joshnich

I am sure a lot of you have read this, but in case you have not you owe it to yourself to check out all of Roger Russells audio sites. And for this topic check out this one... http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerr7/wire.htm josh

Andy is right on! I would also consider a Fisher 400 receiver with the hereseys. Not to court a lot of backlash, but if you start with a quality amp/receive you may want to consider some less expensive speakers to start. You can pick up a pir of Dynacos for a couple of hundred bucks. And for some real sleepers, I am not sure why they do not have the same status as other old english speakers, are the wharfedales. I have a pair of both the w-70s ( o bought em for 240 bucks) and a pair of w-60s which I bought for 35 bucks. Both have cast tweeters mids and woofers with alnico drivers. If they were branded as Tannoys they would go for over a grand apiece! josh

These look pretty amazing. Legitimate decorator models with the flush front. I see a lot of people claiming decorator status without actually being decorators but these are the real deal. If I bought em I would do them in piano black with a semi gloss finish. They would look good in any environment. Just like a black piano fits in just about anywhere! josh

Thanks Ryan, You are so right on regarding the EH7591 vs the Westinghouse 7591 or7591a. Absolutely no contest!! josh

Ryan, What is the difference between a 7591 and a7591a? I have been using a new quad of EH7591s in my MC225. I just bought another MC225 so I can run them as 50w mono blocks, My new MC225 has original RCA 7531as in it and it sounds awesome. The midrange and the overall presence compared to the EHs is dramatic. I am not going to monoblocks until I match the tubes. Is the coin base the only difference? Thanks Ryan josh

Hello, I too have the scd222es as well and have had it modded at SACDmods to great delight. loved the unit prior to the upgrade and like even more now. Hard to put into words the mprovement, other than to say it sounds even closer to vinyl to me. Its also hard to say whether its worth the dough. But compared to other tweaks in the same price range I say go for it. Also you should know that dealing with SACDmods was great. Fast turnaround good communications etc. Josh

Saw a posting in the local paper "la Scalas in great condition 1200 bucks" I have nothing to do with this, only reporting what I see. If anyone is interested message me and Ill forward you the info, or look at the Contra Costa Times classifieds on line. Josh

---------------- On 2/5/2004 9:41:13 AM mtber101 wrote: thanks man Does anyone make a 7 channel tube amp? For when i upgrade to HT ---------------- Yeah the HT is for the most part SS. Reproducing thins exploding is OK for ss just not for music. Josh

---------------- Josh, How much to mod your 222 if you don't mind me asking? I'm thinking of getting one of my 555s done. Is it really that significant of a difference? What exactly did they do (in layman's terms)? ---------------- Hello Gary, I paid 350.00 for the mods. It would have been 325.00 if I just did two channel. But even though I have never used the multi channel capabilities I figured I would get the whole thing done. I cant really describe it laymens terms because I dont understand it in tech terms. Go to his site SACDmods.com and it lists what and why. From what I have heard and read on other threads his mods will make the 555 into a pretty much state of the art SACD player. From my perspective the mods were a very noticeable upgrade. The sound was much more vinyl like very liquid and open. I would never have described the un modded deck as being harsh but the mods definitely smoothed it out. Put it this way - when I got the unit back and hooked it up (before the recommended burn it) my wife walked in not knowing I had done anything and said " what did you do to the stereo it sounds really good" !! Josh

Its always great to see a post about MUSIC. Although some folks have tried to derail this its still great to see what people are listening to. Some of my favs on SACD are Steve Earle Guitar Town Kinks Everybodys in Show Biz Byrds Greatest Hits Bill Evans Waltz for Debbie Bill Evans Village vanguard James Taylor October Road James Taylor JT Dylan Blonde on Blonde Dylan Nashville Skyline Springsteen Live in NY Elvis Costello North The Police Every Breath you Take Mary Chapin Carpenter Time Sex, Love George Strait Honkytonkville And a bunch of Classical that are too long to type. I hope I didnt miss type something and offend anyone inadvertently! josh

I say go for it. The ES units are great stock with a good build quality. For 150 bucks I dont think you can go wrong. See how you like it and when you have a few extra ducats spring for the mods at SACDmods.com He did my 222es and its spectacular! josh

Having a political discussion on the Klipsch forum makes me long for a good old push pull vs SET diatribe. And a root canal is preferable to either thread! Josh

---------------- On 2/4/2004 2:03:07 AM mobile homeless wrote: Thanks for the info. Looks a lot like the SLP-88 preamp. I wonder if it's the same thing. IF you get a chance, take a good, high resolution shot of the interior. kh ---------------- It is absolutely the same thing. I dont really understand the number system. But the manual and some listings call it an 808 and in other places its called an88. Josh

---------------- On 2/2/2004 11:46:44 PM mtber101 wrote: joshnich thanks for the great links. Does Craig have a website? thanks again for all your help guys ---------------- Its http://www.nosvalves.com/

I think that it's simply that it's hard to find "good audio". Even in the San Francisco area, you have to go out of your way to find a store that sells "good audio". When you do find a store that sells "good audio" the "normal person" is completely put off by the "good audio" sales people. As much as I love "good audio", I would rather get a root canal than spend time in most " good audio" "salons". Now a days you really need to "surf the net" to find good stuff at reasonable prices or really be motivated to find something thetas different than what they sell at the good guys. If you don't start out with a curiosity in this area you would be satisfied with bose. I would have to admit that I would never have heard of Wright Sound, or Mooddogs, or SET, or Cayin, or SACD had I not sought it out. The average person quite honestly doesn't know what they don't know! Josh

---------------- On 1/30/2004 3:36:37 PM mobile homeless wrote: Josh, I have never heard of the Cary 808 preamp. What is this model? You have any pics? kh ---------------- KH, Heres a picture of the 808. Not a lot to look at but it sounds spectacular. I have also included the specs. Circuit Type: Class A Single-Ended Front Panel Headphone jack driven by audio grade transformers from the 6SN7 dual triode vacuum tubes Gain Line Stage: 20 dB Input Impedance: 100K Ohms Output Impedance: 600 Ohms Noise and Hum: > 84 dB below full output Frequency Response: 10 Hz to 40 KHz +/- 0.5 dB Tubes: 2 - 6SN7 dual triode vacuum tubes Power Transformer(s): 400% Duty Cycle Wire: EE Teflon Silver Resistors: 1% Metal Film Capacitors: Polypropylene Power Supply: Full wave rectified feeding a Pi network and filter choke. AC Cord: 3 conductor shielded detachable AC Power Requirements: 117/234 VAC @ 50/60 Hz (Set during production) Break-In Time: 100 hours of music playing time. Finish Features: Black steel chassis with black anodized aluminum face plate & knobs, remote volume control, tape monitor loop, 4 stereo input pairs, all RCA connectors for inputs, outputs and the tape monitor loop. Weight: 18 lbs. Dimensions: 6" H x 16" W x 11" D Josh

Allan tried to start a music discussion with the "is this the best blue note" thread, but did not receive a lot of comments. Ill try again. What 's the record/CD/sacd/dvdaudio that you long to hear when you haven't been able to listen to music in a while? It's not uncommon for me to travel for most of a week and come home late the other days. I look so forward to Friday night, when I can kick my shoes off, pour a glass or three of good red wine, and turn up the music. Right now my choices have been "Working Mans Dead" 180 gram reissue, Nina Simone " Little Girl Blue" 180 gram reissue, Lucinda Williams "World Without Tears" on vinyl," Masked and Anonymous" Dylan on vinyl, and "Ella and Louis" again on vinyl. What about you? Josh

I would concur wholeheartedly regarding what has been said previously regarding using tube amplification with the RF 7s or any high efficiency speaker. The difference is truly like Ben and Jerry's versus freezer burned ice milk. As has been said, a Scott 299 a,b or c rebuilt by Craig is a win win way to go. You dont have to deal with separates and you get a really really great sounding amp with phono stage and all. As far as vintage Macs go, I might be in the minority, but I would pair them with a modern tube preamp as opposed to the Mac vintage counterparts. To my ears the older preamps produce a sound that is not as dynamic and forward as you get with a modern preamp. I love the sound of my MC 225. For what ever reason the older lower powered Macs (MC225, MC30s ) have the reputation (In my mind well deserved) as the most musical tube amps that Mcintosh has ever produced. The Mc-225 is a stereo amp with 25 watts a side. More than enough oomph for the Klipsch speakers. I would look to a preamp from Cary, Mapletree, Wright sound, or Audio Electronic Supply. Here's some links to check out. http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1080258427 http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1080070049 http://www.wright-sound.com/products/MoreDetail.asp?Id=3 http://hollowstate.netfirms.com/ultra4.htm Josh

---------------- On 1/30/2004 3:36:37 PM mobile homeless wrote: Josh, I have never heard of the Cary 808 preamp. What is this model? You have any pics? kh ---------------- Hello Kelly, The SLP 808 is the preamp that Cary introduced to pair with the Rocket 88. It uses two 6SN7 tubes. Cary no longer makes it. It was highly recommended by a number of people, all of them having the opportunity to sell me something more expensive. I bought it from Upscale Audio as they recommended it over preamps that they sell for over 3 times as much. I havent compared it to a lot of others but I have to say that I am really liking how my system is sounding! Josh

Ive got a 299a ala Craig running in my bedroom right now driving a pair of Wharfedale W70s .( I think its an "a" but given Kellys recent postings - how can you tell) It is a marvelous sounding amp. I recently acquired a Cary SLI 80 ( a pretty expensive 80 watt KT88 based integrated amp) in a trade and to my ears the Scott is a finer sounding unit. Accordingly, I am keeping the Scott"whatever" and selling the Cary. josh

Hello Stu. I recently bought a MX110 for use with my MC225. I had only recently acquired the MC225 but immediately fell in love with the wonderful Mac tube sound. I was expecting another leap in sound improvement with the addition of the MX110. To my ears the MX110 was a major disappointment. I am not a techie so I dont know the why and wherefore of the reasons but with the MX110 the clarity and presence of the Music declined. It was almost like listening to Music through some sort of filter. I listened to it for a couple of days rolling tubes etc but put my Cary 808 preamp back into service and went back to loving the sound of my system. Again this is to my ears. I know that a lot of people love the way the MAC preamps sound. But they are clearly not for me. Josh

Hey Craig, BTW those amps look mighty fine. I would think that 2500 a pair would be fairly competitive. The AES Six Packs sell for that. The notion of a hand build almost one of a kind amp from you seems to be fair. JOSH

I too have a MX 110. And I have to tell you that I also find the dynamics lacking. I bought the MC225 power amp and absolutely love it. i was very excited to add the MAC pre amp to the mix. I had been using my Cary SLP 808 pre which I like a bunch. Wwell I have to say that I also think that the MAC preamp sounds a little muddy to my ears. the 225 sings with the Cary but I sounds pretty pedestrian with the MX 110. I havent tried changing out the tubes, but I really dont think its a tube issue - its just a personal taste issue. Josh

Hello All, In advance of putting this stuff on ebay or audiogon, I an offering it to folks of the forum. Email me with questions. Cary SLI - 80 Signature Integrated amp. This comes with all the upgrades including oil caps. 1700.00 VPI HW 19jr w/o arm black base 400 bucks. Both are in excellent condition. Ill post some pictures as soon as the digital camera charges! Thanks Josh

Last week I ordered a pair of the under screw banana adapters that neo is suggesting. But I was really looking for the knd that actually screw into the strip. The MC225 I bought has a set and I wass looking to do the same for my other vintage gear. I bet jaytroncis has em but their web site is far from user friendly as there are no pictures. Form the picture that zapper posted it looks like those might be a good option. josh