NeverSatisfied is getting a fresh d500

NeverSatisfied

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
916
Location
Houston Texas
Tagline
Play the Game, don’t be the Game
#41
Lee it’s a great feeling pulling this off. Spencer can return it if he doesn’t like it and I’ll enjoy it ‘cause I do think this is a special amp . A amp that’s rivales are far a few between.
Nope….she is going to live in Texas with her PL siblings until I kick the bucket!!!
 

Gepetto

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
14,035
Location
Sterling, MA
Tagline
Old 'Arn Enthusiast
#43
Nothing left to be said Spence. I’m returning your deposit and this will sit here. Just kidding!

Noise is for both high and low rail. Naturally the low rail is a little quieter

how the f@467 do you post a iPhone video? It said wrong format. You cou;d have seen it playing you know.
View attachment 61917 View attachment 61918
Nice results Glen. Very quiet.
 

laatsch55

Administrator,
Staff member
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
74,912
Location
Gillette, Wyo.
Tagline
Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
#44
I have no idea what those numbers mean but if the masters are happy then the mortals are ecstatic.

It means Glen built one of the noisiest stock amps in existence to less than what a 400 stocker would have been....with all the voltage and amperage both AC and DC flyin around that amp, that noise figure is STELLAR!!!!!!!!!
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2021
Messages
482
Location
near Liverpool, NY
Tagline
Lifelong student / listening = bliss
#45
Spence,

"uV" = microvolts = millionths of a volt. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh -- seriously quiet!

And the distortion numbers are way good.

Quoting my inner audiophile: "There ain't no flies on that amp." :0)

****

You were right -- Glen has raised the bar really high.

For me? It's a great problem to have...so glad I'm not working on my D500s blind. (I really thought I was the last dude on the planet trying to listen to a D500 -- it felt as if I had picked a 1930s Lincoln V-12 to get tangled up with...make that two V-12s... :0)

1930s Lincoln V-12.jpg

I think you are going to like that D500 -- I know my old Infinity's expose anything untoward...and the best amp I've ever had them on was the D500 -- I couldn't believe it at the time...
 
Last edited:

NeverSatisfied

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
916
Location
Houston Texas
Tagline
Play the Game, don’t be the Game
#47
Glen knows what he is doing for sure. If I was a betting man, I would bet that my stocker will be heading North. I originally stated that I wanted to keep my first 500 original and I still might but Glen was pretty confident that once I heard his creation I would have no choice. We will see but probably foolish to bet against a wizard.
 

NeverSatisfied

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
916
Location
Houston Texas
Tagline
Play the Game, don’t be the Game
#49
It's not that Spence, we've been hearing the difference between a WOPL and a stocker for over 10 years now..,.and it still makes the hair on my arms stand up.....course a good system SHOULD DO THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that I too have experienced my first WOPL, I get it. The 400 wasn’t night and day but it is certainly better, the D500 is in another class so I expect the transformation to be even more spectacular.
 

laatsch55

Administrator,
Staff member
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
74,912
Location
Gillette, Wyo.
Tagline
Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
#50
If the comparison is done on the equipment you are most familiar with, the difference is undeniable. I know yours was out in the shop. With my K's it was so obvious it was a jaw dropper, literally, and over the years have bought quite a few amps to put up against the ol 700 . Bryston, Denon, SAE, Pioneer, and some I've forgotten, sold or gave away the ones that did not sound as good as the WOPL 700, still have the 700...

What I love about having an amp that was that good, was that every other improvement made in the source ( Acurus RL-11 to a Rowland Coherence pre) ( Onix CD-15 to an Oppo BDP-105) was immediately identified as having a different sound..
 

NeverSatisfied

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
916
Location
Houston Texas
Tagline
Play the Game, don’t be the Game
#51
If the comparison is done on the equipment you are most familiar with, the difference is undeniable. I know yours was out in the shop. With my K's it was so obvious it was a jaw dropper, literally, and over the years have bought quite a few amps to put up against the ol 700 . Bryston, Denon, SAE, Pioneer, and some I've forgotten, sold or gave away the ones that did not sound as good as the WOPL 700, still have the 700...

What I love about having an amp that was that good, was that every other improvement made in the source ( Acurus RL-11 to a Rowland Coherence pre) ( Onix CD-15 to an Oppo BDP-105) was immediately identified as having a different sound..
Yeah, I am actually a little worried that the rest of the system isn’t going to be up to par. I have no concerns about my Betas but the front end may not be up to the task. I really want to stick with the PL 3500 pre but will probably need to find someone to hot rod it. The Rotel front end will go away pretty soon.
 

laatsch55

Administrator,
Staff member
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
74,912
Location
Gillette, Wyo.
Tagline
Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
#53
Spence, I was lucky to have a good bud in Phoenix, Stephen Evans, who was an audiophile, and I use that term in a reverent way. He wasnt an in your face guy about it, he just loved good equipment and had a lot of it. A set of K's in the living room, a set of Infinity 4.5's in the bedroom , some 2.5's in the den, some JBL-L200's on the deck, and top notch equipment driving them. I felt lucky to be able to listen to that stuff at length, anytime we were there. Had some outrageous vinyl equipment. A Thorens TD 166 mkII, a Thorens TD 520, a Walker Phono pre and Walker Motor controller and carts and arms I can't pronounce, and the vinyl was up to snuff too...simply exquisite source material. A Wadia TOTL CD player , again, exquisite source material....I've heard a few good systems, but his were by far the best I had heard. And in all that stuff was a PL WOPL 400, had all the goodies. And some custom built copper heatsinks, he called it "The Silver Shadow" 400. He loved it. This guy sold Hi-Fi and managed 85 Tech-Hi Fi stores in the day gone by. Ran the trade show circuit withj the Carvers, D'agostinos, D'giornos, Curl, Walker, all the greats in the business, partied hard with em. Knew em personally, knew his shit too. I asked him flat out one day why he loved that little 400, he didn't say a word, just put on a drum reference CD of various drummers doing their solo, through the 400 and the JBL-L200's, had it cranked pretty well. I was mesmerised, the leading edges of the drum strikes were THERE, not hurried or strained just fucking THERE. he sat there just grinnin his shit eating grin he had, and let that CD play. He loved what the Pl topology did for music, not numbers, music...I'll never forget that day...fuckin legend man...
 

laatsch55

Administrator,
Staff member
Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
74,912
Location
Gillette, Wyo.
Tagline
Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
#54
Pic of Stephen, the first night of the Shpongle concert at Red Rocks 3 years ago. Last time we saw him alive was on that trip. Had a massive heart attack 6 months after that..a good man and I miss him a bunch..
 

Attachments

NeverSatisfied

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
916
Location
Houston Texas
Tagline
Play the Game, don’t be the Game
#56
Spence, I was lucky to have a good bud in Phoenix, Stephen Evans, who was an audiophile, and I use that term in a reverent way. He wasnt an in your face guy about it, he just loved good equipment and had a lot of it. A set of K's in the living room, a set of Infinity 4.5's in the bedroom , some 2.5's in the den, some JBL-L200's on the deck, and top notch equipment driving them. I felt lucky to be able to listen to that stuff at length, anytime we were there. Had some outrageous vinyl equipment. A Thorens TD 166 mkII, a Thorens TD 520, a Walker Phono pre and Walker Motor controller and carts and arms I can't pronounce, and the vinyl was up to snuff too...simply exquisite source material. A Wadia TOTL CD player , again, exquisite source material....I've heard a few good systems, but his were by far the best I had heard. And in all that stuff was a PL WOPL 400, had all the goodies. And some custom built copper heatsinks, he called it "The Silver Shadow" 400. He loved it. This guy sold Hi-Fi and managed 85 Tech-Hi Fi stores in the day gone by. Ran the trade show circuit withj the Carvers, D'agostinos, D'giornos, Curl, Walker, all the greats in the business, partied hard with em. Knew em personally, knew his shit too. I asked him flat out one day why he loved that little 400, he didn't say a word, just put on a drum reference CD of various drummers doing their solo, through the 400 and the JBL-L200's, had it cranked pretty well. I was mesmerised, the leading edges of the drum strikes were THERE, not hurried or strained just fucking THERE. he sat there just grinnin his shit eating grin he had, and let that CD play. He loved what the Pl topology did for music, not numbers, music...I'll never forget that day...fuckin legend man...
Sounds like a really great guy Lee, sorry for your loss, I can tell you miss your friend. It’s interesting how every audio guy I know all have at least one audio memory that sticks with them and had influence on their audio journey. In my teens I went over to a friends to see his fathers new “movie system” and went home changed forever. I will never forget the experience even though I don’t remember all the details. He had built a stage about 2 feet high across the width of their family room and had 4 Infinity SM-150’s, 2 standing up and 2 laying down tweeter to tweeter. He had a font projection TV (the kind with the curved screen, Sony I think). There were 2 large JBL’s in the opposite rear corners and a massive rack of amps that I don’t remember the brands. He sat us on a couch in the center of the room and started playing the movie Top Gun on laser disk. I had heard some decent stereos before and had built a pretty good system for my car but nothing came close to what I was hearing. It was louder and cleaner than a commercial theater and while his dad stood beaming with pride, I sat there in utter amazement. That system demo is really what started my audio addiction and if I close my eyes I can still hear Danger Zone and feel the thrust from the F-14’s. They moved away about a year latter and I lost touch but I always wondered if his father ever knew what a profound impact his system had on me.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2021
Messages
482
Location
near Liverpool, NY
Tagline
Lifelong student / listening = bliss
#57
Sounds like a really great guy Lee, sorry for your loss, I can tell you miss your friend. It’s interesting how every audio guy I know all have at least one audio memory that sticks with them and had influence on their audio journey. In my teens I went over to a friends to see his fathers new “movie system” and went home changed forever. I will never forget the experience even though I don’t remember all the details. He had built a stage about 2 feet high across the width of their family room and had 4 Infinity SM-150’s, 2 standing up and 2 laying down tweeter to tweeter. He had a font projection TV (the kind with the curved screen, Sony I think). There were 2 large JBL’s in the opposite rear corners and a massive rack of amps that I don’t remember the brands. He sat us on a couch in the center of the room and started playing the movie Top Gun on laser disk. I had heard some decent stereos before and had built a pretty good system for my car but nothing came close to what I was hearing. It was louder and cleaner than a commercial theater and while his dad stood beaming with pride, I sat there in utter amazement. That system demo is really what started my audio addiction and if I close my eyes I can still hear Danger Zone and feel the thrust from the F-14’s. They moved away about a year latter and I lost touch but I always wondered if his father ever knew what a profound impact his system had on me.
Amen. You are so right about this. Not with normal people...but definitely when it comes to dedicated audio guys!

And Top Gun would definitely flip your bits in that situation -- great story!
 

Gepetto

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
14,035
Location
Sterling, MA
Tagline
Old 'Arn Enthusiast
#58
Yeah, I am actually a little worried that the rest of the system isn’t going to be up to par. I have no concerns about my Betas but the front end may not be up to the task. I really want to stick with the PL 3500 pre but will probably need to find someone to hot rod it. The Rotel front end will go away pretty soon.
My opinion: you are seriously limiting your system with that 3500 in place
 
Top