Rega DAC R Fuse Question

Can someone tell me what fuse the Rega DAC R uses? I am going to upgrade the main power fuse, I was going to contact Rega, and ask them direct, but I am having problems viewing the Rega website.

Has anyone done a fuse upgrade? Did you notice an improvement? I did notice an improvement when I upgraded the power cord.

Thanks

 

Here's a link to a thread here on SH that had a lot of good discussion.
Doubts about audiophile fuses. »

I've had a single experience substituting an AMR Gold fuse for the power supply on a Marantz PM8003 integrated amp. I was shocked at the difference it made made but in my case the change was on the negative side. The fuse acted like a filter & made the mids all shimmery, just astonishingly beautiful, but sucked out highs, lows & PRAT.

 

My fuse upgrade resulted in a much more powerful subra-sonic etching along with a troubling cascading of third order harmonic prostortion. It's really a trial and and error thing but I'm sure Roy Gandy has evaluated all possible options and selected only the very best fuses for his electronics?

 

I love my DAC R... wouldn't change a thing.

 

The fuse rating will depend on what part of the world you're in, and the voltage. The best way is to look at the label/sticker on the back of your DAC. The fuse rating is written on it.

I replaced the stock fuse with a Furutech fuse. Great upgrade! Especially for the price. I was hesitant, but decided the only way I would know for sure was to try it. I am very happy I did.

The Furutech fuse renders the Rega DAC R much more transparent and clear. It cleans up the slight grain in the treble. It does all of this without changing the character or flavour of the Rega. It still has all of the Rega qualities: warmth, rhythm, analog sounding. It is much more transparent, but never bright. Imagine Rega made a more expensive DAC with the familiar Rega sound, this is what it would sound like.

I put the fuse in with the F of Furutech towards the fuse holder, and the H of Furutech towards the DAC. It seems to be ideal this way. I know some people are skeptical of fuses, but I enthusiastically recommend the Furutech fuse for the Rega DAC R!

 

You sold me, Ortorega. I ordered a Furutech.

Thanks

 

My pleasure! Let us know how you like it.

After you install the fuse, I know of another tweak that also elevates the Rega DAC R. It is a tiny bit controversial like fuses; but it works! I tried it 3 weeks ago, and I am thrilled with the results. You just need an allen key and it takes about 10 minutes to do. It is also a completely reversible tweak. But, you will not want to!

Just a picture or two to start...

 

Okay, Post the tweak when you are ready...Thanks

 

It seems the images did not load. Here are the direct links:

Daniel Hébert Photographe | Facebook »

Daniel Hébert Photographe | Facebook »

 

The tweak in those pictures is the WA Quantum chips. There are chips of different sizes for different components/parts. I bought 3 semiconductor chips. They are made for chips, ICs, DAC chips, etc. I put one on the XMOS USB receiver chip, and one each on the two Wolfson DAC ICs. As soon as I started playing music, I was shocked!

These things really work! The gains in transparency are surprising. Also, every instrument and singer is better delineated. The separation between performers is much better. This delineation and separation of instruments and voices was the biggest effect of the chips. The sound is less muddled. It is like turning a lens on a camera and putting an image that was 90% in focus, to 100%. BIG difference.

Another thing that surprised me, was that the chips added a bit of rhythmic snap. I have a Naim 5i integrated amp with the Rega DAC R. So, pace, speed, rhythm and timing (the famous PRAT) was not a weak point of my system. Despite that, the chips gave my system a little more snap and rhythm. All of these benefits came with no loss of speed or dynamics, or dulling of the sound. No tradeoffs!

I hypothesize that there is a material in the chips (they are stickers) that combats RFI and EMI. Since The Wolfson DAC chips are of the Delta sigma variety, I am not surprised that the chips improved them (these DAC chips are know to be noisier than R2R ladder DAC chips).
The XMOS USB receiver chip is also somewhat noisy, since it receives the "dirty" signal from the computer.

I bought the chips from VH Audio for 12.49$ each. So it cost me 37.50$ plus shipping. The improvement is easily as good as the Furutech fuse upgrade. For not a lot of money, the fuse and the chips have elevated the performance of my Rega DAC R significantly. Any thoughts I had about upgrading to a DAC that is double or triple the price of the Rega, are gone. I believe the Rega with these upgrades is silly good for the price!

 

Great! Just be careful when lifting the cover off of the Rega DAC R. There is a ground wire plugged into the cover top plate. No special tool needed, you can unclip and replug the ground wire with your fingers. I unplugged the power cable and waited 15 minutes before removing the cover, just in case there was a little power left in the power supply caps. No big deal, just being safe. Besides, the chips you will place in the DAC are far away from the power supply.

Let us know how it works out and what you think of the tweaks!

 

Have you tried the Quantum Chips on your amps power supply?

 

I have tried them on X, Y1 and Y2 bypass capacitors that I have on the power line as well as on all input transformers. They work well everywhere. Just don't ask me to explain how they actually work...

 

No, but my brother did. He has a Rega Elex-R integrated amp. He put one on the transformer, and one on each of the two power supply caps. It produced a slight improvement, not as much as in my Rega DAC R. The power supply in his amp is really good, so there is probably not that much noise to clean up. Digital components are much noisier; that is probably why the improvement is much bigger for my DAC.

I plan on trying some WA Quantum chips in the Mac Mini I use as a music server. The power supply is a switch mode, so I am sure it can be improved. Maybe try some on the Mac Mini's RAM chips as well.

 

I was discussing these WA Quantum chips on Computer Audiophile. A poster suggested the chips might contain graphene:

Graphene - Wikipedia »

It seems graphene is the best material for EMI shielding:

Graphene appears to be the most effective material for EMI shielding »

Interesting... Any engineers here have an opinion on this?

 

Although I am also an engineer, I do not claim to have a clue about the inner workings of the WA chips. Quite like nobody else.

I would not bet my money on EMI isolation being their principle of work however, as the area the chips cover is in most cases very small. For anybody with a free mind and tweaking aspiration I would recommend the Stillpoints ERS paper as a very effective way of getting rid of EMI in digital components.

 

I received the chips today. The first thing I noticed is that the music flows better. After about an hour the musicians sound more like they are in the room with me. I am listening to a song that has hand clapping. When the singer started clapping his hands, I almost jumped out of my seat. It sounded like he was right in my face clapping his hands. Everything sounds more present, especially cymbals. These things work!
I haven't received the fuse yet. If it works half as good as the chips, I will be happy.

Thanks Ortorega for recommending these.

P.S. I am listening to song with a lot of bass, that I have listened to 100's of times. The bass has more control.

 

You're welcome! I am happy to spread the word about these chips. They are an incredible tweak/upgrade, especially if you consider their low price.

 

If only manufacturers realised they could greatly improve their product by putting in a slightly better half inch of wire (the right way 'round of course). Man, they've been missing the obvious for years!

 

To those that have opened the Rega DAC up, is there much inside? The chassis is pretty big for something that other companies make palm sized.

 

A regulated linear power supply. Buffer stage, dual dac chips, etc. Most of it is discrete. The inside is pretty much full. Here is a web pic of the original Rega DAC (not the R).

 

@Ortorega does that say "with EL84 Valve" on the circuit board? Is that a joke, is does it have tubes somewhere?

 

It is a joke. Rega designer Terry Bateman likes to write messages on the circuit boards of the stuff he designs. His initials are also on the circuit board.

 

I finally received the new fuse. After installing it, all I can say is wow! The cheap fuse Rega uses is obviously the DAC's weak point. I still can't believe how much of a difference installing that little fuse made.

The Schiit Multibit fuse in my second system is next in line.