The 22DE4 is a good rectifier and at the time, many were available and cheap. They were used in TVs, some radios and many devices and 1000s and 1000s were put in land fills as tubes were phased out but many still remained. They could be bought for 25 to 50 cents, so great price and like I...

Mine did that at first. It must have been a tiny bit of metal. It was gone after a few days.

I have taken the DX260 apart. The volume wheel is solid metal with a thick shaft that goes through a milled hole in the case. It is anything but flimsy and I used to do metal refinishing for industrial parts (years ago). I was actually surprised at how well it is made and much better than some...

Yes, they are very fine tubes.

Seldom is there an end game. :^) It is a journey and surprises around every corner.

High noise floor of DSD64 on the D16? I have never had that and I use sensitive headphones like the Focal Utopia and the iBasso SR3. To me, the D16 has a more natural and real life sound compared to the Hugo 2. The Hugo is a very good dac and very enjoyable but there is a difference between...

For me, I don't care. It is the sound that matters and the D16 is excellent sounding, great depth, width, separation and dynamics. And easy to use. I was able to compare it to the Hugo 2 and easily prefer the D16. Natural true sound is what I enjoy.

Transformers are a true art form.

There are two different caps on each side. I wouldn’t use a .47 in place of the .22.

Close to what is in there. I think .22 and ,47uf is what I used. 600 volt. With Duelunds it is a very tight fit.

I don't know if I am the only one. The stock caps are fine but I like Duelund caps. It sounds very good, with a natural hall sound, tight bass and excellent depth and width.

Then something to do with the adapter. What, I don't know. I know that apple doesn't use OTG, from what I have read.

Do the cables work without the adapter? I would check that.

Use the ceramic sand filled fuses, (The amp uses slow blow) as they sound better IMO. And the cost is not exorbitant. There are ceramic (non glass) that are not sand filled so make sure they are. The sand stops any arcing after the fuse is blown but I get them because the sand also dampens the...

Yes, they can fail over time. The endure current inrush over and over and will finally give out. This is not abnormal. You can put in a bigger fuse (don't) but then you don't have the safety of the fuse if a tube blows or some other part of the circuit, so never do this. Also, there are sensing...