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Post by jandl100 on Nov 4, 2016 12:32:23 GMT
...an Amstrad 8000? Ampzilla? One of those cute little plastic t-amps?
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Post by MartinT on Nov 4, 2016 12:51:03 GMT
It's probably been through your system, Jerry
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 4, 2016 12:55:42 GMT
Oddly, no, I'm pretty sure it hasn't.
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Post by ChrisB on Nov 4, 2016 13:30:26 GMT
I reckon it might be something from the Technics Pro Series.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 4, 2016 14:38:09 GMT
Philips 380
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 4, 2016 15:15:01 GMT
Well done that man!
It arrived today after a short trip from Germany and it appears to have done the amp no harm at all. It's actually in remarkable near mint time capsule condition!
I've given the amp plenty of time to acclimatise this morning and this afternoon got it partnered up to the Consonance Cyber 222. We'll say no more at the moment about the ridiculous speaker cable terminals ...
At the moment it is getting better and better. A very big difference in sound quality after a couple of hours. On a couple of my favourite 12" singles the soundstage is absolutely immense. Bass is tight and deep. Dynamics are superb. After my listen I would just like a tad more sweetness and openness in the upper mids but it's early days to be forming too strong opinions - need to listen to a wider range of music. The Philips has more than enough power on tap - the Tannoys certainly enjoy it ...
One thing I do need to work out is that there is some hum when listening to lps that isn't there on cd, not sure where that is coming from at all. The phono stage is quiet as a mouse with the integrated ...
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Post by MartinT on Nov 4, 2016 15:28:34 GMT
Possibly both preamp and power amp being earthed is doing it.
Looks a really nice bit of kit.
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 4, 2016 15:30:44 GMT
My favourite amp. You might have trouble with "a tad more sweetness" as in my view, unlike most amps, it follows an open window policy to the signal. I'd be surprised if you felt you needed more openness. The beastie has probably been in a freezing aircraft cargo hold, and my experience with such conditions is that it can take an amp a while to fully recover from that. So I'm not surprised it has shown improvements as it warms up. Some judicious valve rolling in the valve pre-amp, or mayhap some cable tweaks, may take you all the way to Sonic Nirvana. I think the amp mains lead is 2-core, but there is a ground (GND) terminal on the amp's rear - have you tried running an earth cable from that to get rid of the LP hum?
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 4, 2016 15:31:20 GMT
Thanks Martin - I will do some experimenting with earth cables.
It's a horrible drab wet day here so will try photos another day ...
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 4, 2016 15:35:15 GMT
My favourite amp. You might have trouble with "a tad more sweetness" as in my view, unlike most amps, it follows an open window policy to the signal. I'd be surprised if you felt you needed more openness. The beastie has probably been in a freezing aircraft cargo hold, and my experience with such conditions is that it can take an amp a while to fully recover from that. So I'm not surprised it has shown improvements as it warms up. Some judicious valve rolling in the valve pre-amp, or mayhap some cable tweaks, may take you all the way to Sonic Nirvana. I think the amp mains lead is 2-core, but there is a ground (GND) terminal on the amp's rear - have you tried running an earth cable from that to get rid of the LP hum? Jerry - it is remarkable how the amp has improved over the afternoon! You are spot on with the pre-amp tubes. At the moment I'm running stock EH tubes so the only way is up if I'm careful ... I will firstly be trying the 1950's Motorolas and Mullard which were a freebie with the amp - should be interesting!
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Post by jandl100 on Nov 4, 2016 15:39:28 GMT
Ah, valves. EH. Yup, plenty of scope there. For openness, I find TAD valves hard to beat at anywhere near their quite reasonable prices. Assuming you can get TAD valves of the type you need. What valves is the pre kitted out with?
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 4, 2016 15:49:40 GMT
6SN7x4 5AR4x1
If I can get anything like the improvement of my phono stage by tube roling this will be rather exciting ...
My son's home now - got to turn the music off!!
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Post by John on Nov 4, 2016 19:21:07 GMT
Great to hear this has worked for you Jules
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Post by ChrisB on Nov 15, 2016 21:12:12 GMT
OK boys, the power amp has landed! How's the amp combo working out for you, then Jules - any news?
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 16, 2016 0:18:43 GMT
Hi Chris, I haven't had much of a chance to get some more listening in. I did manage to sort out the earthing issue so it's nice and quiet now. I'll be very interested to see how much I can push things by tube-rolling the pre-amp...
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Post by ChrisB on Nov 16, 2016 0:58:50 GMT
Enticing though it may seem, I'd recommend that you leave that for a bit in order to really come to understand the true nature of what you have. I'd be leaving things intact for at least a couple of months, myself.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 16, 2016 6:15:47 GMT
Agreed - I'm only just starting to appreciate what my system can do in its new home. A component change like a power amp needs time to settle. It does sound like you found a bit of a good'un there.
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Post by julesd68 on Nov 16, 2016 9:26:38 GMT
Agreed here too - I've yet to try it out with a wide range of music and I'm not in a great hurry...
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 2, 2016 18:51:26 GMT
Managed to get the lid off the preamp today and was surprised by the tube complement, not quite what I was expecting ...
Turns out there is a Mullard GZ34 in there, but not a particularly early one ... I tried one of these later Mullards in 12AX7 guise and wasn't that impressed at all, so there may be room for improvement there.
There were two EH and two Cary branded 6SN7's - I'm pretty sure these aren't quite giving me what I need. I had a good listening session today and found that I'm admiring the drive, power and dynamics of this set-up, but would like a slightly sweeter and more refined mid-range which should be achievable with the right tube complement.
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 5, 2016 18:40:11 GMT
Well an interesting experiment today on the tube rolling front and a bit of a surprise ...
Swapped out the quad of 6SN7 for the vintage Motorola set. These particular tubes robbed the music of dynamics, detail and bass. I'll be putting the new production tubes straight back!
I have read that the EH 6SN7's are quite highly regarded for a new production tube and perhaps I have underrated them. The next step on the 6SN7 path would be to drop some more serious cash on some rare variant of Tung-Sol or Ken Rad's etc
But before I do this I'm going to try a different rectifier - possibly an older Mullard. Hopefully I will get a better idea about how good the EH is then before swapping them out again ...
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