[Review] The Django has landed!

The Django has landed!

I received a Django passive magnetic pre-amplifier this morning (very early, uuuh I must have scared the post lady!).

Anyway I went back to sleep and got up again a few hours later. I took it out its box and was pleased to see the front was made of solid back aluminium. From the pictures I had seen it looked like plastic! First impressions are that it is well built. The input selector and volume control all turn very smoothly and click in to position with ease.

I plugged it in and had a listen. The first impression was that everything was back to front! Opps... I had the wires in the wrong way. Okay that is fixed now.

There is a lot of detail reviled by using this pre-amp. I could hear the reverb trail of a Guiro even when there was a full jazz band playing loudly! Impressive stuff. The dynamics are good too. Kick drums sound fast, tight and punchy. It really shows off the blisteringly fast treble and midrange of the speakers.

I did find that it was pretty bright. I hooked up my measurement gear and took a frequency response measurement. Indeed, the treble (1KHz up) was looking quite different even to when the DAC was plugged directly in to the amps (which looked quite similar to going through my valve preamp). Interestingly though it looked flatter!

On the negative side though there does now seem to be a peak at 80Hz with two suckouts either side. This was not there before so I can only assume it is the pre-amp. I can't really hear it so I'm not too bothered. However, even with digital correction, it is a fair bit worse than it used to be. Still within +-6dB after correction though.

I am still tuning it to my taste but it is sounding pretty good. Still slightly bright but I think my ears are tired.

Another interesting point is that now when I EQ the system, if I EQ the direct sound treble to gently follow the equal loudness curve at 80dB, the overall room response (not gated) in the treble is pretty much flat. So if you look at the room reflections as well, you have a flat response. If you look at the direct sound only for the treble, you have it following the equal loudness curves.

I think some of the 'harshness' is from revealing more detail and the DAC not being brilliant. Next thing to do is order up some different DACs to demo and test out my new Credit Card!

I was thinking along the lines of the Sonifex Redbox, the Benchmark DAC1 and a Chord DAC64. It would also be nice to try out one of the Chinese DACs from Xindak or Lite. Anyone know where I can get one of these to demo? Also still want to hear a NOS but you all hate me and won’t let me borrow one :cry:

Could the frequency response abnormalities around 80Hz be caused by having wires that are too long? I have .5m from DAC to Pre and then 4M from pre to power amps. The cable is that blue ‘Shark’ stuff from Maplin at about £3.50 a meter.

All in all, upgrading from a £1.99 volume pot in series to the Django has had a positive effect on the sound. I highly recommend it to anyone with a £1.99 volume pot. Oh okay... it is also better than the Ming Da MC-7R valve pre I had before. Should be too as it costs more.

 

Oops, I didn't mean to post this here. Can a mod please move this to the Hi-Fi section? Thankies ^_^

 

Oh... I just took another measurement after a good hours loud listening and the frequency peak and dips around 80Hz have vanished! Whoopy! It sounds just right now!

I hope they don't come back if I don't listen to it for a while....

 

is it the amorphous cored version?

 

Hi Tenson,

I'm interested in trying a S&B tx based passive, but I wasn't sure one could drive my Dynaudio active speakers connected with 8 metres of cable. Are you using the + 6 dB setting and balanced connections?

Cheers,

grivois

 

It is the amorphous version. I would have gone for the S&B but this popped up on eBay at a good price. It sounds fabtastic.

Grivois, I think it is more down to the ability of the CD player / DAC output stage than the transformer preamp.

I have a Behringer DEQ2496 which I have set to output at consumer level which goes in to the pre and then on through 4m of cable to the active speakers. I don't find I need the +6dB gain switch but the volume control is normally around the 3pm mark for decent volume.

If you want to use the +6dB switch you need to make sure the source can drive that much current as the pre basically converts the current in to voltage, which is what determines the level.

I would think if you use a pro audio source it would be alright. they expect to be going through loads of cables and mixer desk etc... Anything with an op-amp output stage should be alright I expect but worth testing.

I don't get any problems with 4m of cable on the end of it.

Thorsten is probably more the man to ask.

 

Done.

 

lucky ba5tard

 

When can you bring it over?

 

Lol, say please and I'll see what I can do!

When are you free?

...and where do you live? Want to send me a PM?

 

Please!

Camden area - I thought I mentioned it before but maybe I didnt.

I will have to get the active upgrade done first else it wont plug in .

 

You may have said, I don't remember either! I knew you were in London though.

Get the active stuff sorted then and I'll pop it in my backpack and jump on a train! I hope your place is not far to walk from the tube station?

 

2 mins

 

Excellent, I LOVE Camden It's the best part of London. You can almost get high just walking through the high street haha! :MILD:

Well, after some more listening and tuning of my EQ I have only one gripe with the Django. I seem to have reverted back to the world of waiting for the Hi-Fi to warm up! :cry:

I used to have to wait about 1 hour or more for my valve pre-amp and especially the Arcam Alpha 9 to warm up. I got fed up with it so even though it was a valve pre-amp I just left it on 24/7. It was great to just stick some music on and have it sounding perfect as soon as you felt like listening.

The Django seems to take about 1 and a half hours of music to sound its best. It doesn't sound bad right away but it is soooo much better after an hour or two. The transformers do actually seem to get a bit warm which is surprising considering the small current going through them. Well, I say warm, you can just about tell by touching them.

I have been having thoughts of small warming devices attached to the transformers to keep them at a constant temp even when not in use lol. Any suggestions for this? Something very weak would do like a few watts of heat!

BTW, is the D on Django silent? Like Django Reinhardt.

 

Yes it is - like the spaghetti westerns of the same name - "Django Kill" is worth checking out if you like the good the bad and the ugly

Could be they need to break in - I think thorsten has a device to do that quickly. Attach a cdp and a load and leave it on a few days.

 

Well, maybe I should make a small noise generator and just leave that playing through it in to a load when I am not using it.

 

You could use the pink noise generator on your Behringer 2496?

 

Now there’s a clever chap!

Am I correct in thinking that having the level set low on the pre will generate more heat in the transformers?

 

Simon,

What sort of sound are you looking for from the DAC ?

Jeff

 

Hard to say really, thats why I wanted to try all the different sorts!

I liked the sound of the TACT RCS2.2 in my system as DAC and I like the DEQ2496 but want more refinement and all those audiophile qualities.

I called Rochester Hi-Fi today to home demo a DAC64 but they only have a brand new unit so I am going to wait for the run in one. I think this will be the reference to compare the other DACs too as it is the most expensive.