Looks great. Please keep is up to date on how it evolves. The other power supply modder mentioned how voices improved. I would like to hear you impressions too of vocals.
Will you please say something more about this āswitchā? Just curious and donāt exactly follow. Cheers! Well done, sir.
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Itās in the setup menue of the DS.
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Nicely done! Hope it turns out to be worth all of your effort.
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From the manual:
"DirectStream has enough output gain to directly drive most power amplifiers without a preamplifier. DirectStreamās volume control is a no-loss design and may be used at any setting from 1 to 100 without fear of resolution loss.
However, if there is too much gain when you connect directly to a preamplifier or power amplifier, it is possible to select a lower output gain setting. To do so, go to the setup touch screen on DirectStream and choose the lower output option (see the Quick Start guide). You can also turn the output attenuator on or off by pressing the Filter button on DirectStreamās remote control."
FYI.
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Vocals are one of those that fall in the āmore aliveā bucket. There was a background voice that I thought was coming from my sonās tablet as he was watching a show next to me, but when I turned to focus on it, it was actually from the piece I was listening to. It felt palpable, close.
Other instruments are popping up like that and Iām finding that really delightful.
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The DSD has an attenuation setting in the config panel. When set to LOW, it turns on the attenuator and allows the volume setting to go beyond 100 to 106. With this setting, I believe a few things are happening.
- The constant noise floor is pushed to inaudible levels. I test this by turning the BHK Pre volume to 100 when nothing is playing. My speakers are 99dB, so itās easy to hear whether the noise has gone up, and with this low 106 config, the noise doesnāt fluctuate at all. Itās just a constant BHK Pre noise floor I hear. On HIGH at roughly 65, I can hear noise increasing when the Pre crosses 65. I usually listen to the Pre at 53 because thatās the start of the next volume attenuation ring, which Iāve found to have lowest noise. Also dimming the Pre is required. Thereās a different HF buzz the display makes.
- I always thought the DSD attenuator dulled the sound in my system, even after breaking in for weeks. I had it on LOW this past week looking for changes in sound because Iām now on a full loom of Iconoclast ICs, but I was planning to switch back to HIGH until the formers showed up in the mail. The new former has really improved the palpability of the sound. Iām hearing presence, realism in sounds I didnāt hear before. Maybe due to the lowered noise floor coupled with the new formers. It feels like a veil was lifted.
Edit: I wanted to qualify the noise floor remark with measurements for LOW / HIGH. Measurements using a Reed R8060 0.5inch at the tweeter, dbA weighted.
For LOW 106, at BHK volume 1, it reads 54dB left, 50dB right. At BHK volume 100, it reads 55dB left, 52dB right. Iām not sure why my left channel is noisier, so Iāll look into that.
For HIGH 100, 54/50 at 1, 67/68 at 100.
Edit #2: for reference, I swapped in a new pair of PSvane 12AU7s into the BHK Pre and at LOW 106, the noise floor is 48/44 dB. Thatās roughly 6dB of noise due to the NOS tube. I also found its the daughter boards that cause my level mismatch by swapping them and have an email out to psaudio.
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Dear Mr. Vee, infomercials never had any effect on me whatsoever.
But now, you just posted the best infomercial I have ever seen (detailed pictures, best commentaries on sound improvement, ā¦), and this time, I am really interested to buy 
.
I see that you have all the equipment and the tools.
When do you start taking orders?
If I call in the next fifteen minutes, do I get one mod kit free?
(just kidding)
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I installed the XS4400 transformers today. Took a couple of hours. Iām amazed at what an upgrade it is. Shocked really. I expected the more substantial bottom end (beefier transformer), but itās the presence in the mid-range, and the overall fluidity that has been the surprise. Itās like getting a whole new component. Iāve been doing the obligatory re-listen to favorite recordings ever since.
I canāt help but wonder if back when Ted and Paul were first costing out the unit - if maybe the firmware at the time was such that the transformer choice was not quite as significant as it is now. Otherwise, itās hard to understand why these XS4400s werenāt part of the original build. Could be that the Mc C22 preamp just happens to match up all that much better - and my particular experience is an outlier.
In any event, this is by far the best $90 Iāve spent on audio in a very, very long time.
Thank you Ted, for facilitating this transformation.
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I placed my order for the XS4400s today. Is there really a 6 week wait?
I have a nice solder station, silver solder, and a solder sucker just waiting to be used. Iāve already rehearsed the procedure a few times in my head.
I may be a bit ocd about this project. 
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Much better than cavalier.
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OK, thatās it - I cannot take it anymore.
Stop posting your amazing results with the XS4400s transformer upgrade.
I feel like Scrat in Ice Age gazing at the unreachable golden acorn ā¦
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Hello Ted, in your TSS you are going to use the Jensen JT-11SSP-7MPC, are you using additional filtering to reduce the high frequency noise? I understand that the JT-11SSP-7MPC physically will not fit in a DS, but wondering if the JT-11SSP-6M would be worth a try? They could be mounted on a bracket and than wired to the PCB. The installation shouldnāt be more difficult than the XS4400, but due to the higher bandwidth, it might be to much unfiltered high frequency noise?
Many thanks for your great work!!!
What makes you think the Jensen is better than this new Edcor?
I said I would try Windom, and I did, for a minute.
An immediate difference was a loss of bass punch, overtones, smoothness and body.
I switched back to Snowmass and those elements returned.
Looks like Iām sticking with Snowmass for now.
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Itās just personal preference and Tedās comments earlier.
It could be that what I perceive as a flatter, deeper reaching bass performance of Windom falls into a room acoustic dip in your environment at the point where in my ears Windom flattens a bump (not that I donāt have my own room acoustic anomalies, but I tried to flatten it as much as possible with an EQāable sub)
If so, your other described characteristics of Snowmass in your environment might be connected to a now missed part of bass level around a frequency with Windom.
Maybe effects like this explain differences in various environments.
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You may compromise transformer performance by jerry rigging a fit requiring longer leads to the circuit board.
From November 5th -> December 3rd was the turnaround time for mine to arrive.
This is the heart of hot rodding taken to stereo equipment. There are truly a lot if very well educated enthusiasts not afraid to get dirty to make a performance improvement. I wont be taking the hood off mine but am still impressed by the never ending quest to improve the end result. Everyone wins.
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