Amp and DAC for Tekton Lore

[jalbert300]

Thought I would mention not to concern yourself too much with MQA. Do some research or watch this video by GoldenSound. MQA is lossey and worse than flac. I hope it dies the slow horrible death that it deserves. Stick with flac and if Tidal insists on their crusade to replace flac with MQA, I would seriously consider other options.

ok thanks, i was leaning towards not worrying about it, but yea half of tidal is mqs

 

[jalbert300]

ok, infully intend to do blind test when possible, but ive simplified the test. Ive already concluded the DarkVoivr as a "tube buffer" sucks, it screws with imaging. Also concluded the Vista Contour is doing something good, everything seems more articulate and well defined and open. Strange, but songs that have a motion to the sound seem to paint a clearer picture of the shspe its painting if that makes any sense. So yea, Contour stays permanent in chain and DarkVoice goes away.

As for diff in amps, i enjoy both of them, but it seems obvious to me the Spark is just more balanced frequencies wise. The Emotiva seems boosted in the Bass and Treble. Its instantly more engaging, but slightly bloated in bass and slightly blurrier/more blended "picture" of the sound, less separation of instruments.

Thats my impression so far, and am quite happy with sound overall. At the moment I wish the Spark could be controlled remotely and had the Contour built in as a on/off type thing. Oh and maybe a Modi 3 built in

 

[Kvn_Walker]

You just need an equalizer. You've spent a lot of money on what amounts to equalization. Anything that "changes the sound" between the source and the amplifier is just that.

As for the Vista amp, maybe the reason the midrange sounds fuller is because it's cutting off the bass:

The same review notes that the Spark is only capable of 9 watts(!) at 4 ohms, which means it has no kind of current capacity for any impedance dips. If you didn't have already efficient speakers, that amp would be an absolute dog.

You can probably get something like the JDS Subjective EQ (https://jdslabs.com/product/subjective3/) and pair that with the Emotiva and make slight adjustments to get the sound contour you prefer, with plenty of power and current to play the Lore's as loud as you want when the urge strikes.

 

[Pogre]

You just need an equalizer. You've spent a lot of money on what amounts to equalization. Anything that "changes the sound" between the source and the amplifier is just that.

As for the Vista amp, maybe the reason the midrange sounds fuller is because it's cutting off the bass:

The same review notes that the Spark is only capable of 9 watts(!) at 4 ohms, which means it has no kind of current capacity for any impedance dips. If you didn't have already efficient speakers, that amp would be an absolute dog.

You can probably get something like the JDS Subjective EQ (https://jdslabs.com/product/subjective3/) and pair that with the Emotiva and make slight adjustments to get the sound contour you prefer, with plenty of power and current to play the Lore's as loud as you want when the urge strikes.

Right? Seems like a lot of wasted time and energy that could be spent on something productive...

 

[jalbert300]

Right? Seems like a lot of wasted time and energy that could be spent on something productive...

lol, good comments Walker, i was actually going to buy a Schiit Loki EQ for fun, so prob gonna do that.

@Porge, you crack me up. Ive wasted no time or energy. I enjoy what im doing and find it interesting. This is how i learn about stuff. Im sure there are plenty of things u do personally that i would deem a waste a time. Why u gotta hate on me enjoying myself? LOL

 

[Pogre]

lol, good comments Walker, i was actually going to buy a Schiit Loki EQ for fun, so prob gonna do that.

@Porge, you crack me up. Ive wasted no time or energy. I enjoy what im doing and find it interesting. This is how i learn about stuff. Im sure there are plenty of things u do personally that i would deem a waste a time. Why u gotta hate on me enjoying myself?

Aw, I ain't hating on ya. Sorry I came off kinda shitty there. It is interesting and I'll give you props for putting some effort into doing a proper comparison. Almost no one does. It's a tricky thing to set up properly tho, and you have to make sure everything is equal and level. Make sure any and all dsp is defeated too.

 

[jalbert300]

oh, and BTW i have used the Spark with kef q100 and its sounds great in smaller room. not sure what the impedance on those are but def not efficient

 

[jalbert300]

Aw, I ain't hating on ya. Sorry I came off kinda shitty there. It is interesting and I'll give you props for putting some effort into doing a proper comparison. Almost no one does. It's a tricky thing to set up properly tho, and you have to make sure everything is equal and level. Make sure any and all dsp is defeated too.

aight end of day with what i have i prefer this simple setup, sounds great honestly.

Raspberry Pi > Modi 3> Spark > Lores

 

[jalbert300]

well i think Paul DS was right in suggesting a sub. I added an emotiva airmotiv 8 (or something like that) and it really helps.

My preferred setup is with the Spark and Sub, using the high pass filter on sub at 60hz. Maybe this helps the spark a bit i dunno. I can 100% say i prefer the spark over A300 with sub in mix. I can see a nice pair of subs in my future