsuda does recommend AU7 in this piece, but BH7 is ok, it won't cause any harm.. However, Masa Tsuda is 'the man', an audio designer and manufacturer that I have unending respect for!
In addition, the upgrade to this DAC of a battery to power the dac chip itself is nothing short of astonishing. Sublime is a word that keeps appearing in my head when i'm listening to it, clarity, transparency, tonality and depth of the soundstage have all been helped with this implementation, as have dynamics. It seems that you are 'exposed' to the recording more and are delving deeper into the event that took place in the studio, concert hall or wherever. I'm now very curious to test it with a top level transport such as the MT or Zanden as Lloyd knows:-))
Best Rgds,
Paul. |
|
Paul: Thanks for the info. Good to know about the upgrade.
Hasan |
gents- I am looking at a preowned dac -040- How much is the upgrade and do you have to send it back to the factory- On a side note I am also looking at the 080 pre- Since My ATC 100's run xlr would it be a problem using a xlr/rca converter- thanks- I currently am running the Ayon cd-5 and assume that the CF will smoke it???- thanks |
Hi Fluffers,
Welcome.. Yes, the DAC has to be returned to Japan, this upgrade is not user installable at all, it involves new circuits and very high precision fitting and testing. With regards to the used DAC040, try to establish whether it is V1.0, or V1.5. Both can be upgraded though. V1.5 is newer version. Are you US based?
Cost is set by your country distributor, and will be around $3500 for the upgrade without AC back up, and $5500 for a complete rebuild to current spec, inc AC back up. This will involves replacement of everything except the chassis and HV power supply board. If you combine the full rebuild cost with the used price of the local DAC040, you may well end up with one of the very best 16bit DA convertors around, the upgrade is simply stunning. I have both units side by side, the BD is a significant development!
Let us know what you decide, happy to help..
Best Rgds,
Paul. |
Ps68, How do you determine if the dac is V1.0 or V1.5? |
Hi Cyrus,
Unplug and let valves cool if needed, unscrew top cover with 2mm hex supplied, look at the rear upright PCB, right hand side, lower edge, it will be printed there..
Link below to image of the location, albeit this is the 080 Pre.
[URL=http://s431.photobucket.com/user/PRSRDS/media/CF%20080LSX2/080LSX2-7_zps74879f2a.jpg.html] |
Hi All,
the upgrade cost sounds too expansive (IMO).
Best regards,
Piermauro |
Great posts guys!
We have a CF DAC 040 BD on order and should be here in about month. Once received, we will post about differences between the BD and non-BD versions as we will also have them side by side.
Heck, maybe if I ask nicely Teajay will even come over and do his own mini review :o)
- Note - We are an authorized CF dealer
Audio Archon |
Hey, my brother Mike,
I'm quite curious as you know to hear the latest upgrade regarding the CF DAC-040. So, of course I'll write up our experience regarding this generation DAC's sonic changes/improvements. We both agree that we still have not heard a better DAC on redbook and we have heard a lot of the highly regarded pieces that are acclaimed by others. |
Gents,
I'm looking forward to your experiences with this also..
Have fun.. |
Hullo:
I would like to mention for those who might be interested, that, at the recommendation of someone who sold me his CF DAC-040, I have been using a John Kenny Ciunas converter to re-clock the digital output from my Mac Mini before sending it to the DAC-040. This exercise has succeeded far beyond my expectations, and the sound I have started enjoying from decent CDs easily rivals what I hear from my very good turntable and cartridge. No way for me to tell what many of you are getting by using your CD transports, but the computer option can work very well too with DAC-040.
Regards |
Hello Agriculturist,
We had a similar experience with the inexpensive Hegel HD2 reclocker. There may be better converters, but it works great with the DAC-040!
We do sell both Hegel and CF.
Archon |
That's good to hear as I've not ventured into computer audio so far, though I believe that a CF USB-SPdif convertor may be introduced at some point..
Angus, how did this compare with the best transport you have available?
Best rgds,
Paul. |
Masa's battery upgrade to the 040 DAC is a major performance upgrade to an already World Class DAC. If you have his original DAC, you know how good it is! The battery upgrade will astound you as to how much better digital can be! I would urge all users of the original DAC to receive this battery upgrade-you will not be disappointed. |
Absolutely, I have been trialling an Esoteric K-03 as potential transport this last week, which works very well with the DAC040BD in fact, but in comparison with the internal dac of the K-03, the CF/BD is in another league. In comparison to the SACD section, redbook cd (DAC040BD) is very very close, more organic and less fatiguing, but with hugely impressive dynamics. Playing Ivan Fisher/Budapest PO Mahler's 1st Symphony yesterday was no less than absolutely spectacular, the weight and scale, seriously thunderous LF, truly amazing. |
At first you hear a much quieter background as if the noise floor has been lowered. Perhaps RFI and EMI gremlins are lessened in the source playback chain. Frequency extremes are extended. The bass is deeper and more organic. Tonal purity, accuracy and definition are superbly rendered as well as soundstage width and depth. It's as if the source has "slowed" ever so slightly to allow every aspect of source reproduction to be improved. Digital becomes softer, sweeter, more involving and far, far less mechanical sounding. The battery upgrade is not subtle-you will hear it's effects immediately. The BD upgrade takes a superb DAC to a significantly higher level of playback enjoyment. |
Does 040 have universal voltage or can it be user switched? |
