Deang

LOL. Well, if it were an electric piano I would tell you how gold rates 3rd as far as conductors go. You might really want to consider using some Deflex on the inside of that wood to tame those resonances. Colin, I have never tried the Homegrown cables. I do have a set of 6 foot Music Metre Silvers which are very nice. There are four separate cables, each having 6 solid core strands of 22 gauge .9999 silver. It's a very silky smooth smooth sound in the treble, but it tends to warm the bass up too much, and the midrange sounds a little repressed. Overall, I just thought it didn't sound 'natural'. I will eventually break these cables down to use for the internal wiring of my RF-7's (between x-over and drivers). Between amp and speaker -- I feel copper sounds the best.

That was harsh. Chris, I know you started this thread to give props to Leo's Moondoggies, but I wanted to thank you for also being opened minded with the RF-7's and voicing appreciation for what they can do when fed well. I get so much joy out of mine -- and it's always nice to see something good said about them.

I started one about a month ago. I broke it into the normal questions we usually see here. When I complete my part, I will generate a a new topic for it called: 2-Channel Forum FAQ's What I would then like to do is to have everyone who is interested begin adding their input to the thread. They would simply email me the addtion, and then I would edit the thread and make the addtion to associated FAQ section. I will also be searching the forum (God help me), looking for those jewels. I will add them in as well. Anyone wishing to contribute should understand that because of the various opinions regarding the various subjects, there might be some contradictory information in the thread. It is important that we don't become dogmatic. Better to state your opinion and why -- and leave it at that. Any suggestions to make this a better idea are certainly welcome -- I would also appreciate the technically gifted making some contributions.

There is no such thing as a 'neutral' cable. Resistance is basically fixed. The amount of wire (diameter and length, ie AWG) will determine the resistance. Inductance and Capacitance are dynamic and relational. When one goes up -- the other comes down. They cannot both be 'low'. At least, this is my understanding. With interconnects, the consensus of the cable freaks is that the lowest capacitance possible is best. I like the Cardas interconnects. I think the big dollar stuff is a rip off -- but I do like the 300b very much. Low capacitance, enamel coated Litz wire, cotton fiber and teflon dielectric, double shielded, a nice jacket, and beautiful rhodium/silver single ended connectors. A very nice set of interconnects for $130. Never got around to trying the Jon Risch Belden designs -- but will someday. As far as speaker cable goes, I just haven't heard anything that sounds better in my systems than the Goertz. With my horns and tubes -- Goertz rules. Low capacitance is great for interconnects, but for speaker cable -- it appears that driving the capacitance up, lowering the inductance, and netting a lower impedance between the amp and speakers is the way to go. I do have a nice set of Cardas Mircotwins that I bought for comparison to the Goertz -- and the Goertz pretty much crushed it in every area. Something very apparent with the Goertz is the way ambient information is revealed. I just think this cable gets out of the way. Craig -- you're a wiener. I am getting ready to box up a 'gift package' for you. I need to send yours and Edmond's tubes back, and thought I would stick a couple of extra things in the box for you. You better freaking use them too!

...those either new to the forum, or new to audio: When asking for general advice, or seeking a recommendation or opinion on a component, please help us do a better job for you by telling us: Your room size and characteristics, associated equipment, musical tastes and listening habits. Thanks!

I'm confused (typical). Your topic is 'separates' -- but your list is compromised of integrated units. Creek has a huge following and a great reputation. The others are up and coming. That's the best I can do considering the cursory information you provided. No one can make a recommendation for anything without much more information.

A couple of things here: Yes, I just sold mine for $700 shipped -- but that is what I paid for it. I paid $350 on ebay for a unit that had a near mint face plate, no discernable wear on the knobs, and no pitting or stains anywhere on the chassis. I then paid Craig for his work, labor and parts -- which included increasing the power supply capacitance (not part of the standard fare). I then bought a $100 Mullard rectifier. I also purchased new power tubes, and the Telefunken phase splitters in the amp tested as new. The four RCA 12AX7 Blackplates in the preamp section had tested out very strong as well. I bought the aftermarket 'case' from that fellow up there in Canada (Marc). My Scott is/was dead silent and sounded great. So, in short -- yes, $700 is worth it -- if it's done right. You generally get what you pay for.

"There was absolutely no edge to the high frequency passages, the bass was perfect (very tight and fast), and the midrange was smooth and lush...RF-7's were really creeping into Klipschorn territory in dynamics, and the soundstage was very detailed." Hey, that's what my system sounds like! I'm so glad Leo's hard work is paying such dividends. Man cannot live on Heritage alone.

Yeah, sure -- turn it up.

I'm busy as heck right now and don't know what this is about but it sounds neat and I want in as long it's not to expensive. sevenwescotts@aol.com

"I bet your silvers sound real tubey playing Chevelle !!" Oh heck yeah! Gorgeous, fat, bold, ferocious -- the nice deep brown sound you get from the best sounding guitar tube amps. The sound I've been chasing from the beginning. I was asking my daughter what kind of music she's been listening to. She lists off about 5 bands who's CD's I just happen to have stacked in front of my system right now. "Wanna hear the system?" "Sure." I took her up and pointed to the chair. "Do you just want to listen to it, or do you want to hear it? How loud do you want it?" "Oh, I like it pretty loud. That's kind of what I'm used too." What's great is being able to put the juice to the RF-7's without having the ears get pinned back. I might force myself to try Class A push-pull again someday -- but only if I don't have to sell off the Quicksilvers first. I would really want to do a straight on comparison.

Excellent work Tom, even got your signature updated - Man oh man, them Paramour's will be collecting some dust now. Hey, if you can't shake the crap out of your ears every now and then -- what's the point?

eek: I would go with option one.

The thing I am curious about is how it is done. If the outputs are bridged to make it a mono amp, then it shouldn't be as 'clean' as a true mono. Of course, I am strictly speaking from my experience with bridging stereo solid state amps -- which sound like total crap when bridged. I don't know why they do -- they just do.

"I like SS diodes, especially for alternative music, but they are hard on the power tubes and power supply components. And without the addition of a stand-by circuit, their "instant-on" feature tends to kill the power supply electrolytics and strips the output tube cathodes." Somewhat curious information considering the reputation for reliability companies like Sonic Frontiers and Quicksilver have -- which both utilize the diodes in their products. I can definitely understand the thing with the lower tube life though. The solid state signature bit with diodes is somewhat confusing to me, especially considering how 'tubey' my Quicksilvers sound.

Found this: Kind of interesting. http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.pl?forum=tubes&n=102301&highlight=converting+stereo&r=&session=

Bumped for Craig, who hopefully is looking for it.

"...been there myself." Well hell, no wonder my fridge is empty.

That's interesting Craig, I've been wondering for a while how that worked. So this ties in with what we were talking about last night on the phone. Do you you think the solid state signature on solid state rectified/diode tube amps is related to some AC ripple riding along with the outputted DC? Please check out my question in the thread I started below about stereo amps being converted to mono amps. Do you have any idea how this is done? Are the outputs just bridged together?

Hey, I just provide the lead, I don't do all the leg work! That bad huh? What a shame.

Getting better. She actually did some dishes, helped fold some clothes, and has pretty much emptied out our fridge.

Well heck Craig, that's why I provided the link. I figured it was messed up and would get sent to you anyways. Yeesh -- everyone knows you need the practice.

Easylistener -- The Fortes would sound excellent with the Scott and Eico vintage amps. Dee -- I could have sworn Craig gave me a lifetime transferrable warranty with that thing. As you long as you don't do the turn it on, turn it off, turn it on, turn it off thing constantly -- I wouldn't expect any problems with it.

If you guy the separates route, you should be mating your tube amp with a tube preamp. If on a budget, you should consider a nice integrated unit like the one I just sold. As you can see above, Chris Robinson just put his Eico up for sale for $600 -- which would be an outstanding option for you considering your musical tastes. Do you listen loud? The RF-3's are a very good sounding speaker. Heresies will give you more midrange at the expense of some low end. Both speakers are very good. I like them both about the same for different reasons.

There are so many wonderful sounding amps -- I think I could live indefinitely with almost any of them.