jorjen Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 ...And soon I hope! I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. Just sold my Cary SLP-05 tube preamp and power supply because I am so intrigued by everything I have read about this company and this preamp. Had to try it. The company is Tube Research Labs, Inc. It is owned and operated by Paul Weitzel and his brother Brian out of Quincy Washington. I must say to this point their service and communiction is amongst the best I have EVER encountered. All their gear is built when an order is received. Lead time can be LONG(but worth waiting for I hear)depending on the product. My piece is being built at the moment. The piece I speak of is a tube preamp called simply "Dude". Now, I have not heard this component, I ordered strictly from rave reviews, stellar comments and glowing word of mouth. I normally do not do this, but I just could not help myself this time. Dude uses 3) 6SN7, 1) OD3 and 1) 6080. Topology, circuitry, etc. is not yet known to me and will not be until I open it up when it arrives. I do know it is point to point wiring, no PCB's and supposedly the secret to performance is the power supply. No fuses, circuit breaker. On/off switch on back panel. Standard is 4 sets of inputs and 2 sets of outputs. Can be custom configured and anodized in just about any color you could want. Knobs are polished brass or polished aluminum. Mine will be silver with polished brass knobs. Does not come with a power cord. Choose your own. Dude is 18.75"W x 18"Dx 8.5"H. It weighs a staggering 73lbs. and is shipped in a wooden crate for a total of 105lbs. I will have a ton of pictures and a review of construction, fit and finish and of course sound quality when it arrives. Take a look at the website http://www.tuberesearchlabs.com/ as they have some amazing gear. Not much info. to read though. I am attaching a couple of photos. Mine will look identical to the first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorjen Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 One more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalogWave Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 73 lbs?!? That's more than a pCAT. Is it lead-shielded against EMP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 Yeah, I have to know where the 73 lbs. comes from. Is the chassis made out of lead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorjen Posted March 10, 2012 Author Share Posted March 10, 2012 I have been asking myself the same question. Most AMPS are not that heavy. I will investigate fully and report back on the subject after it arrives. Part of it must be the faceplate. It is longer and taller than the chassis dims I posted and supposedly machined aluminum close to one inch thick. I hope most of it is inside in the power supply and caps, etc. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 jorden, Like you said VERY little info on the web site, the photo of the Dude varies a bit from those posted, hope they are clear about which you are getting (I like the photos you posted better than the ones on the web site). I will be anxious to hear your thoughts upon set up and listening. warm regards, Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorjen Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 jorden, Like you said VERY little info on the web site, the photo of the Dude varies a bit from those posted, hope they are clear about which you are getting (I like the photos you posted better than the ones on the web site). I will be anxious to hear your thoughts upon set up and listening. warm regards, TonyThe photos I posted are of the current version. The photo you posted from the website is quite outdated as I understand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Hey jorgen here are a few pictures of my friends Dude (this Front Panel configuration was supplied temporarly). Later I installed his new Front Panel and a second Input Selector Switch (he had ordered his custom built with seperate input and volume controls for each channel but due to long build time and delay due to his custom (Corvette Colored) Front Panel they offered to send him his unit with this Temporary Front Panel and would later send the new panel and aditional selector switch for me to install when the Custom Front Panel was completed. Mechanically there was one area I would like to see improved and it was the bottom panel either needs to be of a thicker gauge or reinforcement bars added to it and/or mounting support added at the center front and center back of the bottom plate to the face plate and back plate because the thin bottom plate does flex under the weight of the unit. This is a very nice sounding pre-amp in my friends system. I believe at the quality level of this pre-amp and others like the Cary 05 they all can sound very good with it being more a matter of synergy with the rest of the system making us maybe prefer one over another. mike tn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panacea Engineering Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Mike, What makes that thing weigh in at 73 pounds, is it the tranny...? It must be massive....! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 top off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 internal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 pwr-caps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorjen Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Thanks for the info and photos Mike. You obviously looked under the hood when you swapped out faceplates, what did you think? And besides the massive faceplate and chassis, where did you see the weight coming from? System synergy IS a big deal in our hobby. The SLP-05 sounded very, very nice indeed. Seemed to mate well with my Simaudio phono pre and pCats. Got some good results rolling 6SN7's. I hope I did not ultimately make a mistake parting with it. But, you know how this hobby is. After all my research, I just had to try it. We seem to always be looking for that extra little bit of improvement in our systems. I hope I see it with the Dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 regulator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 6SN7 Amplification stages Left and Right Volume Attenuators Selector Switch(center) before seperated and second one added for mono selector switch operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 Don't miss that allen screw that fell to the bottom... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 New Front Panel with Dual mono Volume and Dual mono Selector Switch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 New Front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebse2a3 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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