What did you do to your stereo rig today?

mhardy6647

indyhawg wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

indyhawg wrote: »

I picked up some ADS L880s locally yesterday. I gave them a listen today in the small room for a couple hours. Once I got though playing around with placement for them, they sounded pretty good.

FWIW, and not that you asked and not that you may even be interested in my opinions! But I thought (think) that the L-710 and L-810 are quite a bit better sounding than the L-780 and L-880. I got a gorgeous pair of L-780s, in their boxes, from a coworker years back. A few listens comparing them to my dump-find L-710s... and I sold the L-780s for what I paid for them. And all y'all know I don't get rid of much.

Haven't heard an L-880 for many, many, many years... but I reckon it would be the case for that one, too (and... heh... also FWIW, I like the L-710 better than the L-810, which I always found a little thick sounding, relatively speaking).

Not that any of this matters one whit, but I still felt moved to share it.

Gee.....thanks for raining on a parade.

Sorry! Believe it or not, I did think twice before posting that stuff -- I just failed to act upon my better judgement. I do apologize.

You said they sound pretty good; I agree!

treitz3

Found it. Radii MPP-M8 tube amp. 8 watts - https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/68610/radii-mpp-m8-stereo-tube-amplifier

Apparently after researching this again tonight, it was more than a resistor that blew up. This was that little 8 watt tube amp I was talking about. Might have to send this one down to Hotlanta when I get the Dodd MLP repaired.

Tom

TEAforONE

Hi Tom,that sounds like an interesting amp. Get her up and running!!
Ray

mhardy6647

treitz3 wrote: »

Found it. Radii MPP-M8 tube amp. 8 watts - https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/68610/radii-mpp-m8-stereo-tube-amplifier

Apparently after researching this again tonight, it was more than a resistor that blew up. This was that little 8 watt tube amp I was talking about. Might have to send this one down to Hotlanta when I get the Dodd MLP repaired.

Tom

The resistor was most likely a symptom -- a victim of the root cause
Could still be something very simple (e.g., a tired output tube - or tubes - that couldn't hold bias) -- do you know what kind of bias scheme the amp uses?

treitz3

Nope. No manual adjustments though IIRC.

Tom

TEAforONE

I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?

gudnoyez

Warming up the ol Parasound by airing out the A9's getting the man cave HT rig ready for some Sunday football games.

treitz3

Nothing to the rig itself but to the room. Cleaned up and finally put away the stacks of CD's have been going through rotation lately. Also rectified an issue that has been bugging me for a while. The overhead light.

Whenever I turned it on, the flush mount dome light would essentially blind me when I turned it on while at the same time, didn't provide me with enough light to see the titles of the CD's hung up on the wall.

I installed an oil rubbed bronze track light that I thought I would hate (not a big fan of track lighting AT ALL) but almost instantaneously liked quite a bit when I turned it on. The light no longer blinds me when I turn it on, the rig is clearly the focal point of the room now and I can clearly read all of the CD titles up on the wall (I have about a 5 or 6 foot stack, about 80 or so wide)


This stock photo above is in the wrong finish (nickle) but it is what it looks like. Looks better in person, IMO.

Add in these...



.....which were already installed and it really sets the ambience in the room. I know it's a small pleasure that probably amounts to sheer pettiness or a *rolls eyes* moment to some here but when I close my eyes now, I enjoy the music a bit better because I don't have this heavy blob of light shining through my eyelids.

With that said, while I typically can not stand track lighting, it turned out to be just what the doctor ordered in the listening room. Perfect application.

Tom

mhardy6647

TEAforONE wrote: »

I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?

This was a fun little PP 6AQ5 stereo console amp (of Canadian provenance) that spent some years at the ol' Hardy place after being procured at a local antique radio/audio swapmeet.

PP 6AQ5 console amp 021714 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

I couldn't resist it at the asking price... but when I actually listened to it, I was astonished by how good it sounded.

A shelf queen no more, the amp has since been passed along to an analog luminary who lives in the wilds of New York state.

TEAforONE

mhardy6647 wrote: »

TEAforONE wrote: »

I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?

This was a fun little PP 6AQ5 stereo console amp (of Canadian provenance) that spent some years at the ol' Hardy place after being procured at a local antique radio/audio swapmeet.

PP 6AQ5 console amp 021714 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

I couldn't resist it at the asking price... but when I actually listened to it, I was astonished by how good it sounded.

A shelf queen no more, the amp has since been passed along to an analog luminary who lives in the wilds of New York state.

One of the nice things with the 6aq5's is you can roll tubes on the cheap! Was your amp turnkey?

mhardy6647

TEAforONE wrote: »

mhardy6647 wrote: »

TEAforONE wrote: »

I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?

This was a fun little PP 6AQ5 stereo console amp (of Canadian provenance) that spent some years at the ol' Hardy place after being procured at a local antique radio/audio swapmeet.

PP 6AQ5 console amp 021714 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

I couldn't resist it at the asking price... but when I actually listened to it, I was astonished by how good it sounded.

A shelf queen no more, the amp has since been passed along to an analog luminary who lives in the wilds of New York state.

One of the nice things with the 6aq5's is you can roll tubes on the cheap! Was your amp turnkey?

Yup -- although 100% original as found, but it worked fine and sounded... pretty amazing.

Had I ever rehabbed it, I'd've done something to drop the HV a tad bit for modern AC mains. Easy way to do that would be to go to a rectifier with a higher voltage drop than the 5U4GB or whatever it was that was in there.

TEAforONE

Today I received the Amperex Holland Rogers 12AX7's I ordered last week. I'm VERY impressed!! Great tone,definition,and a gigantic soundstage.

audioluvr

Tube rolling! Got a matched set of Sylvania tall black plate halo 12au7's with the Baldwin Logo on them today to match my Hallicrafters. I liked the sound of the Hallicrafters so much I bought these as a back up just in case something happened to these. I'm surprised there is even a difference in sound with identical tubes! These baldwins are a little more forward (?) and edgy or raspy or something. Haven't decided it I like that or not yet. Sounds great when listening to techno though. With the volume all the way down and tapping on the Hallicrafters they were virtually dead silent. One of the Baldwins gave out a good amount of tapping sound through the speaker so I may mark that one as noisy and see if I can find a quiet one.

How are you tube guys dampening your pre's? I read somewhere online that you should put some closed cell foam under the feet of a tubed pre so it doesn't pick up external noises.

treitz3

I use footers that isolate/decouple the vibrations and if needed, I will put a Herbie's ring or the like around the problematic tube. Keep the tubes as far away from subs and the speakers as possible.

The question you asked will have 100's of different answers and is kinda an open ended question. I'm not suggesting that you need too, but starting a separate thread on this particular subject may help you a lot more than on this particular thread.....too many other subjects going on in here.

Just a thought...

Tom

displayname

I picked up the unusual Usher T-515 from Skip this past weekend. The price was right, and they work very well in my small-ish room. I was also impressed with the build quality once we started packing them up and I really got my hands on them. These will likely be here until I can make a bigger leap on to new speakers.

verb

Awesome brother! Looks great!

audioluvr

Finally got my B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks back from getting refreshed. Letting them burn in.

TEAforONE

Today I swapped out the Amperex Holland Rogers 12ax7's for the Sylvania red label 12at7's. To my ears, the Sylvania's seem to throw a bigger soundstage. Oh,and before I forget,last night I put the Chartwells back in the system.

GlennDog

displayname wrote: »

I picked up the unusual Usher T-515 from Skip this past weekend. I was impressed with the build quality once we started packing them up and I really got my hands on them. These will likely be here until I can make a bigger leap on to new speakers.

NICE!

Do I spy a Dueventi? Thoughts? End game kit?

Thanks, man!

displayname

GlennDog wrote: »

displayname wrote: »

I picked up the unusual Usher T-515 from Skip this past weekend. I was impressed with the build quality once we started packing them up and I really got my hands on them. These will likely be here until I can make a bigger leap on to new speakers.

NICE!

Do I spy a Dueventi? Thoughts? End game kit?

Thanks, man!

I LOVE the Dueventi. But the fact of the matter is that 10/20 watts only gets you so far. Because my room is fairly small and bright, it gives me more speaker options, but even then it's not going to work with a lot of speakers.

If I end up with endgame speakers that are high enough efficiency I could certainly see sticking with it for a very long time. But if I move to a bigger space and fall in love with some high efficiency speakers, I would probably need to make an amp change. It's also just the start of the Mastersound line. It's hard to say the Dueventi is end game when I know the Evo 845 exists, lol.

Polkaguy58

I've been reconfiguring my speaker storage and decided to move them for easier accsess when I wat to swap them out.
It's a lot easier now without have to go fishing in the closet.
Really enjoying the new foam collars that I made my full rangers.
I may experimnt with different density foams in the future.

audioluvr

Polkaguy58 wrote: »

I see two things very wrong here. Black Velvet and what appears to be a inordinate amount of pubic hair on those speakers.

CH46E

Polkaguy58 wrote: »

I've been reconfiguring my speaker storage and decided to move them for easier accsess when I wat to swap them out.
It's a lot easier now without have to go fishing in the closet.
Really enjoying the new foam collars that I made my full rangers.
I may experimnt with different density foams in the future.

Are those Dayton drivers? I've been wanting to try some full range drivers for a long time.

Willow

audioluvr wrote: »

Polkaguy58 wrote: »

I see two things very wrong here. Black Velvet and what appears to be a inordinate amount of pubic hair on those speakers.

After many drinks, those port holes could look tempting.... to some

GlennDog

displayname wrote: »

It's hard to say the Dueventi is end game when I know the Evo 845 exists, lol.

Point taken. I’m glad you’re dig’n your system!

Unfortunately, I have not been able to get my ears on MastersounD
Could you briefly describe their house sound?

Thanks again

Jaybeez

Just left a call back message to Polk Customer Service. Gonna buy some RDO198s for the Monitor 7's (series 2).

Polkaguy58

CH46E wrote: »

Polkaguy58 wrote: »

I've been reconfiguring my speaker storage and decided to move them for easier accsess when I wat to swap them out.
It's a lot easier now without have to go fishing in the closet.
Really enjoying the new foam collars that I made my full rangers.
I may experimnt with different density foams in the future.

Are those Dayton drivers? I've been wanting to try some full range drivers for a long time.

Yes, they're the 6.5" full range and I like them, but they do have the typical midrange "honk" like most do.
I took care of that with a Schitt Loki EQ and my home made dampeners.
Decreasing the Loki's 8K knob, does wonders for removing syblence (or however the hell you spell it).
That's dust and cat fur you see on the speaker surrounds, which will happen to a speaker in this house without a screen on it.

Polkaguy58

Willow wrote: »

audioluvr wrote: »

Polkaguy58 wrote: »

I see two things very wrong here. Black Velvet and what appears to be a inordinate amount of pubic hair on those speakers.

After many drinks, those port holes could look tempting.... to some

The Black Velvet bottle was found in my very first apartment in 1979.
I've used it for a door stop among other things over the last 40 years.

displayname

GlennDog wrote: »

displayname wrote: »

It's hard to say the Dueventi is end game when I know the Evo 845 exists, lol.

Point taken. I’m glad you’re dig’n your system!

Unfortunately, I have not been able to get my ears on MastersounD
Could you briefly describe their house sound?

Thanks again

They are first and foremost amazingly quiet and when paired with appropriate speakers have solid dynamics for a tube amp. They don't provide the hardest hitting or fastest base compared to good solid state, but the top end is very refined and the imaging and depth they can produce is stunning.

I believe the Duventi specifically is a little more midrange forward than other models, but not to any extent where it feels overly elevated or overpowering the rest of the bandwidth. In general I find them to be quite balanced. But again, it's all about good speaker matching. I think you can only really evaluate an amp if you've heard it with several speakers. At this point I have heard the Duventi with a decent number of speakers, but I haven't heard near as variations on the higher up models. @marvda1 has a Compact 845, and he can probably speak in more detail about a "house" sound.

I can tell you I would take that 845 in a second if I could. It seems to have all the advantages of the Duventi, with some extra oomf when you need it.

GlennDog

displayname wrote: »

They are first and foremost amazingly quiet and when paired with appropriate speakers have solid dynamics for a tube amp. They don't provide the hardest hitting or fastest base compared to good solid state, but the top end is very refined and the imaging and depth they can produce is stunning.

I can tell you I would take that 845 in a second if I could. It seems to have all the advantages of the Duventi, with some extra oomf when you need it.

Thank you, good sir!