I’m a long time owner of the Directstream Junior DAC. Although very happy with it, I’m getting a little nervous with the recent reports of the Juniors overheating and failing with no PSA support. I’ve been asking questions on the DS Junior thread about removing the Bridge II from it and getting an Airlens. Here I’m considering a different approach and am seeking input from the field.
Are there any Stellar Gold DAC owners/listeners who have also owned a DS Junior or had a good long experience listening to one? In your opinion is the Stellar Gold an upgrade or a downgrade from the Junior? How is the sound different?
I don’t want to go backwards if I go this route and am hoping some experienced members can help me out in my decision (i.e. remove the BII from Junior & just get an Airlens saving $$$, or invest far more money and puchase both a Gold Dac and Airlens). All help is greatly appreciated.
I have not heard the stellar. But its a conventional chip-based DAC, and it is going to sound different from your JR. You may or may not prefer that difference. But it won’t sound like a DS.
A buddy of mine has a JR which he purchased based upon my recommendation. Its a wonderful sounding DAC. Even after listening to my system with the MK II, I still love the sound of his system with the JR.
The best advice I can offer regarding extending its lifespan is to lower its input voltage to between 105V and 110V. That will make the regulators work far less hard, and should lower the temp a bit. The easiest way to do this is with a Variac.
I have been running my beloved Jr. for six years now, 24/7/365. It is my all time favorite DAC. I have many othsr DACs, all very expensive, and all better. But the Jr. is my easy favorite.
@tarnishedears@aangen Thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated. I talked with engineers at PSA and am going to try removing the Bridge II (just 2 screws they said) to reduce the heat and buy an Airlen to connect to. Like you both said, the Junior sounds wonderful and I’ve been very happy with it. So if I can reduce my risk of failure with just 2 screws, then I’ll try that route first. And from everything I’ve read, the Airlens should make another sound upgrade on my digital frontend. Win-win. Thanks again.