Tubey goodness!

trav0810

I really should take some time off from buying new gear and finish up the garage remodel so that I can actually set it all up right! However, I couldn't pass up the chance to own this beauty! It's a Pilot 505 amp, 38WPC and smooth as silk! This is the second Tube amp I have owned. The first was a 16WPC RCA rebuild. And while it had a beautiful sound, it kept me wanting for MORE POWER. This baby has it all. It ROCKS the vintage Klipsch Heresy's that I have hooked up to it and doesn't lose a bit of its soothing warmth as you crank it up. It has a much better, more defined bass than a lot of the tubes I have heard. So far, I have only listened to it with the Heresy's, but the Monitor 5's, Monitor 12's and SDA's will all get their turn.

This is a temporary set-up on the bench in my garage. I guess some speaker stands are next on the agenda.

hochpt21

That's a pretty nice 'garage' setup in my book.

trav0810

hochpt21 wrote: »

That's a pretty nice 'garage' setup in my book.

Well, the 'garage' is the only place I can really set any of it up. I just need to get it finished so that I have my gear all set up properly. This is my "main" system, although the new Tube is certainly making an argument to move into that position! Not a great pic, the sun was coming in though the window.

mhardy6647

What are the outputs on that Pilot? 7189? If so, you're talkin' more like 17 or 18 watts continuous per channel. Maybe inching up towards 20 if the plate voltage is set just below the level for nuclear fusion.

trav0810

The outputs tubes are EL84's. The RCS that I had before this was 13-16WPC and these two amps are not even in the same universe.

EndersShadow

Nice Flexy rack Travis!

Will have to come for a visit someday with my little hi-fi computer system now that its all done.

zingo

Very nice!

mhardy6647

EL84s you are talkin' 12 to 14 wpc continuous - that 38 watts is a red herring (or a stereo figure; ie both channels summed). The 7189 is essentially a super-EL84 that can take higher voltage differentials and put out a little more power than EL84s.

Not a huge deal and the Heresys don't need much power at all... but I thought it was worth mentioning.

boston1450

Nice set up....i would love to have a tube amp. Maybe someday..ENJOY

trav0810

I'll take your word for it. My technical knowledge is minimal at best! But I know this one has as much power as I need and I am a power ****! lol The first tube amp I had, I could open all the way up and still wish there was more. I have never even gotten the volume to 12 o'clock on my pre with this amp. At 10 o'clock the Heresy's sound like they have all that they can handle.

mhardy6647 wrote: »

EL84s you are talkin' 12 to 14 wpc continuous - that 38 watts is a red herring (or a stereo figure; ie both channels summed). The 7189 is essentially a super-EL84 that can take higher voltage differentials and put out a little more power than EL84s.

Not a huge deal and the Heresys don't need much power at all... but I thought it was worth mentioning.

rromeo923

Nice set up!!

Beta

Doesn't take much to drive that pair of Heresy. That amp is plenty sufficient IMHO. Maybe add a small sub into the mix to make up for the Heresy's slight challenge in the lower end and I am guessing you might be even more pleased with that rig. Looks great. Enjoy!

mhardy6647

Agreed. The best solution for the paucity of LF (in my hardly humble opinion and FWIW) of the Heresy, if one likes the Klipsch "tone", is a pair of Cornwalls :-)

EDIT: Sometimes the issue isn't power, it's gain. The power amp needs to have enough input signal (voltage) to drive it properly - some sources/preamps aren't up to the task for a given amp. Impedance matching can be another challenge, especially for vacuum tube hardware. A pair of Heresys is sensitive enough to be driven to lease-breaking levels with less than 5 wpc.

I used 3.5 wpc (single-ended 2A3) with my Cornies and they were thunderous. The Heresys are virtually as sensitive as the Cornies; they just have essentially no LF due to the very small unvented ("infinite baffle") enclosure.

trav0810

My end goal for this amp is a set of La Scalas. With the design and sensitivity of those monsters I can only imagine what they would sound like.

Beta

trav0810 wrote: »

My end goal for this amp is a set of La Scalas. With the design and sensitivity of those monsters I can only imagine what they would sound like.

Not trying to travel too deep into the hole or get too complicated, but there is a rather significant school of thought out there that the LF in the La Scala can be a bit challenged as well. Hence, the development of the Cornscala. LF of the Cornwall and the HF of the La Scala. See link below if interested. No affiliation.

http://www.critesspeakers.com/cornscala.html

mhardy6647

The horn-loaded LF of the LaScala has a nice character to it - but the folded horn is way small and so quantitatively there's not much extension there at all, giving the LaScala (as Col. Klipsch sold it) a singularly aggressive demeanor. Tom Brennan has colorfully described the LaScala's presentation as akin to listening to a Sawzall.

The Cornwall - again, as Klipsch designed, built, and sold 'em - is a better balanced speaker (it's all relative!) and has fairly substantial and fairly extended if somewhat "soft" (by modern standards) bass.




If you want it all, and a Klipsch badge, go for a pair of K-Horns. The Col. himself prudently noted that you cannot miniaturize the wavelength of a 16 Hz tone (albeit begging the question of why Klipsch eventually marketed the Heresy as a full-range speaker rather than just a center channel to fill in the "hole in the middle" in the early days of stereo).

There is a cottage industry of "improvements" and "modifications" for the heritage Klipsch speakers that leaves little of the original but the box represented in the final product. Arguably, in the case of the folded horn enclosures, the boxes were the best part of the Klipsch speakers. The Cornie's somewhat flimsy plywood vented box, on the other hand, could benefit from some bracing and damping (there are vent re-designs for it, too).

If you're familiar with the old folk tale known as "Nail Broth" or "Stone Soup", you'll understand the Klipsch Heritage situation pretty well (IMO) :-)

Beta

^well said sir. I particularly appreciated your last sentence. I own two pair of the most recent iterations of Klipsch speakers. Heritage and Reference. Very challenging to get just right in my experience. Even with tubes in both an amp and preamp.

organ

I lived with a pair of La Scala and Cornwall at the same time for many years. My vote would go towards the La Scala.
The horn loaded bass is amazing. Very fast, dynamic, effortless and BIG sounding.
But if you crave bass, I doubt you'll be satisfied with the LS. If I had to guess, their low end extension is probably the same as the Polk LSi9. Won't do very deep bass, but what's there is in great abundance. I listened to them with and without a sub. I can enjoy them both ways. Same goes for amplification. They sound great with both tubes and SS.
The Cornscala does look interesting. Never heard them so can't comment on that. But for the tweeters, I actually prefer the Klipsch K-77 over Crites CT-125. Many people will tell you the Crites are direct replacement but they're not. They're 3db less efficient. The difference was clear and I switched back to the originals. The tone is quite different as well.