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TubesGlo

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Posts posted by TubesGlo

  1. 20221022_070453.thumb.jpg.5d905317c7b29f2ea2cf43eeec29d680.jpgI'm selective of what I'll buy from HF and yes they have stepped up their game as of late. I do own these two floor jacks and both have served well. I own a Snap-On torque wrench and purchased 3 of HF's Icon torque wrenches which are every bet as accurate and well made as the Snap-On. Don't hesitate to go with HF floor jacks, no problems there.

     

  2. 20 minutes ago, OO1 said:

        there is no indication that TECATE is  the Klipsch OEM  for the Final  Assembly   to populate the PCB , and therefore  who ?  is that  Vendor ? or where the PCB is assembled ? is unknown 

    My reference was to the experience we had with certain individual Tecate components, not to Klipsch PCB's or their vendor.

    Relax, I wasn't on the offensive you can stop playing defense.

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  3. Tecate is an importer not a manufacturer per se. Their caps are made in Asia and are very inexpensive but spec sheets indicate decent quality. I've used Cornell Dubilier WMF polyester caps for years and that won't change. Some of theirs are now imported also and manufactured to their specs. I do think a good polyester is a great choice in crossovers for horn loaded speakers, not far behind a good quality PIO. That higher ESR with polyester has something to do with balancing the sound we hear helping it to be more pleasant. Still clear but not bright.

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  4. How necessary is it to match ESR between each network in the pair, polyester (Mylar) having higher readings than most other types. Is there an acceptable difference that won't effect the speaker audibly and do these caps read close if they're indeed being tested to match?

  5. I listened to my modified Hafler 500 for years with a tube pre using NOS Mullard CV4003'S. I do believe an amplifier's only job is to amplify the level of the input signal faithfully without adding coloration. Of course we love tubes and what they can do to season the sound. That being said I like a tube pre in front of both my solid state and tube amps for how it "seasons" the incoming signal at the amp.

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  6. On 5/22/2022 at 3:57 PM, henry4841 said:

    What kind of idiot is going to listen at 121db at home? If you want that there is something wrong with you or too much listening at too high a level in the past. I knew this was going to be an interesting discussion but when I said 25 watts SS I meant real world in your house when most never listen any louder than 85db and that is loud for normal people. I have done measurements many times at my house and my average is in the neighborhood of a few watts and that was actually too loud. Most of my visitors tell me to turn it down where we can talk. 

    Yup, I agree....except for your last sentence. When I have someone sitting next to me asking to turn it down to talk, I tell them "Shut the f@$k up you're here to listen to the music"

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  7. 7 hours ago, Idontknow said:

    At least for me. After having acquired a new tube amplifier to compare against all my others,  I can honestly say I have finally found the holy grail tube amplifier or any amplifier for that matter to match with my room and my Forte I's. More on that later. Many people say tubes sound warm. I disagree, in fact if anything sounds warm, it's solid state amplifiers. Why? Because the vast majority of SS amps sound rolled off and muffled to my ears. There's just no spatial separation to speak of and unless you have a dampened room and you are extremely familiar with songs, you won't realize this. To me, that's what warm sounds like. After having worked with the First Watt SIT3, I really like this amp, but I like the First Watt F3 even more. First Watt SS amps are the only solid state amps I've heard that genuinely have a tube sound, meaning they sound holographic. No other solid state I've ever compared or tested to date has produced this effect. 

     

    I never bothered with reviews. There's too many factors and just too many conflicting opinions, too many differences of music types, listening levels and the list goes on. And then we have these nut cases who think they can judge a product purely by how it measures. That's a joke and I'm not ashamed to say it. So, how did I do this? I purchased lots of different amps and borrowed many amps. It's the only way to truly be sure what you will learn to like in your own room with your own ears. What I or someone else likes, doesn't mean everyone else will like it. There's just too many factors, so I don't even bother. So, this is about what I like. 

     

    My listening buddy Mirko says you can just EQ a solid state amp to make it sound like tubes. We tried this with a Parasound A23 Halo and it actually didn't sound too shabby but still, I prefer the First Watt SS amps more. He also brought the EVO400 integrated back after a couple of years of break in. I have to admit, it blew me away on the Forte's. It no longer sounded bright, brittle and harsh as compared to when we first got it. We recently compared the Decware Zen SE84UFO to the SIT3 and EVO400 too. I mainly play jazz and classical but mostly jazz. You can read my comparison here if interested but I'll explain something here I didn't in the review. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/decware-se84ufo-zen-vs-first-watt-sit3/post?postid=2395882#2395882

     

    Imagine a string hanging down and you pour water down the string. Water will fall into each texture of every strand with ease. This is what a Decware Zen is like with Heritage speakers. It is without question one of the most amazing sounding amps you will ever hear with jazz. Even Andrew Robinson can't put it away in fact it is only recently that popular YouTubers started testing these Zen's, which is pathetic to say the least. It amazes me all the nonsense these guys review, but leave out these custom made amps to order. There are several others they miss as well. They're all too caught up in all the marketed crap as far as I'm concerned and I want no part of it. It amazes me that reviewers of their caliber have never heard these things until recently. Almost as bad as these measurement heads. 

     

    The SIT3 reminded me of honey being poured down the string, not water. It seemed like instruments had a thicker sound to them. It had a slightly bigger sound and broader soundstage than the Decware Zen at higher volumes. BTW, in case you didn't know this, Decware strives to emulate the sound of the Zen in all their amps. It's the standard by which all their amps are made but they have to make them more powerful to handle more volume. The Zen just had a sweeter, prettier sound like silk. The SIT3 was still absolutely wonderful too but just tended to have a thicker meatier sound to it. Steve Guttenberg, the Audiopheliac likes the SIT3 because he says it has a meaty kind of sound to it with bass. For jazz, it just doesn't quite have the finesse as the tiny Zen.

     

    So what's my problem with the Zen? There are sometimes certain types of jazz where you just want to turn it up some and it sort of starts clipping. The SIT3 OTOH just keeps on going without fatigue. Then, when I heard the EVO400 again, it was like a Decware Zen on steroids. The bass is tighter and cleaner than any solid sate amp I've ever heard. It had everything going for it except it's very heavy, runs extremely hot and you're gonna need a well ventilated area to place this beast. It's LOUD!, LOUD as F...............! without any distortion using the Heritage line. Ultra tight, ultra clean. It's actually way overkill for my needs. To me, it's more about how nicely a component sounds at low volume with jazz, not how loud the volume is. But still! it's nice to have that extra power and volume on tap when called upon. It's human nature to think something sounds better whenever it's played louder. It's throwing more at you, but for me, a product has to sound sweet, warm and pretty at low volume to be great IMHO.

     

    Incredibly the Evo had a pretty sweet sound and balls to it! It sounded like water trickling down every texture of the string. What was the issue with the EVO? Unless we ran it with the Aretha tube preamp, the soundstage shrunk by about 20% in my guesstimation. Even Mirko agreed. He started asking me questions about the Aretha. So now you'd have to pay an additional $1900 at least to add that effect into the Evo400. We did this with the Zen as well. Finally I got my brand new Dynakit ST35. Mirko thinks I'm just hearing things and he'll be roasting me again soon I'm sure. Normally I have to sit and listen to things a while to really take them in but I was very familiar with these songs I was playing and how they sounded and the ST35 just sucked me in. That night, I never went to bed. I played jazz all night till the next day, refusing to sleep because this little ST35 just wouldn't quit!

     

    Mirko has a completely different sounding room. If you clap your hand, it will have an echo in the room. My room is far more sound deadened. If I clap my hand, there's pretty much no echo. Personally, I think it's harder to judge sound in a room that isn't treated and I think this is why Mirko thinks most amps sound alike. There's no way Mirko can come into this forum and say his room is treated, it's not. He doesn't believe all these differences I talk about, but I disagree. When you're by yourself, playing jazz at moderate listening levels and not blasting the sound, you really do tell differences between components. All the subtitles, whatever they may be become evident. I wish the Zen had the power of an Evo400 but I wish the Evo400 was smaller, lighter and took up less space since it sounded so close to the Zen with jazz. The Zen just doesn't have the might of that Evo400 nor would we expect it to at just a few watts per channel. 

     

    I think the problem with audio reviews is most people fail to put matters into proper context. For example, they don't consider enough about how rooms, listening levels, tastes in music can affect ones opinions. IMO, you just have to be in your own room yourself and YOU (the listener) ultimately have to decide. So! despite many other amps I have tried but not mentioned, it doesn't matter. This tiny Dynakit ST35 I finally received is absolutely the sweetest thing I've ever heard to date. I can hear Mirko already... You're just bias because you just got it.

     

    But really! This little thing sounds warmer than the Zen, equally as sweet, but man, it has balls! It's got weight and meat on the bone and it's only 17.5 watts per channel but still way more power than the Zen. It's been said that it's the best of all the Dynaco amps ever and I absolutely would have to agree, it most definitely is! It's the most perfect amp I've ever heard to date. After going online, researching videos, I dropped my jaw in disbelief at how few if any reviews there are on this amazing tube amplifier. None of these big YouTubers have even reviewed it, what a shame!  These guys spend WAY too much time with marketing gear, they really do! I can't say this little ST35 is the best thing for you guys, but for me, nothing sounds nicer to me, nothing! It has all the qualities of the best amps all in one for me. Every time I test amps, there's just always something that bugs me. Not this little ST35 though! Thank you for making me the most awesome amp Kenny! It's time to sell the rest.

    No surprise here. David Hafler and his team engineered with intelligence and produced gear with excellent specs. Simple designs that performed well at a reasonable price. My first real amp was a Hafler 500 I built in '84.

    I still have it along with a 220 and my ST-70. All of these designs can still compete with and often outperform many high priced modern amps. Refreshing them with updated caps etc is a must and well worth the effort. Your ST-35 is true to the original circuit with modern quality transformers that are spec'd to be just like the originals. The amp is a testament of the enduring design that Hafler and team created over 60 years ago. Congrats on experiencing one of the best values in tube amps available today.

    • Like 3
  8. I wouldn't over think the bias set point. Best practice is to stay with manufacturers specs. They've designed, tested and evaluated the amp to perform best at their recommended setting. Lowering the bias too much will increase distortion, increasing it will run the tubes hotter and out of their comfort zone.

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  9. 1 minute ago, KT88 said:

     

    May be it depends also on the circuit. My old Quad amps 34 and 306 use carbon film resistors by the factory simply because it was cheaper 35 years ago. I had to replace some resistors to change the input sensitivity. I first used Vishay metal film types and I was really shocked how harsh the sound became, at least regarding this amps. Then I went back to carbon film and the full smoothness was immediately coming back. It may all depend on the kind of added distortion. Metal film types will measure „better“ and perhaps it is the added first and second harmonic distortion with the carbon film which pleases me.

    I believe any changes made to the original components in a 60 year old circuit be they resistors or capacitors when in the signal path, can and do influence the sound. CC resistors when in spec are going to sound different than metal film...maybe very noticeable, maybe not so much. Depends on your equipment and your ears. For me, I've settled on carbon film for my tube gear. I wouldn't tear into a new solid state amp and change out original metal films though, just for the hell of it.

    • Like 1
  10. 3 minutes ago, henry4841 said:

    I've played with different types of resistors a little bit. I really could not tell a difference. Maybe on paper but not on my ears. Carbon resistors change value with time for sure where metal film are very stable on value. It's called splitting hairs. 

    I completely understand your feelings on this. I'm usually very skeptical with circuit component changes but for me the CF's took a bit of sharpness and edge off the upper highs. All metal film in my tube circuits tilted the sound towards a more sterile and brighter presentation. Yes splitting hairs...but I personally prefer the CF.

  11. 1 minute ago, KT88 said:

    I can underwrite what you say very much in every aspect. BTW which resistors do you like more, CC or MF types regarding your ST70?

    In order of preference for best sound in my system: Carbon Film - Carbon Comp (when all are within spec) and lastly metal film.

    I suppose it goes against conventional wisdom not to use metal film as they are technically more accurate and with tighter tolerance. In my experience and in my system, a high quality carbon film like Takman just sounds sweeter. After spending time with them in my amp I installed them in the signal path of my preamp.

  12. I also have a ST-70 along with two SS amps I have put on the shelf for backup if needed. I completely refreshed the ST-70 with a stock replacement 7199 driver board. I have 3 sets of strong testing RCA and Sylvania driver tubes. I used Takman carbon film resistors and CDE wmf series coupling caps on the board. I first listened with carbon comp and then metal film resistors. Yes they do influence the sound. The condition of the driver board, the components used and the driver tubes have a greater influence on the sound than the output tubes. Get that right first and then roll out EL34's, KT66 , KT77 and fat bottle 6CA7's and decide what sounds best in your system.

    Give your ST-70 a fighting chance before investing in a completely different amp. When healthy with the right board configuration and tubes it is a very capable and sweet sounding amp. I use a tube preamp and my speakers are home built Cornwall clones at 100db sensitivity. Highs and mids are smooth, rich and detailed. Bass is clean, detailed and strong. BTW I have two strong testing sets of vintage Mullard xf2 power tubes. I couldn't be happier with my system....and won't spend thousands more chasing a unicorn.

     

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  13. 11 hours ago, captainbeefheart said:

     

    Blind testing is necessary to get any sort of reliable data sets because of cognitive bias. A nice example was in the video I posted where they played an audio clip and asks what it says; Brainstorm? or Green needle? Having the information ahead of time, say only green needle in your mind creates a bias towards you hearing green needle. But if you give a second person prior information of Brainstorm they will have a cognitive bias to only hear that. Put the these two guys on the internet and they will argue to death with each other about what the audio recording is saying.

     

    As an objective engineer I only trust math and precision equipment to determine there is indeed a difference between two signals and the degree to which they are different. The degree of difference can make certain arguments subjective even if we know that we measured a difference, typically very small measured differences are most likely not audible. That's why I don't trust my ears with measured small differences and if we have to do a listening test it must always be done blindly so there is no bias.

     

    Take the coupling capacitor argument in amplifiers. I have measured many different types of coupling capacitors and the only differences found were very small, typically noise is the biggest difference I have seen but still approaching -100db. Although I have a very small noise difference confirmed by measurement I know the level is in most amplifier gain structures as not audible but still the subjective arguments never end about people swearing up and down they hear a huge difference. At this point we move toward blind testing to see if there is merit to people actually being able to hear these very small measured differences. I have yet to see a blind test where someone can repeatably pick a specific capacitor out by ear only. This proves to me how powerful the human mind is in constructing a false reality by perceiving a "huge difference" in the sound of coupling capacitors. I know there will be people chiming in and telling me I have no idea what I am talking about and that coupling capacitors all have their unique sound and that my ears or system just isn't resolving enough to notice....... Basically the same old arguments but when push comes to shove nobody has proven their ear is capable of what they claim when presented with a blind test. No matter what you present to them about our perception or measured data they refuse to believe that their ears can be deceived by their brains. Basically if a null test shows zero difference, there is no difference yet people will still argue this is not true; "we don't know what to measure". Yet the null test has been a proven test in many industries to easily compare two signals against one another and have direct evidence of an electrical difference or lack there of.

     

    I agree 100%. When electrical components such as capacitors, resistors etc. are designed and manufactured to meet a specific value, that component alone should not influence the sound of an amplifier per se.  Output coupling caps in my tube preamp have had subtle but notable effect on sound. The PIO crossover caps certainly had a notable effect. When all resistors on my tube amp driver board were updated from old carbon comps to metal films there was certainly a change and not actually for the better. Yes the amp was quieter but it became somewhat sterile, cold almost too clean in an unnatural way. When I replaced them with high quality Takman carbon films I found what I wanted , a more pleasant top end and smoother overall with excellent detail. 

    When components meet spec such as interconnects, speaker cables and power cables, here is where in the audiophile world of boutique offerings things get silly. I use homemade interconnects and speaker cables using Mogami wire, power cables are standard issue. My power is from clean, dedicated circuits. A very lucrative industry exists because some believe that 10,000 dollar speaker cables offer an improvement and they hear the difference and can afford them. I'm just not in that camp. I read the Audiogon forum occasionally just for a good laugh. Lifting cables off the floor improves sound and you heard that improvement? Really?

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  14. 1 hour ago, Guest Vahorns said:

    I have a Hafler DH - 200 that I've owned for many years and I second the earlier comment about that MOSFET design.   These amps are cheap and easily updated with new components as needed.   I currently use a DH - 200 with my Cornwalls from circa 1983 - with APT Holman preamp - these do well in a simple 2 channel system. 

    They're really hard to beat for the money and punch way above their weight. I rotate my 220 in place of my ST-70 once in a while and I'm always impressed. It drives my Cornscalas with authority. With everything in spec they sound great even in stock form. 

  15. Before using a tube amp full time my main system was SS with tube preamp. My first amp almost 40 years ago was a Hafler 500 I built from a kit....I still have it along with a 220. Very simple designs with clean, mosfet sound. I've owned a lot of different amps over the years but will never let go of these. I think the right SS amp in your system can offer a great experience with just a different flavor vs tubes. If not a good match with your gear, you'll know it right away and will be hard to get used to.

  16. I'm not sure at what point ESR becomes too high for use in a network cap, maybe .5 ohm? 

    I ordered twice what I needed so I could experiment with different configurations at the same total capacitance. None of these measured higher than .31 and when paralleled that reading came way down. If this type of cap imparts some "coloring" to the sound it does it in a positive way. I say this because the audible difference is notable from the Sonicraft caps. Some may say those caps or other metalized poly types are "transparent" or " neutral" in crossovers of horn loaded speakers. To me the highs sounded  somewhat sterile with a bit of bite in the upper frequencies that I didn't care for. With the PIO's in the crossovers everything sounds more natural and correct, 3 dimensional. I don't care how they measure or how my tube amp measures, I'm totally satisfied and enjoying the music like never before.

    • Like 2
  17. 2 minutes ago, svberger said:

    Like everything in this hobby trust your ears and compare as much as possible. I replaced the original cans/crossovers in my ‘77 La Scala’s with new Crites crossovers w/ Sonicaps. Listened to them for about a month and didnt have any serious issue with them. Then one day decided to swap back in the originals and after just a few minutes I knew I preferred them. It’s hard to say why other then to my ears with my gear in my room they just sound right. When I bought the LS’s from a friend several months ago he had tested them and they were within spec according to him. I have no way to test them myself but it’s irrelevant to me. I’ve been doing this audio thing for over 50 years and learned that while I respect the opinion of others particularly those with more technical know how then me, and use those opinions to establish some baselines in what gear might be right for me ultimately, when I can I try to compare as much as possible to choose what makes me want to listen the most. And in this case the original caps do. 

    I recently had a similar experience, replaced Sonicaps with NOS PIO cans imported from Europe, posted about it this morning. Subjective as it may be I do like what I'm hearing much better and it's not a small difference. I lived happily with the Sonicaps for 7 months but after a month with these PIO's I won't be trying anything else, I'm very happy.

    • Like 1
  18. A few months ago I read a post by "thebes" from 2013 regarding his experience with Russian military surplus PIO caps in crossover networks. My Crites Type B's came with Sonicraft caps at 2.5uf and 4uf. This was my first experience with these. I like the old Cornell Dubilier WMF polyester film for coupling use in my tube gear and was going to try them in my networks. Nothing wrong with Sonicraft and they measure very low for ESR but I felt need for change. I ended up ordering a small assortment of the PIO'S to try from two sellers, one in Bulgaria and the other Romania. I got some MBGP, MBGO and KBG..N or M. They all test really well and are right on for capacitance and low in ESR. I know my Peak tester isn't the best but it gives me a pretty good idea of where they're at. I tried a couple different variations with some paralleled and settled on a 2uf and .5uf for the HF input in parallel and a 4uf (KBG) for the tweeter. After these settled in I noticed a definite improvement toward a more natural and realistic overall tone with instruments and voice. I try to be neutral when evaluating any changes in components staying between subjective and objective. The caps have higher ESR (max of .31) than the Sonicrafts but something in the materials used and construction process of thes PIO's made a real and audible change to my speakers sound for the better, much better. Now these are Crites type B that I built last year to get close to the Heritage sound that I just couldn't afford. I know the Cornwal IV sound very well and I will say that I'm extremely pleased with these to the point at 58 years old I feel I've finally assembled my end game system.  If you've been on the fence regarding foreign military surplus PIO'S, I would urge you give them a try. My 65.00 investment / experiment is one of the best value changes I've ever made in a sound system. Thank you "thebes" for that post which helped convince me to give them a try!20220401_162042.thumb.jpg.da1e65a7b5b31e1212add7e13bd77f99.jpg20210815_080751.thumb.jpg.55757692fdddc584d92256f5f784407c.jpg

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  19. Sort of a side note question with probably an obvious answer. Wouldn't it be safe to assume that with high sensitivity speakers such as the Cornwall for example, an amplifiers output tubes will be worked less outputting the same dB level vs a speaker with lower sensitivity? Longer tube life over time etc.?

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