upgrades....

madmax

Tubes do degrade over time. I forgot that one. Luckily they never degrade enough to sound as bad as a solid state unit. Sorry, I'm on a tube roll, or is it that I'm just rolling tubes? No matter. Tubes are kind of like religion. Once you see the light you feel this need to enlighten everyone else. Keep in mind I have a lot of good high quality SS stuff. The day I hooked up my first tube gear I felt as if I had been mislead. This is what sound is about! Now, what to do with all that other useless expensive gear? Well, it turns out SS amps are superior for sub bass, at least. Maybe a $2500 office amp? Na, I want tubes at work.
madmax

madmax

Aaron,
They do degrade over time. The ones I'm listening to cost a total of $90 to replace all 8 of them. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda anxious to replace some.

RuSsMaN

Cool beaners mm, thanks for settin' us straight...

Have you heard a tube spit? Just wondering what that means, if it doesn't mean it is nearing the end of its life-cycle....

Cheers,
Russ

madmax

That is close to the end but I don't know what is happening inside. Tubes are so cool! Let me really set you straight... Once you listen to them you will want them. I got one of my amps for $350 and the other one for $600. It's not like they broke the bank. They did break my heart when I compared them to what I had. In the past few months I have not even turned on any of the SS amps I have in the house. I even find the really good car stereo annoying not to mention the one in my office. Every SS amp I hear has that noise. It's like a garbled veil of sound that keeps you from hearing what is really there. It is somewhat like summing together all the really fine little sounds into only a few tones. No wonder it is hard to hear the little tweaks. A good example are interconnects. Before tubes (BT) I could change from one interconnect to another and after hours of listening to both I could conclude that I thought I heard a difference. After tubes (AT) I could plug in one inter connect after another an within the first 30 seconds detect what was different. Even the freakin power cords sound different. The SS stuff doesn't let you hear any of that. A realization I came to is that the original "tweak people" were not crazy, they just had tubes and could hear this stuff.
Believe me, 6 months ago I thought I was set for amplification. 4 soundcraftsmen, 5 carvers including 2 monoblocks and a sunfire 300. I only picked up my first tube amp as a toy to play with because it was cheap enough and I wanted to see this cool glow I had heard about. I didn't take it seriously at all. I figured it might be good enough for the bedroom or something. A week after that I ordered the second one for half what I paid for the first one. (about $350 including extra tubes). Now I want to replace all that other crap. I'm telling you, I just found out what many others have known for 40 years. I'll get off my soapbox now.
madmax

raycomics

MADMAX -


Does the Name "TubeHead" Ring a bell? (don't worry, its a compliment)

madmax

Bottlehead is the preferred term.
madmax

PS: I was just trying to enlighten. I wasted away 20 years collecting and listening to junk.

raycomics

Max -

Just poking Fun. Thanks for the posts.

I think what you are doing is what this forum is all about!

I know that I learned something from ya.

madmax

You better go wash your brain out with soap then.
maxbottlehead
()
--

Well,, that didn't work. Anyone know how to make a tube looking thingy?

tonyv1

I've just added the 24/96 Upsampling to my MSB Tech Link DAC III. The biggest improvement is in low level listening. You can hear the details very clearly, background vocals are clearly separate and clean. Very easy to test via A/B switching at the DAC.

raycomics

Tony -


Is that 24/96 an add-on device or a separate that matches up to just your DAC?

madmax

Tony,
I have been considering an outboard DAC. Why did you pick the one you have and would you do it over again? Do you have a link to their web site? A few weeks ago I was searching around for DACs and realized I have no clue which one to pick.
Thanks,
madmax

tonyv1

Guys,
The 24/96 Upsampling card is a user upgradable option. You just open the DAC, remove some jumpers, plug in the card and mount the switch. There is a jumper option on the board for 24/96 or 24/132. This option is for the Link DAC III boxes.
Check out www.msbtech.com for more info.

Tony V.

tonyv1

I found my DAC at Audio Advisors for $299 plus 10% coupon off just before Xmas. The list price jumped to $499 Jan 2002. My best friend has the MSB Link DAC III on his Rotel RCD 971 (very highly rated). Listening to that combination I decided that I wanted the same for my Rotel RCD 951 CDP. He got the 24/96 for Xmas, but I had to wait after taxes. Both CDP also have HDCD, but after installing the DAC I don't use the HDCD out of the CDP anymore (using the analog out of the CDP to the preamp).
Stereophile has some reviews of the MSB DAC on their web site.
Still even with this setup it can't beat the sound of vinyl.

Tony V.

madmax

Thanks for the info. That is close to the right price for me at $499 but I still hate to pay that much. I will try to find the Stereophile reviews too.
Thanks!
madmax

raycomics

But I have a MicroMega.BS.2 DAC, so I think that it might not work.

mpitogo

Aaron wrote: »

I would be curious to see how much more the RT55's have to offer. My guess is not too much.
Aaron

Not sure how I posted this,..