Cornwalled

I have to agree, I would not want to have to archive my R2R stuff to computer. I considered it, but realised my laptop is too slow to record contiguous audio w/o dropouts. So, it wouldn't be worth it for me. I really need a format I can count on, and so far, I haven't found anything digital that fits the bill. Still, I need to find something, as I have one very special pipe organ tape that's falling apart that I need to backup asap. -Jon

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While browsing the flea market today, I had a really cool find- a 1967 US Army Oscilloscope! From first sight, I knew I had to have this thing, and for $40, figured I couldn't go wrong. It's quite the tank, really heavy and solid. I didn't dare plug it in, for fear of damaging something on account of bad capacitors, etc. Right now, I really don't have the money to get someone to repair it, so I'll have to just enjoy it for aesthetic pleasure. Still, I think it's a cool looking piece of gear, and hope to one day be able to use it. What do you guys think?

I just tried to archive a reel to reel tape to CD, and have found myself longing for the easier, simpler days of analog. This stupid CD recorder is the most frustrating, inept piece of equipment I've used in quite some time. Everything appeared to go fine until I played back the recorded CD, and there were skips, pops, distortion and jitters all over it. Cleaned the laser, and same thing. Tried to play back a cd through the recorder, and similar performance. Would've been great if the player could've told me it was a piece of junk BEFORE I wasted an hour with it! LOL Guess the laser is shot so it's giving spoty performance. It is probably around 15 years old. It used to be, you recorded to your cassette deck, and watched your meters, and all was well! If you were fortunate enough to have a 3 head deck, you could monitor the tape as it was being recorded, and hear exactly what you were getting right away! How convenient! No rude surprises after the fact. Now with digital recording, you never know what kind of desecration you'll get! I've had enough. Think I'll just back the tape up to my Nak ZX-7 and call it a day instead. As I type this, I have David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust LP spinning, and all is right with the world. It's interesting to think how a 10 or so year old CD player is a boat anchor, while a 35 year old reel to reel machine, 25 year old tape deck, and 25 year old turntable continue to thrive in my system. Will analog machines ultimately outlive digital ones? Hmm, there's some food for thought..lol. -Jon

Hello, I forgot about this thread, it was quite a while ago that I posted in it. I have since picked up a Sony deck, as mentioned in my signature. I don't use it all that often, as I only have a few tapes for it, most of which are not that great quality. The only tape that really sounds good is a recording of Holst's Planets that I made myself from CD. All the rest are pretty degraded. That's the real frustration I've been having with this format is it's age. There are some OLD tapes out there, and they're just so beat that they sound lousy. I have a few old RCA acetate ones that are just deplorable. The deck itself is fine, and capable of great reproduction, I just don't have anything worthwhile to play on it. I looked at several on ebay, but couldn't justify the really high prices for the good ones. I refuse to buy 3 3/4 IPS stuff because it sounds horrible, and the 7 1/2 stuff costs a fortune. Oh well, maybe when I get a real job. Til then, records, cd's, and tapes will suffice. Actually, my Nak ZX-7 sounds better than the reel to reel because I have better quality material for it. -Jon

Hey Bruce, Thanks for the info. I may end up actually going the vintage route, as a friend of mine just e-mailed me back and said he has several vintage tube receivers for sale including a Fisher 500C. I'm going to check them out sometime, and I think that will be the way I'll end up. I've never had a working vintage tube receiver before, so I think that would be pretty cool. -Jon

I guess nobody has heard of it. I've been having trouble finding much about it too. It seems Velleman makes kit amps, but I can't find much specific information about this one. -Jon

Hello all, Has anyone heard of the Velleman VAA-70 tube amp? I'm told it's based on the Dynaco ST-70 circuit with EL-34's, but uses a more commonly available driver tube instead of the 7199s? There is one available locally for $350, and I was thinking of going to check it out tomorrow. I've never heard of Velleman, so I wanted to see what you guys thought first. I'm told the amp is about 8-10 years old. Any information you could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Jon

I called Craig and he asked me to send some digital pictures. From what he's said, it sounds like depending on the unit, it may not necessarily be worth the cost to rebuild it, since some of those "console" amps used pretty cheap output transformers. When I get home, I'll take pics and send them to Craig and post them here. The reason I'm starting to think tubes again is because I scored some JBL 4425's at a flea market. I re-foamed them and they're sounding great. I don't have the money to buy a high end tube amp, so I thought maybe I could get this fixed up, but it sounds like I wouldn't be happy with it. I don't think it's really worthy of driving those JBL's. We'll see what happens. Jon

Hello all, I have a tube power amp from a 50's Curtis Mathes hi-fi console. The previous owner modified it to run on it's own- 3 prong power cord, rca inputs, and 5-way binding posts. However, it's in need of work electrically. It looks like it wasn't recapped, and I'm pretty sure the EL-84's are bad. Basically, it needs some attention. Would Craig at NOSValves be the one to do this? I'm away from home or I'd post a pic. Basically, it has 4 EL-84's, 1 12AX7, and 1 5U4 rectifier tube. It's just a power amp, no pre. Any thoughts on what the best way is to address this? Thanks, Jon

Hello, Well, today was a new one. My preamp actually BLEW a tube!! I heard an excrutiatingly loud BAM! and looked at the preamp to see one of my brand new $50 / piece NOS Mullards dead as a door-nail. Totally out. Pulled it out, and it completely blew the filament. The preamp sent it such a vicious shock that it annihilated the tube. When I started it up an hour or so later, the tube didn't light up at all, and was completely cool to the touch. Before it blew the tube up, it was making it squeal. Even when I swapped different tubes, whichever tube was in that specific tube socket would squeal, even if it was by a different brand, and known to be good. Now I KNOW this thing is defective, and I'm scared silly to put any more tubes in it. It's already cost me almost $300 in tubes! I spent all the money I can afford to spend on it. In fact, I'm having to sell my La Scalas because of this very tube preamp! It's tapped me out and now I can't afford a stereo anymore! Sorry if I'm ranting, but I'm really depressed about it. I REALLY wish I had bought CJ, ARC, or BAT. From what I've been able to discover, they build FAR better quality products that not only are more reliable, but sound better too. [:'(] What could cause this thing to be that bad? I've never seen such vicious tube destruction before. I spent all my money buying this thing, and I really don't have $200 or more to get God-only-knows fixed on it. I am TOTALLY ready for solid state, which is a shame really. I'm really at a loss as to what to do. I can't afford to fix the gear because I spent my money buying it, with the expectation that I wouldn't HAVE to get it totally rebuilt. Any thoughts would be appreciated. -Jon

I still have it. I packed it up and had it all ready to go, but didn't send it out right away. In the interim, I used a solid state preamp with the same VTL power amp, and noticed the same channel imbalance problem. So, apparently that is a problem with the amp, not the preamp. However, the noise / microphonics issue still remains. I just bought some nos Mullard CV4024's to replace the EH's, so now I'm running CV4003's and CV4024's. I bought them from Upscale Audio, and was told they are the best ones for VTL. The 4003's are CJ Test grade (quieter than platinum) while the 4024's are platinum. Just recently, one of the tubes began oscillating (not sure which one). It gave a high pitch not only out the speaker, but even audible from the preamp itself (mute engaged) so I've pretty much had it, and I'm going to try to sell the whole lot for whatever I can get for them. I'm basically unhappy with my entire stereo and would rather have the $ than the gear. Power amp's weak on one side (despite tube swaps), Pre's noisy, CDP's konked out and the LS's are too big for my room. Other than that, it's great! LOL. At this point, I never use it anymore anyway, it just all sits there forgotten about. I'm gonna dismantle it all and put in SS and dynamic's, cause I've just been way too stressed over this setup and don't like it. I should stress that throughout all this, the La Scalas have been faultless- they continue to work perfectly. I just feel that my room is too small to do them justice. I feel like I would like I'm sitting too close- they need room to breathe! [] I sold the Cornwalls to my brother, cause he needed some speakers for his basement, so I'm sure he'll enjoy them. -Jon

Greetings! While researching vintage computer systems (my newest hobby), I came across this interesting error while trying to look at a tape drive on Wikipedia. Couldn't help but be amused. Guess that's what you get for free huh? All in all I love Wikipedia though. They truly have information on everything! Now as far as how accurate it is, I don't know, but it sure is a whole lotta fun to go through. Anyone else love Wiki? Between that and YouTube, I can kill hours... -Jon

Hello everyone! I have been having issues with my Jolida JD-100A CD Player since new. I sent it to Jolida, who said it worked fine, but they replaced a chip anyway, to be sure. It came back and worked for a half hour maybe, and is acting up again. Today's feat: It opened the drawer on it's own, then shut off and wouldn't come back on. After unplugging and cycling power a dozen or more times, I got it to come up, and it gave "Err 1" then read the disc. Any ideas? I have to admit, it's been kinda disappointing with this one. Jolida is supposed to make a good product, but this particular one hasn't worked well for me at all. Sadly, it seems that the mass production companies (Sony, JVC, etc) have great QC, even in their low end stuff, while high end doesn't so much. What gives? I've had Toshiba, Pioneer, Sony, Marantz, etc and all have been WAY more reliable than this, at a fraction of the cost. I don't get it. I'm really thinking about seeing if I can either get it exchanged through Jolida, or get my money back or something, as it's only a few months old at most- definitely still under warranty. OH GREAT: It just did it again as I'm typing this! Only this time it's even better! It still says the track listing. Now it went in half way and jammed! POS! The only reason I haven't taken the hammer to this one (usual solution for this problem) is because it's still under warranty. Otherwise I'd off it for sure! It's within arm's reach. So tempting...must resist. All is not well in Jon's audio house... Any thoughts would be appreciated. -Jon

Hey Guys, Just trying to get an idea of what a set of 1990 La Scalas would be worth right now? They are all original, with AL-3 crossovers, everything works fine. Cosmetically, rather good. Not perfect- some scratches here and there, but still quite good. I wasn't ashamed to put them in my living room! They're black with grilles. One speaker is missing the grill, but has fabric with a Klipsch logo- just no masonite frame. The grille material is not the same as the factory grille though. Otherwise, they're great. I didn't put this in classifieds because I am still investigating price, and figured I'd wait to list them til I was serious. In case anyone's wondering why I'm looking to sell them, it's not because there's anything wrong with them. They're just not my thing. I'm going in a different direction with my stereo. Selling the Cornwalls to my brother, and gonna probably sell the tubes too. Starting over with some beautiful Fried (pronounced FREED) speakers that my Dad built himself in the 80's, beautiful 3-way transmission lines- they are the 2 cab models that look like the Wilson WATT/Puppies. I've always loved those speakers, and they're built like a brick outhouse- totally non-resonant, and incredible bass. When he offered to give those to me free of charge, I couldn't say no. Anyway, so that's the thought at this point. -Jon

Hello everyone, I just wanted to clarify something about my original post. I realise now that it could be interpreted as a flame or attack of a forum member. It was never intended to be delivered in that fasion, and I regret if it was interpreted that way. I have had nothing but the highest respect for this member. I am sure that neither he nor his friend knew of any problems with the preamp when it was sold to me. The preamp was sold to me at a good deal, definitely under Audiogon value, because of the forum. So, after I spend money getting it serviced by a tech, I'll probably be at around what a unit would have normally cost on Audiogon, with the exception of the extra money I've had to spend on tubes for it. -Jon

Hello again, I contacted VTL, and they suggested a tech in VA who services VTL gear- Bill Thallman at Music Technology in Springfield. He can get parts from them if necessary, and is factory supported. I called him, and he was pleasant and knowledgeable. I thought it might be a problem with the volume control not tracking properly. I also mentioned the hiss, and he seemed confident that both could be resolved. I'm optimistic. Now I just have to figure out what I'll use to fill in while it's gone! I jsut hope it's not expensive to fix. -Jon

Thanks Rich, I appreciate it. Today it's sounding better (odd) but the balance issue still remains. I'll have to see about sending it out. The Jolida CDP's out for repairs right now too- logic / chip problem. I bought that one brand new and only had it for a month before it started acting up. Hmm, seems high end audio isn't as "high end" as it used to be... Shoulda bought ARC / CJ.

Upon further investigation, it seems the volume control is at fault. I find I have to keep adjusting the balance control to different positions, depending on where I set the volume control. I had this same problem with an old Heathkit amp. The Heath was 50 years old, it had an excuse. The VTL has no such excuse. I originally wanted a CJ PV-14L, Audio Research SP-16 or BAT VK-3i, all of which eskew the unreliable analog pot in favor of microprocessor switched volume. I know wish I had bought either of those superior products. -Jon

Hello all, I have rued the day I bought my VTL TL-2.5 preamp. From day one, it has been plagued with problems, and no amount of throwing money at it can quell it. EXTREMELY unreliable. I have had the unit for about 3 months, and am on my 3rd set of tubes! It keeps blowing up 12AU7s- they become noisy very quickly, even $50 per tube NOS Mullards from Upscale Audio! It's latest shenanigan is that the sound is constantly distorted and the left channel is quieter than the right. I bought this from a friend of a forum member on the good faith that it was a MINT piece of equipment, and it's been TERRIBLE! I absolutely HATE this thing. It sounds horrible and is extremely unreliable. I've thrown literally hundreds of dollars at it, only to be extremely disappointed! There's no worse feeling than putting in a brand new set of $200 tubes, only to have it blow them within a few weeks! What on earth could be wrong with this thing? Even at idle it gives a LOUD hiss constantly, regardless of what tubes are in it. Worse yet, I've read that VTL's service is a nightmare. Apparently they take months to even look at the gear, and charge exhorbitant amounts of money too. Also, you can only send it out to them via a VTL dealer, the closest which is over two hours from me. I've truly had it with this thing, and am about ready to give it away for FREE! I can't pan VTL enough. Worst experience ever. Easily enough to scare me away from tubes forever. I want to break in my new hammer on it. -Jon EDIT: I thought I should add, that I've tried every sort of diagnostic / troubleshooting method possible, and it all comes back to the preamp. I've tried switching every set of tubes in both power amp and preamp, and it's still the same. The left channel is always weak- it doesn't move with the tubes. I've also tried swapping cables, even swapped speakers! When I switched the channels on the cable going from the preamp to the power amp, it moved- i.e, the right speaker was now weak, instead of the left. This points to the preamp. Also, if I turn the volume up real loud, the channel balance seems to get more even, but still not perfect. Perhaps a bad volume control? Also, the balance control gives occasional static when turned. This is inexcusable for a preamp that's under 10 years old. Very poor build quality. I really wish I never bought it. I know I'll never get my money out of it, so I basically threw away a ton of money! I feel sick. I've been totally misled.

Hello, I've decided not to mess around with it. If anyone wants it, they can have it. -Jon

I haven't cleaned it yet, but I did inspect the fuses. It turns out it blew another power supply last night when I was testing it. So, it's obviously got a fairly substantial problem. I don't think I'm gonna mess with it. I read online that transistors need to be replaced on these from time to time, and the amp has to be biased. I would have no idea how to bias a solid state amp. Nor do I know how to check DC offset. It sounds like it's probably over my head. I did find a service manual for it and will see if I can make any sense of it. -Jon

Hello, As far as fixing it myself goes, I'm not very knowledgeable with solid state gear. I'm really better with older simpler tube stuff where density isn't as high, and parts are larger and easier to get to. I was thinking the same thing about the de-oxit. The thing that concerns me is those blown fuses. That makes me think something went way wrong and it pulled some pretty good current. However, in the time I had it on, it never drew more than a 1/4 amp through the isolation transformer I had it plugged into, even during the static. So, perhaps it is dirty controls. I've just never heard a dirty control be that loud! The only thing that made it stop was turning off the speaker switch, which if course disconnects the speakers. I was afraid I'd blow the speakers it was so loud. Scared me and the cat..lol I think I'll bring it over to my Dad's where he has more room to work on it. I'll shoot it up with some De-Oxit, and if that doesn't take care of it, I'll get rid of it. I'd rather dedicate my time to repairing the tube amp instead. If I do decide to get rid of it, does anyone here want it? -Jon

Hello, Found a Harman Kardon 430 Twin Powered Receiver while dropping off junk for the township spring cleaning. It's missing the case, top and bottom. Otherwise it looked clean, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Got it home, discovered both power supply fuses were missing. That lowered my expectations for the unit. Replaced both, powered it up only to find it came up just fine! I hooked it up to some junk test speakers to hear how it sounds. All lights are good and FM reception seems pretty good. Even got the mute working. The volume is very scratchy, as well as all of the push button controls. However, after a few minutes, trouble began. Static started coming out, VERY LOUD! No amount of fiddling with buttons or knobs could make it go away. In fact, even after turning it off, the static and popping persisted for several seconds until the power supply discharged. My question is this: is this thing worth messing around with, or should I just send it back from whence it came? I'm afraid that just cleaning contacts isn't going to do it. I originally thought I'd use it to power the Cornwalls til I finish repairing an old tube amp. Now, I'm afraid to let it anywhere near them! Any thoughts? -Jon