08-19-2020 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Paul S San Diego, California, USA Posts 2,658 Joined on 10-12-2006 Post #: 26 Post ID: 25926 Reply to: 25925 Ha! It might have lasted FOREVER! The new battery got here and when I removed the charging and PS adapter harnesses from the old battery I noticed that the threaded positive post on the original battery is broken, inside the battery! I must have over tightened it after cleaning and re-greasing the contacts! That certainly explains why the old battery wouldn't take a charge or power up my DAC anymore! And here I thought it had died a natural death. Given this revelation, how long will the new battery last, now that I know to be more careful? Will this site still be up so I can report on it here? Needless to say, my endorsement for this battery just got stronger! By the way, the Odyssey charger I got with the original battery still works fine, too. And as most of you (no doubt) realized at the time, I mis-typed that it's a 6V charger, but it's a 12V, 6A (smart), "companion" charger, of course. Paul S

02-01-2024 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Paul S San Diego, California, USA Posts 2,658 Joined on 10-12-2006 Post #: 27 Post ID: 27324 Reply to: 25926 Confirmation and Relief As I reported at GSC, my CD transport started acting up (skipping) quite a while ago, at a time when I was unable to deal with it. I thought at first I had ruined several CDs by playing them in my car, but that turned out to be a coincidence. When I finally squarely addressed and fixed the tracking problem and played CDs again, the sound I was getting was not up to the standard set by my LP playback. It wasn't really bad, it just wasn't really good, and I started to wonder if I needed a new digital front end for use with The Loudspeakers. Today it rained and I listened to CDs. After about an hour the digital front end cleared its throat and began to really sing. The DGG CD of von Karajan/VPO was the best  Bruckner I have ever heard from my system (or anywhere else, for that matter). I am relieved that my digital front end is still special via The Loudspeakers. I like the idea of repeatability; it's important to me. Years and years down the road, this digital front end still "works". Paul S

11-03-2024 Post does not mapped to Knowledge Tree Paul S San Diego, California, USA Posts 2,658 Joined on 10-12-2006 Post #: 28 Post ID: 27674 Reply to: 27324 Moray James SPDIF! John Wright told me early on that he used Moray James cable while developing his DACs. If you check back to the start of this thread you will see that it's taken me quite a while to finally put Moray James SPDIF cable (RCA/RCA) between my Accustic Arts Drive 1 CD transport and the Museatex iDAT 44++ DAC that is John's baby. I find the cable remarkable in this link, as it is at once very calm and extended, both in terms of frequency range and dynamics. I will soon post elsewhere about the live Bruckner 4 by Gunter Wand over/at the Berlin Philharmonic. This is a Musical Masterpiece that is brought to fruition by my system. It is Gigantic in every sense, with hypnotic rythms and ambience, not to mention dynamics that about blast me out of my listening chair. The special relationship between the conductor and the orchestra as they render a brilliant composition is right there for the hearing. Epic! The cable was used, but I think it may have gone unused for a while as it went through some changes over an hour's time, winding up with me alternately laughing and crying about the Music and the way it was rendered. This cable is one of the best audio purchases I have made. I did not list it in the cable thread because I have no way to know if it's of any use outside pairing it with a John Wright modified DAC. If anyone is curious about the Acoustic Revive "studio" SPDIF I just replaced, pm me. Paul S