Strabo

---------------- On 8/15/2004 8:42:01 AM Q-Man wrote: Just don't go tubes, good SS with give you so much more in the bass end. That's why I like McIntosh SS, I think it has a tube like sound, but with more slam and control in the bass area. ---------------- I disagree. Having used the Anthem PVA-5 HT amp, a Lexicon (made by Bryston) NT512, and now tubes, I'll take the tubes any day. The bass goes just as deep with more presence. Maybe that's because it's a little more sloppy, but it's also considerably more musical. IMO the only thing you will loose with tubes and bass is SPL but you can also find high powered tube amps (100+ watts) to compete with SS loudness wars if you wish.

---------------- On 8/15/2004 10:45:14 AM NOSValves wrote: Strabo, Was this the tube mated with the noisy tube in your amp ? Did you just install one of your old tubes in the slot that the noisy tube was in and keep running the amp with the 3 Valve Arts and one of the old tubes ? Craig ---------------- No, this wasn't the noisy one, and I've only run the Valve Arts together. I wouldn't think of mixing and matching.

---------------- On 8/14/2004 11:41:50 PM space_cowboy wrote: Just replace it? I don't know what KT-88's cost but just get a new one, or a whole new matched set. When I got these little ASL's one of the tubes was bad and caused quite a comotion on power up. My bad one actually looked like a burned out light bulb, kinda dark at the top. Good Luck. Mark ---------------- That's the beauty of Valve Arts, they sound wonderful in comparison to 6550's and they are cheap, only $80 a quad.

For comparison, a clean tube.

Thanks everyone for the input. Sounds like I don't need to worry about it. I dug the camera out this morning to see if I can capture the image. This is a shot of one (another is showing signs) with a darkening of the glass. The dark area up the left side is getter flash.

The only thing you lose is the sweet spot gets smaller. You don't lose any content.

---------------- On 8/14/2004 9:40:44 AM sire wrote: Owner bought a new large screen TV so he lost room for the speakers. Mike ---------------- Some peoples priorities are just messed up.

I recently picked up a set of Valve Art KT-88's and am digging the sound but I'm getting worried about one. I already replaced one that was noisy at start up. It made a scratchy noise through the speaker as it warmed up, while the bias jumped around a bit. After it warmed up it ran fine. Now I have another one where the bottom of the glass part of the tube is darkening. Is that a sign of a bad seal? I'm fairly new to tubes, but none of my other tubes have done this. Should I worry about the tube leaking, or the glass weakening in the burnt area? To specify, it's the glass that is darkening. Thanks in advance for any input on this.

I know you asked for a rcvr, but a HT pre and tube amps would be the cats meow. Or start with a rcvr and add outboard amp in the future. Edit: you have the Cadillac of speakers, why limit them to a rcvr if you can swing it?

Pair of Quartets OO - traded up to Pair of Forte II's OO - mains KV1 black - Traded up KV2 OO - Center channel Pair of KG1's Dark Oak or walnut - Boxed up waiting for bedroom system Pair of KG2.2 OO - Rear speakers KSW150 - Traded up KSW200 - In use for movies only

---------------- On 8/10/2004 6:00:45 PM Gramas701 wrote: the best conducters of electricity go as follows plat silver gold copper ---------------- I don't think I've ever seen Platinum rated as a conductor before. But every list I've ever seen puts silver first and gold third after copper. The reason for using gold over copper or silver is it's resistance to corrosion and oxidation, not because it's a better conductor. Edit: Do a seach of the forum and you will find that this topic comes up monthly. I did, and found that platinum is actually rated fourth after gold.

Does the 24/192 player also play DVD-A? That may be the difference, but for normal DVD-V it's not needed.

Thanks Craig! The SED's were cold and hard in comparison. The VA's showed up Friday evening and they've been playing whenever I've been home. They put the fun back in music for me. Next time I get the bug to change something I will just ask for suggestions from the forum. It will probably be cheaper than my trial and error method.

Thanks for the Valve Art suggestions. I am consitantly amazed whenever I take the sugggestions of the forum. I replaced SED 6550C's with VA KT-88's and it's a large improvement. The SED's were similar to National Electronics 6CA7's that were in my amp when it arrived (it was designed for kt-88's). Close to SS sound and I wasn't really impressed. The VA KT-88's are much more musical, considerably better midrange, upper bass, and treble. Deep bass seems to be the same. Just an all around better tube. They have a midrange magic to them. I'm not sure about the soundstage yet though. So far it's a little narrower but seems as deep. This might be because I'm using JJ E88CC's in the input instead of the Amperex PQ's. I'll have to switch the PQ's back in and try it again later. Plus, the VA's are $40 cheaper than the SED's. It's a no brainer.

As others have mentioned, try adjusting the distance from the rear and side walls. If you plan to keep the Quartets you might want to try damping the frame of the passive radiator. It rings like a bell without the magnet to anchor it down. That might be what is causing some of what you are hearing. That goes for anyone that has these speakers with a passive radiator. Unscrew it, set it on the floor face down and flick the metal frame with your finger. It will ring for a good second or two.

---------------- On 7/30/2004 11:47:28 AM trader wrote: 1. What ere there any pros and cons in using all tubes for HT? 2. I'd love to hear from anyone who is currently using all tubes and how they like their setup... 3. Has anyone else contemplated all tubes for HT? Thanks ---------------- In reverse order, 3. Yep. 2. Ok 1. Pros - beautiful sound. Cons - headroom, heat, expense (tube replacement). I'm using 35wpc tubes for the mains in my HT, 125wpc SS amp for the center and rears. In the future I'd like to add three mono's across the front and move my currrent amp to the rears. But that's my dream system. I agree with Grif, more power would be better. It will get you better bass extention. With only 35wpc I have to crossover the sub higher then I did with 140wpc SS. In otherwords, you can adjust for the lower power.

Excellent review. You hit on something that I too have found lacking in my setup, reverb. A year ago I was toying with the idea of replacing my forte's so I went listening to other (non klipsch) speakers in the $3-$7k range. Some of the speakers opened up my eyes (ears?) that romantic wet reverb is able to be reproduced through speakers. It may be that those other speakers added extra reverb to make them sound more romantic. I'm still trying to decide this. In the mean time, I have been tweeking my system with different amps, crossover upgrades, and hopefully soon some room treatements to try to pull a little more of the reverb out of my setup without having to drop so much cash on different speakers. Time will tell. Thanks Artto for introducing someone else to the sound great music reproduction.

There should be another thread titled, "My Amplifier Sounds Like Crap But I Like It"

Not all ones and zeros are the same. Using the TOSLink introduces another conversion into the signal chain, a different language, which is why you want to have components made by the same company on either end of the connection. TOSLink, even though is fiber optic and should have huge bandwidth, is limited by the LED on the output to 24/96. Digital cable can easily do 24/192. Either one should be more than adequate for CD listening. The drawback for digital coax cable is the possibility of grounding problems. I'd stick with coax.

Last one, Class B

As Mark already stated, and to quote Kevin Hayes of VAC. "It is important to note that in all cases the class of operation is determined by the character of the output at maximum power output. It is therefore inaccurate to refer to an amplifier as operating in Class A up to X watts and class AB above X watts; this is really a Class AB amplifier where cut-off first occurs at a level of X watts."

I work better with pictures and found this description easier to understand. http://www.vac-amps.com/page0027.html

Another possiblility is that the different caps really only change the imaging. They shouldn't change the sonic signature of the speaker, right? Therefore you are still getting muddier sound from one speaker which would skew the imaging to where you wouldn't notice any change. Just a thought. P.S. Number 9, you have a PM.

Try pulling the speakers out so that their face is in front of the TV screen. This will help reduce the early relfection off of the screen. The face of my speakers are 5 inches in front of the screen. I did an experiment last week with imaging by standing couch cushions in front of the screen (listening to music) and was amazed at how much better the imaging is with the TV screen covered. Now most of my listening will be with no TV (covered).

---------------- On 7/21/2004 11:21:46 AM prodj101 wrote: after you get it set up it's the diference between ONE press of a button (turning the power on for the preamp and amplifier) and after that there's no diference at all. People really have gotten lazy. ---------------- Almost every pre/amp combo comes with a remote power feature for the amp so it's still only one press of a button from the remote to power up your entire system. I only have one comment about that new "Flagship", ROTFLMAO!