I deleted the posts prior on height to not muddy the waters and adjusted my earlier post, @Chilli is accurate, I measure 140mm height for the K50.
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Agreed, congratulations @MarkCole !!
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Are the high-quality isolation footers installable on CX and EX servers?!
Although of course this is very much an āall other things being equalā statement and is very dependant on the DAC being used and the various implementations used in the DACās input circuits. I am satisfied that the best implemented input on the DAC I use is BNC and for the moment until and if I change DACs my interest is only in any improvements to the BNC output of my Oladra.
From what I can glean from the Antipodes announcements there will be an improvement in the Oladra BNC output albeit that it will not be as compelling as the the USB upgrade. I can live with that.
Didnāt you arrive at the conclusion that BNC was best on your DAC by evaluating how each of the K50ās outputs sounded into it? If so USB was at a disadvantage when you did that leaving the possibility that BNC might not actually be the best. Or am I missing something?
Hi Kenny, For sure I did the comparison on a 1st release K50 and also on a 2nd release K50 as well as my current Oladra. Also i have used various other usb sources such as an Innuos Statement (only has USB output) and have also used an Innuos PhoenixUSB with each of the Antipodes. I also compared optical on the ones which have it and AES. (I was rather surprised at how poor optical sounded.)
After all that I have no doubt in my mind that BNC is the best input into both my Mscaler and into the Dave direct. But then I am not alone in saying that and many Antipodes owners with a Dave and/or Mscaler agree with me (indeed you and I are both members of another group where this issue has been discussed at length).
Of course I will listen to the new USB output on the new Oladra when I get it back from being upgraded but if the Oladra usb output rises to be equal quality to the BNC output (which is what Antipodes seem to be saying) it is almost inevitable that with Dave or the Mscaler the BNC will still sound better.
But later this year or maybe next Chord will have the new Choral range Mscaler and it is quite possible that it will have a different hierarchy of input quality compared to the current Hugo Mscaler and perhaps then the Oladra USB output will come into its own.
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I have tried AES, Spdif RCA and BNC. With my system I agree that the Oladra sounds best with BNC - a slightly more open sound with more air around elements of the music.
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Well, well! Before you throw the replaced bits in the bin, let me know because I can see it will be possible to assemble myself a very decent machine from those left overs.
I am not joking, contact me.
Was the previous upgrade to CX and EX G2 or G3?
I seem to recall there was a firmware/bios update too,is that correct?
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What a lovely āproblemā (?). Many people will be envious. Could you share how it is made so good?
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@MarkCole I donāt believe anyone has yet asked about the following but I was wondering if you might share some additional detail. It sounds like there might be some energy storage of some kind.
āEnterprise-level resilience against data loss in a power fluctuation or outageā
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I donāt quite get where some of the negativity about this upgrade program is coming from. Yes itās pretty expensive & in some cases very expensive, but in most cases manufacturers donāt offer any upgrades at all (despite some promises/allusions towards doing so in the future). In fact if you want the latest specification with the vast majority of manufacturers you have to P/X your existing component & buy the latest modelā¦which is something Iāve had to do on more than one occasion.
In any case no oneās twisting your arm. If youāre happy with what youāve got then just stick with it. Itās not as if a new model or specification coming out has suddenly rendered the one you own as being garbage.
I actually applaud Antipodes for even offering us an option to upgrade.
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Agreed. P/Xing an original K50 vs a new one (or buying new & selling privately) would certainly cost you $10,000 or more, which makes the upgrade (including return shipping to NZ) look a steal.
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Yep, over the years not one of the manufacturers that have promised, or alluded to future upgrades on products Iāve previously purchased have actually come through.
Antipodes on the other hand, both regularly update their software & also occasionally throw in the odd surprise by offering trickle down technology hardware upgrades to owners of existing products.
I didnāt actually buy my current K50 with any expectation of being able to upgrade its hardware somewhere down the line. I know Antipodes have offered upgrades before with the CX & EX & still do, but it was by no means a dead cert that theyād do so for a K50. The one & only reason I bought my K50 is because it sounded better than anything Iād heard from its competitors, itās as simple as that.
The fact I now have the option to extensively upgrade my unit & make it sound even better is just a bonus. Will I actually upgrade it to the latest specification? Well unless I decide to buy an Oladra instead I can absolutely guarantee I will.
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CX and EX were upgraded to OLADRA G3 - the last upgrade available for these models.
The Isolation footers are not available for the CX and EX, the footer are attached from the inside and made specifically for each model based on weight.
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Again does this upgrade improve HQ processing? And can payment be done with a Credit Card? Thanks
We are not adding any further power, rather system resources, it will help, but wont affect it dramatically. Short answerā¦NO.
We use PayPal for payments from the USA
@MarkCole Can you just clarify please whether the upgrade to the Oladra will give the unit a new serial number and new rear and underneath sticker eg OLADRA2xxxxxxx instead of OLADRA1xxxxxx so that it is indistinguishable from the new model?
Also, does the new Oladra get an earthing point like the new K50?
Thanks.
EDIT. I realise it might take a new back plate for the Oladra to create the earthing point but the K50 Revised upgrade gets a new backplate and in addition the K series gets all the items 1 to 5 on the upgrade list for its 4k upgrade price whereas the Oladra only gets items 4 and 5 for the same price as the K50 upgrade so I assume there is no issue in ensuring that the top of the range Oladra does not miss out compared to what is provided for the K50 but it would be great to get conformation of this.
- Installing the OLADRAās triple-cascade power supply technology in the K Series models.
- Installing our proprietary high-quality isolation footers on the K Series models.
- Upgrading K50 and K41 Server engines with innovations used in the OLADRA.
- Upgrading the Player engines for the OLADRA, K50, K22 & K21.
- Installing new USB outputs for the OLADRA, K50, K22 & K21
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Musiclover
Thanks for sharing your experience and your generous compliments. Iāve stayed out of the DAC worm-hole having decided a long time ago that way madness lies. I have no ability to critique DAC design (especially the digital side) from a technical perspective and Iām rather cynical about manufacturers (and their audiophile fanboys) hype around it. After all, weād had DACās in CD players for two or three decades and so far as I recall nobody ever made a big fuss about the DAC chip used in their latest CD player!
If I hadnāt started fretting about HD failure (and in consequence wondering about Roon) around 3 years ago Iād most likely still be content with the Naim UnitiServe and Naim DAC that Iād been using for several years. A very tempting deal on an EX basically created a tipping point for me and my system morphed very quickly from having been all Naim for about 20 years to the CX/EX, La Scala, Vitus RI-100 I have today. A new DAC was a necessity for USB input and I simply followed a recommendation to buy the La Scala and Iām very pleased I did. The Naim DAC & CDX2 are in their boxes in the garage though, theyāll get another day in the sun Iām sure!
As for a server/streamer upgrade, I think Iāll let the product maturity curve flatten off a bit more before making a K50 sized investment. My power set up is not yet fully optimised and Iāve done little or nothing on grounding, so Iāve got plenty to see me through a development cycle or two. Also, Iām intrigued to see what AA are doing on the software front. I wouldnāt want a business selling Ā£30k hardware units that wasnāt in full control of the whole software suite needed for them to operate. That is one thing Naim have done very, very well. I remember how much flak they got for their app in the early days, but it is now really good and if you buy an ND555 you know Naim have the software tools to keep it working.
Andy
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What is the envisaged configuration for the new earthing point on the K50 mk2?
My Puritan PS156 has an earth socket, do we connect the two together?