Audio RCA Switch box quality

[Pete Shields]

Excellent guys, thanks for the advice.

Yes I really like the amp. I also have the matching CD player. Both in milled stainless steel. Your spot on with the Amp being good for a subwoofer connection Jasonovich. That is exactly what the Roksan tech desk said to me! Maybe one day on the upgrade route....

So at the moment I have my Roksan Attessa Turntable (with built in Phono) , Roksan Oxygene CD player and my Cambridge Audio CXN streamer connected directly to my Oxygene amp, all with Chord Shawline cables. So I have three pretty clean connections into the amp.

I used to have the digital stuff going through the mdac to the amp, but I eventually came to the conclusion that the DACs in the CD and Streamer were as good as the M-Dac so I bypassed the M-dac.

I still have their digital outs connected to the M-Dac and I'm basically now using it as a headphone amp for my digital gear.

I did think about offloading the M-Dac and buying an expensive headphone amp but the display is broken on it so I wouldn't be able sell it on.

Problem I have is that I would like to listen to vinyl late at night, so I bought the Zen Can Signature headphone amp last week for a good price on Ebay - which the did not work with the variable output of the Oxygene Amp.

My solution is to have a single switch coming out of the turntable. One out then going to the oxygene for normal use and the other going to the Zen headphone amp for quieter listening. It won't be used that much as I prefer speakers

I think I am going to give the aliexpress switch option you mentioned above a go and see where that takes me

I'm not really enjoying the attessa turntable though so may be upgrading that in the near future to something a step up - it seems to need setting up every week or so (basically every time I use it!) and as it does not have an earth cable, I'm sure it's not earthing properly......I'll be posting on that seperately at some time!

thanks for your help

 

[Al ears]

Excellent guys, thanks for the advice.

Yes I really like the amp. I also have the matching CD player. Both in milled stainless steel. Your spot on with the Amp being good for a subwoofer connection Jasonovich. That is exactly what the Roksan tech desk said to me! Maybe one day on the upgrade route....

So at the moment I have my Roksan Attessa Turntable (with built in Phono) , Roksan Oxygene CD player and my Cambridge Audio CXN streamer connected directly to my Oxygene amp, all with Chord Shawline cables. So I have three pretty clean connections into the amp.

I used to have the digital stuff going through the mdac to the amp, but I eventually came to the conclusion that the DACs in the CD and Streamer were as good as the M-Dac so I bypassed the M-dac.

I still have their digital outs connected to the M-Dac and I'm basically now using it as a headphone amp for my digital gear.

I did think about offloading the M-Dac and buying an expensive headphone amp but the display is broken on it so I wouldn't be able sell it on.

Problem I have is that I would like to listen to vinyl late at night, so I bought the Zen Can Signature headphone amp last week for a good price on Ebay - which the did not work with the variable output of the Oxygene Amp.

My solution is to have a single switch coming out of the turntable. One out then going to the oxygene for normal use and the other going to the Zen headphone amp for quieter listening. It won't be used that much as I prefer speakers

I think I am going to give the aliexpress switch option you mentioned above a go and see where that takes me

I'm not really enjoying the attessa turntable though so may be upgrading that in the near future to something a step up - it seems to need setting up every week or so (basically every time I use it!) and as it does not have an earth cable, I'm sure it's not earthing properly......I'll be posting on that seperately at some time!

thanks for your help

The Attessa will be earthed through one of the cartridge / phono cables as per Rega.

 

[Pete Shields]

The Attessa will be earthed through one of the cartridge / phono cables as per Rega.

I have a quiet me time night so I'll have a good look and play with turntable...... Looking on the web, a few people have added that they have added in an earth cable and that seems to work........time for a little experimenting....watch this space

 

[Pete Shields]

I have a quiet me time night so I'll have a good look and play with turntable...... Looking on the web, a few people have added that they have added in an earth cable and that seems to work........time for a little experimenting....watch this space

I switched back to the Roksan supplied cables and didn't really hear any of the earthing issues when I touched the arm. I thought I'd sorted out my issues!

I then decided to do a full setup on the turntable again as it wasn't tracking at all since the last time I used it - I have to check the tracking weight every time I use it.
I levelled the arm (which was out) and then tried to adjust the tracking weight which threw out a load of high weight errors. I then found the root cause of the problem. the stylus was going into it's casing and the scale was picking up the full weight of the arm .
So I now have a broken stylus and a turntable I am begining to absolutely loathe! I will now need to find some information on the stylus to buy a new one. This turntable has been a total nightmare for me. I'm inclined to throw it back in it's box, then into my loft and buy something easier to setup and more reliable. Something like a nice reliable Technics SL 1200 or 1500.
I'll find the cost of a new stylus tomorrow and then decide what I'm going to do - I have also started looking at turntables as well. Update, replacement stylus £150. Off to the turntable thread now to look for a new record player!

 

[Pete Shields]

Anyway, I had a big rethink and a big change of plan.......I ended up changing the turntable (some of you would have already seen my different thread on this the turntable section) to a Cambridge Audio Alva TT2. I am so pleased that I did this. Output is however low on this through the RCA ports and was then quiet through the zen. It was also quiet on my Sony wireless headphones. As an alternative, I have used a cheap bluestooth receiver/transmitter (£20 that I previously bought for use on flights abroad with my wireless headphones) and this worked well and is loud enough. The question is do I buy a more expensive bluetooth receiver than this cheap one. Would I notice any difference and has anybody ever used the likes of these in the past?

 

[nopiano]

Anyway, I had a big rethink and a big change of plan.......I ended up changing the turntable (some of you would have already seen my different thread on this the turntable section) to a Cambridge Audio Alva TT2. I am so pleased that I did this. Output is however low on this through the RCA ports and was then quiet through the zen. It was also quiet on my Sony wireless headphones. As an alternative, I have used a cheap bluestooth receiver/transmitter (£20 that I previously bought for use on flights abroad with my wireless headphones) and this worked well and is loud enough. The question is do I buy a more expensive bluetooth receiver than this cheap one. Would I notice any difference and has anybody ever used the likes of these in the past?

Remind me, does the Oxygene have a phono stage built in? (I assume not)
I know your Cambridge Alva does, and that should match the fitted high output MC cartridge. But, that cartridge is lower output than a typical MM, hence it might well be quieter than you expected.

I may have said in your other thread that you can simply wind up the volume, because it is gain you are lacking, not power. But do you get hiss or hum audible if you do? If not, just get used to it. If you do, then I don’t think another BT device is the solution. The answer is surely to bypass the Alva’s phono, switch it off, and acquire an external phono stage with gain adjustments.