Mono blocked SET OTL rig - done at last!

BlueMDPicker

F1nut told me I'd never melt the big roll of Cardas solder I bought for my SDA SRS crossover upgrades - wrong!

Here's my completed flea power rig (top to bottom):

Shanling CD T-100 w/Level 1 Parts Connexion mod running a pair of Bendix Red Bank TE-21s in the tube buffer stage, driving

A pair of Transcendent Sound SE OTL amps bridged mono (4 wpc pure Class A)

Transcendent Sound Balanced Power Supply

Bruce Rozenblit calls his kits "High end for the rest of us." I couldn't agree more!

BlueMDPicker

The SET OTL rig is driving the Cain & Cain Abbys. My 35 year old Maggie MG-Is are driven by a Counterpoint SA-100 tube/mosfet hybrid (not in rack for picture.)

dorokusai

Cute and Shiny.

reeltrouble1

Nice Mike, very nice.

Early B.

Now that's just f**kin' gorgeous.

steveinaz

[Cartman]

Kick ****!

[/Cartman]

phuz

Originally posted by dorokusai
Cute and Shiny.

I bet it sounds good too.

BlueMD, where is your pre-amp?

AsSiMiLaTeD

Very cool!

F1nut

I'll be over.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Originally posted by phuz

BlueMD, where is your pre-amp?

maybe that CDP has the capability to go direct to the amp, like a built in preamp like that Benchmark DAC everyone's talking about??

RuSsMaN

Cool stuff Mike. SE OTL on the FR drivers has got to be mid-range nirvana.

Cheers,
Russ

BlueMDPicker

Thanks to all for the comments. It sounds even better than it looks.

Yes, the CDP has sufficient gain (2.3 volts/6-8 db, unpublished) to drive the amps directly. That was my sole reason for acquiring it. Of course, it helped tremendously that my wife loves the cosmetics as well. The Bendix Red Bank dual triodes provide somewhere between 1.5 and 2 db more gain. Chris Johnson (Parts Connexion) told me they were the "holy grail" of tubes for the Shanling, but were next to impossible to find (they have not been produced for 40 years.) I now have two NIB, mint pair.

The concept with this rig was to eliminate any and all extraneous components from the signal path. CDP -> Amps -> Speakers. I only require one pair of ICs for the entire setup.

OTL amps (for those who are not familiar) have no output transformers (Output Transformerless), and are direct tube coupled to the output. It's the most transparent and dynamic sound I've yet to hear.

Coupled with the single driver, Voigt pipe enclosures this is about as few "moving parts" as possible with an analog system.

DAGLJAM6

Sweet set up BMDP! I'm on the way home to listen to my "just arrived" nOrh SE-9 (9wpc) lookin' like a pretty good weekend of listening coming on......

BobMcG

I came really close to buying a Shanling SCD-T200 SACD player.... was very tempted. I don't know anyone with experience with one... but now that I see you have the T100, is it foolish to even ask what you think of it?

BTW: Beautiful system!

BlueMDPicker

Thanks again.

Bob - Mark Allen (emlyn) posted some comments about the T200 SACD Shanling around here not long ago. As for the T100, it's excellent in all respects from my experience.

halo

Very Nice. Very Clean. Very Cool! :cool:

jtgranby

Very nice, I'll give you a hollar tomorrow late afternoon.

JT

Early B.

The Bendix Red Bank dual triodes provide somewhere between 1.5 and 2 db more gain. Chris Johnson (Parts Connexion) told me they were the "holy grail" of tubes for the Shanling, but were next to impossible to find (they have not been produced for 40 years.) I now have two NIB, mint pair.

Tell us more. What do you think of them? How do they compare with other 6N3 (396A, 5670) tubes you've tried?

Early B.

I'm on the way home to listen to my "just arrived" nOrh SE-9 (9wpc) lookin' like a pretty good weekend of listening coming on......

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the Norh SE-9. Keep us posted. Thanks. What speakers are you driving with them?

madmax

I just heard Mikes system this afternoon. It is very special! All sounds reproduced as intended by the artists, I'm sure. At times it has sounds coming from all around the room, even from the back! Very nice indeed!!!
madmax

organ

Amazing! You have some kick **** gear there, Mike. Congrats on finishing up the rig.

Just wondering about your amp. I know it's OTL for sure but I thought SE (Single Ended) means only a *single* output tube?

Now that CD player is a work of art. Beautiful.

Maurice

danger boy

very nice. when's the party at your place?

organ

Originally posted by danger boy
very nice. when's the party at your place?

LOL. I'm gonna bring a truck load of liquor, make you guys drink until you pass out and I'm running out with that CD player:p .

Maurice

Tour2ma

Nice, Mike.

I assume a review is in the offing.

Aside: Would like to chat Counterpoint with you this weekend if you're taking calls...

BlueMDPicker

Originally posted by organ
Just wondering about your amp. I know it's OTL for sure but I thought SE (Single Ended) means only a *single* output tube?

Maurice,

Thanks!

In the traditional sense, a SET circuit uses a single output tube. However, this design employs several in parallel that act as one, to amplify both the positive and negative polarity portions of the music signal. In contrast, most amplifiers are configured so that the positive polarity of the signal is amplified by one output device and the negative polarity is amplified by another device -- or push-pull -- and the music signal is handed from one device to the other, and back again with each cycle of the frequency being amplified.

Mike

BlueMDPicker

Originally posted by Early B.
Tell us more. What do you think of them? How do they compare with other 6N3 (396A, 5670) tubes you've tried?

The Bendix Red Bank TE-21 is a 2C51 type dual triode that was produced exclusively by a division of Bendix Aviation during the late '50s and early '60s. It was manufactured solely for the military and was an integral part of the on-board guidance circuitry for ICBMs. Every TE-21 produced was tested for 100 hours, and had to match sections exactly, before it was allowed out the door. The cost, to the government, of every tube produced is estimated to be in excess of $250 (1950s dollars.) In the true cold war, M.A.D. dark humor of the era, the TE-21 was nicknamed the "Commie Smasher" by the plant employees at Red Bank, NJ.

It's the only triode I've seen (I'm sure there must be others) whose data sheet graphs characteristics at different altitudes and temperatures (an important consideration in a missle), as well as warm-up time (45 seconds) and minimum service life (10,000 hours.) It has a transconductance of nearly twice any other commercially produced tube of its type. Its amplification factor is in excess of 40 -- versus a factor of 35 for the standard 2C51.

My initial impressions of the tube, after approximately 40 hours of listening, are pure, transparent gain without any hint of coloration, yet not the least bit analytically sterile or harsh edged.

In one of life's strange quirks of fate it is more than a bit ironic to me that the "Commie Smashers" are now driving circuitry made in China and on into the SE bank of Russian 6C19pi triodes. Harmony in a world of difference!

DAGLJAM6

BMDP, Do you have a link to the Transcendent Sound website if one exists?

EarlyB, I'll post impressions on the SE9 in another thread once I receive one other tubed integrated that I recently purchased.

Dave

BlueMDPicker

Hi Dave,

Transcendent Sound

BTW - Here's a picture for all the tube lovers of the "Commie Smashers"

DAGLJAM6

Mike, great site!
As an aside a few people on the forum were looking for a decent
tube preamp ,looks like the kit offered by Transcendent might be a deal.

madmax

Mike let me hold one of the Commie Smashers. Lets just say I was a more than a little nervous.
madmax

dorokusai

Mike did some double blind stuff on me too, and it hurt....I don't recall what exactly it was, but don't drink his sodas.