Tubes in the house !
Simplyrandom
Posts: 119
Well a few hours after I left to visit my grandson on friday the Fed Ex lady hobbled up my driveway with my xmas present to my self. I think she was over joyed to have my son meet her in the yard to take it from her. My Silk Audio MS-38 arrived just as I crossed the line in to SC. Well after several days of lusting for it and drooling over the photos my son sent me just to make me squirm I am listening to my first tube amp. I warmed it up for about 15 minutes at zero volume and tweaked the bias a tad and now I am running playlists off Tidal to start the burn in process.
Comments
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Really beautiful
Because I am The Pumpkinking
A Kind Word Is An Easy Gift To Give -
Man, that's outstanding! An amp after my heart! Not one...but TWO places to set your coffee cup to keep it warm! Sweeeeeet!
Love that meter too!
CJA so called science type proudly says... "I do realize that I would fool myself all the time, about listening conclusions and many other observations, if I did listen before buying. That’s why I don’t, I bought all of my current gear based on technical parameters alone, such as specs and measurements."
More amazing Internet Science Pink Panther wisdom..."My DAC has since been upgraded from Mark Levinson to Topping." -
Very Nice
is there a link to specs?My New Year's resolution is 3840 × 2160
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Suh-wheet!
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Mikey081057 wrote: »Very Nice
is there a link to specs?
The MS-38 is a Mc-30L with a redesigned front plate. Ray did not like the look of the original so he had them add the VU meter to the front to give it a more vintage style look.
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Congrats, looks great! I've been waiting for at least a year to see what this amp was going to look like as Ray from Silk Audio has been working on it (it's a modified and rebadged Yaqin MC-30L). Thumbs up for the VU meter! I really like the sound of my MC-30L and I'm pretty confident you won't be disappointed with the MS-38.
My 2 cents, give the amp a listen for a few months to get a baseline of how it sounds with the stock tubes. I did what everyone suggested at the time I bought mine "get rid of the stock tubes!" so I rolled 60's era Tesla EL34's (had to turn the bias pot quite a ways to get it to 400V and even then they didn't have the great punch and midrange sweetness of the Shuguangs) and Svetlana Winged C's (the "good ones") and meh, same result as the Tesla. The Shuguang EL34-B's sounded better, hands down, no doubt about it.
Can't wait to hear your impressions of it.
Enjoy!SDA SRS 2.3TL's
Silk Audio MS-90-BT integrated tube amp
Yaqin MS-20L integrated tube amp
SDA 2B TL's -
Mikey081057 wrote: »Very Nice
is there a link to specs?
No direct link but since it's basically a 30L it's 50 WPC in Ultralinear mode and 25 WPC in triode mode.
SDA SRS 2.3TL's
Silk Audio MS-90-BT integrated tube amp
Yaqin MS-20L integrated tube amp
SDA 2B TL's -
Nice!!! Love the looks of it also!Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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Really like the redesigned look of the amp. Do you have it powering your 10's?
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Mercy goodness, I do not need to look at that.
Holy Cow, awesome!!! -
Really like the redesigned look of the amp. Do you have it powering your 10's?
Yep the little beast is powering my 10a's. I have to say I am quite happy so far. I was so used to the sound of my Onkyo that I was a bit worried about how I would like the new amp. I never tweaked the tone controls of the old Onkyo as I did not need to. The highs and lows were just fine with the tone controls on zero. The new amp does not have any tone controls and so far it gives a sound very similar to what I had. I find the longer I listen to it the more I like it. I was concerned it would be lacking in the bottom end but that has not been the case. I have been listening to some Tidal and some mp3 and flac files I have on the pc through the Dac Destroyer from Hot Audio that aso arrived at the same time. I plan on hooking up the cd player tonight and giving that a whirl for a bit.
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I think you're going to like the package I'm sending you with this amp. I have the 30L as well. It powers my SRS 2's to levels that scare me. The soundstage is wide and deep and the imaging is spot on. Enjoy!2-channelBelles 22A Pre, Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2, Marantz SA8005, Pro-Ject RPM-10 Turntable, Pro-Ject Phono Box DS3B, Polk Audio Legend L800's, AudioQuest Cable throughout.
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That's a beautiful piece."Science is suppose to explain observations not dismiss them as impossible" - Norm on AA; 2.3TL's w/sonicaps/mills/jantzen inductors, Gimpod's boards, Lg Solen SDA inductors, RD-0198's, MW's dynamatted, Armaflex speaker gaskets, H-nuts, brass spikes, Cardas CCGR BP's, upgraded IC Cable, Black Hole Damping Sheet strips, interior of cabinets sealed with Loctite Power Grab, AI-1 interface with 1000VA A-L transformer
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Nice amplifier. Tubes are excellent. Enjoy your new amp.
Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
"I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion."![:\](https://forum.polkaudio.com/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....
"Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson
"Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee -
Wow looks great! Happy to hear everything worked out and your enjoying it. Ray had mentioned to me about the change so it's cool to see it. I have to agree with the comment about getting a baseline before rolling in some new tubes.
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What generally kills a tube amp's performance is a really tough load. They don't like severe impedance drops, so as long as your speakers aren't notorious for needing big power behind them, tubes should make them sing.
Well while I do not think the Monitor 10a's are extremely efficient I do not see them as being a tough load.Wow looks great! Happy to hear everything worked out and your enjoying it. Ray had mentioned to me about the change so it's cool to see it. I have to agree with the comment about getting a baseline before rolling in some new tubes.
I plan on running these for quite a bit before I try fixing anything. Money is tight so I guess I am lucky because I am a terrible hobby addict and suffer from GAS syndrome very easily. I have read so many different opinions on what works best and which tubes to change first. I may try changing the front tubes first as they are cheaper. Those power tubes can get expensive very quickly.
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Super congrats Bro
looking really sweet!! 2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge
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She's a "beauty"! Now if you want to be condemned by the GODS like Prometheus, etc. Drop Brock a line and begin the Sisyphean task of rolling the RIGHT, NO the "perfect" tube! lol
If nothing else you'll have a few HUNDRED back up tubes and spend 1000s of hours scouring ebay, etc.!
Enjoy!
cnh
Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!
Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
[sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash] -
Beautiful Amp. Tube power is the Gateway Drug of choice, N'joy!
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Gorgeous. Congrats!b]Beach Audio[/b]: Rega RP6 (mods) - AT33PTG/II - Parks Budgie SUT - PSAudio NPC * Eversolo DMP-A6 * Topping D90iii * Joule-Electra LA-100 mkIII * Pass Aleph 30 * MIT S3 * Polk SRS 2.3tl (mods) * PSAudio PPP3
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Town Porch: WiiM Pro Plus * Sunfire Sig II * Canare 4S11 * Magnepan 1.6 * Dectet -
I see this is an older thread but I just started looking at this amp, do you still have it, and can you say anything about your time with it?
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sweet!VA HT HK AVR20II, Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD, Polk Audio RC80i / Polk Audio CSi3, 60" Panasonic Plasma, Nordost / Signal Cable A2 / Wireworld / Pangea / Magic Power
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Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's -
I see this is an older thread but I just started looking at this amp, do you still have it, and can you say anything about your time with it?
I run it 6 to 8 hours a day and I am loving it. I check bias once a month and and its rock solid. I tried swapping out pre and power tubes but I did not find much difference with them. I am running the originals currently in the power section and some GE 5654W in the pre section. I mainly listen to Blues, Jazz and singer songwriter stuff. -
Hey Simplyrandom, thanks for the reply and glad to hear you're still happy with it...based in part on your posts, went ahead and ordered it from the same guy in Chicagoland...should be here this week.
And by coincidence also ordered a set of the same signal tubes...had read elsewhere that the stock 6J1's were not impressive, and the NOS GE's had multiple thumbs-up and were cheap enough...
...have also read that the blue glass bottles are mostly well thought of, but there are a lot of EL34-family tubes out there, so may want to play with those options down the road. What was the other power tube you tried? ...kind of like to hear what KT77's would sound like someday...
rikm
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I have heard mixed things about using the KT77's in these. I tried a set of el34's but to be honest I liked the 6CA7's better. I have not spent a ton of money on vintage 34's but I would run her like it is for a bit before pouring money down the hole. Ray ships pretty quick and the packing is excellent. Good luck and enjoy!
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Congrats!
While tube amps do not like tough loads, they also do not like NO loads.
Whatever you do, do not unplug the speakers from a powered "on" tube amp - removing that load from certain amps can damage them....
Some tube amps handle the lack of a load fine... like my FE.
Treat it like a baby... these guys are not built like our SS amps.
But yeah - congrats!Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R -
thanks Joey_V
...just got it yesterday afternoon, all good so far...may be too much amp for the office...was thinking it would replace the small EL84 amp that drives the old M7's in there, but having heard it am going to have to try it out on the 707's in the big room...
Those are on chips now, old NAD stuff, and they sound fine, but this thing is great...any thoughts on the relatively low tube power driving the big speakers?
rikm
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You should be fine on the 707's, you may not get the spl's of a good SS amp, but certainly enough for music listening. Congrats btw....she's a looker.HT SYSTEM-
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lsi 9's -
thanks tony_b,
...and well they sound great...have to say the amp is pretty amazing for the price, even with the relatively low output power next to the chips, the sonics are seriously well defined.
May have to re-think the old NAD 2200's that run as a bridged pair in the house system, there is plenty of power of course but they sound almost flat next to the tubes... had heard that comment made before WRT the general sound character of some mono-blocs, but didn't credit it before now...can anyone comment on the 'dual mono flatness' thing from experience?
...going to have to move a different chipset into place just to see if a single 2-channel amp sounds more lively...or maybe just reconfigure one of the 2200's back to stereo and test it that way...
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Newbie here. I just bought the Silk Audio MS-38 thanks to lurking on this forum for awhile. I just wanted to reaffirm what the others are saying. This is a great tube amp for the money. I've got about 15 hours on it so far. Does anybody know what the 8 little red rubber caps that came with the unit are for? They are about the size of valve stem caps.
