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Post by julesd68 on Mar 7, 2017 11:42:40 GMT
I like the TAD tubes very much, but they do have a problem with quality control. Received my GZ34 today and it’s very noisy on one channel so it’s going back.
TAD go on a *lot* about their rigorous quality control, so this is disappointing, especially as one of the 6SN7’s was duff as well!
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 7, 2017 13:47:56 GMT
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 7, 2017 14:02:55 GMT
HotRox - yup, I've used them a lot, they've been very good and fast.
Yes, disappointing and annoying about the TAD failures - I've not had that sort of problem with them.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 7, 2017 14:12:23 GMT
What I'm really getting bored of is uncabling the preamp and taking the damn lid off! I'd like a bit of 'settled' time with the system to enjoy some music ... Anyway, will buy from HotRox, see how it is and then hopefully be back to system harmony ...
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Post by jandl100 on Mar 7, 2017 14:37:08 GMT
.... that sums up why I have gone solid state. Too much valve faff! It gets in the way of the music.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 7, 2017 17:18:10 GMT
I know what you mean but my phono stage has been totally 'settled' for years now after some initial tube rolling. Don't think I'm far away with the pre now - if I don't like the TAD GZ34 I will simply go back to the Toshiba as it's excellent to my ears ..
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Post by MartinT on Mar 8, 2017 8:17:27 GMT
.... that sums up why I have gone solid state. Too much valve faff! It gets in the way of the music. That's my take on it, too.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 17, 2017 15:52:31 GMT
A *very* rare and exotic Black Tulip has just arrived fresh from picking in the Netherlands.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 17, 2017 18:30:12 GMT
Exciting! Which model?
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Post by ChrisB on Mar 17, 2017 18:32:26 GMT
He's not going to tell you a thing like that!! (....not yet anyway)
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 20, 2017 22:33:15 GMT
LOL ... I now have a Philips 280 preamp in the system to match the 380 power amp. I didn't even know about them when I started looking for a 270! They really are exceedingly rare ... I have literally only had 5 minutes listening with it since it landed at the end of last week but I am very excited about its prospects ... Will post pics and thoughts after some serious listening!
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Post by MartinT on Mar 21, 2017 7:01:37 GMT
That's a really nice component pair you have there, Jules.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 25, 2017 14:33:05 GMT
Well as Brucie used to say 'you get nothing for a pair, not in this game' - however as far as Black Tulips are concerned, you certainly do! I've spent an hour or so sweating over re-organising the rack, changing interconnects etc The 280 has both MC+MM but I'm running my stage into AUX, which means I have to plug my QED 2 input expander into the TUNER input for both my tuner and cd. Their is no dedicated CD input but there are two tape inputs - LOL. Hoping to do an extended listening session early next week. Here's a quick mobile phone pic of the 280 in place -
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Post by ChrisB on Mar 25, 2017 14:44:45 GMT
Why not use one of the tape inputs instead of adding an extra link in the chain?
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Post by ChrisB on Mar 25, 2017 14:45:07 GMT
Very, very nice, by the way!!!
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Post by MartinT on Mar 25, 2017 14:56:28 GMT
Why not use one of the tape inputs instead of adding an extra link in the chain? My thoughts, too. Better than having the QED in circuit plus another interconnect.
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 25, 2017 14:59:17 GMT
Thanks guys will give this a go!
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 25, 2017 15:23:12 GMT
Phew! All sorted.
For some reason the cdp didn't like being on the tuner input - I think one channel on the input is a bit suspect but no problem when I plugged the actual tuner into this input with its 50p interconnect.
So put the cdp into tape 2 and works fine ...
All that remains is to hook up tape deck into tape 1 when I've got another eu adapter.
Hope to be able to sit back and enjoy the music now!
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Post by julesd68 on Apr 6, 2017 18:23:37 GMT
No folks, this isn't my new pre-power combo! It's a pic of my new amp for TV duties sitting on top of the old QED it is replacing to give you an idea of how dinky it is. So far I'm very pleased with it. It's an SMSL A2 that I got nearly new on ebay very cheaply indeed. It actually has tone adjustment and all it needed was to bump up the bass and treble a bit to great a clear and powerful sound with Freeview.
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Post by jandl100 on Apr 7, 2017 13:11:29 GMT
I've got a very similar weeny amp - a SMSL Q5 Pro. It sounds bloody good! Not quite up to snuff for the Big Rig (although better than many amps I have owned at many times the price). But easily excellent for 2nd system (or, eg, TV) duties.
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