Randy Bey Posted September 14, 2002 Share Posted September 14, 2002 and after a visual inspection plugged her in and fired her up. Too soon to make any hard and fast statements, but two things are immediately put to rest: 1) 'touchy volume control' is instantly and totally put to bed. At first I wondered if the volume control was broken, since it went a full 360 degrees w/o stops. Then I spun up a CD and realized that it takes several(!) revolutions of the volume knob to increase/decrease the volume by 2dB (rough estimate). 2) 'loss of transparency' while not completely false, is not a significant issue from my initial observations. Yes, not quite as transparent but on a scale of 1 to 100 with 100 being passive preamp transparency level, I'd put it at 97. What (little) it loses in transparency it makes up in this odd active preamp behavior that I haven't fully sussed out yet. Things appear closer. If the music were a postcard that you hold out at arms length with a passive, the active seems to bring the postcard up to within a handspan or two of your face. Maybe a bit fuller, too, but again, I've only listened to it for a couple hours so far. Guess I won't be chucking this one in the dumpster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted September 14, 2002 Share Posted September 14, 2002 It should also sound more dynamic than a passive. Maybe a preamp does a better job of pulling the low level information out and pushing it to the top. This might account for why the sound seems "closer". Transparency is cool, but so is a little color Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 Based on the pics you sent me, you got some sort of rare one-off SLP-70 mod unit that uses 6SL7/6SN7 tubes. I have NEVER seen anything like it and my advice is to call Kirk and discuss this preamp with him. It surely is not standard SLP-90, which utilizes that open tube chrome chassis design with 12AX7/12AU7/6CA4 tubes. The quality of the 6SL7/6SN7 will REALLY be evident in this preamp, whatever it is. As for the volume, I have no idea what you are dealing with here. It surely is not normal and is unlike any Cary volume option I have seen and I have had a few in my system. kh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Bey Posted September 16, 2002 Author Share Posted September 16, 2002 yeah, I was expecting a chrome and tube beauty, got a black box. hmm. Oh well. Did some research on the 6sn7s and 1985s, they seem to be well-regarded if you believe tubeworld.com. I will be spending more time with it over the next couple of weeks. Can't say I have a complaint right now except for the lack of remote control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazman Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 Randy, quote: ) 'touchy volume control' is instantly and totally put to bed. At first I wondered if the volume control was broken, since it went a full 360 degrees w/o stops. Then I spun up a CD and realized that it takes several(!) revolutions of the volume knob to increase/decrease the volume by 2dB (rough estimate). What's up with this? Would you mind sending me a pic of what you have to, edmond@pcmagic.net. I'm very curious. Your description does not sound anything like what I have, nor does the volume control. I've posted some shots of my Cary in a post on my 2 channel system which you can review. I know the SLP90 also sold in a black chasis with a black face, and as Mobile has stated, it originally was shipped with 2 12AU7s and 2 12AX7s in line stage and cathode follower. I listen to CD's played on my Rega with the volume about 7 o'clock to 8 with zero at 6 o'clock. No revolutions with the volume control. Klipsch out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 Just what I thought. Randy apparently has the original prototype SLP-90 which was hand wired probably by Kirk himself. It appears to be a variation of the SLP-70 instead of the SLP-90 that you have seen posted here numerous times. Kirk thinks the volume knob just has a loose set screw. The unit has many of the same mods done to my SLP-70 which Kirk had thrown everything but the kitchen sink into. MIT RTX caps, extra PS filtering, solen metal cans, Dale resistors, etc. To be honest, based on the parts and attention to detail, Randy might have really received a nice unit if working correctly. Of course, it isnt a final production unit, but it does have some better parts than the stock SLP-90, or SLP-70 for that matter. Randy sent me some pics that were so mangled, distorted, and mutated, I could barely do anything justice. I wept openingly when I saw them... heh. That is what you get with a 25 cent digital from Jack-In-The-Box. Regardless, here are a couple of shots of the internals with some description I added, sharpened as best I can. kh This message has been edited by mobile homeless on 09-17-2002 at 12:18 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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