Bottlehead Forum

Bottlehead Kits => BeePre => Topic started by: marco08 on April 06, 2013, 12:17:02 AM

Title: first listen - whoa
Post by: marco08 on April 06, 2013, 12:17:02 AM

Just finished this morning, paris time. No sweat, no pain, just follow the manual and enjoy soldering !!!

I plugged in : sonos+micromega DAC upstream, DIY Hypex UCD400 class D amp, and Martin Logan Sequels downstream.

I put a nice mix on : dar williams, ella&louis, Hadouk trio, deep purple, Led Zep, david bowie, Bruno Cocset's birth of the cello, marta agerich, alfred deller and Giora Feidman... just the thing to get a feel for the beast.

verdict : I cant muster the energy to get up from my listening chair. Full bodied and fruity, beautiful robe, pleasant aftertaste... some kind of sundrenched syrah from downunder. whaaaaao.

two small questions before I recheck all my wiring.

1. I have to dial the balance button almost all the way left to get equal signal. If the balance is halfway, I got maybe 80% volume on right channel. any thoughts ?

2. way to much gain for me : I use the volume button maybe 4 or 5 degrees from min, for good, wife complaining level, anything up from 20% gets at nightclub levels. Any way of cleanly decreasing gain without creating other unbalances ?

thanks for your take on these issues.

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: Doc B. on April 06, 2013, 05:13:26 AM

Swap 300Bs and see if the imbalance follows the tubes. If it does, let them burn in for a while and see if they even out.

The gain of the BeePre is on the low side for a preamp, at about 8.5 dB. The issue is in the Hypex amp. It has far more gain than necessary when used with a typical preamp and speaker of even marginal efficiency - 26dB. The very best way to deal with this is to adjust the gain of the Hypex down.

http://www.hypex.nl/docs/appnotes/gain_appnote.pdf (http://www.hypex.nl/docs/appnotes/gain_appnote.pdf)

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: marco08 on April 06, 2013, 11:34:08 AM

thanks doc.

played around with the hypex and lowered the gain, good idea.

on the volume/balance issue, however, swapping the tubes doesn't change anything so I must have miswired something. I tried looking but nothing's obvious. serious troubleshooting for Sunday !!!

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: Grainger49 on April 06, 2013, 11:50:30 AM

The reviews are seducing me.  The question is whether I splurge on a Bee Pre or a Bottlehead DAC?

Something is gonn'a happen.

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: earwaxxer on April 06, 2013, 01:46:39 PM

Screw it Granger - you have a job now - get the bee pre, then the DAC. Solves it. Since I just lost my job, after only 3 months, someone has to be buying the good stuff.

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: 2wo on April 06, 2013, 05:04:25 PM

Naa, DAC first...John

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: Doc B. on April 06, 2013, 05:13:09 PM

Interesting conundrum. But since even I haven't heard the latest iteration of the DAC yet, I would say the safe money is on the BeePre. It was a significant upgrade to our reference system. Not that I don't appreciate everyone's confidence that the DAC will be acceptable.

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: Chris on April 06, 2013, 06:36:32 PM

BeePre for sure.....

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: marco08 on April 06, 2013, 10:16:54 PM

dont know about the DAC, but the beepre is sure awesome !!!

woke up in the middle of the night, traced the wires and found the culprit between vol and balance. quick resolder, plugged in and "voila".

woke the missus during the test phase though. not happy.

put on Hotel California, and invited her for a dance. two problems solved.

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: Grainger49 on April 07, 2013, 01:11:27 AM

I didn't mean to skid this thread sideways.  I believe if I continue working for a while (I'm a temp) I'll buy one, and if longer another.

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: fullheadofnothing on April 07, 2013, 06:46:43 AM

I guess she danced to forget...

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: marco08 on April 07, 2013, 10:36:26 AM

goodnight, said the watchman

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: 2wo on April 07, 2013, 06:40:23 PM

We're all prisoners here...

Title: Re: first listen - whoa
Post by: Grainger49 on April 10, 2013, 11:18:53 AM

And for something completely different...

"I think We Are All Bozos On This Bus"

A Firesign Theater reference, sorry, no Eagles.