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DK Design VS.1 Reference mkII - Optimization

I would like to know what tuning, customizing, hot rodding, tweaking, what ever.. that you owners of DK Design VS-1 MK2 are using to bring out the best in this amp. It seems to be responsive to changes in interconnects, tubes, power & speaker cables, speaker dynamics, etc. most probably to both the positive and negative.

Please share your work. I would like to know what improved it's performance, what caused no real change and what made it sound worse. Thanks in advance!
jomoinc
tvad
9,467 posts
 
I'll lay heavy odds that a 9awg power cord of any brand would be noticeably better on the DK than a 12awg cord.
audioari1
128 posts
 
The DK amp is supplied with a regular computer power cord, such as the one that comes with most Dell PCs. I had several discussions with DK regarding this and they are simply selling the amp and circuitry at the lowest possible price with a cheap power cord and tubes which they believe are user upgradeable. Also, the previous owner, Daniel Khesin, was not a big believer in power cords, although he heavily emphasized upgradingthe tubes.
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Also, the previous owner, Daniel Khesin, was not a big believer in power cords, although he heavily emphasized upgradingthe tubes.
Audioari1 (Threads | Answers)
Mr. Khesin's opinion doesn't carry much weight these days.
malbor
20 posts
 
I have tried several power cords with my VS1MK11.
Guerrilla audio, Signal cable,Supra Lorad 2.5 VirtualDynamics power one. For my ears the VD is the clear winner. When it comes to ic's i haven't tried as many, Mas silver,Zsquared copperheads, VD audition, once again the VD was the the best for me.
I was talking with AGON member that had his VS1MK11 modded by Parts Connexion they change over 85 parts. He said it was huge upgrade from the stock amp!! even at the 1k price.
sbayne's avatar
sbayne
324 posts
 
Jomoinc, yes the Black Lightning is "only" recommended up to 200 watt amps but I would totally agree with Mark that its the quality of the power cable not the AWG that counts.
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