MeloManiac

I need a backup set of tubes for my Leben Hifi CS300. Originally, this Japanese tube amp came with NOS Sovtek tubes (pre-amp and power tubes). The previous owner replaced them, when one of the originals went bad, with a complete set of Genalex Gold Lions. The CS300 was engineered with the Sovtek tubes in mind, so that seems to be the rational path to follow. The Sovtek EL84M (M stands for military grade) are my choice, together with the 12AX7LPS (longplates). These are highly appreciated for hifi, and are great value for money, and built to last. These are new tube. I 'm also looking at Mullard tubes. These are popular among guitarplayers because of distortion in the highs. This to me seems the opposite of what a hifi tube should do, but some people have posted positively about the mellow sound they add to the music in their hi-fi amp. And this, of course, has triggered my curiousity. The CS300 has a tendency to reduce the highs, I should add. So... Mellow Mullard or Neutral Sovtek? I'd love to here your opinion and experience on this matter. PS I put two Sovtek EL84M tubes in my CS300, and they glow brighter and get warmer than the original Sovteks. Would that be an issue?

Well, she 'sings' at the very end of episode 1 and the result is that George walks out and 'leaves the Beatles'... Of course, I suspect Peter Jackson is editing it like that on purpose...

I'm currently watching episode one, and all the time, I was stunned in a positive way. Then I started asking myself, what on earth is Yoko Ono doing there all the time... She's knitting, sewing, reading the newspaper, taking notes, never speaking at all... No expression on her face. Not communicating with anyone, not even to John. But then, one day, she's was absent. And in her absence, a discussion arose between George and Paul, which never seemed to end... Then she got back, and they started making music again... Women!

Here in Belgium, we're waiting with the Christmas Tree until after Saint Nicolas has visited the homes and brought presents to the children, which is on the December 6th.

So there is no Amp between your pc and the speakers/sub? That could explain it. Perhaps.

Have you tried change the phase of your sub? Or switch white and red line in?

Rach's second symphony is wonderfully MELOdic... :-)) Have had this record for a while, but only today listened to it after reading about it on Wikipedia. Azhkenazy is a formidable pianist, but here he's conducting. Decca is an amazing label. I never hesitate buying their records.

I bought my 'dream', a Leben Hifi CS300 tube Amp in January of this year, and together with my iFi Zen Phono, and my 1972 Heresy speakers, it is my 'reference system'. The thing about it is that the system 'disappears', and what is left is the music and that is where, imho lies the 'wow'. In the past months, I have paid regular visits to the local thriftstore, where I find, from time to time, great vinyl records, most of them for 1.5 euro. All these micro investments have resulted in great wow moments for me and have broadened my scope. Oh, one more thing, I still read gear review, but I skip all the tech and marketing babble and I go straight to the part where they write about the music they listened to with the reviewed gear.

This is the kind of situation where 1+1 doesn't result in 2, but in much more. These speakers have a 'story' and now are treated with some tender, love and care. They'll last more than one life time. Their imperfections and scars will fade in the shining light and the music they'll send out!

End result, Pic taken today.

Mine were much worse, and I got rid (90%) of the stains by applying oxalic acid. https://www.brico.be/nl/badkamer-keuken-wonen/schoonmaken/reinigingsmiddelen/starwax-the-fabulous-zuringzout-multigebruik-500ml/5325429

Found it here: https://www.discogs.com/release/10247788-Diana-Krall-Turn-Up-The-Quiet The Verve double LP "Ella & Duke at the Cote D'Azur"

Oh my god... I have this album and didn't realize at all! Now I'm trying to figure out what records are on the table...

I agree with you. The veneer has a nice 'patina'. Some (minor) sanding, oil and beewas will bring back the glorious shine. If the grille is missing, one can easily diy new grilles with new speaker cloth and even add klipsch logo. In my case, they've become the crucial part my 'reference system' = turntable + tube amp + Heresy originals

My 1972 Heresy speakers dominate our living room. Apologies for the messy look, but I listen to music all the time... Listen to CDs, streaming, and mostly vinyl records.

I think that this is indeed what is going on. This is indeed my setup too, but a different brand. But in my case, my tube amplifier picks up 'internet activity noise' and amplifies it somewhat, resulting somewhat in a 'dial-in modem' situation like we know from 25 years ago...

UPDATE I'm hoping some of you still want to chime in on this post. First, a summary: after installing a Wifi Powerline Booster set in my house, I'm hearing noise through my speakers: not as load, but similar to the old school 'dial in modems' from long ago. I can literally listen in to my wifi activity in the house. When I remove the boosters, the noise is gone (and so is my wifi...) So I have been living with this noise for a couple of weeks now, I have now also replaced my router with a modern one, but the problem is still present, if not more! I have also contacted support, but they say they never heard of this issue. I'm sure I'm not unique, because I got plenty of reactions here, but the friendly person at the helpdesk was kind of in 'denial mode'. So here is my question. When listening through my 1972 Heresy speakers, the noise is very substantial and annoying. But when I listen through my Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro headphones, the noise I hardly noticable. My theory is that these modern headphones have a built-in filter for this. Could that be right?

Listening to the CD while ironing (!), and it drives my dog crazy when 'Seamus' is playing. 🐕

My brother in law has this album (and a couple of others), original 1970s pressions, on vinyl too. I have CDs only. I'm soooo jealous of this!

No, but here in Belgium, we have our own 'scandal' with Pfos chemicals in Zwijndrecht, near Antwerp, where thousands of citizens are poisened by contaminated water, ground and air. https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2021/09/24/pfos-scandal-more-evidence-that-the-flemish-government-asked-no/

Ouch... WD40 is a terrible PFAS product, destroying the environment and causing many lifethreatening diseases, one of them being cancer. https://echa.europa.eu/hot-topics/perfluoroalkyl-chemicals-pfas https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained When touching surfaces treated with WD40, one needs to wear protective gloves. So unless you're wearing gloves when spinning vinyl, I wouldn't spray vinyl records with WD-40! https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/specialist/wd-40-specialist-spray-and-stay-gel-lubricant-aerosol-us-ghs-sds.pdf https://www.wd40.com/products/dry-lube/

SAPHIR : OPTICAL PLAYBACK OF ANALOGUE AUDIO DISC RECORDS An interesting read on 'optical reading of analog audio discs' technology. This technology is fully working and used by European governments to digitize important records. http://recherche.ina.fr/eng/Details-projets/saphir

This week's thriftstore finds, total cost €3. I have an Alban Berg Quartet recording of this famous Schubert quartet on CD, so I thought it would be nice to compare it with the Heutling Quartet version. Last week, I was at a live concert in Ghent, Belgium, at the Saint Peter Church, where I heard a Respighi piece for the first time. I was very impressed. So this album inspired by Rome, caught my eye instantly. It sounds amazing on vinyl, and there's also a sacd of it. Ghent, btw, is a very nice city!!!

I'm 'renting for free' the booster, and the technician told me I indeed need to upgrade my router. I'll do that in the weeks ot come and do some speed tests with the new router. If things are better, I'll stop using the powerline booster.

Well... I was planning on having a quiet, lazy Sunday afternoon, having a nap, listening to some baroque Bach on vinyl... But then I came upon this post, which made me dig up "Deep Purple LIve In London", a BBC recording dating from 1982. So now I'm rocking on Smoke on the Water instead, getting the evil eye from my teenage kids. https://www.discogs.com/release/558346-Deep-Purple-Live-In-London Edit: The concert dates from 1974, the LP was brought out in 1982, a re-master of the 1974 quadrophonic tapes. The last track is a wonderful 'You Fool No One'!