ELP back in the rig

ND13

Man, I had forgotten how REALLY GREAT this little pre sounds. I've been using it in an all tube rig ever since I got the MLP, but haven't ever used it with the Psound, Sheng Ya, and SRS 2s before. The MLP does a few things better than the ELP, but one thing the ELP does better, imo, is centering the vocals. The MLP. always seemed to be JUST a tad off to the left, but the ELP is dead center. I'll definitely be looking at getting another MLP, Anthem, or Cary tubed pre when I get back on my feet, but until then, the ELP does an outstanding job and is one piece of gear that'll never leave my house.

There's still something about the 6DJ8 variants I like better than the 12AX7/12AT7/12AU7 tubes. Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but the 6DJ8/6922/7308s just seem to be more musical. I know that I've not had the tube experience that some of you have, but I have had the chance to listen to a few different pres that utilize one or the other tube types and the 6DJ8s just do it better FOR ME. It's not a huge advantage by no means, just noticeable ENOUGH for me to make this decision.

There are so many tubed pres available now, it's mind-boggling. I can't wait to get back to where I can start playing again, so I can try out some of the other brands, like Manley, ASL, Jolida, BAT, etc, etc. I just know that, SO FAR, the preamp has been the link in the chain that has made the most noticeable changes(speakers not included). Maybe I would have said my source changes, but I had a decent source(modded AMC CD8b) before I got the Sheng Ya. The Sheng Ya was a nice improvement, just not as dramatic as the pres have made in MY rig.

Man it sucks not being able to play around. I miss it and am having audio withdrawals.

Ricardo

You'll get back into the game.......meanwhile, what you have is still VERY good.

Good luck!!!!!

audiobliss

HTrookie wrote:

You'll get back into the game.......meanwhile, what you have is still VERY good.

Ditto on both counts.

organ

You must have extra gear or speakers to play around with for now.

About the vocals being a little to the left on your MLP... Have you tried swapping tubes? Maybe the set you're using on the left have a much stronger emission.

You're right about the 6DJ8/6922 being very musical. To my ears, they're 'faster' sounding than the 12*7 series. Much more neutral with better HF extension too. I should be getting my Golden Tube Audio pre back soon from repairs. I love that pre so much. Very transparent and open using a single 6DJ8/6922.

Maurice

george daniel

you " da man":D

ND13

Fixed it, I think

Ricardo

ND13 wrote:

It didn't matter which quad(3 different) or where I put each tube. Tried all the different ways. It wasn't but maybe 8-10 inches offset. Nothing major. I actually remember my rig doing the same thing with HTRookie's Dared.

Really?
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35125

organ

Now that's strange. It looks like it was room acoustics with HTrookie but I don't understand why the MLP would be doing this. We know it's not room acoustics with yours because you get perfect balance with the ELP.

Did you contact Gary about this? Maybe there's a way to measure the voltage on the MLP's rca outs using pink noise and compare the voltage reading for the left and right channels.

Maurice

ND13

After thinking about it more, I don't think it's the MLP. I'm going to check a couple of other things and I'll get back if I can find the culprit.

organ

That's cool. Hope it's not the MLP. Hope you find the culprit soon.

dorokusai

ND13 wrote:

It didn't matter which quad(3 different) or where I put each tube. Tried all the different ways. It wasn't but maybe 8-10 inches offset. Nothing major. I actually remember my rig doing the same thing with HTRookie's Dared.

You noticed the issue earlier, but didn't address it until now?

RuSsMaN

organ wrote:

You're right about the 6DJ8/6922 being very musical. To my ears, they're 'faster' sounding than the 12*7 series. Much more neutral with better HF extension too.

It's going out SOON broham. And Im sending you SICK NOS 6DJ8's to roll. You won't ever buy another 6DJ8 again, you will have officially rolled them all.

I agree on the 6DJ8, it's my favorite line amp tube. I also like tha 12AU7, very low gain - but in the right setup I feel like I hear more of the amp, if that makes sense.

Cheers,
Russ

ND13

It was the amp. I guess during one of my IC swap outs, I must have bumped the gain knobs a TAD and knocked them out of adjustment.:o I guess I could blame it on the cat, huh???:D

The vocals aren't as left as they were, but they are just off a bit again, just slightly. Hell, it could be just the way the damn songs were recorded for all I know. Screw it, tommorrow, I'm going to try out the AMC 2100 amp in the PSound's place and see if anything changes in that regard.


I've been listening at low levels and have gotten up really close to each speaker and I think that I might have a bad tweeter, in my right side. I have some spares. so I'm gonna swap out the one that sounds...not quite right...and see if that will equalize everything out.

reeltrouble1

Well, Noel, I was going to say I dont have that problem with my MLP but see you discovered you problem.

Dont touch those controls when your drunk!!!

I am going to move my MLP to the Woodshed this weekend and the ELP to the Reel Time Rig, I want to hear the MLP with the Woodshed gear for a while. But man I am jonesin for a higher end BAT, just no dough.

Anyway, glad to hear your in business and I like the others really enjoy the 6dj8, of course the tele-smooth plates I got from the Russ Man are pretty effin cool with great sound.

RT1

ND13

Doh!!:o

ND13

reeltrouble1 wrote:

of course the tele-smooth plates I got from the Russ Man are pretty effin cool with great sound.

RT1

I had a quad of those for mine and I have another pair in my Wave 20s. While I like them, I actually enjoyed the sound of the Raytheon Black Plates with halo getters, better. They were as close to the 6DJ8 sound that I love so much.

I'm right there with ya on wanting to tryout some BAT gear, among others. I think it's VTL(?) that has another tubed pre that I read about, that sounded very interesting.

RuSsMaN

ND13 wrote:

COOL!!!! Sounds like someone might be due for something special from Kentucky;)

Don't send me any more of that Knob Bourbon man, its good goin' down, but hell the next morning.

I was talking to Maurice (organ), I'm sending his GTA preamp back to him, fixed, with some tubes I promised him a long time ago.

ND13

My bad. Misread. Oopsy.

organ

Russ,
Sheeeat! I'm so juiced. The ASL is great with the Tele and stuff but it doesn't have the SQ and charm of the GTA.

Looks like I'll be busy tube rolling for a looooong time:cool:

Please email me and let me know how much the repair, shipping, etc is after you send it out.

Noel,
That's an interesting point. I also noticed that on some albums, the vocals are slightly to one side sometimes. I have a few albums like this but the rest are centered.

Maurice

Flash21

Dang, when I read the heading to this thread I thought it was going to be about Emerson, Lake, and Palmer... Oh well

reeltrouble1

Not uncommon at all with vinyl to have one channel louder than the other, dependent upon the stylus, arm and so on, that is why they had the channel balance controls on all the pre's, they actually were a useful and necessary control back in the OLD DAYS!!!!:D Of course this caused all sorts of uneven wear, so we would record our albums to tape and play the hell out of them.

RT1

scottyf

One thing I've found to be true is that many volume controls (at least in stereo) mistrack at low levels, then get right once the volume is up. If you are listening at low levels, perhaps this is your problem (aside from bumping the controls out of wack....)

marvda1

has anyone compared the original elp with the new elp w/outboard transformer ?

steveinaz

IF I do another pre, it'll be tube.

carvin77

marvda1 wrote:

has anyone compared the original elp with the new elp w/outboard transformer ?

not yet