ASL Wave 8

audiobliss

Well, they're here! I checked FedEx.com this morning to see when they should get here, and it said they were delivered at 9:48 and left at the garage door, so I ran out and....there they were! I took some pics as I unpackaged them, so I'll post 'em below. Sorry if I go on and on about this...but hey, it was my first transaction...I have the right to be excited, right?



1. There's the box. It sure has enough 'Fragile' stickers on it. I think they worked.
2. There were only two 'spots' on the box that would show any signs of any kind of abuse, and they were very small. I am very impressed with how FedEx must have handled this box.
3. Here's the other 'spot'.
4. Here's the box opened up after I raked out all the (many many) peanuts.
5. There's everything laid out on my bed all wrapped up in bubble wrap.

audiobliss

1. After removing the bubble wrap I could see that each piece was tied up in a plastic bag.
2. There's everything 'unbagged' and sitting on my bed. You can see the AR interconnects RuSsMaN so generously threw in for me, the power cables, and the set of Ei tubes.
3. There's the front of one of them. I'd post the pic of the other one, but it's blurry.
4. There they both are sitting on the top of my desk.
5. And there they are sitting beside my RX-V1400 that I'm currently using as a pre and my Pannasonic portable CDP.

audiobliss

On a side note, I can't believe FedEx! I'm very impressed. I plugged in my tracking number and *bam* I got detailed information. It was even accurate down to each minute. For example, when I looked it up this morning it said that my package had left Charlotte this morning at 3:01, had arrived in Winston-Salem at 5:30, and had left on a delivery truck at 6:12 (boy they get up early). That's just amazing to be able to see that. Then after a while I checked again and it said that it had been left at my garage door at 9:48, so I go out and check. There it is! And as I already mentioned, the box was in very good condition, so they obviously treated it with a bit of care.

I'm not sure if you can do all that tracking with UPS, but I can say I'm impressed with FedEx.

I'm also impressed with RuSsMaN's job with packing (though who would imagine I wouldn't be?). They were wrapped up nicely in bubble wrap, placed in the thick of a bunch of peanuts, and then put in the perfect size box. Overall it was a very pleasant transaction (except for all the waiting!! ).

Thanks RuSsMaN! Much appreciated!

PolknPepsi

Having tube monoblocks is just plain cool.

What speakers are you using them on?

polkatese

nice, bliss! congrats! now you can get back to your calculus, it still look brand spanking new...;)

audiobliss

They're pushing my RF-35 right now. I may experiment with pushing my other speakers (Scott 208D and some older Alnico (sp?) magnet speakers), but they're for my RF-35 and will spend the vast majority of their time with them.

polkatese - Calculus? Nope, tonight I'm trying to write my paper for english. Though you can see I'm obviously not trying very hard!

audiobliss

I must say I'm surprised how warm they get. I don't think I was expecting them to get this warm. But, as you can see from the pic, they're not close to anything, so it's not a big deal.

I'm also a little disappointed with the humm I'm getting, but I guess that's just another incentive to get a new pre, right?

PolknPepsi

Great,
I heard that tubes go very well with Klipsch.....and a new tube pre would make it a double bonus.

audiobliss

PolknPepsi wrote:

Great,
I heard that tubes go very well with Klipsch.....and a new tube pre would make it a double bonus.

Indeed they do. And indeed a tube pre would be nice. It's definitely on my list, and now bumped up even higher now that I see that I have a 'humm' issue.

reeltrouble1

Congratulations on your mono-amps, you took a nice step, they are sweet little amps.

RT1

RuSsMaN

Disconnect any video sources, those amps are DEAD quiet. Glad you got them safe and sound. No comments on the sound? It should have been night and day with the Yammie's.

audiobliss

I don't have any video hooked up to the receiver. And I've already unplugged everything else on my desk from the wall. Should I switch ends with the IC?

audiobliss

As for the comments on the sound, I haven't really had time to do anything but hook them up and let them warm up while playing some background music. I do think the bass is a bit more pronounced, though. But I'm not sure.

audiobliss

Well, I just switched things up. I just hooked up my CDP directly to the monoblocks to see if that'd do away with the humm. I must say Eric Clapton Unplugged is sounding really nice... Anyways, when I turn the volume down all the way on my CDP there's just a little bit of static, but no humm to speak of. So does this mean my receiver is my problem?

Thanks for any help!!
audiobliss

RuSsMaN

Could be. I can't remember, do those amps have a ground lift switch on the rear, near the IEC? If so, power down, switch em and try again.

audiobliss

Nope, no switches on the back. However, I just know there's more bass in these songs than I had with my Yammy.

ND13

What kind of IC are you using? I got rid of 80% of the hum I initially had with my monos with a simple IC change. Seems that some ICs just don't work good with tube amps.

audiobliss

Acoustic Research. The seem to be pretty nice.

RuSsMaN

Maurice, they are cathode bias.

organ

More bass??? Are you kidding me. Those little suckers are only 8 watts a piece .

Congrats man. We're expecting a nice write up from you once they've settled down.

And yes, it's normal for tube equipments to run from warm to extremely hot. It's called thermionic emission and that's how tubes work.

Can't really help you with the hum. My guess is that it could be an impedance mis-match with your receiver's pre outs and the ASL's inputs. Hope you find the source of this hum soon.

Maurice

organ

Oops, forgot to ask. Do they have auto bias or manual?

audiobliss

What's that mean?

And what're the two wholes in the right side of the chasis for?

RuSsMaN

It means you don't have to bias the amps. The holes are where volume pots were instaled on each amp, but it killed the dynamics, so they were 86'd.

Ricardo

Hey , CONGRATS Audio........I had no idea you had bought this....I must have missed that. Tell us what you think when you get a good listen to them.....

madmax

I'm a little disappointed that you didn't show the opening of each flap of the box...
madmax

audiobliss

I took pics of those steps, and then pics after I removed each peanut. I could e-mail them to you if you're interested.

organ

Russ,
Do you think modifying my ST70 to auto bias will improve dynamics? I hear cathode bias adds distortion but a lot of excellent amps have them.

Maurice

RuSsMaN

Depends on the circuit. How could it possibly improve dynamics, by putting more inline with the tube?

audiobliss

NOTE: All the below comments are based on what I hear running my (portable) CDP directly to the monoblocks, completely avoiding use of the Yamaha, as I have no humm that way.

I still haven't had a good listening session with these ASL's yet, so I'll refrain from posting a 'review'. However, I have listened to them for probably around an hour or so now, and I'm pretty sure I hear some differences.

One of the biggest things that stands out to me is the bass. It's just totally different from the bass I had with the Yamaha. I always had a pretty good amount of bass (enough for me to marvel at), but I'm now addicted to the bass I get with these monoblocks. It just oozes from my speakers, and it just doesn't stop. It's a smooth, continuous, relentless source of bass. (I'd like to point out that it in no way seems to be 'inflated' or 'boomy'. Just more pronounced.)

I originally listened to some Eric Clapton and Bruce Hornsby on them, and that sounded quite good. However, I then popped in some Anna Nalick. Now, let me say this first. When I'm listening to someone sing, I want to be able to hear their enthusiasm in the song. I want their voice to scream (not literally) that they're 'into' the song and aren't just going through the motions. Paul Simon, Mark Knopfler, Jack Johnson, and Norah Jones can do this 'quiet thing' and still convey some emotion quite well, but pretty much everybody else has to be really belting it out for it to seem from the heart. Did I make that clear at all? Probably not, but oh well...

Anyhoo, when I listened to Anna Nalick, it didn't seem like she was really into the music. The highs and the vocals seemed to just be there without much enthusiasm or life being injected into them. Unfortunately, I don't remember if this is how she sounded on the Yamaha or not. I commented on this to Russ, and he said the Ei tubes were brighter, so I rolled them in to compare things.

(One of the reasons some music is seeming to be lifeless may very well be due to the fact that I'm practically running a passive pre. I'm thinking that by adding a tube preamp, I could add some life and body to the music and gain whatever little bit I've lost back. Comments on this?)

At this stage I still can't say anything definitively, but I am pretty certain things were brighter with the Ei tubes. I can't say that Anna Nalick had anymore enthusiasm this time around, but the 'brightness' was very appearant when I popped Bruce Hornsby back in. Every cymbal clash and everything else similar to it was very pronounced. Those sounds effortlessly punched through the air and pierced my ears. It was really amazing the impact they had with these tubes. Based on the fact that I didn't notice that with the (EDIT: Svetlana, not Sovtek) Sovteks, I'm going to conclude that the Ei tubes are brighter. One interesting thing to note is that the Ei tubes are running considerably cooler than the Sovteks did. Either that or something happened to the monoblocks. There is no way the difference in heat is in my head - it's an appreciable difference

The overall impact of the monoblocks is very amazing. They just fill the room with sound so well, and everything has new weight and emphasis. The overall presentation and greater impact has got to be the biggest difference, and it's pretty indescribable - so, I'll stop trying to describe it.

Just so you know, the albums I listened to were:
Bruce Hornsby - Here Come the Music Makers (disc one)
Billy Joel - Greatest Hits Volume I and Volume II (The Stranger)
Anna Nalick - Wreck of the Day (Breathe, Citadel, Paper Bag)

Dennis Gardner

If the 8s sound good, wait 'til you step up to the Monsoons or Hurricanes.

VR3

Cool! Bout time.

Anna Nalick is a no talent fruit cake. Nuff said.