My 1st visit to Mike Lindseys

[Lascaladan]

Craig, we ARE talking about the RGR. I have 3 of these, one I have not touched in terms of mods. it needs some cosmetic cleanup/faceplate/control knobs. I have(on loan at a friend in NY) a modified Hegeman Hapi 2 preamp(outboard power supply, bypass caps, resonance and dampening). I liked it. When I received my 1st RGR it bettered, in all respects, to my ears, anyway, the Hapi 2. I sold my Levenson # 26 with phono, after aquiring the RGR. I sold my Krell amp after aquiring my 1st Soundcraftsman(my power bill did go down). It is always fascinating to me when a "budget" product does the things, musically, that I am looking for. As well as an older ss design. I agree with the easy swap of a tube. I am a little spoiled with the ease of my system. When my DL103D collapsed while playing an lp, you can only imagine how I reacted. I bought it new, and it went through some miles. I am afraid to have Mike bring over his gear, I do not want to get started all over again. Dan

[Lascaladan]

Meagain, I hope you are enjoying your LG laundry. Yes, I have braced the side walls, a little at a time, to stop some of the vibration. If you brace them too much, you can remove some of the naturalness that the LSs have. I did mine by ear, and it was not done in 1 day. I would never reverse what I did(it does create swiss cheese to the boxes). Although I have a small client base that I mod equipment for(vibration and resonance control), all of this is reversible. The holes in the boxes would need to be filled, and then need to be refinished. I have done 1 other pair for a listener I am no longer in touch with(I moved), but he was very happy the last time I spoke with him. When I did my pair, it was because I could not get my pair of Janis W3 subs to "gel" with the LS. A different kind of bass. Horn bass is the best I have heard out of a loudspeaker. I would own Khorns if I had a room with corners(concrete or external walls, to these ears), as well as the ability to get them to cater to "my" listening position. I want that soundstaging that I was able to achieve with many other speakers in my history, as well as what I have achieved with my LSs. I am not saying the LSs is a better speaker than the Khorns. I did own Khorns for 2 years(my early 20s) when living in a pre-war apartment building. I had to move, so I sold them. The LSs are so easy and much less room dependent, and allows me to tweak them. Mind you I have not updated the crossovers or internal wiring as of yet. I think they are amazing as they are! Again, I am just rambling. Later, Dan

[meagain]

Cool! I'm curious as to how you'd compare the 511 horn to the stock LS's. I'm going to go back in your posts and try to sort out what amp you are using. Though probably not in my price league, I'm curious as I'd like to form a watch list in case one comes up super cheap on Craigslist, etc. as a backup or just something to play with. Minimally, my husband should upgrade the amp in the basement he's using with the LaScalas for recording, etc. Yes - loving the LG washer/dryer. Just did some chair cushions that I figured I'd have to replace and those suckers came out as brand new.

Mike - when reading, I never ever saw your post as negative. Just stating what occurred during the visit. Ben - I never said to myself 'dodged a bullet there' etc. No worries.

[NOSValves]

Craig, we ARE talking about the RGR. I have 3 of these, one I have not touched in terms of mods. it needs some cosmetic cleanup/faceplate/control knobs. I have(on loan at a friend in NY) a modified Hegeman Hapi 2 preamp(outboard power supply, bypass caps, resonance and dampening). I liked it. When I received my 1st RGR it bettered, in all respects, to my ears, anyway, the Hapi 2. I sold my Levenson # 26 with phono, after aquiring the RGR. I sold my Krell amp after aquiring my 1st Soundcraftsman(my power bill did go down). It is always fascinating to me when a "budget" product does the things, musically, that I am looking for. As well as an older ss design. I agree with the easy swap of a tube. I am a little spoiled with the ease of my system. When my DL103D collapsed while playing an lp, you can only imagine how I reacted. I bought it new, and it went through some miles. I am afraid to have Mike bring over his gear, I do not want to get started all over again. Dan

Well I sure wouldn't mind Mike getting you started again[] You should at least take a RGR over to Mike's place some time for a spin! You should freshen up all the electrolytes and coupling caps in that baby I bet it could improve by leaps and bounds! Have you ever found a schematic for that preamp?

Craig

[ben.]

Mike, I appreciate that. Like I said, I didn't really think it was intentional, I just thought it fair to point out. I didn't take it personally and sure don't want it to get blown out of proportion. Please email me when you know more.

And yes, 6DJ8 are a tough one...

[Lascaladan]

Craig, if a preamp changes houses for a session, it will be "at my house". Do not get me started. If Mark D. wants to send me a preamp to evaluate, I will be ready, willing and able to ablige(did I spell that correctly). I am sure I will need to start a payment plan soon afterwards. Maybe I will tell my son to drop out of med school because there is a pre/power combo that I want(I would start with the pre). Meagain, my listening session at Mikes was short. If I had the 511s connected to my LSs, in my home, with my gear, it would be easier to describe what the 511s were and were not doing. I will give it a go as to my impressions. Having the 511s on top of the LSs, as well as the different "mouth", the image height and width is huge. In some ways very realistic, but the image and throw of the presentation was not as specific. Mike does have the speakers a little further apart than I recommend, but his wall unit(quite nice and holds a lot of records/cds/dvds and gear!)makes it impossible to bring them closer together. I also feel the 511s were designed for a "further" listening distance. I like the "balance" better with the LS horn, especially at nearfield. However, I did like it, no doubt, and again, there were many variables, to be certain. I also felt the 511s overshadowed, somewhat, the woofs and tweets. In volume and, in the presentation. Again, these are things I heard that I feel are having the 511s connected. On another visit to Mikes down the road, I might post other observations(who am I kidding, might). I will. Except for the lack of a "specific" center image and all else I mentioned, an excellent system, by my standards. Could I live with it. Probably. Would I change things. Definetely would work on the wall unit to bring the LSs closer to each other. This is just me. As far as the amps I have, they are not expensive(company is out of business), but they are what I like.

[stormin]

As far as the amps I have, they are not expensive(company is out of business), but they are what I like.

I believe that is where Class H, which is the design of my QSC, originated.

[NOSValves]

Mike, I appreciate that. Like I said, I didn't really think it was intentional, I just thought it fair to point out. I didn't take it personally and sure don't want it to get blown out of proportion. Please email me when you know more.

And yes, 6DJ8 are a tough one...

Ben,

Just to give some positive reinforcement my 12AU7's tested excellent in my Hickok 536 and proved to work flawlessly in my VRD-45-ST amplifier!! I even stumbled onto some matching 12AX7 BB driver tubes I didn't know I had stashed to go with them []

Thanks Craig

[Piranha]

Ben,

Mine function great as well. Thanks again for the killer deal!

[Parrot]

LaScala Dan: I'm a skeptic about dampening gear but all the same am curious as to what you perceived as improving in your RGR preamp when you added treatment.

[Lascaladan]

Parrot, I will try and keep this short and simple. A long long time ago in a Galaxy far away(Ok, seriously). I was introduced to a Japanese gentleman(he was with Nakamichi)who shared with me(and others) some things that had to do with vibration and resonance in electronics. He took 2 samples of a thin stranded double sided p iece of copper wire, connected them, internally, to the output terminals of an amp, (an amp he brought over from Japan, no name)and drove a set of Stax headphones(my 1st experience with Stax phones). We listened to music(open reel at I think 15ips), monophonically. He then took a liquid(I recall it smelling similar to nail polish)and applied it to one side only along this 6 inch piece of wire. After a few moments, we listened again. The earpiece being driven by this channel sounded warmer, lusher, quicker, had more air around the instruments, the frequency extremes had more extension, etc. He explained that the wire was no longer in a state of eratic behavior and movement(the wires had a shield around them, similar to regular lamp cord. I was blown away at this. So I started to tinker with this theory. I isolated power transformers in everything from amps,preamps, tuners, tape decks,turntables, you name it.This is way pre cds. I had quite a few turntables(AR,Thorens,Garrard, Dual, etc). Purchased a Technics DD and was the 1st(at least that I knew of) mortiting the underside of the platters to tame the noise. I used mortite around the circuit boards, but soon realized this was not good when it got hot. I started using silicons that were available. The differences in the way the equipment sounded afterwards was "musical". All the attributes of what I heard with Mr. Nakamichi. Currently, I only use clear GE silicone sealant, series II. I have also applied this, conservatively, to some "chips" in cd players,dvd players(being careful not to over heat these devices), being quite amazed at the differences, for the better, in sound. I apply it to the input wires and output wires inside amps, preamps, again you name it. With some work, it is all reversable. But I never had a friend or customer, as well as my own pieces, to reverse the process. I began isolating the entire chassis from the shelf it sat on(way before Michael Green was around), and look at him now(I am sure he did not copy me, I never met the man). My silver speaker wire is wrapped in l layers of shrink tubing, they are "lifted" of the ground. Same as my interconnects, and I am critical of "dressing the backs of equipment racks, keeping electrical runs away from signal runs. I am a nut about this. I try and use materials, such as dynamat, to further isolate all the chassis components, as well as my famous "feet", which I have mentioned many times before. My friend has a friend with an "out of warranty" Denon av receiver. My friend tell his friend about me. I typically do not like doing receivers, because they are so "stuffed", but this one was easy to do. For a small fee and the cost of parts, he is quite happy. I showed him what to do, but he wanted me to do it. I only do this locally, it is not a "business" as all it is , is a tweak service. You can look inside many pieces today and see silicon applied throughout, as well as dampening sheets, adhesive foils to eliminate emi, rfi, 50/60 hz hum, etc. There are many internet sites that sell alot of this, and Home Depot/ Lowes, etc. has some great stuff too(I do not recommend the product Great Stuff for any of this). I meant great materials. Anyway, this is my story...................................................................Dan