Idontknow

Thanks for sharing. I haven't had the pleasure of hearing the HK 430 but I checked it out online after you mentioned it. My audio buddy has an integrated amplifier by HK from the 70's and I can't recall which model it was but it amazed me and it was solid state of all things.

I just acquired one of Kenny Russell's all new ST-70's https://getdynaco.com/products/ready-to-ship-dynaco-st-70-tube-stereo-amplifier based on the original circuit using 6GH8A military grade input tubes and EL34 NessTone output tubes. It's got the latest, best transformers and solid state rectifier which have several advantages. The unit utilizes the best components and after hearing this unit for the first time, I dropped my jaw in disbelief at the performance. The differences between this model and the Bob Latino and Will Vincent ST-70's are incredibly striking. This model Kenny did for me has a noticeably more classic, vintage sound signature as David Hafler intended it to be. It's silky, warm, lush and velvety smooth with jazz while the bass is tight and clean, even at the highest possible volume levels with my Heresy and Forte's with classic rock. There's no doubt that most of today's modern tube amps have lost the vintage sound signature with overly analytical, bright and brittle sound signatures, particularly those pouring in from China that most only seem to talk about. At first, it all sounds exciting, but over time with smooth jazz, I just found it to be a bit too ear fatiguing over longer listening durations and too forward. This ST70 Kenny did is the most amazing amp I've compared to date along with the ST35 and I think it's because both remain as close to the original circuit but with higher quality, more premium components available today. The famous review by David Gillespie here http://www.audioregenesis.com/documents/ST-70 Base Line Testing.pdf was adamant about retaining as much of Hafler's vintage ST70 sound signature as possible and this is the reason he's used it as a reference/benchmark. The issue of original vs modern was also covered here by Alan Acuff here http://santafemusic.blogspot.com/2008/09/tube-be-or-not-tube-be.html and I agree completely. Bob Latino addressed some of the issues with the original ST70 here https://dynacotubeaudio.forumotion.com/t465-traditional-driver-circuit-designs-versus-modern-all-triode-designs against his Triode Circuit that also has Pentode but I never enjoyed the Latino pentode circuit as much. It just sounded too lean for some reason, unlike the dedicated Ultra Linear circuit Kenny uses which simply tromps all over my Latino ST-70. The differences are mind blowing.

Sounds like each series is making us both happy.

There were a few issues I had with the Forte III and BTW the III didn't get the best of reviews by a number of audio listeners. It's the same issue I have with the IV even though I prefer the IV over the III and the Forte I over both. First, is the bass. The bass on the III and the IV doesn't go as deep as the Forte I and it's audible too. It's also evident in their specs even though I'm not into specs all that much. This is probably why we see so many threads with listeners who complain about needing a subwoofer for the Forte III's and IV's. We keep seeing this over and over in the forums. It amazes me how much the newer Forte's cost, not to mention that most feel more bass is still needed, so subs now have to be added which adds additional cost to something that's already overpriced to begin with. I can more than afford a pair of III's or IV's but they're not what the marketing pumps them up to be. The next issue is the top end. Neither the III or the IV has the same sweetness on the top end that the Forte I has. I'm not an engineer so I'm not qualified to say what the real cause is. Maybe it has something to do with the crossovers? My biggest guess is that it may have something to do with the tweeters in the Forte I being phenolic tweeters and the III and IV being titanium tweeters, I'm not sure. All I can tell is that the Forte I has a sweeter and smoother top end so I don't know what the big deal is with titanium in fact I think they use polyamide tweeters on the latest Klipschorn's, I can't remember for sure. The next issue on the Forte III and IV is the midrange combined with the top end. I don't know if it's because of the shape of the mid horn itself, I'm not an expert on it, but I can hear it with various jazz instruments. For those wanting a demonstration of the lack of coherency I'm referring to, put on a pair of headsets or earbuds and listen to this video. At about 6:13 of the video, he will switch from the Heresy IV to the Forte IV. Immediately when the woman's voice kicks in, the upper range sounds dispersed or lost and no longer sounds as coherent. This has also been expressed by a number of individuals. Huff later goes on the say that the Forte IV is a jack of all trades speaker. To my ears, the Forte I already does everything perfectly in my opinion and they cost a 5th the price. To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, imagine a trumpet with a horn shape that's be further opened to something like a bugle. The bell shape on a bugle is opened up further, so it doesn't sound as coherent. I don't mind if someone prefers one speaker over another, but it helps if others would try to describe why.

Even though this is an older thread, I prefer the Forte I's over the Forte III's. The Forte III's are my least favorite in the series. To add further insult to injury, all the newer gear is absurdly overpriced.

I think it's fair to say that those genre's of music you mentioned are notorious for using very low bass though. That's why we see trucks with bass boxes in the flatbeds or trunks of cars. I listen mostly to jazz and classical and I hear no reason to add subs. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm just saying there should be some context such as placement, room, music genre. If you wear headsets and listen to my video above, you can easily hear more than enough bass, in fact, probably a bit more than needed. Just saying.

That's a good idea. Just experiment and listen to what sounds good to your ears. Many opinions are not based on actual listening experiences. Same problem exists in our telescope industry. Many are armchair readers of optics who have never observed through optics.

Mine are a mere 8"-12" and the bass is impactful.

This is what I've been saying all along in my videos of the Forte and I believe the reason so few know about this is because they are simply parroting what others say and pretty soon, everyone starts to believe it without ever having listened to it. Skip to 7:40 of this video. I agree with him regarding the negatives of it as well as how much bass gets lost regardless. In the Upscale Audio room I video'd, I recorded jazz. When using headsets, you can easily hear that the bass is significantly less at the distance they had their Forte IV from the wall. To add further insult to injury they added subs which I purposely left off which are not needed for general music listening when the Forte is properly placed near a wall in my opinion. If one feels the bass overwhelms the mids, they can pull it out to the desired distance but subs can drown mids anyway, so it defeats the point in my opinion.

SE84UFO was a wonderful unit I had for several years until I finally sold it. It had a sweet and pretty sound. The only thing is I didn't find it to be as balanced. The most incredible single unit I've heard to date is the Elekit 8600s 300B. Absolutely breathtaking performance and an extremely holographic presentation. It had everything the SE84UFO had and more with a bigger, meatier soundstage. It uses the amazing Lundahl transformers and the bass was sensational. The SE84UFO just had a smaller sound.

The Magnavox CDB-650 s already a great CD player we've compared to numerous others and it's older than any of the PS1's. I don't know that this really has anything to do with then vs now. The PS1 just has a particular sound signature and others may or may not like it. I have CD players already that produce more subtle details I didn't post in my review, but ultra detail may not necessarily be the goal in every case because of the issues of matching components. I'll give an example, the Willsenton R8 with open baffle speakers is just a bit too analytical in my opinion and very revealing in sound. After a while, it starts to sound a bit fatiguing to some, not necessarily all, but some. In my opinion, it's really just more about matching components rather than advancements. There's a lot of over priced, low build quality products being sold today that's far from any improvement all because of this stupid pandemic that's been milked to death financially. Tube gear is very old technology that measures badly and kick's the sh....... out of just about anything solid state made even today when it comes to jazz, it's no contest. I've just never understood why people get so hung up on the newer is better bandwagon anyway. It's like when CD's hit the scene, everyone abandoned LP's and Neil Young said, why? Now, countless audiophiles are scraping for any LP's they can get their hands on. A lot of stuff is made far more cheap these days. Those CD players mentioned are far more expensive, but even so, it's really just a particular sound taste one would need to decide for themselves, whatever their preferences are.

Could you explain. Not sure what you meant. Open baffle speakers are very revealing.

You and I have nearly the same setup, turntable, speakers an all. I kept reading more and more about the PS1 because of several specific reviews about how the sound was. Recently my 30 year old Magnavox CDB-650 finally took a dive. I was in search specifically for another one but had no luck until just a few days ago, but between that time I got myself and SCPH-1001 PS1 and wow! This is an outstanding player, nothing like any digital player I've heard. I also have a LEAK CDT coupled to a Denefrips Ares II and in one of my rooms, I prefer this $50-$100 player over my CDT and Ares II costing a combined total of about $2000 now. Even though the PS1 is said to measure badly, it performs as quietly as anything I have and I absolutely love the mechanics and simplicity of it. This PS1 is a hidden treasure. The sounds is warm, sweet and slightly rolled off so it's an excellent match for the Heritage series or open baffle! Absolutely love this thing and the bass it produces is unmatched by anything I've compared! Thanks for posting the topic and here's my review.

I'm not sure why a tube amp or any other amp would sound more harsh the higher it was turned up. Maybe it has something to do with the efficiency of the speakers it's used with. We experienced no such thing with the R8 or any other. It played the same sound signature regardless of the volume being low or high. There may be some guys into tech with a better answer.

People have this notion that tube amps are warm. I don't know why so many people think this. Some are bright, brittle and harsh while others are warm and sweet. It is well known that these Willsenton R8's are very analytical sounding. By comparison the Decware Zen is sweet and warm. Many of these new amps coming out of China are very analytical sounding because that's the newer trend filling the rooms right now. Listeners who start out get really impressed when they first hear all these intricate details and maybe some will go on preferring it that way, I don't know. I listen for many hours at a time, so I prefer a warmer and sweeter sound over longer listening durations. My friend owned the R8 and he had aftermarket KT88 tubes for it and we spent some good times listening to it. It was very powerful and had lots of current. We were listening to it alongside a modified Dynakit ST120 solid state using open baffle speakers of all sorts from Lii Audio. You can see it in some of my videos below. The issue is that it really wasn't a great match for open baffle IMO because open baffle speakers are already extremely analytical and detailed sounding. As a result, we were finding greater pleasure listening to the modified Dynakit ST120 solid state matched with them because it was a warmer amp. The problem is that end-users need to know more about what they are trying to match a product with and they often don't. They just hear a review that it's good. Good with what? Don't get me wrong, the R8 was a nice amp, but like most of these products, they get marketed through these famous YouTube channels by reviewers who have spent no time reviewing more esoteric amplifiers and I think the reason for this may have something to do with subscriber counts, related to commissions from more popular company brands. I have a friend who has only 5000 subscribers who reviews products for a different hobby and he brings in between $3000-$4000 a month from it because any sales linked from his channel get him commissions from the company's who sell them. My point is that most of these reviewers know nothing about more esoteric amps, so people just go on seeing those popular reviews and parrot what others say. Just because something is popular doesn't necessarily mean it's actually a great thing. There are things that are amazing that few know anything about and that's the problem with this audio industry as a whole.

Excellent choice. I'd take them over the III or the IV. They also take up very little real-estate.

Firmware is the plague itself. It's what causes all headaches.

F3 is my favorite.

These guys are absurd. They just get caught up in the bids. It's like a gambling addiction. I've seen this happen where people bid higher than the item is new and readily available.

You'll have so much power and current, your ears will bleed before you reach half the volume. I was using a pair of MC30's here with the C8's.

Hi, Thank you. These are the rare ribbon mahogany versions from the year 2000. Grills are also original and all mint.

When Thomas Stereo, Steve Guttenberg and Andrew Robinson started comparing the entry level Zen and touting its sound as good or better than integrated amplifiers costing $10,000, that's when sales for Decware went through the roof. That is why people are selling them for more than they paid. It got so ridiculous when I tried selling mine that I had to make a video telling people to chill out. It isn't everything it's cooked up to be and waiting more than a year is absolutely absurd in this day and era.

Please share your listening experiences. Would like to hear what you have to say.

That's a ridiculous price for a UFO. Decware just raised the price of the UFO up another $200. It all started after the videos were posted.

When I first heard the Cornwall's I immediately noticed their great soundstage presence and they just sounded really robust like that had a serious set of balls. That was the first Cornwall with the vertical midrange horn.