Graywulf

it is highly likely they will be 'hunts' capacitors (black with red, or blue, ends) they are a known weakspot on old KEF XO's. Those speakers will likely show a noticeable 'lift' in performance with an XO rebuild. It will be worth seeing if it's a KEF, or a Falcon XO, if so Falcon did those KEF XO's so you may well be able to get a kit, or, if you feel adventurous choose the brand you want. (depending on the actual age of the speakers, it's worth looking at just what XO is in there, as from the driver line up, it looks like it could be a KEF 'Concerto' type XO (these KEF XO's have a cou

Alex Harvey the Impossible dream

Neil, if you can stretch to a phono stage (like a little bear) or a pre amp. I'm going to suggest these wee beauties. They were highly praised when they came out, and I think they would match those Sanui's very well. Local (NZ) trade site. VTL tiny triode 25's. They've been on there a couple of times https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2874623515 In fact, just looked again, they come WITH a pre amp. But, you'd still need a phono stage.

Noooooo, save yourself. STEP BACK from the edge of this rabbit hole. 🤐 Once entered it is a deep, dark (apart from the orange glow of heaters), long, torturous (on the wallet) journey into tubevana. Both seem to be excellent amplifiers, also take a look at MingDa, Cayin, Oldchen, Boyu etc. There are some fine tube amps made in China nowadays.

Hi Zen, similar journey for sounds here. A decade behind as such, but grew up listening to the 1960's music, started collecting in the mid 70's. From a humble amplifier/deck and speakers, to what I enjoy as a system now. Delivery medium's have changes, LP. tape, CD, digital. But thankfully still plenty of good sounds to be found out there.

highly strung, Steve Hackett

Hi Boss, not into speed/thrash type, but classic rock (inc Motorhead) rock/pop. prog, through to classical. Allowing for the fact different ears, speakers, amps and brands of equipment/tubes produces a different sound, my thought would be this. Get some decent NoS tubes, doesn't have to be the 'holy grail' gear, but what would be 'average production' back then, will still outperform 90%+ of modern tubes. (6SN7 & 6SL7). These will make the biggest difference to the sound. 6SN7's can tend to be microphonic, so you may need to look at isolation of the amp (pads/rubber) unde

Hi Gazer, an ex 'long term' (12yrs) MingDa owner here. I had the well respected MC34AB (several on here had this amp, and they were hot rodded to high levels of performance). Meixing (MingDa) are definitely on the upper end of Chinese hifi manufacturers. (The 34AB had 4 output tubes per channel, rather than the 2 of the 34A) My one had the blue Ginvina EL34's fitted as shown in the link you posted, some had EH EL34's. First thing I would advise is replace the 12AU and 12AX pre amp section tubes with NoS if you can afford it, or better quality new production ones (some new prod, are

Probably ZERO, Diana Crawl, the Ellington Woof Jazz trio? If that's 'audiophile' music? No thanks. I made my system for me to enjoy my music, That ranges from Motorhead, Pink Floyd, ELP, to Annie Lennox, Tina Turner, Mike Oldfield through to 60/70's pop and Classical. To my mind the modern equipment is so focussed on 'detail' most of it is very forward in presentation. What I want is a system that if I wish (and sometimes do) I can sit in front of for 5-6 hrs without ear fatigue, and come away from the session feeling that I enjoyed it. I may be 'old fashioned' but

Just my two'pennorth on S/hand speakers . Someone's already mentioned Wharedales (Duntech's etc) I would avoid most of the 1970's Wharfedales, E series, Mach etc. The 90's Diamond, Crystal series could be OK, definitely the recent Evo series. Possibly the Diamond 9.5, but with the 'super tweeter' the 9.6 may be too much. Certainly look at the 1960's Goodmans Axiom series (8ohm) in the right enclosure these are good speakers. One thing I would disagree with on an earlier post is the KEF range. Possibly the modern KEF's are not, but, the 1960/70's KEF are very warm in pr

Sorry I don't know that unit, but all I found on a quick search 6k4 is equivalent to an EF93, but you'd need to double check with someone who knows these tubes.... Sometimes these Russian/Euro/USA similar tubes do require some pin wiring changes. I don't know about the op-amps in that unit either, but I'd guess they will be upgradeable. Doak seem to do a fair selection of equipment, and they've not 'just' appeared. A lot of their stuff is rebranded, no different to so many other suppliers from the Asian world. As I said, it's an option to go pre and power amp, just as it is inte

Hi, sorry I work shifts, To answer, unless you have a volume control on your CD player or streaming unit, then yes you'll need a pre-amp. you said you wanted bluetooth, so that 'pre' will give you that option. plus with tone controls allows you to tailor you sound a bit. No it doesn't need to be a tube pre, but tubes can take some 'edge' off of SS kit, and as said, changing a tube from one type to another, or even the same tube type, from a different maker can alter the sound of your gear quite noticeably. (if you take the blue pill of going tube?? It's a DEEEEEEEEP rabbit hole

Throwing a curveball. I have an 'upgrade' to my 2nd (bedroom system) recently and I'm suggesting it as an option that I think would let you spend time saving for serious upgrades and will give you separates to start from. I've been using one of the wee chinese 6J1 tube based pre amps, for a while (with upgraded tubes which are not expensive to get, and DO make a difference) but due to a speaker upgrade a little 8watt SE tube amp had to be upgraded and I took a 'punt' on a chinese NAIM NAP250 based 'clone' amp, and it's not too bad at all. I see the Yamaha is about 70 watts 2 ch

I think if you look at the specs, the Tannoy 633 would probably need a sub woofer as well. I think with your apatment, the 633-638 series may be a little too 'forward' in sound. Conversely, the Concerto's you may find the bass a bit 'slow' with the Concerto's. The 'laid back' sound would offset the acoustics. Unfortunately I haven't done the X over upgrade on mine yet, Falcon ans Wilmslow both do the upgraded one that is supposed to improve and tighten up the Concerto's. Reality is, you won't lose money on either of them if they do not suit your needs..... The KEF's may well need th

If you like th look of the Leak Stereo 20 or 60, not 'classic' but built on the same 'style' and an excellent Valve amp, a MingDa MC34AB would look very nice, and give you an excellent 'back up' amplifier. https://www.china-hifi-audio.com/en/meixing-mingda-valve-amplifier-c-17/meixing-mc34-ab-integrated-power-amplifier-with-remote-control-p-379?zenid=8899a5b9d0a780f6e43f2ea8d3b86a50