TerryO

It’s time for some bigger amps! ...

Hi Al, all good, I was trying to paraphrase your above comment and didn’t do a very good job of it. cheers Terry

I must have been lucky or as Al said I don’t know any better because our X9900 is bloody excellent out of the box, blacks are great as is every thing else. In fact it’s that good the only button I have ever pushed is the on / off one. I thought we would watch it quite a bit before buying one but didn’t realise how much time that would be. Several months after buying the JVC I managed to waste a chunk of cash buying a run out 2018 model Panasonic 75” tv for the separate TV room problem being is even though the picture is extremely good we never watch it. I expected we would spend time between both rooms depending on what we were watching but I think the Panasonic has now been turned on about half a dozen times in total. Even though our screen is only 110” in size it is so much better to watch than a 75” tv. I know It might be different if I’d purchased a Oled but I seriously doubt even then that we would watch it in preference to the projector. cheers Terry

Thanks Kaynin, and yes the Denon TT is a real find, thanks to Hensa I have this one and again for the money they are exceptional value. At present the Oppo is just sitting there unless I want to play a SACD, which very occasionally the PrimaLuna has issues reading for some reason. It will be used more for the HT side of the system when the Yamaha AVR comes back that I recently loaned to a friend while he waits for the right amp to turn up to buy. cheers Terry

Thank you Kaynin for providing the inspirational comments for me to update this info. ... The second system has changed quite a bit since we first moved in, the Weston Time Machine is gone, but missed, and has been replaced with Mystere CA21 Pre-amp and PA-21 Power-amp, I have not rolled any tubes in either yet as they sound fine for now. The Oppo 205 has moved down the list and become the second CDP with the revalved PrimaLuna CDP now being the player of choice. I loaned the Lenehan Foil-Flex speaker cables to another SNA member recently which worked really well in this system, but the US made Cullen Cables I had do a very good job considering their price point but not quite up to the Foil-Flex's. I finally plugged the Bluesound Node2 back in after it sitting in a box since we moved last year and the flexibility it provides to this system to try new music is a real bonus. . Denon DP-60L direct drive turn table with Hana SH cart. . A Tron SEVEN handles the Phono stage duties. . The Mystere Pre-amp is a very nice bit of gear and shares its time in the main room when I decide to listen to the MF Superchargers as mono-blocks rather than inline boosters. . The PrimaLuna Prologue CDP started off as a nice sounding CDP but went up several levels once all the tubes were rolled for various NOS versions. it now has Mullard Box Plate CV4004's, Haltron Tilburg 12au7's, CVC GZ34's. This now is the best sounding CDP I have. The Mystere PA-21 is a more than capable power amp that when combined with the CA-21 Pre-amp provides that really smooth easy listening musical tube sound that my other tube amp in my main system doesn't. When I purchased the Mystere's the PA-21 came with KT150's fitted, even though it is basically a el34/KT88 optioned amp. Having tried both the KT88's and the KT150's back to back again the difference in sq to my ears with the KT150's is worth the investment. The only issue I reckon many people would find annoying with these Pentode tube amps is they take about 30 minutes to sound their best after being turned on, but to be frank from what I have witnessed so far all tubes amps sound better once warmed up, it just depends on how long each amp takes. The speakers are Vienna Acoustic Beethoven Baby Grands which I reckon punch well above their weight sq wise for what you can buy them for, especially second hand, matched in the right system they sound quite excellent and would be at the top of my list of components to keep if I had to downsize. Needless to say this is still a journey in motion so chances are there will be more changes in the future as budget and my better half will put up with. cheers Terry

Yeah your right, sorry I don’t have to much else apart from what’s in the tv room, does that count?

Yep got the Sheep feet on, notice I didn’t say Ugg boots as I don’t want to get sued by the Yanks. ...

Just sitting here chilling out with the better half enjoying a Cohen cd and are really pleased with how good the system is sounding at the moment.

I really enjoyed the ATC when it was hooked up in my system, easily one of the best integrated amps I heard, it was that good that after reading reviews I started looking at their powered speakers as a option but as it’s very hard to find any to audition it is to much of a leap of faith to lash out and buy them. The only downside for me when we played it in my system was it was one of the very few amps that actually sounded worse when hooked up to the Superchargers, and when I say worse it was not nice at all, go figure. Other than that which means very little as Superchargers aren’t exactly a common component the ATC was very nice, if I was looking for another Integrated this would be on my short list. cheers Terry

@scumbag

These Tilburg tubes are seriously the Ducks nuts, I have them in my PL amp and CDP and wouldn't be without them. I purchased many different pairs of NOS and new issue 12au7's looking for the one, after buying the Tilburgs I stopped buying other 12au7's to try out. cheers Terry

When the Vincent distributor changed hands over 18 months ago I purchased during the massive run out sale their top of the line pre and the huge 994 power amp. Sounded very ordinary out of the box and only improved a bit with run in. I know others have had great success with this combo but for me in my room with the rest of my gear the synergy just wasn’t there, so sold it within a couple of months. To me it’s all about synergy, what works in one system won’t always work in another and vice versa. cheers Terry

I realise this is a bit late now to add, but thought I would mention it. Vienna Acoustic ... Austria RCM Audio ...... Poland cheers Terry

There are Haltron's and then there are Haltrons, Tilburgs are not your average Haltron by a long stretch. Mark has never advertised these tubes so if your interested pm him. cheers Terry

If you are fortunate enough that you don’t have to decide between the two set ups then why not keep them both? The Dialogue HP with KT150’s would be I imagine very different sonically to the other combination, even with a PL pre and both I reckon would have their place and time depending on mood and music chosen. If you get a chance try out a couple of NOS Haltron Tilburg’s in the centre two slots of either PL, you will either love or hate them, but if you like KT150’s then chances are you will love them. Mark (Scumbag) is thinking of selling one of his spare pairs, they are not cheap but they deliver a massive step up in detail and dynamics for the PL pre and will knock the socks off of even E80CC’s. And last but not least you have a very nice set up there. cheers Terry