Cal Blacksmith Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 For the money, in my humble o-pine, Fisher made some darn fine sounding recievers. You should be able to pick up one of these in your price range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 bill, I think you have made the right decision. save for a while until you get to the $1,500 mark (IMHO where the good tube amp level is) and run it through your McIntosh SS preamp. I run a tube amp and SS preamp and I have no plans to upgrade in the near future. From that pont you can decide whether you need to go all tube or not...I suspect you may stop there. warm regards, tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I agree as well - a wise decision. I admit that from time to time I do mis my MC2105C29 combo. Perhaps not so much for the sound (though for an additional system they'd been fine), but I also fell for their looks. Of course one could spend quite an amount on tube gear, on the other hand a properly restaured Scott, Eico or Fisher (to name just a few) will already be a very respectable piece of equipment, so perhaps your venture into tube land might be less costly than assumed. Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 You are in a good situation. Not to start anything, but as we all are voicing our opinions, I think a tube Pre-amp and a Solid State. is a good match. Only because I think that the Pre-amp contributes so much to the "sound." Now I could walk into Tony's listen and change my mind. In audio, an open mind is best and your ears tell you what you want. In Mr. Deneen's array, I see 2125. That plus my owning a 2120 says a lot. I own Tubed McIntosh, SS McIntosh, and other SS such as NAD, Adcom, etc.. I'm lucky, I get to play with it all. So it's all trial and error until your mind and ears say, I'm happy. If I may borrow this for a moment, I would like to note that I feel complimented that "Ironwoods" uses my sig minus the personal section. Thank you. Anyway, save after the mods are done. Listen to them. You may decide to not bother changing or adding. dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I've enjoyed a SS, Threshold Fet ten/hl preamp much more than many tube preamps in my system. It was driving tube amps. Same goes for a Burmester 935 preamp, but it costs more than $7k (and sounded better than a $6K Conrad Johnson EVolution 20 SE). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Guy: Granted the leagues are a LOT different. Is the FET similar to the FETs Sony used? Baack to topic: in a way SS is nice when I'm lazy. Don't have to worry about tube warm up, etc.. But then again SS can have its own probs. dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 ---------------- On 1/18/2005 4:23:29 PM dodger wrote: Guy: Is the FET similar to the FETs Sony used? ---------------- I really don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 No prob. Thanks for replying Guy. Take Care - hope the cold and snow we've been getting doesn't come to you. dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 ---------------- On 1/18/2005 4:39:26 PM Guy Landau wrote: ---------------- On 1/18/2005 4:23:29 PM dodger wrote: Guy: Is the FET similar to the FETs Sony used? ---------------- I really don't know. ---------------- Man and I thought you knew it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 I think the ultra-sensitivity of the Khorn makes the delicacy of SETs wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotbuck Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 Greetings, I've run the gamut of "toob" gear from Dynaco, H.H. Scott, Knight, RCA, N.E.W., Audio Note. I'm currently running an SS Harman/Kardon receiver. All these amps have their merits, and all have been worth owning. I would think that eBay or even a forum member could fix you up with a very nice vintage integrated amp for under $500 to get your feet wet. (Be sure to get enough power to properly drive your speakers...) Give it a good six-month trial. Then, if you like the all-toob sound, you can easily move onward and upward - and likely sell the $500 amp for what you paid for it. You can also have more confidence in what you might want to do with your Mac gear. One thing I've learned along the sonic journey, though, is that you NEVER reach the Holy Grail. You just keep raising the bar... Personally, I've found that it's sometimes better to stop reaching and just sit back and enjoy the music! Hope this helps and good luck! Take care, Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 ---------------- On 1/20/2005 1:54:25 AM scotbuck wrote: Greetings, I've run the gamut of "toob" gear from Dynaco, H.H. Scott, Knight, RCA, N.E.W., Audio Note. I'm currently running an SS Harman/Kardon receiver. All these amps have their merits, and all have been worth owning. I would think that eBay or even a forum member could fix you up with a very nice vintage integrated amp for under $500 to get your feet wet. (Be sure to get enough power to properly drive your speakers...) Give it a good six-month trial. Then, if you like the all-toob sound, you can easily move onward and upward - and likely sell the $500 amp for what you paid for it. You can also have more confidence in what you might want to do with your Mac gear. One thing I've learned along the sonic journey, though, is that you NEVER reach the Holy Grail. You just keep raising the bar... Personally, I've found that it's sometimes better to stop reaching and just sit back and enjoy the music! Hope this helps and good luck! Take care, Scott ---------------- Great advise ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 I feel the same way scotbuck, coupled to the worlds most wonderful supercomputer, our ears learn to discern minute audio differences, imparting a sound to our home movie and music reproduction systems that may always be there, good or bad, in fact the Positive feedback issue this month has an editorial (http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue17/myaudio.htm) in which the author says much the same thing: perhaps we will never reach the 3D sonic holographic image of audio nirvana that we all seek. The only left to do is enjoy the journey. (How wise is that, isnt that what our parents were always saying?) Perhaps swapping and trying IS the hobby. At conversational levels of mid-70dB, even middle age men can hear from about 30 to 10kHz. I find that the flatter and more powerful I make my system, with better components, not necessarily more expensive ones, the better it sounds. When I get my big ole horns flat from 30 to 10, within ½ dB, then I will tell if I am at the long flat plateau that lead to nowhere or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRBILL Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 IN RE: SS preamp with tube amps: The Dynaco (factory built) PAS-4 finally arrived after waiting for Fedex to get it from Carson City to Fort Worth in a mere nine days! When I went to the Fedex depot to check on it they were rude to me. Buddy, you get what you pay for! Next time Ill specify UPS ground (three day) for two bucks cheaper. But I digress.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> The PAS-4 is a seductive little device. At once, you are captivated by the effortless airiness of the stage. The bass is solid, and I immediately found myself backing off the controls that I commonly used on my PAS-2. My explanation for this (to myself) is that, after all, the signal had gone through at least two solid-state stages before it ever left the CD player. And, probably, the Mark IIIs, being the last stage before the Klipschorns, were magically making everything OK. I held that thesis for about 45 minutes. Then I began to really listen to the music. There it was. The ear-tiring odd-harmonic dissonance was sawing away at the sound. It was like faint fingernails on a chalk board. It kicked in at about 2000 Hz and got worse the higher it went. Strangely enough, I doubt it would have been noticed on average speakers. But Klipsch precision made it murder. Anyhow, it was cheap ($30), and it was bought as a loaner for when I have the PAS-2s and 3s on the bench for maintenance. And wont folks be delighted to get their gear back after a few days with the PAS-4! At long last, my genius will be recognized! "Egor! it's time to go home. Ground the rods!" DR BILL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 $30! I love bargains like that! maybe you could Dr some of your postings, my email was all HTML text! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 "Egor! it's time to go home. Ground the rods!" "Yes, Master." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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