New DAC is here!!

**MichaelsMinute** · March 20, 2023, 11:43 AM

It's here!

AQUA La Scala from Italy has arrived!

Manufacturer says 300 hours burn-in required. So let the process begin!

Also have some RevOPods on the way for it.

IMG_3370.JPG

**pietpara** · March 20, 2023, 04:41 PM

Very nice! I am seriously curious to know what that sounds like or what your experiences are.

Have fun!

**Mechnutt** · March 20, 2023, 04:44 PM

Thats a great sounding DAC. I have 2 friends that bought it and it is fabulous. Congrats! Once it is broken in try some different tubes.

**MichaelsMinute** · March 20, 2023, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by pietpara

Very nice! I am seriously curious to know what that sounds like or what your experiences are.

Have fun!

I'll let you know. I'm going to give my first serious listen Saturday @100 hours and then again at 200 and 300 hours.

**MichaelsMinute** · March 20, 2023, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by Mechnutt

Thats a great sounding DAC. I have 2 friends that bought it and it is fabulous. Congrats! Once it is broken in try some different tubes.

Yup - for sure. I already have a pair ready to go.

**Mike** · March 20, 2023, 07:45 PM

Congrats! We love our Aqua LaScala. It’s seriously the best DAC I’ve heard under $10k. R2R + Tubes = yummy.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

**Mr Peabody** · March 21, 2023, 12:22 PM

Congrats. New gear is fun.

**Hiker** · March 23, 2023, 07:03 PM

You can buy the newest "Ford Pinto" McIntosh MDA200 DAC for under $5,000.

McIntosh MDA200 D/A Converter

**MikeCh** · March 23, 2023, 11:13 PM

Wonderful news Michael! Please do share your findings with us once you get some time with it.

**mep** · March 24, 2023, 09:50 AM

Originally Posted by Hiker

You can buy the newest "Ford Pinto" McIntosh MDA200 DAC for under $5,000.

McIntosh MDA200 D/A Converter

Why did you post this comment on this thread?

**Hiker** · March 24, 2023, 10:30 AM

Because I don't believe the Aqua is the best sounding DAC under $10k.

**Mike** · March 24, 2023, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by Hiker

Because I don't believe the Aqua is the best sounding DAC under $10k.

You think the Mcintosh is?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

**Shadowfax** · March 24, 2023, 11:18 AM

Is a Hockey Game gonna breakout?

**MichaelsMinute** · March 24, 2023, 03:07 PM

Oh SNAP!!!!!

**MichaelsMinute** · March 24, 2023, 08:47 PM

24 hours left......

OK guys, 24 hours left until I hit the first 100 of the 300 hour burn in on the AQUA La Scala DAC.

I also just received the new Siltech USB cable today and started the burning in so that will only have 25 hours on it when do my first of the 3 stage listening to see if the sound changes over the 300 hours AQUA strongly recommends.

I'm going to have a test of USB cables coming up after I review the DAC as well!

**MRJAZZ** · March 24, 2023, 10:15 PM

HIKER

How many hours did you put on your Aqua Dac, before you sold it?

**MRJAZZ** · March 24, 2023, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by Hiker

Because I don't believe the Aqua is the best sounding DAC under $10k.

How many hours did you put on your AQUA DAC before you sold it?

**MichaelsMinute** · March 25, 2023, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by Hiker

You can buy the newest "Ford Pinto" McIntosh MDA200 DAC for under $5,000.

McIntosh MDA200 D/A Converter

Didn't the Ford Pinto have an issue of it kept blowing up in accidents due to where they put the gas tank?

**Porsche** · March 25, 2023, 09:41 AM

sorry, but 300hrs is absurd

**MichaelsMinute** · March 25, 2023, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

sorry, but 300hrs is absurd

Hi - Absurd how?

**Mike** · March 25, 2023, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

Hi - Absurd how?

Tubes + Ladders on the aqua take time.

Some folks think break in is BS.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

**Porsche** · March 25, 2023, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

Tubes + Ladders on the aqua take time.

Some folks think break in is BS.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

i do not think break in is BS, tubes/caps/etc do not take 300hrs to break in, if you run a piece of gear non stop drawing current thru its devices it should take 50hrs if that, not 300hrs.

**Mike** · March 25, 2023, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

i do not think break in is BS, tubes/caps/etc do not take 300hrs to break in, if you run a piece of gear non stop drawing current thru its devices it should take 50hrs if that, not 300hrs.

So the manufacturer is wrong?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

**Porsche** · March 25, 2023, 05:18 PM

Originally Posted by Mike

So the manufacturer is wrong?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

in a lot of cases its just "talk". do you honestly think you can tell a difference in tube sound from 50hrs to 300hrs? i do not. thats my opinion, you can follow the manufactures suggestions all you want but the sound will not change for 50-75hrs to over 300hrs. im into porsches, they recommend do not do this or that until you hit so many miles, change the oil this an that, whatever, i have never had a problem with them and have never had a performance issue

**MichaelsMinute** · March 25, 2023, 07:21 PM

OK - so I just did the 110 hour listen.

Better than at 0 hours, but still has a way to go. The "organic-ness" of the tubes is starting to come to life, but it's still sounding congested and too closed in. Tough to explain, but to me it sounds exactly like a component that still needs plenty of burn in.

Manufacturer says 300 hours, so I'm going to set it back to the burn in cycle and then give it a listen next weekend. I'll listen with the stock tubes in it and then once familiar with it I'll swap out and put in the NOS tubes.

**Jack** · March 25, 2023, 09:16 PM

Based on my Aqua experience you may still feel that way at 300 hrs for the SS section.

**Smile** · March 25, 2023, 09:21 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

in a lot of cases its just "talk". do you honestly think you can tell a difference in tube sound from 50hrs to 300hrs? i do not. thats my opinion, you can follow the manufactures suggestions all you want but the sound will not change for 50-75hrs to over 300hrs. im into porsches, they recommend do not do this or that until you hit so many miles, change the oil this an that, whatever, i have never had a problem with them and have never had a performance issue

Help me with this logic: You ignored a car's mfg directives and didn't experience a problem with your car, therefore, this amp doesn't need 300hrs break-in. did I get that right?

**Porsche** · March 25, 2023, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by Smile

Help me with this logic: You ignored a car's mfg directives and didn't experience a problem with your car, therefore, this amp doesn't need 300hrs break-in. did I get that right?

i was stating that a manufacturer recommendation isn't always accurate. why would a tube amp need 300hrs to break in to function properly and sound its best.
ok, look forward to posters thoughts on this dac

**Lee Scoggins** · March 27, 2023, 03:21 PM

My friend Jim Smith has one of these and I have heard it several times. It is superb.

**power** · March 28, 2023, 03:59 PM

I can state the La Scala (and Formula) sits after 500 h.

Good listening

**MichaelsMinute** · March 28, 2023, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by power

I can state the La Scala (and Formula) sits after 500 h.

Good listening

Thank you. I'm going to keep it going and put the time in on the stock tubes and save my NOS tubes.

**MikeCh** · March 28, 2023, 09:36 PM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

Thank you. I'm going to keep it going and put the time in on the stock tubes and save my NOS tubes.

Hi Michael,

Luckily, 12AT7/ECC81 NOS aren't terribly expensive compared to some of the other sweeties in the 12A* family. They aren't free, but nowhere near 12AX7 or 5751 pricing these days.

**MichaelsMinute** · April 6, 2023, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

Hi Michael,

Luckily, 12AT7/ECC81 NOS aren't terribly expensive compared to some of the other sweeties in the 12A* family. They aren't free, but nowhere near 12AX7 or 5751 pricing these days.

Yup. I've got a pair of NOS ready to go!

**MichaelsMinute** · April 6, 2023, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by power

I can state the La Scala (and Formula) sits after 500 h.

Good listening

You were absolutely right. At 300 hours I was still very unimpressed. I just hit 400 hours today and now it is starting to come alive! Once I hit 500 hours I'll listen again and then put in the NOS tubes.

But 300 hours is no where near enough time and will lead to disappointment if people make a decision based on the 300 hour sound.

**Puma Cat** · April 7, 2023, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

You were absolutely right. At 300 hours I was still very unimpressed. I just hit 400 hours today and now it is starting to come alive! Once I hit 500 hours I'll listen again and then put in the NOS tubes.

But 300 hours is no where near enough time and will lead to disappointment if people make a decision based on the 300 hour sound.

It's the capacitors that generally take a long time to burn in. As an example, the Teflon caps in my CJ CT-5 preamp took...1500 hours to burn in. About 2 1/2 years of listening.

Also, the crystal oscillators components and circuits used for Master clocks can also require several hundred hours of burn-in.

My Lumin P1 really needed 400 hours of burn-in and 500 hours to get "up on the cam" as we say in motor racing...

Folks would do well to exercise the patience of a saint, and the discipline of a samurai with gear at this level.

**MichaelsMinute** · April 7, 2023, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

It's the capacitors that generally take a long time to burn in. As an example, the Teflon caps in my CJ CT-5 preamp took...1500 hours to burn in. About 2 1/2 years of listening.

Also, the crystal oscillators components and circuits used for Master clocks can also require several hundred hours of burn-in.

My Lumin P1 really needed 400 hours of burn-in and 500 hours to get "up on the cam" as we say in motor racing...

Folks would do well to exercise the patience of a saint, and the discipline of a samurai with gear at this level.

I totally agree. I'm willing to wait until it sounds right before I pop in the NOS tubes.

**MichaelsMinute** · April 22, 2023, 12:59 PM

OK - update as I did some serious listening last night now that I am at ~600 hours and that I burned in the new Telegartner switch and OPT bridge.

Listening I felt as though the DAC was a bit lifeless and dull (still with the stock tubes) and was not impressed. I was thinking maybe I was better sticking with the Rose as a combo streamer/DAC and had made a mistake,

So after some thinking, I remembered I had the speakers aiming straight to smooth out the sound of the previous gear. So I set about toeing in the speakers just a bit and measuring with laser measure and BAM! - the sound came to life and became much more open and airy sounding. Much more engaging and never sounded harsh or brittle - just more organic then every before. VERY pleased indeed.

I want to put another 150 hours or so on the Telegartner and cables and then later this week I'm going to try the NOS tubes.

Mike - you steered me right on this DAC! Thank you!

**Porsche** · April 22, 2023, 05:11 PM

curious, when you swap out to NOS tubes, 500hrs to listen?

**MichaelsMinute** · April 22, 2023, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by Porsche

curious, when you swap out to NOS tubes, 500hrs to listen?

I'm only going to put an hour or so on the NOS tubes prior to listening.

**Puma Cat** · April 23, 2023, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

OK - update as I did some serious listening last night now that I am at ~600 hours and that I burned in the new Telegartner switch and OPT bridge.

Listening I felt as though the DAC was a bit lifeless and dull (still with the stock tubes) and was not impressed. I was thinking maybe I was better sticking with the Rose as a combo streamer/DAC and had made a mistake,

So after some thinking, I remembered I had the speakers aiming straight to smooth out the sound of the previous gear. So I set about toeing in the speakers just a bit and measuring with laser measure and BAM! - the sound came to life and became much more open and airy sounding. Much more engaging and never sounded harsh or brittle - just more organic then every before. VERY pleased indeed.

I want to put another 150 hours or so on the Telegartner and cables and then later this week I'm going to try the NOS tubes.

Mike - you steered me right on this DAC! Thank you!

Cool, but can't say I'm surprised at your findings. That's because there is a statistically signficant interaction between your room and speaker placement angle. In home set-ups these two are usually signficant factors. Often times key factors...interact (you know, like that whole time*temperature interaction thang in chemistry? Um...yeah.)†

And, this is why a lot of speaker design in is done is anechoic chambers, to take the room "out of the equation" (technically: the transfer function) from that whole room*speaker interaction thang...

Well...that's whats going with your room & speaker placement angle: they are interacting. It's a system, and the component parts are interacting together to produce the in-room response. Just like that whole Time*Temperature interaction thang when...baking cookies. Funny how that works, but...it's how a lot of chemistry works. Physics, too.

To wit: The DOE (Design of Experiments) I did to integrate my REL to my main speakers. See that plot panel at the very lower left called "Interaction Profiles"? The red and blue lines in the upper right panel converging to a common intercept show a statistically significant...interaction between Sub GAIN and Sub Crossover setting.

Anyhoo, good resuts, Michael. Cheers and keep us posted as you get hours on the La Scala.

†–To digress briefly, this is a major problem with how Science is taught in schools and universities: OFAT (One Factor at A Time). The problem with OFAT and how it's taught is it's usually not how physics, chemistry, and lots of other science and engineering actually work.

**Mechnutt** · April 23, 2023, 07:46 AM

The La Scala DAC is not a DAC that is overly musical. I found it smooth, detailed, non fatiguing with a large soundstage. My friends really came alive when he swapped in a pair of $700pr NOS tubes. I don't remember the names of the tubes.

Also, the Aqua LinQ really takes this to the next level. The Innuo Phoenix reclocker also improves the sound but the Linq even more.

**MichaelsMinute** · April 23, 2023, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

Cool, but can't say I'm surprised at your findings. That's because there is a statistically signficant interaction between your room and speaker placement angle.

Anyhoo, good resuts, Michael. Cheers and keep us posted as you get hours on the La Scala.

†–To digress briefly, this is a major problem with how Science is taught in schools and universities: OFAT (One Factor at A Time). The problem with OFAT and how it's taught is it's usually not how physics, chemistry, and lots of other science and engineering actually work.

Yup - for sure.

I guess I should say I have La Scala squared in my system - I have the AQUA La Scala DAC, and the large Klipsh La Scala horn speakers. LOL.

On a completely different note, I grew up never liking any of the Klipsch horn speakers and frankly kinda snickering at them. But they really got this latest newest version right in terms of they now sound sweet, smooth, clear, and not like any of their past versions.

**MichaelsMinute** · April 23, 2023, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Mechnutt

The La Scala DAC is not a DAC that is overly musical. I found it smooth, detailed, non fatiguing with a large soundstage. My friends really came alive when he swapped in a pair of $700pr NOS tubes. I don't remember the names of the tubes.

Also, the Aqua LinQ really takes this to the next level. The Innuo Phoenix reclocker also improves the sound but the Linq even more.

While it sounds really good right now, I agree with you the factory tubes are definitely holding it back. I can't wait to try the NOS tubes (they were $150 for a matched pair).

**MikeCh** · April 23, 2023, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

While it sounds really good right now, I agree with you the factory tubes are definitely holding it back. I can't wait to try the NOS tubes (they were $150 for a matched pair).

Hey Michael, what are the NOS tubes you're planning to roll in? I've already sold off many if not most of the ECC81/12AT7's that were in my dad's 60+ years collection of vacuum tubes and very few of the 12AT7 varieties brought that kind of price for balanced/matched pairs...only a small handful of Mullards as I recall. I have to wonder which tubes mechnutt was referring to at a price of $700 for a matched pair. Those must be some kind of rare tubes!

Mike

**MichaelsMinute** · April 23, 2023, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by MikeCh

Hey Michael, what are the NOS tubes you're planning to roll in? I've already sold off many if not most of the ECC81/12AT7's that were in my dad's 60+ years collection of vacuum tubes and very few of the 12AT7 varieties brought that kind of price for balanced/matched pairs...only a small handful of Mullards as I recall. I have to wonder which tubes mechnutt was referring to at a price of $700 for a matched pair. Those must be some kind of rare tubes!

Mike

Yeah - I can't imagine what sold for $750 for those tubes. All the NOS I looked at were anywhere from $70-$300 for the most rare matched tubes.

Mine are RCA's (they have a variety of type of RCA's but I bought them as they are supposed to give me the sound I am looking for over BB and others I've had in the past on other hear. I like a bit of tube magic and organicness without overly syrupy tube sound.

**Lee Scoggins** · April 23, 2023, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by MichaelsMinute

24 hours left......

OK guys, 24 hours left until I hit the first 100 of the 300 hour burn in on the AQUA La Scala DAC.

I also just received the new Siltech USB cable today and started the burning in so that will only have 25 hours on it when do my first of the 3 stage listening to see if the sound changes over the 300 hours AQUA strongly recommends.

I'm going to have a test of USB cables coming up after I review the DAC as well!

I have tried a lot of USB cables. The Shunyata Omega is really good.

**sb6** · April 24, 2023, 10:55 AM

Late to the thread, but congrats on your DAC. Like someone who posted earlier, I found the Formula took over 300 hours to finally settle. Also the LinQ does take the Aqua DACs to another level. I found the LinQ feeding my Formula was superior to the Innuos Statement (version 1) feeding the Formula.

Enjoy!

**Mechnutt** · April 24, 2023, 12:10 PM

wrong post

Thread: New DAC is here!!

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