Can the 2003 Trivista 21 be modernised to compete with today’s (2017) reference DACs? Enthusiasts have tried putting in expensive capacitors and op amps and some even offer their services for a fee. I applaud their efforts and generosity in sharing their work on the internet. But I wanted to go much further. When you peer inside the Trivista 21 you realise it is an extremely serious piece of equipment that demands an equally serious engineering effort to modernize it. This is not going to be a case of just swapping capacitors – this is going to be a total re-engineering. We will have to reverse-engineer the circuit, identify and correct all the weaknesses and deploy our components budget where it matters. With some work and USD 500 of components the Trivista 21 can emphatically withstand A/B blind testing against the very best DACs available today (2017) at any price. Provided you also bypass the tube section entirely!
To be continued.
