Any comments on the PS Audio DL111 with Stage IV mods?

2chnlben,

I look forward to your critique on the Stage IV modded
DL-3.Also very nice system,how do you like the Krell speakers?

Hey Guys,

Which sample rate do you prefer 96khz or 192khz?
Which rate gives the smoother sound?

Alpha3:

I’ll give a concise review with no audiophile reviewer hype/terminology. My perspective is very “real world” (investment vs return).

I do like the Krells in many ways. They’re much smoother than the B&W 703s, which I replaced, and their coherency is much superior to the ML Sequel II’s that I previously owned (i.e. deeper/more defined bass with a much richer mid-range – warmer/spacious …whatever). Also, they will play extremely loud while maintaining their composure. However, I do feel that the Krells are a bit rolled-off in the upper-mid-range. Part of this issue may be due to my room - plenty of room on each side, which truly does add to the soundstage, but lacking sufficient space from the front wall. Seating arrangement necessitates a distance of only 3’ from baffle to wall, whereas 5’- 6' would likely open things up. After speaking to Rick Cullen, I am hoping that the stage IV moded DAC will improve things (open "everything" up).

Which sample rate do you prefer 96khz or 192khz?
Which rate gives the smoother sound?

Based on my experience with the stock unit, I would say the 96Khz is smoother. I'll be damned if I could hear much of a difference though. What I did find is that on poorly produced CDs (here the whole presentation sounds "muddy - bloated - bloomy..." whatever) the 192 Khz improved clarity. I was able to enjoy Humble Pie's "Smokin" for the first time since my old analog days.

I have the stage 3 mod paired with my moded Sonos box. The difference between the stage 3 and stage 4 is an upgrade to the coax input that keeps it in phase better. Since the output of the Sonos already has the upgrade on the coax out, I skipped that part of the upgrade for the DAC.

My impressions thus far are very favorable for everything on the low end of the spectrum. Very deep, clean, and tight base. I get a much better sense of actual instruments being played - I can listen to a kick drum and hear the tone of the wood where before I just heard a muffled thud. The sound of the double base is alive with tones of bending strings and fingering of the fretboard. In this regard, there isn't much I've heard that I like better.

As for the mid and upper, I'm thus far disappointed. The staging keeps getting muffled or it keeps jumping around to the point where I can't locate anything. While listening to a track by Sting last night, the ping of the ride cymbal and the snap of the snare drum kept trading places every few bars and it became very disorienting.

On top of that, the overall tone of is very much 'in your face' to the point I really can't listen to anything for more than an hour. Between active listening and running brown noise through it while I'm away during the day, I've logged 500+ hours on it so far. Any piece of equipment should be mostly settled in after 100-200 hours which is leading me to believe this isn't a burn in problem.

I'm going to experiment with a new cable (currently using a Nordost Moonglo) to see if that is the problem. If I can't get it mellowed out soon, I'm going to have to do something different.

One qualifier to my comments - I've recently had severe vertigo problems and am awaiting a potential diagnosis of meniere's disease. That could explain a lot of the abrasiveness I hear. However, when I did an A/B comparison of my Sonos/PS Audio system with a Slim Devices Transporter, much of the difference I heard was the abrasiveness of the Sonos/PS Audio combo, although it had more dynamics than the Transporter.