Daddy Dee Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Friends, This is a post to share a joyful discovery, and will be in the most lay terms as I am not a real audiophile, just love music and know what is pleasing to my own ears. A few weeks ago one member of this forum was kind enough to demonstrate his Heritage and 300b based two channel an HT system. Cool. Really cool. Thanks Glen. He was playing this through the above referenced CD player and it sounded great. As I've assembled my two channel set up, first it was La Scalas, then a 299b, and now changing out a Tascam CD to this unit which is actually a stock Marantz CD4000 chassis and transport that has been modified to add tubes with the appropriate other support elements. This was very well reviewed, as was another Dutch modified Marantz, the Heart CD 6000. On the day I decided to purchase, I actually had decided to go with the Heart unit, which had been priced $150 ahead of the Ah! Njoe Tjoebs, but they were having a spring sale and the price was the same for the base model. The choice between the two was essentially a toss up. On the day (actually in the wee hours) I decided to purchase, I wasn't sure the Ah! distributor's site was secure, no padlock on the screen. So, I went to the Heart distributor and their web server could not get the item in the shopping cart. One thought was that acquiring the Heart would allow a head to head comparison with the Ah! which my buddy had. However, the Ah! distributor called first. Yep, just returning my call after my number showed up on his caller ID. The Heart guy also called and both were both gracious and attentive. I'll post the URL's, but I think that each of these is the only U.S. distributor for the products. One thing I picked up on in reviews is that the Ah! sounds good with it's stock tubes. That's nice and what I got. They do offer tube upgrades and also two other optional flavors of OP amps which can be interchanged by the user. A further option, also not selected by me, is the upsampler, which is also user installable. I did take an upgrade option package which included isolation feet, which they call Tjoeb Shoes (cute, eh?). The stock Marantz feet would be perhaps satisfactory, but they are certainly not designed with the purpose of providing isolation for tube gear. The threshold test CD for me was Liz Story with Joel DiBartolo. An unlikely choice, but one that has some strong piano notes that had not been successfully reproduced on my system to my dismay and frustration. I had even begun to think it was just a bad CD recording when I could still hear the distortion with the Ah! out of the box. After break in, it played all the notes in the sweetest clearest way. Suppose that's why they call it AH!. Now, I don't have an understanding of why these notes on this recording should be so tough to reproduce, but it was in playing these tracks while auditioning a pair of used Bose 802's for the church youth group PA that let me identify a single driver that needed replacement in a speaker which sounded fine with every other musical program. It just had a rattle and buzz when attempting to reproduce that program material. Interesting. Any forum members who could shed light on that would be appreciated. There are a hundred reviews of this CD player on Audioreview.com and lseveral audiophile of reviews on the net, if you care to check out what folks say to get the technical gist of this machine. I've read alot of them and found them helpful in the process. They basically say it would take $1200 to $1500 to better the sound of this moderately priced unit. http://www.upscaleaudio.com/main.htm AH! distributor http://www.fsaudioweb.com/menuframe.html Heart distributor Don't think one could go wrong with either of these products. I would like to hear the Heart, though couldn't imagine being more pleased than at present. That level of satisfaction in listening is something I've sought for a long time. Patience and dumb luck has allowed me to put a system together that works and at a reasonable cost (for me). Regards, Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 DaddyDee, Great post, I've had my eye on the Tjoeb, Nice to know there is another tube unit that can be added to the mix. My Musical Fidelity A3 cd player sounds great in my two channel system, so I dont see any reason to change out a good thing. Although I have a HT system in my family room, nice stuff, But my Pioneer Elite dv05 lost in a head to head battle against the MF A3 cd player. So since that system is all solid state, not that it is bright or edgey, but I think the Tjoeb would really take it to the next level when opting to listen to two channel on that system. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 kevin deal really thinks the world of the Ah! CD player, that's why he sells it! It seems to be a real giant killer and I think it is great that they left you a variety of upgrade options to play with in the future, upsampling, different op amps, tube rolling, I suspect you will try them all in the end, great product engineering and marketing on thier part! glad you ar enjoying your music more now! regards, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 7, 2003 Author Share Posted June 7, 2003 Tony and Tom, Thanks for your thoughts here. Yep, I ordered one of the OPamp options with the player, haven't checked it out yet. It was the non Burr-Brown option. BB seems to be known for it's brightness, and that is one thing I don't need to add to my system. Fun stuff, eh? Regards, Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Opamps are cheap to roll. Ask for free samples from the various companies that make them. But don't expect jaw-dropping improvements, subtle. Keep in mind the opamp's bypass capacitor values, some will oscillate with wrong values, some are a little more immune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 also keep your eye on the upsampling upgrade, some say there is no technical reason why they should improve the sound, but in my system the upsampling improves my sound and I would not live without it at this point. regards, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyKubicki Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I have been drooling over the Ah! for a while myself. I haven't yet decided, but It's either the Sony ES 9000 (with SACD capability) or the Ah! But I'm not ready to buy yet, especially if I move from my condo(minimum) into a home, something I would love to do now and give my Khorns the room they need. As to distortion occuring only at certain frequencies, I had a funny thing happen when I bought my KG4s for my bedroom system. I had to replace the tweeter diaphragms, and when I got them, they came with this fiberglass material on the little domes. I thought it was dampening material, so I put it in. They played fine until my son came over with his SF2s and as we were speaker rolling, we discovered distortion, very slight, and only at one passage on a CD. I removed what I thought was dampening material and after hearing the same passage with no distortion reclassified it as packaging material, so some things do only become an obvious impediment at certain frequencies. Enjoy your Ah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 ---------------- On 6/6/2003 8:31:12 AM DaddyDee wrote: Friends, This is a post to share a joyful discovery, and will be in the most lay terms as I am not a real audiophile, just love music and know what is pleasing to my own ears. .... Regards, Dee ---------------- Dee- To me, that makes you more of an audiophile than most self proclaimed audiophiles! They're just gearheads and like to keep up with the Jones's! Nice comments on the deck. I've also admired the unit and its concept. Have fun with it!! Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg928gts Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Wow! Just got done reading through the Ah information. Very impressive. Maybe this is the route I should go instead of looking for a DAC. Thanks for posting this information Dee. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 I love my old (two years now) Ah! and it has the warm, depth and detail that really brings the MUSIC to the top. It's a keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 8, 2003 Author Share Posted June 8, 2003 ---------------- On 6/7/2003 11:31:58 AM sunnysal wrote: also keep your eye on the upsampling upgrade, some say there is no technical reason why they should improve the sound, but in my system the upsampling improves my sound and I would not live without it at this point. regards, tony ---------------- Tony, I'm glad to hear about your experience with the upsampler. That is a function of your DAC, right? I'd been wondering about the effect. If I'm conceiving it right, it's kind of like smoothing out a the coordinates of a parabola by interpolating what the intervening, or inbetween dots would be. It would happen so many times a second, it's almost surprising that we could hear the smoother sound, but then we are certainly fearfully and wonderfully made. Regards, Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 8, 2003 Author Share Posted June 8, 2003 Mike, Andy, Greg, Ben, Chris. Thanks for your thoughts here. Good stuff. Life is good. Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLM Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 With all the modded CDP's out there, it makes you wonder if anyone in the $1,000.00 - 2,000.00 price range buys factory straights. The AH Tube 4000, Heart 6000, Jolida, and Music Hall have all be modded. The Music Hall as modded by Dan Wright may be the current champ in terms of sound and build qualities. Both Dan and Response Audio have good reputations and "one stop shopping" helps. The other route is the inexpensive add-on DAC's from Channel Audio (VDA-1), Bolder Cable (smART/Mensa DI/O), and Scott Nixon's (DacKit & TubeDac). And for $200 and up you can get SACD players, modded starting at %500 total. So many choices! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 Great thread. To be honest -- I think with good front end tube gear, it's very difficult to make anything sound bad. Even humble tube gear takes off the digital edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjohnsonhp Posted June 8, 2003 Share Posted June 8, 2003 http://www.modwright.com/products/ah.php Do you think you will try the Ah Dan Wright Mod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 JLM, Yep, it is amazing what the choices are. I was looking at something on the net, a chinese outfit and sorry can't remember now, will have a tube SACD offered that has just been on show. Dean, you are exactly right. Humble tube gear does what most anybody could want, it does it for me, anyway. KJ, thanks for the URL on the mods. They look pretty neat. Don't have plans right now, but that is an interesting thought to bias the OPamps into class A operation. "All the science, I don't understand, it's just my job five days a week, I'm a rocketman." Regards, Dee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 I agree on the "giant killer" status of the Tjoeb....the Rega Planet has company, and might wish to install a rear-view mirror as well. This deck rules for the money......hell, it just rules. If you can get one used, it's even a better deal (but move quick - these don't last more than a day when offered used). My only complaint is the "plain jane" nature of the case, but the money is inside.....where it counts. You expect to pick up a 2 lb. cheapie on first look, and discover there's much more inside. I love the tube rolling option of this deck, as well as all of the upgrade options. I am most curious about the upsampler from Upscale Audio.....as well as the Wright mods (especially given the reputation at Wright). Regardless of the upgrades chosen, there are certainly many options here....all which serve to keep you happy with the machine that much longer. It is much akin to what PWK said of his available upgrades for the Klipschorns: "Don't you wish you could do that to your old Cadillac"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLM Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Beware that Dan Wright has been changing what CDP's he'll mod, based on a number of factors. Check out his forums. From some of his latest replies he much prefers the Music Hall modded over the Ah Tube 4000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyKubicki Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 It is much akin to what PWK said of his available upgrades for the Klipschorns: "Don't you wish you could do that to your old Cadillac"? Upgrades to KHorns???? What were those??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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