Hangin' Out with Mr. Ben

Early B.
Early B. Posts: 7,900
edited September 2008 in The Clubhouse
I hung out today with Ben. He's helping me perform some mods on my monos. Got a chance to check out the "FrankenPolks." I had never seen speakers that were seven feet tall!!! Let's see -- 4 tweeters, 16 midrange drivers, and 4 woofers in each cabinet. They sound very impressive, even though they're not quite finished yet. We're talking concert size sound in your living room. I didn't dare push the volume beyond the 8 o'clock mark (where 7 'oclock is no sound).

Ben is very cool and extremely knowledgeable about the technical aspects of the audio world. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and look forward to returning in a couple of days to pick up the amps. Right now we're adding a few caps and resistors. I'll post pics and a review in a few.
HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

"God grooves with tubes."
Post edited by Early B. on
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited September 2008
    It's always a pleasure to meet Polkies. I was going to start a thread "Look at my new 120 watt tube mono blocks":D It was real nice to hang out. Laid back audio talk:)
    See you soon!
    Ben
    BTW Pics can not show how big those amps are. I would hold one for a photo op, but I don't need to hurt myself. Huge!
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited September 2008
    We did finish, and test one amp. No smoke:)DSCN1203.jpg?t=1221089664
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited September 2008
    ben62670 wrote: »
    We did finish, and test one amp. No smoke:)
    Once you let the smoke out, it's hard to get it back in. :D

    Nice choice of caps!
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,335
    edited September 2008
    Beautiful! I'll bet that generates some heat:eek: Turn on the air conditioning. I hope that you gents had a good time.
    Carl

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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,987
    edited September 2008
    Cool amps, a little young to have rust on the trannies already - are they original?
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited September 2008
    Again my camera sucks. The trannies don't have but a tiny bit of surface rust. From the pics he sent me earlier I couldn't fathom the size of these suckers!
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited September 2008
    Wow, that looks like fun!!!!
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited September 2008
    RuSsMaN wrote: »
    Cool amps, a little young to have rust on the trannies already - are they original?

    Yeah, the pics make it look 10x worse than it is. I'm guessing the amps are 8 - 10 years old.

    Can't wait to get 'em back and fire them up. Uh, Ben, I'm gonna get 'em back, right?

    Schwarcw -- you're correct, the amps get hot as Hades, by design. Cathode biasing (whatever that means) is the culprit. The good thing is it's plug & play -- no need to manually bias the power tubes. Been thinking about incorporating some fans, but I dunno yet.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited September 2008
    Here are a few pics. The first two pics show the size of the new caps and resistors relative to the old ones. Caps are Mundorf Supreme. The pics don't really show how big they really are. Those suckers barely fit on the board, but Ben meticulously made it work.

    The next pic shows the amp without the tubes to expose the Mills resistors. The last pic are Ben's bohemoths.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited September 2008
    I especially like the toe nail clippers, one of the highly technical tools needed.

    Whats left to say. Oh Yea,

    Tubes Rule.

    Cool amp, looks great, lets get the SQ report.

    RT1
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  • Fireman32
    Fireman32 Posts: 4,845
    edited September 2008
    Awesome!!!!
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  • george daniel
    george daniel Posts: 12,096
    edited September 2008
    Very nice work,Ben,,Very nice amps,Brad,,well I guess it's time to walk up the hill again.

    BTW--talk about monster speakers---wow
    JC approves....he told me so. (F-1 nut)
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited September 2008
    Those speakers look insane! I'd love to hear 'em.
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  • TouchOfEvil
    TouchOfEvil Posts: 967
    edited September 2008
    Nice looking upgrade. I coudn't imagine having that set up cranked up. It's gotta be mind numbing.
    Living Room Rig:D
    Rotel RSP-1069/Rotel RMB-1095/Rotel-1072/Polk lsI15's W/modded xoverW/DBsubs/Polk LsiC/lsI7's/Klipsch sub-12"the weak link"/DLP Mitsubishi 65"
    Xbox360/PS3/WII
    M.Br. setup:)
    Emotiva MMC-1/Rotel RMB-1075/Polk BlackStone TL350's/Velodyne SPL1000/Samsung 51" Plasma
    Computer Rig:
    Rotel RB1050/Tannoy DC4's/Klipsch RW-10d/ImodIpod/HK AVR230 for now....
    Headphones-Ultrasone-HFI780's w/LittleDot MK Vamp Portables Panasonic HJE-900's
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  • wz2p7j
    wz2p7j Posts: 840
    edited September 2008
    Ben is cool. Good dude - Chris
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited September 2008
    Those are some nice amps EB and great work Ben! That board looks great with those new caps.
    Jake
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  • doctorcilantro
    doctorcilantro Posts: 2,028
    edited September 2008
    Are those KT-88s? And 12ax7? 6922?

    Watts per channel...120w?

    Bet they sound nice.

    Dc
    For Sale 2019:
    Tortuga Audio LDR passive preamp
    Decware EL34 amp
    Allnic H-1201 phono
    Zu Union Cubes
    iFi iDSD DAC, .5m UBS, iFI Gemini cable, Oyaide Tunami XLR 1.3M, Oyaide Tunami Speaker wire 1.5M, Beyerdynamic DT1990 headphones, PS Audio P3 power center

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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited September 2008
    4 88's 2 au7's, and one ax7?
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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