WopOnTour

That's a decent price for vintage Harman Kardon IMHO I too have recapped a couple of these (well actually one of them was an A500, the "factory wired" version of the A50K "kit" version) They sound pretty darn good with a fresh pair of 7355 which is pretty much a "downsized" 6L6 . In fact on the one A50K I did, we just "repinned" the output sockets for a set of new production winged-C 6L6GC with excellent results. There's plenty of room to do this on these amps and all I did was add a small filament transformer and mess around a bit with the cathode resistor (wired parallel to a hum pot) to achieve correct current/dissapation (we went for ~30watts IIRC withour ANY overheating issues).Big improvement. These little amps have some nice sound for the money, and some nice features as well.(dual mono volume and tone controls, tone,high/low cutouts etc) I really liked the headphone sound of these as well. If you/anyone here buys it let me know and I'll shoot you the schematic WopOnTour

I definately agree as far as the Hammond universal 125SE series trannies go. I had originally purchased the 125ESE for my JE Labs 300B\2A3 DX, but found those trannies "wanting" actually at both ends of the scale. So I went out and purchased a pair of Hammond 1627SEA (potted and 11lbs each) and was VERY pleased with the results. Much better bass and upper range extension compared to the other less expensive Hammonds. But these wernt even that much more expensive ~$100 each http://www.hammondmfg.com/1627.htm WopOnTour

Gary I have a pair of 76's too. Replacing the caps in the crossovers and giving all the crossover and driver wiring a refresh really improved my sound quality. I went with inexpensive Solens and a large motor run oil can bypassed with a Multicap It was an low cost refresh while I gather better quality parts for the DIY AK Eng crossovers (still looking for a good deal on the Litz inductors) I had a Solen cap in the 13uf position for a while but preferred the oil filled motor run which seemed to improve soundstaging (wider, more forward) at least to my ears As you can see I've eliminated the zener based tweeter protection, but I plan to add some fast blow fuses, for now I'm just risking it Others have suggested to add a 10ohm swamping resistor across the autoformer to insure impedance stability back at the amp (I'm using a Harman Kardon Citation II) but havnt tried that yet Right now they sound GREAT! Total cost for the caps about $30 ea. side I have another pair of these 12.5uf motor runs if you want to try them ($20 plus maybe $5 shipping) WOT

The HK250 is a nice little amp! Gotta love 6L6GCs (had one, sold it a couple years ago) A neat feature is it's ability to be switched to MONO mode for 50 wpc with GBs (64wpc if you use 6L6GCs) Of course you'd have to find another... (I couldnt) If you need a schematic showing the Jim Mcshane inspired mods (what I did) drop me a PM WopOnTour

I get it from Parts Connexion http://www.partsconnexion.com/catalog/soldertoolscleaner.html (click on CAIG down at bottom) WOT

LOL Well I gues what you dont know cant hurt you! [*-)] The good news is you can always become Masta DJ Scratchy on the weekends!! (but of course then you'll have to buy TWO of them) Just get some "grilles" to match your deck!!! [Y] WopOnTour

That's too bad those a-holes ruined the show. I personally would've loved to hear Lewis do "Outside" unplugged & live. I have the Family Values Tour CD where he and Fred Durst do an unplugged duet of that song. Powerful stuff WOT

or the new Rega P1 WopOnTour

Unfortunately no I'm sure I had a few of the original Canadian versions back in the late 70s (college), but they were certainly thrashed and trashed long ago... I had forgotten how much I listened to and enjoyed this album back in the day, and was thrilled when Acoustic Sounds sent out the preorder back last spring I love this album One Sunday in July I bet I listened to Side-A 25 times as I rolled output tubes through my Citation II [] Now if only some outfit would reissue Badfinger "Straight Up" WOT

I bought the 180g Cisco AJA from Acousticsounds back in June. I've pretty much worn it out over the summer (est near 100 playbacks) [] Just an amazing body of work wrapped up in an all-new better sounding package IMO - the Cisco pressing JUST PLAIN ROCKS! So I'm ordering a second copy for "special occasions" Interesting though it went up in price. I paid $29.98 in June , now it's $32.98 ! That's better than my GM stock! [:^)] WOT

Agreed on the SRV Live DVD (Austin City Limits sessions) Great 2 channel tracks and some of the best Stevie ever captured Another "must have" IMO is Roger Hodgeson (Supertramp) "Live in Montreal" - Very Honest and Amazing! EDIT> Oh, and Neil Young "Heart of Gold" is just as Amazing!!! I believe it represented the initiation of the 2005 Prairie Wind tour and filmed in Nashville's fabled Ryman Auditorium (aka THE Grand Ole Opry). It's about 50:50 new and old material. This effort is truly an awe-inspiring performance masterfully captured with beautiful perspectives and ZERO "quick cuts" or "running" camera shots like so many music videos. But be forewarned it's "digital" 2-channel though (with DD and DTS multi-channel tracks as well of course <spits> ) still excellent though! Also, unless you're a Beatles "purist" and totally offended by the George Martin remixes. The "Love" album multi-channel tracks are really very very good on DVD-A. Like many here I'm sure, I normally can't stand multi-track digital mixes, but these really seem to suit the material... WopOnTour

No, I know what you're saying Buck. But they pretty much treat the "Farewell Tour" thing as a bit of an inside joke. (i.e. Hell Freezes Over Tour) They make that pretty obvious with "tongue-in-cheek" remarks during their performances as well. I mean I guess it is getting a little old but I sure dont care. I wait in anticipation for each "Reunion" tour as they seem to get better and better. If you havnt seen them since Long Run , you've been missing out IMHO. JMO WopOnTour

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Very good post and I totally agree. Why would someone complain about the Eagles (or any other "vintage" band/ensemble for that matter) touring again? Once they'e gone, they're GONE! Be thankful they continue to generate new fans with each generation. That tells me that we wern't crazy to enjpy them 30 years ago. I wouldnt want the Stones to stop either! WopOnTour

Great post Bob! A quick related question? (You've probably answered this one a few times I spose) Have you observed oil-filled motor run capacitors to have higher ESR than poly-props? I'm using Solens right now, but happended to come across some new 2 and 12.5uFd motor runs at an industrial electrical shop and couldnt resist grabbing them ($5-9 each) They are quite large and look VERY similar to the ones I removed from the AA networks when I overhauled them a few months back. I was contemplating just patching them in with a switch so I could do some A-B comparisons. I know you USED to be a proponenet of the motor runs... Do you expect I will notice a difference in the sound? (ie would YOU?) and if so can this difference be attributed to a combination of the different (higher?) ESR and the electrolytic properties of the materials used? Many Thanks ***

Here's how this old gal is looking these days (and sounding NEVER BETTER!) Many thanks to Craig@NOSVALVES and Jim Mcshane for their valued assistance ***

I bought a pair of the cryo'd EH for my headphone amp... they sound fine (everything else I have is running vintage, but I figured new equipment should get new stacks) [|-)] WOT

Actually the DAC1 unit I was listening to last weekend was a totally stock un-modded version. I certainly don't know how it could have really been improved upon.But it was purchased through Parts Connexion so the "upgrades" ARE currently being considered. I will take a closer look at what you are saying vis-a-vis the upgrades... Thanks! WOT

I was under the impression that in order to get SACD multichannel you HAD to have seperate 5.1 analog outputs on the SACD player (indicating a multi-channel SACD decoder) and connected to a seperate 5/6/7.1 channel analog inputs on the amp/preamp (ie NOT digital) I believe the 9000ES has 2 channel SACD analog output only, and unlike the 999ES it doesnt have a Super Audio CD Multichannel decoder. If you connect the 2 channel output (or digital output) to a 5.1 processor or HT receiver it can "create" 5.1 output, but it WONT be true SACD multichannel. HTH WOT

Well I heard it from a pair of RF-7s being pushed by a Cayin 88T and sourced from both a PC (various lossy and lossless formats) and really nice CD player (Shanling)delivering the Redbook.I guess what impressed me the most was it's SPEED. (not not clock speed, YOU know what I mean) The music playing wasnt really my cup of tea (Diana Krall,Sarah Vaughn, and some other newer jazz) but the shear precision of the snares and cymbals, combined with the silky vocal presence yet with such quick defined bass - really impressed me! It's just seemed to create a wonderful pace to the music, not all smooth and buttery like I'm so used to! I really wished I had brought a CD of some familiar blues guitar like some SRV, Clapton, Knopfler or at least some decent rock for a better comparison to my own musical familiarity. Anyways I'll get a chance to hear it again May long, when I've promised to visit again. Hopefully by then my vintage HK will be ready to go up against the Cayin using the same sources but with some of my own digital material. The Cayin easily bested the EL84 equipped Jolida (not sure which model) that was also in attendance. I must admit I've always been a vinyl guy but the conservative DAC in my little Dared headphone amp has really peaked my interest in creating a great sounding digital jukebox. So now you've got ME looking at reasonably priced DACs LOL. (it's either that or attempt to wire in some line-outs from the Dared) This Benchmark unit is my current 'contender' and since Parts Connexion is somewhat local and a known quantity for me (been buying parts from C&C since the "old" Sonic Frontiers/Parts ConneCTION days) shipping isnt really an issue. By the way, if you call them you can get a "best price" phone quote that's significantly better than what's advertised on-line. ***

I had a chance to listen to one of these this week. I dont know how it stacks up against some of the most desirable specs you have been compiling SF but I think it's worth a look. I was very impressed with the SQ and it seems to be priced attractively http://www.partsconnexion.com/clearance/new_clearance.html ***

Cool, Thanks, that makes sense. Gotta love the range of expertise on this forum! [] WOT

OK that makes sense to me Doc But what if your using an encoder to create files using higher sampling (frequency or bit rate) from an analog source! (i.e. NOT CDs) WOT

I cant believe I missed the revival of this thread a few weeks back (stumbled across again it while "searching" the forums for more TD-124 data) lynnm was the reason I joined this forum, and the reason I rekindled my lust for Heritage excellence after a 20 year hiatus. He lived (and believe me he DID live LARGE) about 20 minutes from me. I miss him. ***

Yea, I hear a Fritz My point was the physical implementation of the DAC (circuit design/layout, op-amps, passives etc) is just as important as "the numbers" I have a an Audigy 2 NX USB with 24/96 and this slower Burr-Brown unit chews it up and spits it out in terms of SQ . But maybe it has more to do with the amp itself (although I must admit I've never connected the Audigy to my 300Bs or anything, hmmm maybe I'll try that) By the way , I finally put those Nationals into my HK on the weekend (and pretty much let them run in for 24 hrs) they sound FINE! Thanks Again for them. If you ever need some vintage SL or SN 7s hit me back and I'll return the favor. Good luck on the DAC quest! ***