richieb Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Have been nothing but pleased with my Cayin TA-30 and the mods done by Paul at Bizzybee - 2baudio.com. He has just introduced an all tube pre-amp and monoblocks, 100wpc. I am taking a serious look at these and wonder what some of you local tube guru's think of the design features vs. cost - pre-amp for $699 and monoblocks for $2699/pair. Maybe take a look at the site and give some feedback. Other price comparison options? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Are these the bad boys? A quad of new Russian "Tung-Sol" KT-88s driven by a pair of new Russian "Mullard" EL-34s 100WPC! Copy and paste: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/bizzyb/TAD1000.html Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richieb Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 That's them. What do ya think? Anxious for opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 If I had $2700, I'd order a pair of VRDs from NOS Valves. Why, they were designed, tested and built by a Klipsch lover for Klipsch lovers. He uses American made transformers with the beefiness of Dynaco Mark IIIs in a much more stable amplifier design. I was not paid for the above commercial. Maybe a couple of VRD owners will chime in and explain the "sound" better than I can. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorjen Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Rick, Allow me be the first to put forth a sophisticated, educated, refined and well informed statement on the sonic performance and benefits of the VRD. Now, I realize the following review will probably go right over alot of heads here and will undoubtedly be echoed for many years to come in most of the worthwhile audio rags. But here goes... Man o man do these things have some Balls or what? I mean oooooeeeeee! Hot Damn these things are sweeeet! . On a more serious note, I am absolutely head over heals in Love with these things. I am running KT90EH in them right now instead of the Valve Art KT88's that they came with and have to say I am THRILLED with what I am hearing from this combo. I mean it is stunning to me. I have only had the VRD's up and running for about two weeks now and only have about 4 hours on the KT90's, but I must say the VRD's are most impressive. Effortless presentation. I cannot seem to make them run out of gas and I sometimes like to split a few ears. The bass is deep, solid and plentiful(using the Blueberry so no tone controls involved), just like I like it. The mids are round, rich and full of texture and the highs are extended but very smooth. Biasing is obviously a breeze and I Love the layout. And, oh yeah, they look cool as Hell too! On a side note. I know this subject has come up in another thread, but I have to mention it again. Fellas here using KT88's, you have got to do yourselves a great big friggin' favor, if you have not done so yet, and try the KT90. I know the Valve Art KT88's are no world beaters but they are a pretty nice current production tube and the KT90EH I just put into service run circles around them in my system. Guts(more power), bass, smoothness(not as tilted towards the top end as the Valve Arts), etc., you name it they have it in spades. And, running the same bias voltages that you would with the KT88 they run cooler. You gotta try 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 richieb, sorry to hijack your thread but I must chime in here. Craig Ostby of NOSValves.com has designed some truly unbelievable tube monos in the VRD's. Mine continue to blow me away even after having owned them for 7+ months. They sound awesome powering both my Cornwalls or La Scala's. I can't wait to take the VRD's and my Juicy Music Peach linestage preamp over to Andy Kubicki's house one day soon and hear them on his Khorns. I am looking forward to seeing the smile on Andy's face as he enjoys what I have for months. I will concur with jorjen about the VRD's not running out of gas. They just don't. VRD's are able to push heritage speakers to EXTREMELY high SPL levels effortlessy. But at the same time, they are very pleasant to listen to at high volume levels. I guess that would be due to the lack of noticeable distortion? You can really feel the music as you continue to turn the volume control up. The bass is very authoritative, and the highs and mids are crystal clear. The JM-200 Peach linestage certainly helps with the overall sound quality. Mark Deneen of Juicy Music Audio should be commended for designing and building such a fine tube preamp. So just to summarize, the VRD's with a Peach or Blueberry driving Klipsch speakers are a match made in heaven. Maybe I'll try the KT90EH's as jorjen suggests. Why not right? Hey, where has Sheltie Dave been? Anyone heard from him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 ---------------- On 1/8/2005 1:43:26 AM Piranha wrote: richieb, sorry to hijack your thread but I must chime in here. Craig Ostby of NOSValves.com has designed some truly unbelievable tube monos in the VRD's. Mine continually blow me even after owning them for 7+ months. ---------------- Hmmm... Craig, I'll be sending you a deposit Monday morning. I just hope you did your homework on the grounding scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 LMFAO!!! Yes, the VRD's truly do it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Inside joke? I don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 I had a typo in my post before editting it. I am still laughing. Good catch Ben. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 ---------------- On 1/8/2005 2:55:21 AM DeanG wrote: Inside joke? I don't get it. ---------------- It's okay, Dean. Really... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Having never owned or operated a tube amp before if (I) were looking into some tube mono's those (Cayin) Bizzybee amps look great! If they look good and sound good to (you) or (me) then I would not hesitate to try them. American German or Martian made.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Tom, Well I just hope your using a condom !! I WILL NOT DO A WARRANTY CLEAN UP ON YOUR AMPS Thanks for the kind comments guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Hey, those are nice looking monos too! Probably a lame question but... why are those two little metal (boxes?) on the back of each of those amps turned different directions? That dark wood looks real good What do those cost...approximately, and how much power do they push? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Those metal boxes are transformers most tube amps have them but some companies elect to hide them. Regular retail price for a pair is $2599 but there is a substancial special deal for active Klispch and AK forum members and previous customers. VRD Mono Block Specs<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Walnut or Maple Chassis hand finished in Tung Oil Stainless Steel Top/Bottom and Rear plates 60 watts Ultra Linear/30 watts Triode switchable KT88 output tubes Standard Full bias control per output tube with above chassis test points and multi turn controls 1.1V input sensitivity 100K input impedance AC balance control 1000V PS filtering for extended life 10H choke per amp All Triode front end 12AX7 Driver 12AU7 phase splitter Direct coupled Tube Rectified 5AR4 Separate provisions for 4, 8 and 16 ohm speakers Valve rollers dream ! The amps can run EL34 , 6L6 , 5881 , 350B, KT66, KT88, 6550, KT90 and more (some require a 5U4GB rectifier tube) Phase splitter can be experimented with using 12BH7 or <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />ECC99 input/Driver tube can use 12AX7 and variants Distortion .06% @ 1 watt .15% @ 5 watt 1% @ Full rated power 20hz to 20khz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedball Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Thank You......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Craig didn't answer one of your questions. On each chassis are two transformers. One is the power transformer and one is the output transformer. Without getting technical, they are turned the different directions so the magnetic field in the power tranny doesn't have adverse effects on the output tranny. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 And they are different on each amp to be a mirrowed pair. Notice the power switches also.Bookends. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 Thanks guy's I also have that pair reversed compared to how you would actually run them. I read his question wrong I thought he asked what they were LOL !! Here is a pair in Maple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted January 8, 2005 Share Posted January 8, 2005 I really like that Maple. Damn that's nice looking. Beautiful job Craig. Probably one the few amps that actually sounds as good or better than it looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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