If you ever wonder where the most exciting part of our hobby and latest discoveries in audio are being discussed and developed, browse DIYAudio and you will discover a very enthusiastic community of explorers.
It was my need & desire to walk the uncommon path that lead me there. I’m mostly a browser and a learner on that forum rather than a contributor. While I have a fertile mind full of creative thoughts and ideas, my DIY skills are sorely lacking. My wife on the other hand is the artist who creates and reimagines beauty in physical terms.
One day I was looking for unusual or atypical circuits & designs when I was exploring & comparing Single Ended Triode (SET) amplification to the Single Ended OTL designs, SE OTL and T16, of Bruce Rozenblit of Transcendent Sound Audio. The dichotomy of these two circuit topologies: OTL’s with their direct, pure, crystalline, tight & precise intimate sound and SET’s with their full body, harmonically rich & dense “groovy”, for lack of a better word, colored sound. Both aurally pleasing but in different ways. Where the OTL’s made it clear that their sound was precise, there is a certain thinness to their sound almost like drinking distilled water, lacking the flavor that adds spice and enriches the music. While the SET’s with their wonderful musicality and intoxicating sound could not match the tight & extended bass and crystalline highs of the OTL’s.
One day on DIYAudio I came across a thread about these two guys in England building a SE OTL amp with a single output tube, or valve as they are called there. A single output device OTL is, or as close to, marrying the two topologies, SET & OTL, together. Wow, what an exciting discovery. The related threads on DIYAudio and on other forums documented the progression of these builds, as the development of DIY products typically do, but seeing the finished and functional products on the pictures told me that this was not just a hypothetical experiment of feasibility but rather true success stories. My curiosity and need to learn more fueled me to contact both DIY’ers. The sad news came when the first DIY’er informed me that he had dismantled his amplifier to repurpose the parts and components for another project. But just as the excitement appeared to be dashed, I heard back from Ray.
Ray not only answered my questions regarding the sound of the amplifier and all the special features that he had built in to fine tune it sound and performance. Ray eventually informed me that he was so pleased with the build that he was finishing a second single tube SE OTL amp, this time based on the 6C33C Russian output tube/valve. As I was looking for a builder states side to build me a single tube SE OTL, Ray must have noticed my level of interest & desire to experience this rare design and told me that since he was finishing the 6C33C SE OTL that he would not need both and that he might consider selling me the 13E1 amplifier. After some discussions, Ray agreed to send the 240V amp my way. I assured Ray that the 240V AC mains would not be an issue as I have dedicated 240VAC lines throughout my house for Audio purposes as I have imported a number of components from Europe over the years.
The 13E1 Single Ended OTL amplifier arrives to my listing room:
The sound of the amplifier was all that I expected and more. Bull first a note about the build quality, Ray’s builds are more polished and substantial than many commercial products I have own. To say that Ray is a perfectionist and meticulous at paying attention to detail is an understatement. The amplifier does not look DIY but rather Bauhaus industrial in style and execution.
Back to the sound, the sound of the amplifier has characteristics of both circuit topologies. The overall sound is dominated by the sound traits of OTL designs over the SET design but adds body, weight and density with good measure. It sounds like the best of the OTL sound with added meat on the bones. This amp will never leave my house as it is a one of a kind and because of the passion and care that Ray put into it it makes it priceless to me.
Over the years I have followed Ray and the progress on his projects from a far on DIYAudio. You see, Ray is always working on a project, actually on multiple projects at a time and simultaneously always working on exciting boundary pushing designs. Ray does not work on cookie cutter traditional designs, it is all the novel and latest design that intrigue him and those that he DIY’s and develops. Ray has a serious and stressful day job and DIY’ing is his stress relieving fun and relaxation.
In my various communications with Ray regarding the 13E1 SE OTL we discussed the equipment that it was used with and we got on the subject of DAC’s. Ray and I both share a preference for DSD processing of RAW DSD streaming from HQPLAYER. When I mentioned to Ray that I was using a unique DSD-only tube dac from LampizatOr, Ray said something that immediately got my attention. While my LampizatOr and all other known tube dacs are solid state dacs with a tube/valve output stage tacked on to the their output stage. Ray made me aware of a dac that he had completed that was so unique and different from all other dacs.
Marcel Van De Gevel from the Netherlands published an article on LinearAudio.net on a tube dac that actually utilizes the vacuum tubes/valves in the conversion process and not simply as output buffers, like all other tube dacs that preceded it or have been designed and brought to market since. All of the sudden my LampizatOr DSD Only dac did not seem that unique to me. Ray did not only build Marcel’s ValveDac. Ray modified the original design to produce a RAW DSD variant. The RAW DSD variant takes the original Valve Dac design, which was designed for PCM input, and converted it to a RAW DSD input dac that supports rates up to and including DSD512x48 and it is intended to be used with HQPLAYER.
Ray had built his RAW DSD ValveDac and was very impressed with the results. When I saw on DIYAudio marketplace that someone was selling some populated/stuffed boards, from the ValveDac group buy, from a build that was abandoned, I quickly reached out and purchased the ValveDac board set and inductors. I was excited to let Ray know that I had gotten the completed boards and components for my very own ValveDac. Ray informed me that he had made some changes, updates and modifications to the RAW DSD ValveDac’s power supply and processing boards. Since my ValveDac boards and components were coming from Europe, Ray suggested shipping them to him for the updates and modifications to bring them up to date before that dac was built up and assembled.
Over the next year, Ray offered to assemble the dac as the final adjustments and fine tuning are not trivial and require an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the circuit to properly and successfully implement. With regular exchanges, Ray informed me of the progress of my ValveDac build. In the meantime, I also saw that Ray had built a DSD Only DSC v2.5.2 based on Jussi Laako’s DSC native DSD board. I managed to get a DIY DSC v2.5.2 dac and confirmed that this all solid state dac bested my LampizatOr DSD-Only dac on several fronts; so it was very motivating and encouraging to know that Ray found the ValveDac to be an advancement on the DSC v2.5.2 dac. Since Ray was certainly under no obligation to build my Raw DSD ValveDac, it was a project that Ray fit in amongst his many projects and although the build time stretched out, it also allowed Ray to implement new learnings and optimizations into the build.
My RAW DSD ValveDac makes it home. After a few setbacks, Ray polished the build and sorted out all the issues that sprouted out. Ray was correct and had the foresight to know that my dac could not be built by a builder simply following the BOM and schematic. This ValveDac is not a simple dac to sort out and optimize. Not being a commercial products it is manually fine tuned and optimized based on the resulting performance and not by simply following a recipe. Ray consulted with Marcel and others during the build process to help in troubleshooting and develop solutions to issues that arose.
Let me tell you, all the wait time & costs were well worth it. My RAW DSD ValveDac is something special, not just in sound but most notably in it’s design.
Throughout the last three years, Ray and I have communicated periodically. This write up has been long due. Although we have never met, or even spoken over the phone, I consider Ray a friend. Ray has gifted me, figuratively not literally, with two gifts that money cannot buy. These two unique products are something very, VERY few can and will experience and thanks to Ray I’m one of those fortunate few.
While the 13E1 SE OTL amplifier and the RAW DSD ValveDac play very well and sound great with my other gear, they are complementary when paired together.
I hope that you are having or have had a great cycling ride my friend. Hats of to you my friend Ray the “Nautibouy”. Thank You my friend and Godspeed with all your current and future projects. I’m following and admiring your boundary pushing journey. Ray always has multiple projects in development on his bench and he shares his progress with others on DIYAudio, as many other extremely knowledgeable members there do.
Oh, in case you haven’t picked up on it, Ray is not a builder for hire. While Ray shares his knowledge, discusses designs, and gets & shares tips/help with others on the DIYAudio community,, he builds and develops his builds solely for himself and not for others; so I’m very fortunate and consider these, my 13E1 SE OTL and RAW DSD ValveDac, a gift from a very kind person that noticed my level of interest and who comprehended my desire to experience these unique designs & components. Thank you again Ray!
It was my need & desire to walk the uncommon path that lead me there. I’m mostly a browser and a learner on that forum rather than a contributor. While I have a fertile mind full of creative thoughts and ideas, my DIY skills are sorely lacking. My wife on the other hand is the artist who creates and reimagines beauty in physical terms.
One day I was looking for unusual or atypical circuits & designs when I was exploring & comparing Single Ended Triode (SET) amplification to the Single Ended OTL designs, SE OTL and T16, of Bruce Rozenblit of Transcendent Sound Audio. The dichotomy of these two circuit topologies: OTL’s with their direct, pure, crystalline, tight & precise intimate sound and SET’s with their full body, harmonically rich & dense “groovy”, for lack of a better word, colored sound. Both aurally pleasing but in different ways. Where the OTL’s made it clear that their sound was precise, there is a certain thinness to their sound almost like drinking distilled water, lacking the flavor that adds spice and enriches the music. While the SET’s with their wonderful musicality and intoxicating sound could not match the tight & extended bass and crystalline highs of the OTL’s.
One day on DIYAudio I came across a thread about these two guys in England building a SE OTL amp with a single output tube, or valve as they are called there. A single output device OTL is, or as close to, marrying the two topologies, SET & OTL, together. Wow, what an exciting discovery. The related threads on DIYAudio and on other forums documented the progression of these builds, as the development of DIY products typically do, but seeing the finished and functional products on the pictures told me that this was not just a hypothetical experiment of feasibility but rather true success stories. My curiosity and need to learn more fueled me to contact both DIY’ers. The sad news came when the first DIY’er informed me that he had dismantled his amplifier to repurpose the parts and components for another project. But just as the excitement appeared to be dashed, I heard back from Ray.
Ray not only answered my questions regarding the sound of the amplifier and all the special features that he had built in to fine tune it sound and performance. Ray eventually informed me that he was so pleased with the build that he was finishing a second single tube SE OTL amp, this time based on the 6C33C Russian output tube/valve. As I was looking for a builder states side to build me a single tube SE OTL, Ray must have noticed my level of interest & desire to experience this rare design and told me that since he was finishing the 6C33C SE OTL that he would not need both and that he might consider selling me the 13E1 amplifier. After some discussions, Ray agreed to send the 240V amp my way. I assured Ray that the 240V AC mains would not be an issue as I have dedicated 240VAC lines throughout my house for Audio purposes as I have imported a number of components from Europe over the years.
The 13E1 Single Ended OTL amplifier arrives to my listing room:
The sound of the amplifier was all that I expected and more. Bull first a note about the build quality, Ray’s builds are more polished and substantial than many commercial products I have own. To say that Ray is a perfectionist and meticulous at paying attention to detail is an understatement. The amplifier does not look DIY but rather Bauhaus industrial in style and execution.
Back to the sound, the sound of the amplifier has characteristics of both circuit topologies. The overall sound is dominated by the sound traits of OTL designs over the SET design but adds body, weight and density with good measure. It sounds like the best of the OTL sound with added meat on the bones. This amp will never leave my house as it is a one of a kind and because of the passion and care that Ray put into it it makes it priceless to me.
Over the years I have followed Ray and the progress on his projects from a far on DIYAudio. You see, Ray is always working on a project, actually on multiple projects at a time and simultaneously always working on exciting boundary pushing designs. Ray does not work on cookie cutter traditional designs, it is all the novel and latest design that intrigue him and those that he DIY’s and develops. Ray has a serious and stressful day job and DIY’ing is his stress relieving fun and relaxation.
In my various communications with Ray regarding the 13E1 SE OTL we discussed the equipment that it was used with and we got on the subject of DAC’s. Ray and I both share a preference for DSD processing of RAW DSD streaming from HQPLAYER. When I mentioned to Ray that I was using a unique DSD-only tube dac from LampizatOr, Ray said something that immediately got my attention. While my LampizatOr and all other known tube dacs are solid state dacs with a tube/valve output stage tacked on to the their output stage. Ray made me aware of a dac that he had completed that was so unique and different from all other dacs.
Marcel Van De Gevel from the Netherlands published an article on LinearAudio.net on a tube dac that actually utilizes the vacuum tubes/valves in the conversion process and not simply as output buffers, like all other tube dacs that preceded it or have been designed and brought to market since. All of the sudden my LampizatOr DSD Only dac did not seem that unique to me. Ray did not only build Marcel’s ValveDac. Ray modified the original design to produce a RAW DSD variant. The RAW DSD variant takes the original Valve Dac design, which was designed for PCM input, and converted it to a RAW DSD input dac that supports rates up to and including DSD512x48 and it is intended to be used with HQPLAYER.
Ray had built his RAW DSD ValveDac and was very impressed with the results. When I saw on DIYAudio marketplace that someone was selling some populated/stuffed boards, from the ValveDac group buy, from a build that was abandoned, I quickly reached out and purchased the ValveDac board set and inductors. I was excited to let Ray know that I had gotten the completed boards and components for my very own ValveDac. Ray informed me that he had made some changes, updates and modifications to the RAW DSD ValveDac’s power supply and processing boards. Since my ValveDac boards and components were coming from Europe, Ray suggested shipping them to him for the updates and modifications to bring them up to date before that dac was built up and assembled.
Over the next year, Ray offered to assemble the dac as the final adjustments and fine tuning are not trivial and require an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the circuit to properly and successfully implement. With regular exchanges, Ray informed me of the progress of my ValveDac build. In the meantime, I also saw that Ray had built a DSD Only DSC v2.5.2 based on Jussi Laako’s DSC native DSD board. I managed to get a DIY DSC v2.5.2 dac and confirmed that this all solid state dac bested my LampizatOr DSD-Only dac on several fronts; so it was very motivating and encouraging to know that Ray found the ValveDac to be an advancement on the DSC v2.5.2 dac. Since Ray was certainly under no obligation to build my Raw DSD ValveDac, it was a project that Ray fit in amongst his many projects and although the build time stretched out, it also allowed Ray to implement new learnings and optimizations into the build.
My RAW DSD ValveDac makes it home. After a few setbacks, Ray polished the build and sorted out all the issues that sprouted out. Ray was correct and had the foresight to know that my dac could not be built by a builder simply following the BOM and schematic. This ValveDac is not a simple dac to sort out and optimize. Not being a commercial products it is manually fine tuned and optimized based on the resulting performance and not by simply following a recipe. Ray consulted with Marcel and others during the build process to help in troubleshooting and develop solutions to issues that arose.
Let me tell you, all the wait time & costs were well worth it. My RAW DSD ValveDac is something special, not just in sound but most notably in it’s design.
Throughout the last three years, Ray and I have communicated periodically. This write up has been long due. Although we have never met, or even spoken over the phone, I consider Ray a friend. Ray has gifted me, figuratively not literally, with two gifts that money cannot buy. These two unique products are something very, VERY few can and will experience and thanks to Ray I’m one of those fortunate few.
While the 13E1 SE OTL amplifier and the RAW DSD ValveDac play very well and sound great with my other gear, they are complementary when paired together.
I hope that you are having or have had a great cycling ride my friend. Hats of to you my friend Ray the “Nautibouy”. Thank You my friend and Godspeed with all your current and future projects. I’m following and admiring your boundary pushing journey. Ray always has multiple projects in development on his bench and he shares his progress with others on DIYAudio, as many other extremely knowledgeable members there do.
Oh, in case you haven’t picked up on it, Ray is not a builder for hire. While Ray shares his knowledge, discusses designs, and gets & shares tips/help with others on the DIYAudio community,, he builds and develops his builds solely for himself and not for others; so I’m very fortunate and consider these, my 13E1 SE OTL and RAW DSD ValveDac, a gift from a very kind person that noticed my level of interest and who comprehended my desire to experience these unique designs & components. Thank you again Ray!
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