Red Wine Signature 70.2 LFP-V Monos

audiocr381ve

Pulled the trigger on these a few days ago. Yeah, I've been on a hunt!

Just a little background on these amps. They are battery powered and have a tube stage (6922 tubes). They had some very respectable NOS Amperex 7308
vintage gold pin, platinum grade tubes installed from Upscale Audio. I decided to give them a go with the Chord Hugo pulling DAC & Preamp duties.

I had never been so underwhelmed in my life. There was lower treble energy that was just bugging me. It sounded flat too, but I slept on it and gave it another day. The end of day 2 rolls around and the results were the same.

I put the Rogue Perseus Magnum tube pre in the mix and things start livening up. Much better. I sit on that for a few hours and then I decide to swap in the stock JJ's that come with the amps.

Holy guacamole! Golden flakes of manna start shimmering down from the heavens. It's that good. Ask me why the stock JJ's smoke the NOS Amperex and I'd say it's just a synergy thing. I bought a pair of Tungsram 6922's from Upscale Audio to see if the amps would open up even more.

The system is in such a good place right now. Like I mentioned, I have a pair of Tungsram tubes on the way for the amps but I also ordered a quad set of Amperex Bugle Boy 12AU7's for the Rogue preamp. I'm just happy the JJ's just absolutely work in my system right now. It's sounding sublime across all genre's.

Very happy right now! Rock on dudes

tonyb

As long as your beating yourself between the legs with a bamboo stick, rock on bro.

heiney9

In my experience tubes will always make or break a piece of tube gear. It is odd that a current JJ tube outperforms a tried and true gem from the era like the Amperex, but it can happen. That's not ever happened to me with signal tubes, perhaps with power tubes, but not on the scale you describe.

There is a huge difference in my Mini Max between a solid performer like a mid 60's Mullard short plate vs. a 1957 long plate, foil bar D getter Valvo Hamburg made tube. It goes from very good to absolutely sublime. I have had that same experience with rectifier tubes as well, even among the same brands.

Rock on

H9

P.s. I still think the way you flip gear at a moments notice it's hard to take your posts seriously. But if you are enjoying it all, that's all that matters.

audiocr381ve

DSkip wrote: »

Synergy is a pain man. The difference between poor, ok, good, and magnificent performance can be as easy as replacing a single piece, whether it be a major component or a cable.

Amen to that. It's all the subtle differences that are the BIG differences.

heiney9 wrote: »

P.s. I still think the way you flip gear at a moments notice it's hard to take your posts seriously. But if you are enjoying it all, that's all that matters.

You are implying that I'm doing something incorrectly which doesn't make sense to me. This whole idea that you need 2 weeks to evaluate a piece of gear is a good idea but not the only way. Sometimes you just know! The thought that I should keep listening to gear that I don't like after several days of listening for an even longer period of time before I get rid of it sounds like a waste of time to me. I listened to the MF M6i integrated I bought for entire week and tried every possible configuration to try and get it to work with the Harbeth's but it just didn't jive.

audiocr381ve

heiney9 wrote: »

In my experience tubes will always make or break a piece of tube gear. It is odd that a current JJ tube outperforms a tried and true gem from the era like the Amperex, but it can happen. That's not ever happened to me with signal tubes, perhaps with power tubes, but not on the scale you describe.

I'm thinking the Harbeth's sound signature is a tricky one to mate gear with. They are already have a very natural, warm, and smooth nature to them so I think it's best to be careful when trying to add more of that. The JJ's maybe cool things down a touch which absolutely works. The JJ's are totally rocking the house.

audiocr381ve

Accident

heiney9

Except in many cases what I initially thought was great, turned out, after much more listening to not be so great and visa-versa.

Many times the differences are just in nuances that it takes many listening sessions to flesh out. I agree, in some cases a dud is a dud. But there have been more than a handful of instances in my long time in this hobby where I might have dismissed something really, really good, that initially just didn't float my boat. I'm glad I wasn't hasty in rushing to judgment, or because I wanted to get my ears on the next greatest piece.

That's all I'm saying. Look at someone like Ray (Darqueknight) he takes many different listening sessions and uses a methodology, takes notes, etc before deciding.

But if you have the golden ear and can decide on the spot and swap in multiple pieces at once..........then I guess you have a leg up on us old geezers

audiocr381ve

heiney9 wrote: »

But if you have the golden ear and can decide on the spot and swap in multiple pieces at once..........then I guess you have a leg up on us old geezers

Hahaha nice! I used to not be able to take a jab but we're all such good friends now :P

I totally hear what you're saying *pun absolutely intended* and have nothing but respect for ya. I'll swap the Amperex back in next week and see if my mind was playing tricks on me to be sure.

heiney9

Great, cause I'm just jabbing a little, but it's nice to see we can have a little fun without getting our panties in bunch, like the old days. .

I get what you're saying too, just not in every case. I have a certain methodology I use regardless of that initial impression. I tend to follow that evaluation methodology for everything, all the way until the end. It gives me peace of mind to know I gave it a fair and consistent shot before I make the final decision.

Of course, like I said, sometimes a dud is a dud.

Good luck and keep on rockin'

H9

audiocr381ve

heiney9 wrote: »

Great, cause I'm just jabbing a little, but it's nice to see we can have a little fun without getting our panties in bunch, like the old days. .

I get what you're saying too, just not in every case. I have a certain methodology I use regardless of that initial impression. I tend to follow that evaluation methodology for everything, all the way until the end. It gives me peace of mind to know I gave it a fair and consistent shot before I make the final decision.

Of course, like I said, sometimes a dud is a dud.

Good luck and keep on rockin'

H9

Hah, touché.

I installed the Tungsram 6922's I just got in from Upscale Audio today and my initial impressions are very good. They are very extended without a hint of harshness. They're really quiet too. They seem to bring all of the micro detail right up front which I'm liking. Will give it some time to form a real opinion on them