Placing a DAC on top (or underneath) an amp

[Scumurculum]

I about to take delivery of a Musical fidelity A3.24 DAC (purchased from EBAY) to improve my redbook performance.

On my equipment rack really the only place it will fit is on the same shelf as my Krell 300i.

Link: http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=1987

For thermal dissipation reasons I am thinking of placing it under the Krell as the Krell is likely to be the bigger heat generator.

My question is whether having an amp sitting directly on top of a DAC risks compromising sound quality?

 

[amey01]

I wanted that A324 but my wife said "NO".

Reason: We're moving from NSW to Queensland shortly - will have to have a listen to each other's systems!

 

[Bernard]

Assuming that the DAC can take the weight of the Krell the only way is to try it out. It make work great, hum horribly (per my experience many years ago with having 2 identical cassette decks stacked), or sound crappy. You could temporarily move one of your other components and put the DAC there for comparison.

 

[nsgarch]

Neither!!

I about to take delivery of a Musical fidelity A3.24 DAC (purchased from EBAY) to improve my redbook performance. On my equipment rack really the only place it will fit is on the same shelf as my Krell 300i. For thermal dissipation reasons I am thinking of placing it under the Krell as the Krell is likely to be the bigger heat generator. My question is whether having an amp sitting directly on top of a DAC risks compromising sound quality?

Don't let your lack of rack space lead to the ruination of one (for sure) and possibly two great components! Buy a nice amp stand for the Krell, and keep your sources in your rack. Heavens! Talk about letting the tail wag the dog :bowdown:

 

[twich54]

Don't let your lack of rack space lead to the ruination of one (for sure) and possibly two great components! Buy a nice amp stand for the Krell, and keep your sources in your rack. Heavens! Talk about letting the tail wag the dog :bowdown:

I agree 100%, put the amp in another location !

 

[Craig]

Don't let your lack of rack space lead to the ruination of one (for sure) and possibly two great components! Buy a nice amp stand for the Krell, and keep your sources in your rack. Heavens! Talk about letting the tail wag the dog :bowdown:

Good advice...that Krell needs to breathe and the DAC needs to be isolated from the heat, weight and vibes from the Krell. It's better off sitting on the floor than stacked.

 

[Scumurculum]

Thanks for the responses guys.

For cable length issues and WAF factors it will be difficult to locate the DAC in a location other than somewhere on the rack.

An alternative is maybe to have the DAC sitting on the DVD player which is not planned to be the transport for the dac and therefore will not be in use while the DAC is functioning. So there should be less thermal and vibration issues. It is not ideal but it is the best I can do. I could use some vibration control devices between the DVD and the DAC to give more space for ventilation and vibration control.

One thing I will do though is compare the denon 3910 and the shanling cd player as transports. If it turns out I cannot hear any difference between the two I could remove the shanling and therefore free up a shelf for the dac.

Actually I kind of hope that will be the case as it would solve a lot of problems.

 

[TheHun]

Talking of placing one equipment on top of the other; anyone having experience on placement of an active x-over on an amplifier?
I have short runs of cables (for now) and I can't really place the xo anywhere else then the top of the amp (Musical Fidelity 5 ch power amp).
Thanks
Nick

 

[Diamonds]

I owned that DAC a while back and it sat on the CDP without any loss of sonics. I think your best bet is to place it on your DVD player. It should cause you no problems.

 

[Audioseduction]

Talk about letting the tail wag the dog :bowdown:

Real funny!

 

[Craig]

If you have to stack then you can add some space and isolation between the components by using small blocks of wood or similiar material. Cones will work too but some can leave scratches on your components.