I made the wife cry

gidrah

Well, I hooked up some gear in my own little "mancave". I have more to do, but it's playing music.

So far I've connected my Polk 10Bs to a Soundcraftsman amp, AMC 1100 preamp and Sony carousel CD player. Cheap, 14 awg speaker cable, one pair of RS interconnects (pre-amp), and one pair of DIY intercon's (CD-pre).

To show off my rig and organizational skills (new house, plenty of boxes, etc) I took the wife upstairs and put in Pachelbel's Kanon, set her down in the chair, turned off the light and went downstairs to see how loud it was in the rest of the house. When she came back down I asked her how it sounded. She thoroughly enjoyed it and started to tell me how much when her voice cracked and a tear ran down her cheek. I thought to myself, "It sounds good, but not that good. Uh, oh. The next 4 days or so are gonna suck". Fortunately, that is not the case. She just really liked it.


My next thing will be to hook up the periscopes to the Dynaco since the AMC has two sets of pre-outs. If she cried before I could proabably make her **** eventually.

madmax

Sounds like she has some appreciation for it. Take full advantage of that!

Did you say new house? Send me you new address if that is the case. I found a microphone last weekend you may be interested in.

madmax

csmallwood@marsh-mcbirney.com

GZ

'Soundcraftsman' Now there's a word I haven't heard in a long time. I bought one of their equalizers in the late '70's when stereo was king. I loved to watch those 4 LED's blink on and off.

Tour2ma

GZ,
There are two SoundCraftsmen amps for sale in the Flea Market right now...

gidrah,
Glad to read the move went well. Pachelbel's Canon does produce a high WAF... good choice there.

madmax

Soundcraftsmen amps are awesome if you can find one in good condition.

organ

Glad to hear things are working out in your new home, gidrah.

Dude, you better watch out when you hook up the Dyna. That amp almost made me cry. IMO, the ST-70 is the most emotionally involved amp. It just brings out pure music. For the warmest and most romantic sound, try the Svetlana EL34 power tubes. I just got some JJ E34L. Better bass and more laid back sound but they just don't have the magic of the Svets.

Let me know how your ST-70 sounds in your rig. Don't forget to bias the amp after it's warmed up.

Maurice

HBombToo

gidrah I just moved also and am living in BOX HELL with ya. Tonight I've been playing in the cave also. My rig is an old Audible Illusions Modulus and a Counterpoint SA-12 tube/mosfet hybrid. I running my Cal audio labs cd player/transport and having a blast!

I think it will be 2 years before all the effin boxes are gone though...

HBomb

madmax

Hbomb, Hi!
So I take it you got the modulus working?
madmax

HBombToo

Originally posted by madmax
Hbomb, Hi!
So I take it you got the modulus working?
madmax

Whats up Max?

I had some noise in my left channel and swapped out the tubes and all is good. The tubes are 6DJ8's which I have not had time to research yet. Sounds pretty damn good though! The RTA8T would make anything thind good though;) I just love those old dogs.

I don't think I have the bass hit that I have on my HT but the clarity of the highs is very impressive. I'm trying like hell to find a schematic of the Modulus so I can start tweaking it. If anyone has any luck whatsoever I would really appreciate it.


HBomb

madmax

I'll look and see what tubes are in mine. I thought they were 6922's or some such number. Give the bass a good listen. To me it has more of that string bass sound, when appropriate, than any other preamp I've tried. Is yours a modulus 3 or 3a?
madmax

steveinaz

Originally posted by madmax
Soundcraftsmen amps are awesome if you can find one in good condition.

Well I'm glad someone beisdes me knows the Soundcraftsmen name, and legend. Soundcraftsmen pioneered the Class "D" rail voltage amplifier (super-efficient, super powerful) in a small package. Carver uses a similar approach.

I have one for sale in the Flea Market. It's a hell of a deal.

HBombToo

Originally posted by madmax
I'll look and see what tubes are in mine. I thought they were 6922's or some such number. Give the bass a good listen. To me it has more of that string bass sound, when appropriate, than any other preamp I've tried. Is yours a modulus 3 or 3a?
madmax

Max
Its a Modulus 2B stereo preamp and from what I found last night the 6922 is actually a higher end drop and swap for the standard 6DJ8. I would like to buy a few pair of matched tubes for the modulus but also want to swap out the volume control vernials(check sp) with something more refined. If you can help me I sure would appreciate it. For me why re-invent the wheel when I can get good solid advice and methodology up front.

Regards
Henry

madmax

Is the volume control a potentiometer or is it a group of resistors selected by a multi-position turn switch?
madmax

HBombToo

Originally posted by madmax
Is the volume control a potentiometer or is it a group of resistors selected by a multi-position turn switch?
madmax

Its a Pot... not sure what the swing resistance should be? I'm searching like hell though. Good thing for conference calls;)

HBomb

I think I found a note over on the Asylum that the Pot value is 10k Ohms. I also sent AI a note asking for the schematic but I have my doubts because of some bad press I read regarding their customer care department.

We'll see....

madmax

Unless it is missing you should be able to read the resistance either across the outer terminals and if not at least from the center to one side or the other. Mine has the step type with individual resistors. It is concidered the "audiophile" way of doing the volume control but it is sometimes hard to match the volume from left to right and sometimes makes an audible thump. I would recommend getting the replacement tubes from AI. They are looking for some pretty specific parameters given their circuit and just because a tube is nos and expensive doesn't mean it will perform properly. At least for the 3a most people recommend using AI's pick rather than nos.

The really cool thing... you have an EXCELLENT phono preamp there!
madmax

gidrah

Max - You've got mail now. I had to seize the moment if you will. Yes, she does have appreciation. I put VOTTs in the living room that she grew up in for Christ's sake. The problem is that she doesn't appreciate further possibilities as much as I do. How can I justify new gear to her now?

Tour - Yep. It's one of her favorites. That's why I played it (besides the fact that it was already in the carousel). She loves Chopin as much as I love Vivaldi. Of course, I'm not super fond of Chopin, nor is she super fond of Vivaldi.

Organ - Plug and play on the ST-70 and periscopes was anti-climactic. To be honest I could count the hours of play I've put on the amp on one hand. I had better results with both this amp and the periscopes in the old room. It sounds good, but not great. Right now the Polks and S'craftsman combo win by a landslide. Then again they're positioned better too.