Guy Landau

DizRotus;You can search:partsconnexion.com and angela.com for most parts.

Has anyone ever listened to these in a home system?

Craig, I am a vintage audio fan and own a lot of vintage Scott,Marantz and JBL gear. I own a pair of Marantz's model 1's(consolette)preamps,model 2's power amps and 10b tuner,as well as Scott's 121A preamps 265A power amps and 4310 tuner. I own some Leak monoblocks and JBL L200,L300 and Soveriegn speakers and Altec 604's. I wanted to give some friendly advise to Mike and everyone on a good source of vintage tubes instead of buying them at a redicoulously high prices from dealers or people at ebay,so I'm not into gutting treasures,the gear can be used in a second or third system with ordinary tubes.

Mike, Sometimes it is worth to buy some vintage equipment just for the tubes that are in it. For example:it is possible to find Dynaco pas preamps for less than 100$.These often still have 4 very good Telefunken 12ax7,which by themselves worth more.You can take the Tele's toss some junk RCA's GE's etc and you still have a preamp that can be sold for 100$. Vintage Dynaco,Fisher,Eico,Scott often used valuable Telefunken and Mullard tubes.So here's something to think about.

Mike, Most of the Scott amps came equiped with telefunken tubes.You can check the bottom of the tubes and look for the diamond mark<>.If it's there it is a real Telefunken.Some of the small tubes like 12ax7's are still measusre and sound good after all these years.So you can save some $ for better 7189's since the Teles are among the best. The Mullard cv4004,and the 17mm Long PLate ecc83 are great 12ax7's as well.

Kris, The pv10 is a scaled down pv12.CJ had taken the pv12 and started to take some parts off,in order to make a new budget preamp which turned out to be a killer. The premier 16/17 employ 6922 tubes and should be avoided.It seems that hi-end manufacturers are having a transparency kick in recent years insted of making musical pieces. I tend to agree with Mobile that looks are important and I can understand anyone who will prefer the Cary,I have never listened to their top preamps(only the slp50) but would probably choose the slp94 over the 98 since tube rectification has some magic and quietness that solid state rectifiers sometimes miss,and I think that it will be a good match with the Bryston amp. My father own's a Unison-Research Mystery one preamp.It has a tube rectifier and it's one of the quietest preamps I have listened to.It was a great match with the Bryston as well.

Nice pics & components,Wes. The Khorns are indeed a nice addition. Are you planning to open a Klipsch museum?

That is a nice preamp,Mobile homeless. The volume control in the Ultimate is mounted on the back circuit board.I don't know if it is possible to drill any more holes for the TKD.It seems that it might suit me more than the Dact but I might experience some problems mounting it.I Think that I will order the DACT anyhow,and if it does'nt fit,I can use it for other purpose or sell it. Thanks for the info. Guy

Mobile, I think that it might be problem that the DACT has only 24 steps.I can connect the preamp to the 1.3v input instead of the 0.7v,high gain input of my Marantz model 2. As I recall I had such a problem with the CJ evolution 20se preamp. Do you think that I should pass the idea? Thanks

Ooooops , Forgot to add the VTL Ultimate.

Kris, I think that a PV14L is safe buy and CJ have an excellent reputation for reliability. Do anoid the Premier 16,17,since the circuit has few 6922/6dj8 in series.I have bought my Enolution 20se from a guy who ordered the ART and the EV20se was sounding better and much more musical.The now discontiued Premier 14 is an excellent linestage(has the same circuit and tubes as the ev20se)and can be found for a very reasonable price. I guess you are confused now so I'll make things short. No-ARC,Modulus,Sonic frontiers or anything with 6922/7308/6dj8 including some CJ-they won't match with the Bryston and horns. Yes-Cary,CJ pv10,11,12,14 and premier 14. Hope it makes it easier now. Guy

Kris, If you do decide on a Conrad-Johnson preamp,please avoid early units like pv1,2,3,5 and premier 2.They are musical but to colored for my taste(I've owned the pv5 which was better than the premier 2)and try the pv10,11,12 which sound cleaner and more natural. mobile homeless, I've just added the DACT attenuator for my crossover parts order at Audiocom UK. I'll keep you posted on that one. I'll also love to have a copy of the original manual,reviews etc.So if you manage to find them,I'll be more than happy to buy a copy from you. Thanks & regards Guy

Rest of my system: Burmester 939 cd player. Technics sp10 mk2 turntable with obsidian/SME IV/EMT TSD15 or VDH Frog. Marantz 10b tuner. Marantz model 2 Monoblocks. Khorns with ALK. Interconnects VDH MC-gold. Speaker cable OCOS. I am about to build type A crossover to compare with the ALK.

I own the VTL Ultimate and have upgraded it with foil caps and some black gates and an Alps volume control. It is a wonderfull preamp(better than CJ evolution 20se that I previously owned).This is a very reliable preamp and one of the early examples,which use 12ax7's & 12at7's in the line stage instead of 12au7+12at7. The later units with the 12au7 were built by Luke manley after his father left VTL and are considered les reliable(like all other VTL stuff that were built by Luke).The phono stage is great.

Hi Kris, I would avoid anything with 6dj8/6922,which most of the time tend to sound agressive.I have owned few ARC preamps(SP8,LS1)and have listend to the modulus as well,they were more hifi than musical and I don't think that they will match your Bryston.I recommend either a Conrad-Johnson or Cary,or look for a VTL Ultimate,which is the best preamp I have ever heared and can be found used for 800-1200$.

NO, They probably worth around 800$. They are nice looking and very well preserved so it might add a little to their value. For 2200$ there are much better options.It is possible to find a Marantz 8b(which is far better) for half of that.

Kriss;I did not found the BP25/4BST to sound dry and sterile.I have owned Audio Research SP8 and LS1 and have found them much more agressive and fatiging than the BP20.I have listened to a tubed Unison-Research,Mystery one preamp with the Bryston 4BST and it was an excellent match. I have liked the pv10 as well.

Hello Kris, Bryston's BP-25 would be an excellent partner to the 4B-ST.It has a remote control and an optional phono stage as well. I think that it is much more suitable than Audio research preamps,which tend to sound agressive. If you're into tubes,I think that Conrad-Johnson preamps will be a better match.

Hi, If you're into tubes,I recommend The Fisher's FM100.It is a very musical tuner with excellent reception.It can be found for 50-125$ depending on condition.

I have got excellent results with Suimko OCOS cable.It was much better than Audiquest midnight,Goertz very expansive AG1 silver and Van Den Hul's ultra expansive The Revelation. The OCOS has all the strengh points of the above cables-it equals the transparency of the Goertz and the Bass extantion of the VDH and it can be bought for as little as 50$ for a second hand 8' pair. It looks great too.

Thanks djk, I have allready ordered litz inductors from Solen and I am planning to use the transformer from my AA crossover.I have the ALK crossover and thought that it would be interesting to compare them to the type A. If I won't like the type A's,I'll use the 10 awg litz inductors in my ALK's. Regards Guy

Thanks, I will keep you posted.

Hi, I was thinking about building the type A crossovers as well. I would like to order the inductors from Solen,but they do not have a 2.5 mH value. Is it possible to use 2.4mh+0.1mH in series. Thanks

Will it better to use 10 awg instead of 12 awg?and if so,what sort of improvement can be expected? Thanks

Thanks Al, I have decided not to replace the stock drivers and horns,with Altec ones,in the mean time.I guess that the 4-x suits me more than the 5-2.