Cole Max

Some quick facts
phono stage:
Tubes are E180F and 2C51
LCR direct coupled
Silk Step up transformers 10x/20x
Mute and stereo/mono
All the best bits inside

power supply:
FCUPS film cap power supply
5AR4 tube rectifier
ULNFS (ultra low noise filament supply)
connected by umbilical

Next: more.

This is a completely subjective notion prompted by recent experiences with 24/192 computer music playback.

We've recently gone back and forth between CD transport, computer transport and vinyl.
The scales have tipped.
Even the best CD playback has always had a certain imperceptible grain, so that when we switched to vinyl there was an ever-not-so-subtle sense of relief, and a sensation of the aural apparatus relaxing.
However many of the HD recordings now have such fine textures that that is no longer the case.

Today I was impressed listening to Eiji Oue - Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances. Reference Recordings seems to strike just the right balance of edge and silk, bass and presence. Dynamics surpass vinyl and of course bandwidth is linear, goes deep and is unconstrained.

Morello Max:

"Today i receive one of your new Morello Max units, as soon as i can, i connected to my main system:

MSI GX620 Laptop. 4 TB Droboshare NAS. JRiver Media Center ASIO->
Wireworld Ultraviolet USB 1 M Cable->
Morello Max->
Canare Toslink 75ohm 1M->
Audio GD DAC9Mk3->
Audio GD ACSS Cable->
Audio GD C39 Preamp->
Marchand Electronics Active Crossover->
MBL 8006 DIY Amp for Bass, Kingrex QS-01 Amp for Mid and Highs->
Monitor Audio RS8 Mains->
Monitor Audio SRW-12 Subwoofer.

After the Morello Max i was using an Original Musiland Monitor 01 USB and a Teralink X USB.

I know there are many of us out there, silent, wondering. We didn't want digital music because vinyl sounded better; eventually there was no choice. We succumbed. Now 30 years later we're sitting on a mountain of CDs.
Some have written to ask what Computer Music Playback is all about. Some have dropped by our shop to see and listen to the setup.

Computer Music Playback is where the computer replaces the CD transport, BUT does so much more.

A customer asked:
>Can you help me get into Computer Music Playback?
Answer: Yes, the best way to get into it is to
1. get your computer set up for music playback and
2a. get a device such as the Morello to connect between computer and existing DAC
OR if not having a DAC

Cleo: USB DAC (meaning usb input only): ASYNCHRONOUS USB DAC up to 192KHz with Tube Output.

In between it's like this:

Computer Music player>>>
>>>USB by ASIO (or other direct stream to USB), bypassing Windows playback>>>
>>>USB input of Cleo where asynchronous signal is reclocked>>>
>>>on board DAC>>>
>>>UTS (tube output stage)>>>
>>>RCA outputs

Of course the secret's in the sauce
From clockwise, upper left:
MuMetal wrapped power transformer
Ultimate Clock power supply
On board Linear power supply (LPS) (nothing powered from the computer)
Ultimate Clock module with 0.5ppm TCXO
UTS (tube output stage)

We have playing in house a monoblock version of the Lux91.

The original Lux was Thorsten Loesch's circuit and excelled in drive and dynamics, putting out 12w on musical peaks. The key feature was the reactive interstage - a 5687 with choke on the cathode and direct coupled to the grid of the 300b. The role of the reactive interstage is best understood by viewing the 5687, choke and direct coupling as a unit.

Thorsten has been at it again and we've been tweeking the implementation these few months. These are:
1. 310a used as driver tube: This tube just has such a luscious tone -- it's too good not to have.
2. Monoblock chassis: needed as the extra parts would be too much to fit into a single stereo chassis

Who would've thunk it?

Today we configured a Universal Tube Stage (UTS) for placement at the SPDIF output of the Morello computer-to-DAC enabler as discussed here :24/192
All the other bits and mods were left in place and the upgraded output transformer moved after the tube output stage.

The result?
The best square wave we've ever seen from an SPDIF. Even extreme high end CD players output square waves that look like a literal train wreck. The Morello Level 3 is already way ahead on that count but adding the tube output produces an even better looking square wave AND alomost doulble the voltage.

I'm getting quite a few emails asking for updates on the Tram2:

We're pretty well there. The current design will grow one more tube, a 6AS7. This will allow us to expand the range of DHT that can be used without major circuit changes. As seen here we can change 2A3 and 45 on the fly.

24bit 192khz Digital
Finally after 30 years chained to the 16bit 44khz standard we now have the possibility of music playback at 24 bit 192 khz.
This allows:

• - Much finer musical textures (banishing forever the aggressive sounds we associate with digital)
• - much greater dynamic range (typically a 24/192 file is 10x the size of 16/44 files (CD standard)
• - music playback from computer
• - potentially better playback than even the best CD transports when properly setup and configured.
• - music storage on an external hard drive (ie 1 terabyte hard disk can hold 1000 CD's of music in lossless format
• - the added convenience of purchasing music online

What do DHT (direct heated triodes) REALLY sound like? Yes we've heard VT25, 45, 2A3, 205d, 300B etc in many an amplifier, enshrouded by driver tubes and output transformers. And we can plainly hear the differences between DHT types in that context, tainted though the sound must be with so many extraneous elements.
The only way to really hear the sound though is to go spud. And what better place to do that than right at the beginning - the linestage. Many will say that the linestage contributes more than the amplifier, so...