What did a good 10 MHz clock do for your Gustard R26?
I'm auditioning an R26 and it's lovely (musical, high resolution in the microdynamics for example) but a little soft on the highest octave. The imaging is not great. On my speaker system (B&K ST120, Spendor S3/5) the images tend to collapse into left, right, center. I have a guy who does really impressive mods ... beefs up the power supply, adds ERS paper for shielding, bypass caps, etc.... but that's irreversible in case I don't like the result... I'm worried about it getting too bright after the mod. So I thought, why not try a good 10 MHz clock? I don't have the budget for a Mutec, but I could try a less expensive one and have my guy mod it and also create a good BNC cable for it. So I'm wondering what has a good 10 MHz clock done for your R26? Improve the extension on top? Improve the imaging? Has it changed the tonal balance in any way? I'd like more extended but not brighter.
@vinylvalet +2 IME ie in my system the R26 is an imaging champ and not rolled off at all on top. Funny how system-specific all gear is, makes you wonder about the true value of reviews or even forum-combing for consensus on a particular piece of gear. Kinda a crap shoot really the whole system building thing. |
@magon what settings are you using for filter and NOS mode? What cables are you using? Most importantly detail what your definition of imaging is, I find significant differences between people in how they define that parameter... |
@magon yeah maybe cut bait and run if you're not happy, return the clock and sell the R26, the aftermarket price for them is pretty decent. I've owned a Denafrips Terminator II (sold it to fund a Lampizator Baltic V4) and would recommend the brand, good sonically, good rep, excellent after sales service and warranty support, seems the new Pontus is a sweet spot in the lineup but you will also definitely need one of their DDCs to fully exploit its capabilities. Another good DAC I own is the Weiss 204, you won't need a DDC or clock with it, lots of reviews and forum posts about it. |
