synthz Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 Latest tubes gear addition. Primaluna Dialogue Preamp. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Y Posted October 24, 2018 Share Posted October 24, 2018 On 21/10/2018 at 9:56 AM, SteveLuck said: It's been a while since I saw an Audio Innovations(?) amp. Nice. Those 6B4Gs tubes are v closely spaced aren't they? Cheers, Owen Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLuck Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 8 hours ago, Owen Y said: It's been a while since I saw an Audio Innovations(?) amp. Nice. Those 6B4Gs tubes are v closely spaced aren't they? Cheers, Owen Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/ It's a 500 series that I bought to celebrate my 21st birthday - I was 50 in July They are Sophia EL34's probably the most expensive brand new EL34 you can buy at 125 USD each. I did get a ruler out to check they'd fit before purchasing. I'm not disappointed with the sound, they are stunning a huge leap from the JJ E34L I had in and not properly broken in yet. Audio Innovations did put 2A3 Tubes that close on their power amps. This one was Triode wired by Audio Innovations after it did it's famous carrot trick. I lived in the UK and drove it down to Weymouth in person to have them fix it. I've split the input signal in half to get some control over the volume from my speakers - Carfrae little big horns are 105/106db per watt - I'd didn't anticipate that being a problem when I built them! I've got a bundle of new caps to put in it on their way a mix of Audio Note and Mundorf where physical size allows and some cheaper Jentzen ones that are as close to original size as I can get elsewhere. I may have to put some standoffs on the inspection plate underneath and some bigger feat for it all to fit. Superb Amp just gets better and better as I tube roll. Caps need doing as it's dropping a channel once in a while, I've seen one suspect looking cap with some splurge coming out the bottom. It's got better switch gear and a new Cosmos volume pot. A few owners ditch the balance pot but I find it useful so I've got an Alps blue balance pot in the post to me. I ordered some new speaker binding posts to as the old ones are looking a bit pink and sad. Lots of stuff and help from HiFi Collective. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzr Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 813's & 814's 9 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astormsau Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 New member of the family, burning her in! 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k-k-k-kenny Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 @palexsia Thanks very much for your impressions. I shall be in touch ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Y Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 14 hours ago, SteveLuck said: It's a 500 series that I bought to celebrate my 21st birthday - I was 50 in July They are Sophia EL34's probably the most expensive brand new EL34 you can buy at 125 USD each. I did get a ruler out to check they'd fit before purchasing. I'm not disappointed with the sound, they are stunning a huge leap from the JJ E34L I had in and not properly broken in yet. Audio Innovations did put 2A3 Tubes that close on their power amps. This one was Triode wired by Audio Innovations after it did it's famous carrot trick. I lived in the UK and drove it down to Weymouth in person to have them fix it. I've split the input signal in half to get some control over the volume from my speakers - Carfrae little big horns are 105/106db per watt - I'd didn't anticipate that being a problem when I built them! I've got a bundle of new caps to put in it on their way a mix of Audio Note and Mundorf where physical size allows and some cheaper Jentzen ones that are as close to original size as I can get elsewhere. I may have to put some standoffs on the inspection plate underneath and some bigger feat for it all to fit. Superb Amp just gets better and better as I tube roll. Caps need doing as it's dropping a channel once in a while, I've seen one suspect looking cap with some splurge coming out the bottom. It's got better switch gear and a new Cosmos volume pot. A few owners ditch the balance pot but I find it useful so I've got an Alps blue balance pot in the post to me. I ordered some new speaker binding posts to as the old ones are looking a bit pink and sad. Lots of stuff and help from HiFi Collective. Carfraes - I built some Mauhorn IVs myself, hack in the 90s Yes, get those caps sorted, some PIOs tend to not retain V rating over time & leak. Old and/or under-rated electros eventually burst (& can explode). I won't digress any further Cheers, Owen Dark Lantern blog - http://darklanternforowen.wordpress.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 10 hours ago, astormsau said: New member of the family, burning her in! Maybe when she feels right at home I can get an invite for a listen. Certainly looks impressive. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthz Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 15 hours ago, astormsau said: New member of the family, burning her in! I'd be very interested to know the difference in sound characteristics between this and Audio Research Ref 75? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwbasement Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 Trying the tele ecc83 smooth plate on my AN M1 phono, sounds better than the Mullard to my ears. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 I've built three tube phono stages based on the Greek RadiOkit kits. They supply JJ 12AX7s for the tubes. What I found with them is the plates are extremely short. Probably the shortes plates I have seen in a tube. I think in this case it is good because I feel short plates are low microphonics. Tap you r tubes will working and see what you hear. Psvane 12AU7s are also small plates. Bruce Heron of Oddwatt fame likes long plates in his Forewatt tube preamps. He claims they sound the best. I gues it gets down to suck it and see. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted October 26, 2018 Share Posted October 26, 2018 1 hour ago, mwhouston said: I've built three tube phono stages based on the Greek RadiOkit kits. They supply JJ 12AX7s for the tubes. What I found with them is the plates are extremely short. Probably the shortes plates I have seen in a tube. I think in this case it is good because I feel short plates are low microphonics. Tap you r tubes will working and see what you hear. Psvane 12AU7s are also small plates. Bruce Heron of Oddwatt fame likes long plates in his Forewatt tube preamps. He claims they sound the best. I gues it gets down to suck it and see. I was not aware of these kits. They look good. Do you know what circuit the use? As for short vs long plates, maybe the microphonics are what makes some people like the sound. Certainly long plates have the reputation. OTOH you never can be sure what will sound good. I have some Ruby tubes that sound excellent, and they are aimed at guitarists and are constructed for low microphonics and ruggedness. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KO2 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthz Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 KT150 — a.k.a. 'The Beast' 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EekOZ Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 (edited) This thread makes me green with jealousy! I have a mere Schiit Valhalla 2, but we all start somewhere right? Edited November 5, 2018 by EekOZ 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwhouston Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 On 27 October 2018 at 9:50 AM, aussievintage said: I was not aware of these kits. They look good. Do you know what circuit the use? As for short vs long plates, maybe the microphonics are what makes some people like the sound. Certainly long plates have the reputation. OTOH you never can be sure what will sound good. I have some Ruby tubes that sound excellent, and they are aimed at guitarists and are constructed for low microphonics and ruggedness. The kit come with a short book which contains BOM, schematic, layout, etc. The PCB is easy to work with not like Bottlehead HP cct. brds. Because it is comercial product I didn't think I should publish the schematic here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KO2 Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 (edited) 18 hours ago, synthz said: KT150 — a.k.a. 'The Beast' They sound awesome, my one has 338 hours on it, apparently I’ve been told they will still open up after 600 hours Edited November 6, 2018 by KO2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthz Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 2 hours ago, KO2 said: They sound awesome, my one has 338 hours on it, apparently I’ve been told they will still open up after 600 hours That's correct, my KT150 i think has already gone over the burn in period from the last owner. On the other hand, my KT 120 has just gone over 600 hours. Your tubes must be fairly new since it's only 338 hours. How's the ARC integrated sound? Does it sound buttery and silky from all the tube goodness like the power amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KO2 Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 42 minutes ago, synthz said: That's correct, my KT150 i think has already gone over the burn in period from the last owner. On the other hand, my KT 120 has just gone over 600 hours. Your tubes must be fairly new since it's only 338 hours. How's the ARC integrated sound? Does it sound buttery and silky from all the tube goodness like the power amp? I bought the amp last April, yes the sound is all of the above, actually I made a mistake bought the Rotel RA1592 in January this year very musical lots power then I had an itch and needed to hear for myself all the talk about tube amps and went for an audition at Lifestyle Northmead right there and then I was converted, the vsi 75 is a lovely amp and the sound is incredible specially on a good recorded vinyl, it drives my Paradigm 95f with no problem at all, perfect match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ittaku Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 2 hours ago, KO2 said: They sound awesome, my one has 338 hours on it, apparently I’ve been told they will still open up after 600 hours I'd say the sound in my ARC power amps improved for 800 hours (I now have over 1000 on them) but I don't think it was the valves. The teflon caps allegedly take forever to burn in, as the amps themselves were as new as the valves. Nonetheless, the valves certainly did not get worse in that time one bit! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KO2 Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 2 minutes ago, Ittaku said: I'd say the sound in my ARC power amps improved for 800 hours (I now have over 1000 on them) but I don't think it was the valves. The teflon caps allegedly take forever to burn in, as the amps themselves were as new as the valves. Nonetheless, the valves certainly did not get worse in that time one bit! At 338 hours the amp sound already incredible, my local dealer told me that the sound will still get better at 600, and I jokingly said, what will it sound like Patricia Barber sitting in front of me singing, actually got an itch on the arc 150 at the moment if I can get it at a good price and match it with a Klipsch La Scala, but the problem is the size of my listening room, it is only 13 x 20 feet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryO Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 21 hours ago, synthz said: KT150 — a.k.a. 'The Beast' My favourite tube by far in our PL amps, at last count I have twenty four of them. cheers Terry 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthz Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 23 minutes ago, KO2 said: I bought the amp last April, yes the sound is all of the above, actually I made a mistake bought the Rotel RA1592 in January this year very musical lots power then I had an itch and needed to hear for myself all the talk about tube amps and went for an audition at Lifestyle Northmead right there and then I was converted, the vsi 75 is a lovely amp and the sound is incredible specially on a good recorded vinyl, it drives my Paradigm 95f with no problem at all, perfect match. Yup it kind of sounds like my solid state into tubes transition story hehehe. I have JC1 Parasound solid-state mono blocks with almost 1Kw at 4 Ohm driving the Dynaudio C2 before, but now i'm only using 75w amp, Audio Research Ref 75 and it's still doesn't have any problem whatsoever driving the C2. I wonder if the Vsi 75 sounds similar like my Ref 75, except yours have a built in preamp inside. (and maybe a DAC?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ittaku Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 (edited) 14 minutes ago, KO2 said: At 338 hours the amp sound already incredible, my local dealer told me that the sound will still get better at 600, and I jokingly said, what will it sound like Patricia Barber sitting in front of me singing, actually got an itch on the arc 150 at the moment if I can get it at a good price and match it with a Klipsch La Scala, but the problem is the size of my listening room, it is only 13 x 20 feet. I know that itch. I had the 150SE and got the itch for 250SEs... and my room's not much bigger at 5m x 7m. I just hope I never get the itch for the 750SEs... Edited November 6, 2018 by Ittaku 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthz Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 3 minutes ago, Ittaku said: I know that itch. I had the 150SE and got the itch for 250SEs... and my room's not much bigger at 5m x 7m. Hehehe wow you are crazy, i thought your room is much bigger than that. The headroom must be crazy. K02 — I would recommend the Ref 75 highly, and you'll get VU meters also!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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