I read through the AK thread. There are so many different DAC designs and opinions are as varied as snowflakes. I have had the original Havana for ten years. I kept it because it sounded good. Great actually, when I found the coupling caps that were right for me. The Abbas sounds better and it is still settling in. I also bought his SPDIF cable and should have it soon.
I was conflicted between it and the Orchid. I went with the Abbas because after reading through his forum I could tell he is passionate about what he does. The forum is in Ukraine but if you open it in Chrome it is translated to English.
DAC 2.1 features:
1. Tube DEM clock ( E180F, EAA91, soviet tubes provided )
2. CS8414 SPDIF receiver 24/96
3. Shunt voltage regulators based on the germanuim transistors.
4. Vintage and modern audio components are used:allen bradley,philips,telefunken, Capacitors: Nichicon muse ,Kendeil, panasonic pureism Resistors: allen bradley, audionote tantalum.
5. Board covered with gold and a special varnish for best sound
6. Stranded wires composed of vintage copper wires taken from klangfilm,telefunken,siemens sound equipment
7. I/U convertor based on the special low noise germanium transistor. As a consequence of this fact, an excellent reproduction of quiet sounds,at -60..-80db level
8.
PIO output capacitors
9. Shortest signal path, the tube output stage with the low output imphedance (5687,EZ80).
10. NOS mode(non oversampling)
11. Genuine TDA1541R1 or TDA1541A philips factory
12. Siemens film capacitors in the DEM cells
13.Separate power transformers for digital and analog sections. Separate transformer for DEM clock.
14. EZ80 tube rectifier
Output: 4v RMS (1khz,0db Full Scale)
You get this tubes with the DAC:
6N6P soviet NOS
6J9P soviet NOS
6X2P soviet NOS
EZ80 tungsram NOS
It came with a 6N6P output tube. From the description above I assumed it could also use a 5687. So I tried one and liked it... a lot. Then I found out that the 6N6P has no real equivalent but the 5687 is very close. So the 6N6P is back in it now. I am going ask, via his forum, if it is OK to use the 5687.
I will also ask about the 5687 output stage he sells. It is used in this Dac:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DAC2-1SE-4v...Z4xt:rk:9:pf:0
Sprague 121P's 2.0uf 150V are installed as couplers. They are metalized paper not PIO. Many folks believe all Sprague caps are PIO. They aren't. I bought some $4.98 Soviet KBG MN copper foil caps. The Dac should be settled in by the time they arrive. They are well regarded in the DIY arena and *I* like PIO.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-uF-400V-M...72.m2749.l2649
From an Audio Asylum post: On a whim I just changed my output capacitors on my 1541a D3a diy DAC from
V-cap Cutf to KBG-MN. Blimey!!! Incredible! The best and most natural sounding paper in oil capacitor I've ever heard. This must be Russias finest capacitor for audio.
He replaced expensive V-Cap Teflon and copper foil caps.
I will update this as the journey unfolds.
