maxg Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 ---------------- On 11/8/2002 3:26:57 AM skaloumbakas wrote: With such a presentation of 'Tsakiridis devices', I am sure Odysseas is going to give you a good discount... ---------------- A good discount??? - I was thinking of a job!! Just kidding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edster00 Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Congrats on your new amps dean. Are they being fed by the AE-3 DJH? You have gone through about as many amps in a year as I did...but I haven't looked for an amp for nearly a year now! That being said, I am starting to get the "itch" to hear a nice 300B or 45 though. Looking forward to more photos...and more review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Dean, Congratulations on the SET monoblocks. I too hope to go down that road someday. However, it seems to me your post was lauding the Super Amp DJH more than the Apollo's. Did I miss something in that post? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Bey Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 hmm. Not quite as strong a reaction as I would have guessed. Maybe it's because of the previous experience with tubes. Imagine going from mass market (NAD) solid state to SET. I darn near soiled my pantaloons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 8, 2002 Author Share Posted November 8, 2002 Max, the problem isn't posting pictures using links from another web page. The problem is posting pictures into the post taken with my digital camera, and stored on my hardrive. I could have used the 'attachment' feature -- but you can only attach one picture. Gee, I guess I could have submitted 8 posts. Randy, Your'e right. Living with tubes for the last couple of years definitely tames the 'wow' factor. I read once that the Super Amp DJH gets one 90% of SET. I think I can agree with that. However, it's also true that the Apollos do not deliver the liquid midrange of a 2a3 - and so this might also account for why my jaw wasn't dropped -- so to speak. Ed, Yes, I'm using the AE-3 DJH. I sure wish It had a balance control. As usual, I have a little bit of image drift, and it seems one of the Apollos has a slightly elevated output as compared to the other. Since there is no adjustable bias feature, there is no way for me to even things out. Looks like I'll be buying new output tubes. Kelly, Based on what I have been reading in the manual, it appears my noise level is excessive. I may have a ground loop. I think I may also need to go into the amps and check all of the grounding connections. I'm getting ready to read the info at the link you sent me on polarity -- hopefully, I will find something there that will help. Also, you were right, the alternative for the output tubes is the V52. Apparently, based on your posts on the Welborne Forum -- you favor the V52 over the KR300BXLS. Is this a direct replacement (drop in) -- or do I have to make a change within the amp to accomodate this tube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile homeless Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Dean is right here, mainly it's the fact the this is a KR tube(about the least lush tube there is) run 18-21w powerhouse SET with a lot of voltage going on. The high power SETs, especially if run by KR tubes are not going to have some of the beguiling properties of the low watt SET via the 45/2A3/300B. The more liquid-like sound is going to be a bit less present. Also, these amps do not have tube rectification because of the voltage involved. A little bit of the magic is going to be missing. In other words, what you gain is a SET amp that might drive difficult speakers below 90dB sensitivity; what you lose is some of the magic. See Dean's amps and AE-3 DJH below.... I first heard this power SET difference back in the early 90s when Cary came out with the much lauded and powerful 805 SET monos. I had gone "amp" over the little 300se monos at the time and dropped by to hear the new 805, supposedly the be all end all SET with gobs of drive. To me, it was no contest. The 805 was a GREAT amp... but the little 8w 300se had the magic all over the big high powered brother. I surely liked the 805 but that ubber intimacy and lack of every vestige that this was an amplification device was not in attendance. The Apollos are surely some super amps and sound damn nice. But with the power and circuit, you will get some compromise. Still, these should be some amazing amps when up to speed. kh EDIT: I'll throw up some more images of these amps today on a page. Dean, I have never heard the V52 but I have heard some KR tubes. They are VERY clean sounding with a nice bottom end. What they are missing is some of the qualities that make tubes so alluring in the first place: Amy Midrange warmth. Actually, this same tube was being used for years with the Cary Audio 300se Signature. They can taka a LOT more voltage and the Cary 300se was reporting in the upper teens for power! I had the KR 2A3 in my home for two months and gave it back to the former owner as I thought it was the least musical 2A3 I had ever heard and not worth $150 that I would have paid. I showed you the AA posts on that one. The 300B version will be a bit different, however. This is how Ron is able to apply all this voltage to those beasts! As for your ground problem, you just have to start eliminating the problems... start with the easiest things like power cords, floating ground etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arco Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Welcome to the club, Dean! 18-20W of SET power is a nice place to start, as you will very probably enjoy the long joyride down to the 1.5W of a Type 45. Happy ascension(?!) to micro power (as the guys of the Oregon Triode Society would say...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 8, 2002 Author Share Posted November 8, 2002 I was willing to sacrifice some of liquid in the middle to get the power. Hey, what's an old hard rocker like me to do? I had completely written off SET because of the power limitations, but when these amps popped up on AudiogoN -- I felt they were right up my alley. Of course, the power doesn't really do much good if the tubes are going start ringing like a telephone every time I put a little juice to them. Because of the impedance issue, and my simply obnoxious listening habits -- I NEEDED CURRENT, POWER, GIVE IT TO ME NOW...uh, I'm O.K. I'm a little concerned right now, and am looking forward to getting home and moving some things around. I'm especially concerned about the AE-3. As I was gently tapping tubes last night, one of the 6SN7's was very sensitive to movement. The KR' ping a little when tapped, but damn -- there's a lot of glass there, and it didn't really surprise me. Tapping on the AE-3's chassis next to the tube socket brought major ringing, and gently rocking the tubes in their sockets brought sounds that only the best haunted houses could compete with. One tube socket/6SN7 is especially bad in relationship to the amp it is feeding. Since it was on the same side as the channel that's slightly louder, I did the following: 1) I powered everthing down and changed the 6SN7's around -- no change. The problem stayed on the same channel. 2) I powered everything down again and put in the NOS CBS Brownbase 5692's -- no change. The problem stayed on the same channel. 3) Repeated the above with the stock Chinese 6SN7's. Again, no change. 4) I switched around the interconnects on the amps coming from the AE-3 -- and the "problem" moved to the other channel. I took out the AE-3 and opened it up. I checked all the solder joints on the back of the tube socket, all the wiring going back to the RCA jacks, and the associated solder connections. Everything "looked" good with the exception of a resistor that was sitting on top of a solder joint on one of the socket standoffs. I moved the resistor off the standoff. Well, that wasn't causing the problem. I may send the AE-3 back to Cary and have Kirk give it a going over. I don't really know what else to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arco Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Dean, In my experience, if a tube is sensitive to movement it might also be because of a bad contact in the tube socket. This happened to me quite a few times with UX4 sockets (the ones for 300B's etc) but never with octals (as used by 6SN7's). You might want to check it, though, before sending the preamp back to Cary... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted November 8, 2002 Author Share Posted November 8, 2002 What do I look for Aristidis? How do I find it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triode Pete Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 Dean, Those KR 300BXLS aren't too bad. They are robustly made (thick glass / high vacuum) and sound robust, especially in the low frequency range. I have a pair & preferred them overall to a pair of US made, Cetron 300B's. I actually like the 300BXLS --- sound much better than the KR 2A3! Their mid-range can't compete with the over-priced Western Electric 300B's. If you opt for less power with your new amps, the ceramic base ElectroHarmonix 300B is a real sonic bargain. Just make sure your amps are isolated from vibration & airborne sonic waves. I noticed my 300BXLS can be microphonic at higher volume levels. Really enjoy your SET's, Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leok Posted November 8, 2002 Share Posted November 8, 2002 tube connections: get Caig DeoxIT and do as the label says. leok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arco Posted November 9, 2002 Share Posted November 9, 2002 ---------------- On 11/8/2002 1:38:58 PM deang wrote: What do I look for Aristidis? How do I find it? ---------------- Well, I don't believe there could be a bad contact due to oxydation (everything is possible though...). I would just turn the preamp upside down and test mechanically the contacts of the octal socket, by moving them back and forth (beware of short circuits!) with a pair of fine pliers. If the problem goes away, then the socket is the culprit and you should rather change it than mend it. AES or Angela Instruments sell some excellent NOS items from Amphenol and other manufacturers which, by the way, are not very expensive and of far better quality than the chinese ones found in most of today's equipement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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