Recent content by DOuG pRATt

Yes, I know. I OWN ONE OF THESE UNITS. Let's answer the question more directly. There will be no difference in sound.

The unit does not come with a power supply. You provide a 5V USB power supply. There is an adapter cable included with the E30 II Lite with USB on one end, and a pin connector on the other end.

It uses a USB power supply either way.

I had the 388's kid brother, the Philips 384, with 40 watts/channel. An excellent amp, it powered my Allison 3 speakers when they were new in 1979. I regret selling the Philips, but I did that a few years later to help pay for a Mitsubishi DA-R20 receiver that I still have.

That's what I'm thinking. Out of the box it's in preamp mode. Switching it to pure DAC, the way mine is set, would probably bring up the loudness. Or turn up the preamp volume, of course.

Bose lost its suit against Consumer Reports for saying the stereo image of the original 901 “wandered around the room.”

Topping seems to be as careful with details as I was with that incorrect link. ;-)

My mistake. That's the link for the Windows driver without the firmware. But the fact is the actual firmware download doesn't match the expected version.

FYI: There's a V2.01 firmware update for the E30II Lite, posted on leap day. https://www.toppingaudio.com/download/e30-ii-lite-drivers-for-windows-7-10-11

I once had the pleasure of meeting Roy Allison, after he had moved his facility from Natick to Framingham, where Bose continues to have its headquarters. I bought a couple of replacement midrange drivers that Roy said were improved over the units in my 3's that were made in 1977.

I have a pair of Allison 3's, and a pair of much smaller LC110's.

As HAL would say, "Yes... it's puzzling." I'm not going to open up my two pairs of Denton 80's, but perhaps the 9-year-old units have a metal basket. It appears to be a cast basket.

Good to know. Thanks!

I have a couple of almost-free USB-C DAC adapters. One came with the first generation of the 7Hz Salnotes Zero. Both of them have the low-level hiss that I associate with cheap op-amps. Neither is as bad as plugging into the earphone jack of a Roku remote, but the noise is definitely present...

I totally respect Amir's testing. I miss the test reports in the audio magazines of the past, from 'Stereo Review' to 'High Fidelity' to 'Audio' and, when I had access to them in the 80's, the British publications. I subscribed to 'Stereophile' for a year or two, and gave up after the nonsense...