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The Destiny integrated amplifier will continue to produce world beating audio performance, through its continued use of discrete analogue MOS-FET circuitry which was first developed for Creeks amplification products in 1993. It has continued to be used with great success since that time.
A major improvement in the Destiny over earlier Creek amplifiers has been in the area of separating power supply and voltage referencing circuitry for each channel. Dedicated windings on the new and up-rated mains transformer achieves >100 Watts into 8 Ohm operation.
In addition Creek has upgraded the circuitry that controls the protection of the amplifier and ancillary products under fault conditions. The use of a 16 bit microcontroller with built-in Creek (CAN) bus makes it possible to monitor the amplifier constantly for over-temperature, over-current, DC offsets, and over-drive situations and take the appropriate corrective action.
It continues, as before, to control the volume by adjusting a motorized 27mm ALPS potentiometer. The Destiny has 5 inputs plus a single tape loop selected by relays and indicated by LEDs.
Separating the pre-amp / power amplifier in the Destiny is controlled by a semi-hidden push switch on the rear panel and signal paths to and from the pre and power amplifier are carried by custom audio grade wiring. Loudspeaker connection is controlled locally by gold contact high current relays that can also be controlled via the Creek (CAN) bus.
The Destiny can still be run with a passive pre-amp but now has the added feature of a gain selectable active pre-amp. Selection is in three steps - 3dB, 6dB & 9dB. The gain is adjustable from underneath the pre-amp selection with a 3 way slider switch. To select active or passive operation a push button on the front panel switches between the two and is indicated with an LED.
A new connector arrangement can be found inside the Destiny pre-amp circuit board, that allows the use of a plug-in gain Phono circuit or DAC. Being fully isolated from the input ground, it is possible to input either MM or MC cartridges or with a novel circuit board from Creek, a complete 24 bit 192kHz DtoA converter allows the Destiny to accept SPDIF signals on two inputs on the rear panel.
The early range of phono boards will not fit this new amplifier.
One of the more difficult tasks was to make the Destiny switch into low-current standby operation. Waking up the amplifier can now be performed simply via the Creek System Remote, Model SRC1.
The metal case of the amplifier is larger and more substantial in thickness and weight. The front panel is machined from solid 10mm thick aluminium and has solid metal push buttons and control knob to give the new amplifier a more expensive feel and smother operation. Groups of function buttons are now clustered together within a machined circle to make it more intuitive to use. LEDs indicate the functionality.
The Destiny CD player from Creek Audio is the first indication of Creeks intention to launch a series of higher quality products dedicated to the serious hi-fi consumer.
Following in the footsteps of the popular CD50 mk2, the new Destiny player offers superior sound quality with the same playability and durability as the CD50 mk2, but with many additional features.
The CD50mk2 has, up until now, been the best sounding CD player Creek has produced. It out-performed all of the companys previous players in the area of playability, due to the use of customised firmware that allowed all known copy protected discs as well as interactive media to be played without hiccups. Sound quality was as good as Creek could make within its budget constraints. The Destiny is not a replacement for the CD50 mk2 but an additional model with a real step-up in performance.
Performance has been enhanced by careful attention to design detail, specifically in the area of PCB layout. The Destiny CD player uses an improved low phase noise (5pS), temperature controlled, master clock oscillator. It uses separate, instrument grade, OPA134 op-amps in the audio output to buffer each channel and the filtering of unwanted digital artefacts is improved. The op-amps in the output are also powered separately from their own low noise regulators.
In total there are now 16 regulated low noise power supplies in the Destiny player. All rectifiers in the power supply are Shottky Barrier types for low noise, which do not require decoupling capacitors. All other power supply decoupling capacitors are audio grade low impedance 105 degree C types. Audio signal path passive components are selected for sonic purity, such as high-stability MELF type resistors and film and polypropylene type capacitors. Audio output RCA sockets are now solid metal, gold plated types with screw fixing, if required.
To maintain the isolation between digital and analogue supplies, Creek has designed a truly stunning mains power supply for the Destiny, with all components mounted on a thick double sided plated-through-hole PCB. Three separate fully encapsulated PCB mounted toroidal mains transformers are used to completely separate digital and analogue supplies. A fully shielded, multi-element, mains filter is used to prevent interference to or from the Destiny. The mains IEC plug with built-in fuse holder is mounted on the power supply PCB together with the mains switch. A voltage selector switch is accessible from inside the case for multiple country operation. All the supplies are separately connected to the mother and display boards for improved serviceability.
Creek has introduced additional re-clocking circuitry to eliminate jitter, or timing errors, from corrupting the performance of the Destiny player. It has also incorporated a Creek BUS system to carry signals to and from the player and a link to other Creek linked products. In the future the Creek bus will be able to join certain Creek linked products to proprietary multi-room controllers.
Casework for the Destiny has been increased in size over earlier Creek products, it is more substantial and will reduce vibrations that can cause harmful sonic effects to be heard. The front panel is fitted with solid metal buttons to improve the feel and feedback from the controls. Machined out of 10mm thick solid aluminium, the front panel exudes a much higher impression of quality and reliability than previous Creek CD Players.
The Destiny CD player has been designed ideally to be partnered with Creeks newest integrated amplifier, scheduled for release at the same time the Destiny Integrated Amplifier.
A major improvement in the Destiny over earlier Creek amplifiers has been in the area of separating power supply and voltage referencing circuitry for each channel. Dedicated windings on the new and up-rated mains transformer achieves >100 Watts into 8 Ohm operation.
In addition Creek has upgraded the circuitry that controls the protection of the amplifier and ancillary products under fault conditions. The use of a 16 bit microcontroller with built-in Creek (CAN) bus makes it possible to monitor the amplifier constantly for over-temperature, over-current, DC offsets, and over-drive situations and take the appropriate corrective action.
It continues, as before, to control the volume by adjusting a motorized 27mm ALPS potentiometer. The Destiny has 5 inputs plus a single tape loop selected by relays and indicated by LEDs.
Separating the pre-amp / power amplifier in the Destiny is controlled by a semi-hidden push switch on the rear panel and signal paths to and from the pre and power amplifier are carried by custom audio grade wiring. Loudspeaker connection is controlled locally by gold contact high current relays that can also be controlled via the Creek (CAN) bus.
The Destiny can still be run with a passive pre-amp but now has the added feature of a gain selectable active pre-amp. Selection is in three steps - 3dB, 6dB & 9dB. The gain is adjustable from underneath the pre-amp selection with a 3 way slider switch. To select active or passive operation a push button on the front panel switches between the two and is indicated with an LED.
A new connector arrangement can be found inside the Destiny pre-amp circuit board, that allows the use of a plug-in gain Phono circuit or DAC. Being fully isolated from the input ground, it is possible to input either MM or MC cartridges or with a novel circuit board from Creek, a complete 24 bit 192kHz DtoA converter allows the Destiny to accept SPDIF signals on two inputs on the rear panel.
The early range of phono boards will not fit this new amplifier.
One of the more difficult tasks was to make the Destiny switch into low-current standby operation. Waking up the amplifier can now be performed simply via the Creek System Remote, Model SRC1.
The metal case of the amplifier is larger and more substantial in thickness and weight. The front panel is machined from solid 10mm thick aluminium and has solid metal push buttons and control knob to give the new amplifier a more expensive feel and smother operation. Groups of function buttons are now clustered together within a machined circle to make it more intuitive to use. LEDs indicate the functionality.
The Destiny CD player from Creek Audio is the first indication of Creeks intention to launch a series of higher quality products dedicated to the serious hi-fi consumer.
Following in the footsteps of the popular CD50 mk2, the new Destiny player offers superior sound quality with the same playability and durability as the CD50 mk2, but with many additional features.
The CD50mk2 has, up until now, been the best sounding CD player Creek has produced. It out-performed all of the companys previous players in the area of playability, due to the use of customised firmware that allowed all known copy protected discs as well as interactive media to be played without hiccups. Sound quality was as good as Creek could make within its budget constraints. The Destiny is not a replacement for the CD50 mk2 but an additional model with a real step-up in performance.
Performance has been enhanced by careful attention to design detail, specifically in the area of PCB layout. The Destiny CD player uses an improved low phase noise (5pS), temperature controlled, master clock oscillator. It uses separate, instrument grade, OPA134 op-amps in the audio output to buffer each channel and the filtering of unwanted digital artefacts is improved. The op-amps in the output are also powered separately from their own low noise regulators.
In total there are now 16 regulated low noise power supplies in the Destiny player. All rectifiers in the power supply are Shottky Barrier types for low noise, which do not require decoupling capacitors. All other power supply decoupling capacitors are audio grade low impedance 105 degree C types. Audio signal path passive components are selected for sonic purity, such as high-stability MELF type resistors and film and polypropylene type capacitors. Audio output RCA sockets are now solid metal, gold plated types with screw fixing, if required.
To maintain the isolation between digital and analogue supplies, Creek has designed a truly stunning mains power supply for the Destiny, with all components mounted on a thick double sided plated-through-hole PCB. Three separate fully encapsulated PCB mounted toroidal mains transformers are used to completely separate digital and analogue supplies. A fully shielded, multi-element, mains filter is used to prevent interference to or from the Destiny. The mains IEC plug with built-in fuse holder is mounted on the power supply PCB together with the mains switch. A voltage selector switch is accessible from inside the case for multiple country operation. All the supplies are separately connected to the mother and display boards for improved serviceability.
Creek has introduced additional re-clocking circuitry to eliminate jitter, or timing errors, from corrupting the performance of the Destiny player. It has also incorporated a Creek BUS system to carry signals to and from the player and a link to other Creek linked products. In the future the Creek bus will be able to join certain Creek linked products to proprietary multi-room controllers.
Casework for the Destiny has been increased in size over earlier Creek products, it is more substantial and will reduce vibrations that can cause harmful sonic effects to be heard. The front panel is fitted with solid metal buttons to improve the feel and feedback from the controls. Machined out of 10mm thick solid aluminium, the front panel exudes a much higher impression of quality and reliability than previous Creek CD Players.
The Destiny CD player has been designed ideally to be partnered with Creeks newest integrated amplifier, scheduled for release at the same time the Destiny Integrated Amplifier.