Topic: Denis Morecroft of DNM design

[J.A.F._Doorhof]

Denis will be joining us in the very near future  (1 september).
He is know from DNM Design http://www.dnm.co.uk/

Please handle our special guests with repect, they make time in their busy schedules to answer your questions so keep it polite and fun.

You can start asking your questions from now in this topic.

PLEASE KEEP THE LANGUAGE ENGLISH.

[reMC]

Very interesting guest!

One of the very few manufactueres paying attention to the behavior of elektromagnetic fields and (metal of plastic) casings...

[J.A.F._Doorhof]

Ok let me start off with the questions:

Welcome Dennis,
Can you please tell us a bit about your company and products.

[Tube-freak]

Can you tell me if it was a long process to develop your DNM cables.  I am very impressed with these cables.  Especially for the price.

[neverywhere]

Dennis, could you please explain if there are any differences in speakercables, interlinks and if so, how?

[J.A.F._Doorhof]

For our forum members, you can ask what you want but respect our guest and his views.

[neverywhere]

I think that a manufacturer of cables could shed some light on some of the issues that are frequently discussed on this forum.  If anyone can make things clear about the differences in cables it would be the manufacturer of high end cables.

[celerontje]

Good question, it could be mine!

[Cyreg]

Hello Denis, welcome at HT-Forum  

A few months ago I did buy 3 SSCInterconnects at DNM's and some separate "old" DNM plugs, remember?  
I had 2x 0.5m interconnects, one terminated with "old" DNM plugs and the other with EichmannBullits.

The difference in soundbalance(quality) is obvious and easy to discover.
The one with the bullits had a more compact, fuller, more integrated sound.
With the DNM plugs the sound was more loose, more sparkling etc.

Between my Cyrus pre/poweramps I liked the bullits best (suited better that is).  

I am curious how you would descripe the difference in sound between those two above and....
your new DNM HighPerformance phonoplugs (with low metal content >> minimizing eddycurrents)

Could you give me an idea please?? Thanks, Han

[Tube-freak]

Is Dennis Morecroft already joining us?   I guess it was my fault becuase i kept him busy buying new interlinks all the time.   

[J.A.F._Doorhof]

He will be here in a few days, he mailed me he was a bit delayed.

[DNM]

Hello to all, thank you for inviting me to participate in your forum.

I apologise for my late first reply but I have been away from my office travelling longer than anticipated. My company DNM Design was first registered in 1978 as DNM Supplies in Edinburgh Scotland, near where I was living at the time. Later the company name was changed to DNM Design. 

The first product we made was a special regulated power supply unit to power other brands of pre-amp, notably Naim and Quad.
The first DNM pre-amps started production in Scotland in 1980 and in 1982 the company was relocated south to Brentwood, Essex.
The early DNM pre-amps (Series 1, 2 and 2A) were made in very high quality metal casework using separately cased advanced (for the day) power supplies including an optional battery driven power supply.
In 1983/1984 DNM introduced the first non-metal pre-amps and the cases were made in semi-transparent black tinted precision acrylic and they are still made in that material today. This unusual casework structure was used to avoid interference between the casework and circuits and DNM have used that principle ever since with ever increasing completeness.
The first DNM power amp (the PA1) was developed in 1983 and marketed in 1984. From day one the PA1 used non-metal casework and the metal heat sink problem was solved by using aluminium oxide spacers to put distance between the power transistors and the aluminium heat sink to reduce the intensity of induced currents in the heat sink. The PA1 was possibly the first solid-state power amp built almost like a pre-amp with "lightweight" circuits boosted only at the output by power devices but even then very small ones. This was done deliberatley to get more performance from the system.
Today DNM Design is operating from Huntingdon Cambridgeshire making the DNM Series 3D range of pre-amps which consist of three models, the Primus, Twin and Six versions. All use very advanced three-dimensional contruction inside the same the same acrylic casework. The 3D is the first pre-amp (that I am aware of) that uses spaced-pair circuit design to control the impedance right through the whole circuit structure to achieve improved performance from the feedback system. The feedback system in the 3D is highly developed.
The DNM current power amps are the PA3 and PA3S. The PA3 is a 45 watt amplifier using three dimensional contruction to cut all power supply and ground paths to a very short length and the PA3S adds active power supply regulation to give "battery-like" operation without the problems caused by using real batteries. The output of the PA3S is 23 watts but it sounds more powerful than the PA3- up the the point when it clips.
In addition to amplifier production DNM make solid core spaced-pair audio cables that have been inproduction since 1984. Since 2007 DNM cables have taken a new form using an advanced four conductor ribbon to carry stereo in a single cable. In the interconnect cable this halves the number of cables behind the equipment, which helps to control/reduce magnetic interference. In the two types of speaker cables (Precision and High current) the stereo ribbon also lends itself to a very neat bi-wire solution using one ribbon for each speaker. Controlled spacing is achieved between the conductors (between plus/minus and between the two lines) and this seemingly small design point really helps to improve the clarity of the cable.

As I explained to Mr Doorhof, I will be travelling around over the next few days until (17th Septemeber) so I may be a bit slow replying to questions, but I promise to answer all. So please do not let my response time discourage you from asking- and to make up for this lost time I will send replies for at least a week after getting home from my travels, so I should be able to answer all your questions. Thanks for listening!

[garmtz]

Hi Denis, thanks for joining us here on the forum!

We have an ongoing debate here on the forum between the the subjectivists and objectivists about measureability of certain aspects of audio performance and their relation to the audible result. In short, is something audible if it isn't measureable? I have looked at the technical performance of the 3D Six pre-amp from the measurements in Stereophile and it measured impeccably (as long as the power supply is kept well away from the main unit) and I was wondering if you yourself are doing measurements on your equipment and cables that support your theories of reduction of eddy currents and trying to make the ideal conductor according to the theories of Mr. Hawksford and Mr. Maxwell...

I am making use of a DNM amplifier of sorts in the form of the Resolution Audio Opus S30 and it is one of the most natural and detailed sounding amplifiers we sell in our shop when used within it's power envelope (that means either very efficient speakers or near field listening in smaller rooms). It has a different board layout and an aluminium casing, so I can only imagine how good the real stuff sounds...    To me, most other amps have a more 'fat', slower and more 'electronic' character, which I personally attribute to exactly the design 'mistakes' you are trying to avoid. It is no coincidence I think that the DNM stereo cables work the best in this system.

As a last question: do you have any speakers and/or sources in particular you like to work with in tuning the amps/cables?

Thanks again for your time!

Garmt van der Zel

[Icarus314]

DNM speaker cables have a very special natural sound that makes me forget those cables alltogether 

[Tube-freak]

Is this topic still alive?     

[celerontje]

Well, it seems that this topic is actually so silent as the grave...

[J.A.F._Doorhof]

Special guests are always for a limited time online.

[Tube-freak]

Yes but he said he would get back to us and he did not.  So we were wondering if he was too busy or something to reply.

[J.A.F._Doorhof]

you can always drop him a mail and ask ?

[celerontje]

Special guests are always for a limited time online.

It's all about how you define ''limited''