Deang

"Lift the ground", R Welborne's answer for all hum problems with his stuff. Any chance of getting that thing on it's own outlet? Personally, I think you should just sell it and save yourself some grief. I'm not a big fan of Ron Welborne. After I bought the Apollo's, I posted some questions about the amps on the Welborne Forum. I had received two manuals with the amps -- and they were very different in respect to layout and various parts values. I was simply trying to figure out which was the superior design. I felt his response was condescending and unprofessional. To a degree, it contributed in part to my descision to unload the Apollos. I really felt that if I had a problem with them, I wasn't going to get much in the area of technical support.

Yeah, you can do that, but you have to figure out how to split the crossover. Seems like more trouble than it's worth though. With no preamp, you'll probably end up spending more time adjusting things than actually listening.

Really. I didn't catch that. Funny.

What are you saying, that the Tractrix lens isn't "horn", since the lens isn't a mile long? Or are you saying this because there is no squawker in Reference? "The Tractrix horn is designed to produce a hemispherical wave front and to have less coloration than other horns. In October 5, 1927 P.G.A. Voight got the British patent 278,078 for a horn based on the tractrix curve. The following is an excerpt from his patent application: "In a horn constructed according to this invention, the taper at any point is as nearly as possible such that the sound is expanding as if the source was at a fixed distance which is at least a quarter wavelength, of the lowest frequency at which full efficiency is required, away..."Since according to this invention, the rate of expansion shall be as if the source was a fixed distance away, it follows that the length of the tangent is equal to this distance. The property of this curve is therefore that the length of tangents is constant." "At the point where the tangent is at right angles to the centre line, it becomes the radius. I call this point the "mouth" and prefer either to terminate the curve at this point, or to continue the plane (baffle) at right angle to the centre line. The curve whose tangent to the centre is of constant length is called the "Tractrix", and may be drawn by drawing a small portion of one tangent after the other." "In the case of a square horn, the tangent to the corners is longer than that to the middle of the sides and a compromise is unavoidable. I prefer to make the section correspond to the tractrix. The shortest tangent is then correct, but the area is 4/pi=1.27 times that of the corresponding tractrix. If the area is made equal to the corresponding tractrix, the tangent at the sides will be short, a defect which is partly compensated for by the excess length of the tangent to the corners." "If the horn is assumed to have a horizontal partition along the centre which is preferably continued for some distance in front of the mouth, the sound will still expand perfectly in each half. When the sound is not required to expand downwards, as for example in a table gramophone , the lower half of the horn can be omitted and considerable space will be saved."

Sometimes it's just better to take things on their own merit instead of trying to draw comparisons. I have a couple of SACD's that sound horrid, and one instance where the Redbook version actually sounds better. With many of the reissues, it's very difficult to discern whether it's the SACD format making the difference, or the fact that they remixed (which they do). At any rate, I have heard SACD compared to vinyl -- which is doesn't really sound like at all. It sounds like Redbook without the 'filmy' quality in the treble, and things in the music sound more isolated - instead of sounding homogenized. If it wasn't for the 9000's strong Redbook performance, I probably would not have bought it. I certainly didn't buy based soley on SACD performance (which is stellar), for there is very little out there for a Rock-n-Roller like me. Still, for the budget minded, it's hard to pass up some of the new combo players -- which have come a long way in delivering satisfying results.

Sometimes I hate giving out the link for Brent -- I'm selfish:)

I was rather full of myself after coming up with that one, I'm pleased you could appreciate the difference.

We are expecting great things from you Justin. Make a difference!

If you want a nice NOS 6SN7, get a pair of Sylvania 6SN7GT/WGT/WGTA Chrometops. http://www.audiotubes.com/6sn7.htmhttp://www.audiotubes.com/'> Stay away from the Russian rectifier tubes and get yourself another Mullard. Chances are however, the one you currently have may outlive you. Word has it the Russian rectifying tubes are short lived. Don't know much about 2A3's, but can only say if Kelly likes the Sovteks -- why not just stay with them?

What speakers are you going to be driving? BTW, decent tube amps do not sound 'dull' when compared to most solid state in the same price range. In fact, the treble 'sparkles' when compared to the dry top end of most solid state.

I'd like to say however, that I would take a set of RB-5's and a sub over both of them. I'd be very interested in hearing the new RB-75.

...is really cool. I had one of my amps out today taking a look underneath trying to figure out if there was anything in there that could be upgraded when I get some extra money. It didn't take long to figure out that the parts that are in there are really good. The only thing I could really think of was maybe uprading the rectifier with a HEXFRED. I decided to give him a call and I just asked him, "If YOU were going to do something to these amps to raise the bar a little, what would YOU do?" "Nothing", he says. "The parts are great, the transformers are great, it's clean -- I really can't think of anything I would want to do." After 20 minutes of chatting he loosened up a little and says, "Well, you know -- I did replace the one power supply cap, the one next to the choke -- with a 750 MFD, and it did tighten up the bass somewhat. What's in there now? A 300? Yeah, you could do that -- that would be good." He told me what I needed to do, and it looks like I'm going to have a really BIG ugly blue cap for each amp to go along with the smaller ugly blue caps. He didn't like the HEXFRED idea, saying he considered them unreliable over time. I also got a really good lesson on how a cathode auto-biasing circuit works -- for all the good it did -- as I only understood about 1/2 of what he said. A great guy who obviously knows his stuff and still loves doing it.

Craig, you're a moron Yeesh, what every happened to giving an objective opinion? If you were running most anything else besides the solid state, lower powered Luxman -- I would say go with the RF-3's. However, you're keeping the Luxman -- and I think it will do well with the Heresies. Now, something to consider here. It's not just a matter of the RF-3 having a meatier low end (which is a definite plus if you plan on doing movies through the system), but the overall presentation of the midrange from the Heresies. The open and forward nature is a shock to some people initially, but in all honesty -- it is very accurate. An easy way to understand the difference between these two speakers in the midrange is by using the goofy little 5 band equalizer on your car stereo. If you take the middle slider and move it to +1 -- that would be more like the Heresy. If you take it and move it to -1 -- that would be like the RF-3. Not a perfect analogy, but close enough. I think the upper treble is cleaner with the titanium domes behind the horn (Reference) -- that's just what I hear. The Heresy actually has a really good sounding bass, especially if you stay close to walls or corners. At high SPL's, you might find the midrange horn taking over a bit. Think live, amplified music here. The RF-3's will go louder without pinning your ears back. The Heresies will deliver better low level detail and dynamics at low to moderate listening levels. The RF-3's image better -- but Heresies will fill a room up with sound right quick. People used to three-way horns find Reference lacking. People used to 'audiophile' type speakers and two-ways -- find Heritage somewhat aggressive. Help any?

You really need to learn how to think in the abstract.

It's not nice to talk about Mark that way.

What kind of shape is your ST-70 in? Those are very nice units. Have you considered sending it to Craig for a tune up, or have you done this already? The 299's are nice, but so is the Dynaco stuff. I don't think you can get a fair appraisal of the ST-70 until you get a decent preamp in front of it. Where are you coming up with the $1000 figure -- there are two AE-3's on Audiogon right now selling for less than $400. The following thread might be of interest to you and Craig both. http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=tubes&n=44167&highlight=wiring+in+triode&r=&session=

http://webace.com.au/~electron/tubes/ I've been there most of the night.

Snap, crackle, pop, snap, crackle, pop, snap, crackle, pop -- bringing you closer to the "live" event.

No man, you're losing it. My browser went wacky -- but you actually posted the same post in both threads!

Mark, Are you the same 'Mark Deneen' of Paragon fame?

Double post. Oh well, mind as well make good use of it. I need some help understanding what is going on when one bypasses the grid of a pentode tube, and goes 'triode'. I've been reading some stuff that indicates this is really cheating the circuit, and that to do it right involves more than just strapping a resistor across the pins. Also, my question from the original thread -- Are you the same 'Mark Deneen' of Paragon fame?

"So then, what's the advantage to changing the Heresy from 8 ohms down to 4 ohms? Just to be able to handle more power from a SS amp at a 4 ohm load?" I don't understand at all how this works with solid state, since solid state works with current as opposed to voltage. I have no idea why a solid state amp would have different taps. Out of my realm. The only thing I know and believe is that the appropriate tap is dictated by the lowest point in the impedance curve.

The reason I brought up the ALKs, is because Al's crossover turns the Cornwall into a 4 ohm speaker. With tube amps, the opinion of most is that the transformer should not see an impedance lower than the taps that are being used. So, an '8 ohm' speaker that dips down to 4 ohms on occasion -- should be put on the 4 ohm taps. Not everyone believes this though, and even Leo went turncoat and recently bought some 8 ohm tapped Magnaquest transformers for his Moondogs and RF7's.

Nice work. Craig, Why does it always look like the Eico has less parts than the Scott? Is it just an optical illusion?

Mint Dynaco IV's for a pitance and everyone wants to get picky.