DK Design VS.1 Reference mkII - Optimization


I would like to know what tuning, customizing, hot rodding, tweaking, what ever.. that you owners of DK Design VS-1 MK2 are using to bring out the best in this amp. It seems to be responsive to changes in interconnects, tubes, power & speaker cables, speaker dynamics, etc. most probably to both the positive and negative.

Please share your work. I would like to know what improved it's performance, what caused no real change and what made it sound worse. Thanks in advance!
jomoinc
This is incorrect information.
John Tucker is Vice President of Operations of LSA Group.
This is not a mod, but a collaboration between John and myself for the improvement of the original design.
I don't know how rumors like this become so convoluted, John has worked for us for about a year now, and brings a remarkable technology with him.
These are stock units, that being the Reference, all QC'd by our Seattle facility, John's facility, then an upgrade to the preamp section only, the Signature Edition, with the final upgrade being to STATEMENT Version, which is a full exchange of parts in all areas, replacing inexpensive op amps, utilizing Active Tube Loads, stabilizing the tubes into the 4/6 MHZ region, generally unheard of.
This is definitely NOT a mod, but a factory recognized, and internal event.
Just so everyone understands the relationship, John IS a part of the LSA Group Team, brining his full expertise to the company. We are fortunate indeed to have him aboard.

Best,
Larry R. Staples
LSA Group
President/Designer
I found a matched pair of RCA 7308 tubes and am thoroughly enjoying them. I would like to explore getting the Four Camille Cascode Constant Current Sources (C4S) to replace the stock plate load resistors ala Bottlehead topography and possibly replacing some of the stock caps with VH audio V-caps or better. Too bad DK does not presently offer past product upgrade support from Exemplar....
Jomoinc,
Please read the correspondence preceeding yours.

Larry R Staples
President/Designer
LSA Group
OK Lrsky, that's two shots

As a manufactor's rep, if you would like to contribute to, as the description of this thread states:

"tuning, customizing, hot rodding, tweaking, what ever.. as an OWNER of DK Design VS-1 MK2 to bring out the best in this amp."

Please do. That is the concept of this thread.

It does not say if you are the owner of the company that no longer sells this product... It would be wise to be proactive & supportive to these ends rather than reactive to the very owners already financially committed to this model.

Redd Foxx Atlantic SD18157 LP You Gotta Wash Your Ass
"It is better to wash your ass than to try to cover it"
mmm....
To all,
Sorry if that comment, clarifying the nature of John Tucker's involvement in MY company ruffled Jomoinc's feathers--it's just that, with others actually modifying, therefore voiding warranties, I wanted to set the record straight.

The Amp's name will change to LSA in our next run--simply to make our marketing direction clearer. We have made significant product upgrades in the internal parts, and quality control since buying DK more than a year ago.
QC'ing all the amplifiers has been a great value add for most of our customers--since we include a certificate with each amplifier, signed by the technician performing the tests.

Our newer models, the Signature and Statement, are in the hands of reviewers as I write this, so we should have press shortly--also, Bound for Sound's Marty DeWulf reviewed the Signature some time ago--and was impressed with the sound, enough to compare it to units,(even separates) costing multiples of the price.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify.

Best,
Larry R. Staples
President/Designer
LSA Group