mark1101 Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 Friday night was a big one at my house here in Athens, Ga. First, the Woodog payed a visit to hear my systems and get acquainted. Forrest came with his 13 year old son Gavin, and his dog Woodog (from which he derived his forum handle). They were on a return trip from S.C. and stopped in. Forrest and his son are two terrific gentlemen and we really had an awesome time talking, eating, drinking a few brews, and especially listening to a wide variety of tunes from Bella Fleck and the Dead, to some different styles of western music, country, and rock. We had my basement system of Scott 299 and '73 corns, and upstairs system of Scott 222 and '93 LaScalas going the whole evening. We eventually settled in and concentrated mainly on the upstairs system, for one important reason. About an hour or so after Forrest and Gavin arrived, the Fed Ex truck pulled up and dropped off my VRDs. YES!!! The Peach didn't show up and I was bumming. We tracked it to another truck that actually came about an hour later. Well, what to do but set it all up and get ready to rumble. To make a long story short, and to keep the equipment review separate from discussing Forrest's visit, we ran all night on a single VRD in Peach mono mode do to a short lived Valve Art KT-88 that just decided to "light up" while Craig was on the line. Not too pretty, but the single VRD in mono mode along with the Peach easily drove my LaScalas and subs for our little forum party. No problem at all. In fact, it sounded pretty darn good that way. I've been playing it all weekend like that in fact. I will do a separate review of the Peach and VRDs once my new tubes arrive so I can give the equipment and honest shake. I can tell you already the VRDs have all kinds of guts, and the Peach literally made my LaScalas disappear the second I turned it on. An awesome preamp to say the least!!! More later. It was such a nice evening having Forrest and his son visit. You guys are welcome back any time as you already know. If anyone gets a chance to hang with the Woodog you will have a great time!! My fiance Kim really enjoyed talking with Forrest who is very knowledgeable on several subjects especially music, being a musician. I'm really glad we were able to get together and share one heck of a Friday night. Thanks for coming Forrest and Gavin!! Who would have guessed that a fine forum member would pay a visit, and somehow both the Peach and VRDs wind up getting delivered the same night. It was a very special Friday night....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted March 20, 2005 Share Posted March 20, 2005 Sounds great! I'd love to meet both of you someday and I'm sure I will. It's great how so many forum members are getting together these days! Bummer about the KT88. Sh_t happens though. No doubt it'll sound amazing when the new one arrives. Congrats on your equipment and glad you guys got to meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Keep us informed as you get used to them. I have a "date" with the VRDs April 9 and 10 for a listen. looking forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Mark, I'm sure glad you were still able to enjoy the evening Forrest is a really great guy! I know you were flipping out when the tube decided to throw a spark show 2 minutes after being fired up. Good old shipping companies sure do bang this stuff around. Buy het one out of 80 KT88's shipped I'm not going to cry. ---------------- On 3/21/2005 10:32:00 AM Audio Flynn wrote: Keep us informed as you get used to them. I have a "date" with the VRDs April 9 and 10 for a listen. looking forward to it. ---------------- Rick, Yes we will have some fun and with a variaty of speakers no less. Altec's, Klipsch, Audio notes and Tannoy's to name a few ! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted March 21, 2005 Author Share Posted March 21, 2005 Craig, The funny part was that my head was under the table tracing the power cords to get ready to put the 3/2 converters on. By the time I heard Kim and Forrest getting excited and heard my LaScala sounding like a cat in heat, that tube was as bright as a 200 watt light bulb. For everyone here though, when I first turned things on I had my meter on the test points of both amps for the first minute or so and everything was solid in both amps. Then one output tube began to run away and I obviously missed it. After we swapped sockets and tried again you could clearly see with the meter that that one tube would stabilize for half a minute or so, then begin to run away. Shut-r-down..... The VRDs themselves perform perfectly, and are dead quiet. I have matched replacement KT-88s on the way. Not a big deal at all. I just never saw a tube fail like that before. By the way the walnut finish is dazzling. The nicest furniture in my house right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodog Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Mark, I sat on my hands this weekend to keep from typing "I've heard VRD (sorry, no plural yet)! I've heard the first Georgia Peach!" I arrived at Mark's immaculate home to a sense of extreme anticipation. I had been in touch and knew that the VRD's and Peach were expected on that Friday, and I was probably more excited than Mark was (nah.. impossible). When the VRD's arrived but the Peach didn't, the scramble to figure out where it could be, etc. Then it showed up! Yay! Out with the Scott 222-A (a very nice sounding amp) and in with the new stuff. You mentioned in the post above that when the tube went that 'it wasn't pretty'. Correction... It was really pretty... very bright and a shimmering pale blue, but not at all what you wanted. Sorta like being handed the keys to a Jaguar only to have a tire blow (without a spare) before you get it out of the driveway. It was amazing how fast Mark moved when his LaScala started squawking. You were a most gracious host and hearing LaScalas and vertical Corns for the first time was very nice. It was also cool hanging out with a fellow Deadhead. You are lucky to have Kim as your fiance! In addition to being beautiful, she understands your hi-fi addiction! After leaving, I asked my kid, who was for the most part invisible the whole time, if he had had a good time. "Oh Yeah," he said, "I had the Cornwalls to myself and I got to listen to them as loud as I wanted!" He and 50 Cent enjoyed themselves. I enjoyed the insulation that kept me from hearing 50 Cent. Even in mono, the Peach/VRD combo sounded fantastic. I've heard they even sound good with Khorns. Me want. Again, Thanks for the hospitality and good tunes, it was most fun! Forrest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS Button Posted March 21, 2005 Share Posted March 21, 2005 Woodog (Forrest) will be here in 30 minutes. Cornwall session. He certainly gets around. BS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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