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Post by brian2957 on May 1, 2021 8:12:42 GMT
That's a good result for no outlay Jerry
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Post by jandl100 on May 1, 2021 8:24:03 GMT
Yes, good result, the hum is acceptable now - if I pause the music I have to concentrate quite hard to hear anything now. And it's only about 2 feet away. I suspect it'll be silent with another bit of a screw tighten.
I shall definitely be rolling some tubes, though. I think I want something a little livelier than the Mullards. It is a bit of a pain getting in there, the chassis is held in to the wooden case by 4 bolts on the base, so that has to be slid out before I can get to the innards. It's not just popping the lid off like with a lot of amps.
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Post by jandl100 on May 1, 2021 8:32:10 GMT
Jerry, have you ever tried Herbie's tube dampers rings? Given your... tubeyness, it might be an investment you can recycle from model to model. I use three in my DAC and have had good results with them; firmed up the sound just a touch without overdoing it. I'm also using mad scientist tube dampers, I've yet to take them out and see if anything is 'missing'. I should have taken a photo of the innards whilst I was in there! I didnt think of it, too interested to see what was there, I will do next time. The valves already have 2 rubber damping rings on each one, so that will do for now.
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Post by tarzan on May 3, 2021 15:46:30 GMT
By thunder you do not do things by halves Jerry.
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Post by jandl100 on May 3, 2021 16:18:52 GMT
The loaner Concordant valve pre would have had to be taken back from my cold, dead fingers. Now paid for and officially MINE.
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Post by julesd68 on May 3, 2021 17:14:36 GMT
It must be good to be sounding great with Dullards!
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Post by jandl100 on May 3, 2021 17:23:50 GMT
It was only after I changed the Dullards for Matsushita that I made the decision to buy.
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Post by realysm42 on May 4, 2021 0:33:10 GMT
I really enjoyed having valves providing power to the system for a night, they do something transistors cannot (extra palpability, more colour and saturation).
Is it possible to overdo this in your experience? I guess I mean adding too many valved components.
My DAC uses valves but doesn't go near to tipping the balance too far.
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Post by jandl100 on May 4, 2021 3:39:29 GMT
I know what you mean. Too much of one thing can be too much!
And I must admit I never expected to have all valve amplification again.
But I really enjoyed the stereo Primaluna Prologue 5 power amp (15 months frequent use, a long time for me to keep a component - many other amps came along in that period, none stayed except a pair of Quad solid state amps that I'm keeping as spares), so the monoblock Prologue 7 seemed a logical next step. I didn't want to change the fundamentals, but we're usually looking for that little bit more, aren't we!
Pleased with the 7s but just happening to be using a Khozmo passive preamp, albeit with a separate solid state buffer, I wondered what an integrally designed active pre would bring to the party. So I put a wanted ad up and, among other things, was offered a loaner of the Concordant Exhilarant pre. I'd had a Concordant Exquisite pre way back, probably 35 years ago, and I was curious to re-explore that in the light of a lifetime's experience.
It just clicked into place with a natural synergy despite what seemed a less than ideal valve complement - I've never been a fan of Mullards and there were two 12ax7 in there as well as three Matsushita pcc88 and a GE rectifier. The Matsushita pcc88 are kind of famous because of American valve amp seller / expert Kevin Deal's huge enthusiasm for them. So that was interesting to try. And I just happened to have a brace of Matsushita 12ax7 in my valve drawer! Talk about serendipity.
Swapping the Dullards for the Matsushita was a bit of a game changer. The sound had been very pleasant, but could be criticised for being a bit bland and unengaging - a fairly typical response to Mullards from me and open to the charge of making the overall sound too valvey, in the old fashioned sense.
The Matsushita 12ax7 have changed that, lifting a veil (or two) and allowing me to hear much deeper into recordings. Tbh I'm still learning how to listen to the new setup and discovering more and more about the recordings I'm listening to.
Much more to learn yet,and I'm sure that other valves could take me further into the music. But it's obvious to me that this is a good way for me to go atm so the decision to buy was an easy one, no doubts at all!
The pre isn't standard. It's probably from the mid 1980s, was fully serviced a few years ago, and had its noisy Alps volume control replaced with a stepped attenuator. I'm sure the latter was a major change and upgrade and goes a long way to explain the preamp's remarkably transparent performance.
So yes, very pleased, and looking forward to settling down with this setup for a while and exploring what some further tube rolling may do both in the preamp and the monoblocks.
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Post by realysm42 on May 4, 2021 10:49:04 GMT
Sounds like a great place to be 👍🏻
After asking my previous question, I realised you can have too heavy a 'transistor' clichéd sounding system also (etched, hard, shoutyness etc). The pendulum swings both ways.
Fascinating hobby with no real absolutes, which I love about it.
One thing that's always been a source of excitement and anxiety when reading your exploits Jerry is when you reach a good place and then you risk spoiling it all with an impulse buy!
Do you have any regrets in this regard? I note you've kept the quads as spares, do you ever keep other equipment that is just too magical to let go? You don't strike me as the hoarder type, just the compulsive box swapper!
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Post by julesd68 on May 4, 2021 11:06:52 GMT
Kevin Deal enthusing about a tube? He must have a big stock of Matsushita pcc88 to shift
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Post by jandl100 on May 4, 2021 11:17:54 GMT
In a way my boxswap mindset makes me more flexible when it comes to changes. Unlike, seemingly, most folks on the forums I'm not obsessed by "upgrades". I think a sidegrade can be just as much fun and just as interesting. A different balance of virtues rather than a distinct overall improvement.
No, I've not regretted selling anything. In fact it's pretty much always a mistake to revisit a previously enjoyed component, I very rapidly get bored with it and move it on.
The Quad amps are kept because of the rather copious amounts of heat output from the PL monos! A recent UK heatwave had me rather sweltering, and that was springtime - it will be rather more extreme in the summer. The Quads are good enough, and different enough from each other, to act as temporary cool running substitutes.
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Post by jandl100 on May 4, 2021 11:20:34 GMT
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Post by jandl100 on May 4, 2021 15:21:55 GMT
The innards of the Concordant Exhilarant preamp
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Post by MartinT on May 4, 2021 16:35:45 GMT
Nice and simple!
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Post by user211 on May 5, 2021 18:59:37 GMT
The innards of the Concordant Exhilarant preamp
Gawd that's such an easy, tempting thing. I'd buy a soldering iron, Jerry, and just replace everything, and I mean everything in there with top flight stuff. And get a new tranny made. Even a cack handed solderer could do it.
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Post by julesd68 on May 5, 2021 19:46:14 GMT
Interesting - if it's a keeper might be worth investing in.
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Post by jandl100 on May 5, 2021 19:50:03 GMT
Yes, a tempting idea that had already occurred to me, Justin. Except I'd ask Alan to do it!
Really enjoying it as is, so it won't be for a while yet.... I'm just a bit scared it might lose its magic if it turned into a hifi rather than a music machine .
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Post by user211 on May 5, 2021 23:52:18 GMT
Yes, a tempting idea that had already occurred to me, Justin. Except I'd ask Alan to do it! Really enjoying it as is, so it won't be for a while yet.... I'm just a bit scared it might lose its magic if it turned into a hifi rather than a music machine . Yeah some components are obviously fucked in really nice ways. My Scott 350 tuner is that. It just says duck off hi-fi this is euphony. If that component sez dat to you keep it for a while longer;) But this is chez Jerry we're talking 'bout here. Nothing lasts. Apart from the 3rd Reich.
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Post by jandl100 on May 6, 2021 4:28:29 GMT
Alan Firebottle, what would you suggest for fettling that pre?
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