My Yaqin CD-2 is here!!!

concealer404

YAY!!!!

I'll be picking this up sometime this afternoon after i get off of work, then it's off to play.

I will of course be taking pictures. I'm excited, i hope this makes as big of a difference as Inspiredsports experienced with the CD-1. If it does, this will have been a great season for my rig, and for not that much money. Under $100 for the buffer, $38 for the speaker cables, and $7 for the spikes!

Jetmaker737

Great!... Have fun. It made a very definite change in my system. Let us know how it turns out.

zingo

I've heard good things.

danz1906

Congrats!

concealer404

Yeah, i have to research what i want to do for tubes... A tube upgrade is probably a month or two down the road, though, so i've got plenty of time to get my research on.

hearingimpared

Congrats! Now I suggest you find a local shrink and make an appointment for impending obsessive/compulsive disorder.

heiney9

Chinese tubes really suck compared to a nice pair of NOS type tubes.

Congrats.........Enjoy

TUBES ADD SOUL

concealer404

Keiko wrote: »

From what I've researched when I bought mine, the M8100's are among the best. I scored some Raytheon 6AK5W's for mine that sound pretty good also, concealer.

Here's some nice Mullard CV4010 equivalents on the cheap. You want to ditch the crappy Chinese 6J1's once it's broke in.

http://cgi.ebay.com/5654-6AK5-6096-CV4010-TUBE_W0QQitemZ150258062878QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item22fc14161e

Bought from this seller before. He's solid and ships fast.

You had the CD2, right? What tube variants am i looking for? This thing came with 6J1s. Keep in mind i got this thing before i did ANY research on tubes whatsoever.

hearingimpaired wrote:

Congrats! Now I suggest you find a local shrink and make an appointment for impending obsessive/compulsive disorder.

Ah well... could be fun.

heiney9 wrote:

Chinese tubes really suck compared to a nice pair of NOS type tubes.

Congrats.........Enjoy

TUBES ADD SOUL

Thanks man!

concealer404

Oh man, that first link is awesome, thanks mike!

The second one, couldn't find the 6J1.

george daniel

Jon can usually come up with whatever you're looking for,if you give him a little notice,,he obtained some 5ar4 moo-lards for me at a very reasonable price.

concealer404

Thanks guys... how do i know what the variants of the 6J1 are?

Conradicles

Have you got it hooked up yet? How does it sound?

concealer404

No, my girlfriend ordered it for me for xmas, and shipped it to her mother's house. I'll have it hooked up tomorrow.

nikolas812

Get it yet?







Nik

concealer404

nikolas812 wrote: »

Get it yet?







Nik

Mmmmmmhrrmmmmmmm...

It sounds fantastic. I'll update more tomorrow, but this seems to have solved my mids problem, and i'm not sure if i can attribute this to the buffer or not, but my bass roll-off seems to have extended lower? There was a particular note in one track on a CD that i've always noticed just wasn't there without a sub.

Well... now it's there.

kawizx9r

concealer404 wrote: »

Mmmmmmhrrmmmmmmm...

It sounds fantastic. I'll update more tomorrow, but this seems to have solved my mids problem, and i'm not sure if i can attribute this to the buffer or not, but my bass roll-off seems to have extended lower? There was a particular note in one track on a CD that i've always noticed just wasn't there without a sub.

Well... now it's there.

Wait til the tubes burn in..........or better yet wait until you roll tubes.

concealer404

kawizx9r wrote: »

Wait til the tubes burn in..........or better yet wait until you roll tubes.

Yeah, i'm going to order the cheapies that Mike recommended to get my feet wet, and go from there.

You need to come back and visit.

Nik, you do, too. I can't believe i even used to tolerate what this setup used to sound like, what it sounded like last time you were here. I think you'll **** yourself with the difference everything has made. And it was all cheap. Speaker cables, spikes, vibrapods under the CDP, and now this buffer. Under $150 for it all, and it's about a 1000% improvement. The 7s just won't be able to hang anymore.

Is it normal for one tube to glow brighter than the other, by the way?

sda2mike

i'm still digging mine!

concealer404

sda2mike wrote: »

i'm still digging mine!

What tubes did you try? Or did you just switch from the Chinese ones to what you've got in your sig?

If this pans out to be as good as i think it's going to be, i may start to think more seriously about trying their CDP.

heiney9

concealer404 wrote: »

Yeah, i'm going to order the cheapies that Mike recommended to get my feet wet, and go from there.

You need to come back and visit.

Nik, you do, too. I can't believe i even used to tolerate what this setup used to sound like, what it sounded like last time you were here. I think you'll **** yourself with the difference everything has made. And it was all cheap. Speaker cables, spikes, vibrapods under the CDP, and now this buffer. Under $150 for it all, and it's about a 1000% improvement. The 7s just won't be able to hang anymore.

Is it normal for one tube to glow brighter than the other, by the way?

My recommemdation, from experience, is pass on the cheapies and go for the better stuff. If you are hearing that much of a difference with the crappy chinese tubes you'll really freak out when you hear something along the lines of the Mullard's.

In most cases when I had a tube glow brighter than the other it was fine, in one case the tube blew out in less than an hour. Being you're using the el cheapo Chinese tubes...........it doesn't surprise me one bit one glows brighter than the other. Get some real tubes in there :D

H9

concealer404

heiney9 wrote: »

My recommemdation, from experience, is pass on the cheapies and go for the better stuff. If you are hearing that much of a difference with the crappy chinese tubes you'll really freak out when you hear something along the lines of the Mullard's.

In most cases when I had a tube glow brighter than the other it was fine, in one case the tube blew out in less than an hour. Being you're using the el cheapo Chinese tubes...........it doesn't surprise me one bit one glows brighter than the other. Get some real tubes in there :D

H9

So either pair that Mike recommended should be fine, yes? Or would i do well to be more patient and just grab the M8100s?

I appreciate everyone's help in this endeavor. I should have done more research beforehand, but i'm glad that i made the jump. But i'm also dreading what this jump is going to do to my wallet in the end. I'm going to try my best to at least hold steady on the Preamp not moving out of my system anytime soon.

hearingimpared

concealer404 wrote: »

So either pair that Mike recommended should be fine, yes? Or would i do well to be more patient and just grab the M8100s?

I appreciate everyone's help in this endeavor. I should have done more research beforehand, but i'm glad that i made the jump. But i'm also dreading what this jump is going to do to my wallet in the end. I'm going to try my best to at least hold steady on the Preamp not moving out of my system anytime soon.

I repeat:

hearingimpared wrote: »

Congrats! Now I suggest you find a local shrink and make an appointment for impending obsessive/compulsive disorder.

heiney9

When I bought my Dared pre-amp I immediately went on a buying spree snatching up close to 15 different types/years/variants of the tubes, if you add the rectifier to that make that 20+. I found the newer "cheaper" selling tubes were nice, but when I started getting into some of the 40's, 50's 60's tubes that's where I really noticed a HUGE difference. But I had to know, so that's why I experimented with close to $300+ in tubes.

It's fine to buy a pair of the cheaper alternatives, but don't settle. Keep doing your research and get a really nice tube like the Mullard 8100, etc.

This time around with the Dared VP16 tube integrated I just bought for the office rig.......I've already started at close to the top of the chain based on tube recommendations. In the end it's much cheaper and more satisfying :D.

Have fun, keep exploring and maybe even get a second job..........because you've opened your own Pandora's Box :D:)

H9

concealer404

hearingimpared wrote: »

I repeat:

Yeahhh.. that didn't take long, now did it?

heiny9 wrote:

When I bought my Dared pre-amp I immediately went on a buying spree snatching up close to 15 different types/years/variants of the tubes, if you add the rectifier to that make that 20+. I found the newer "cheaper" selling tubes were nice, but when I started getting into some of the 40's, 50's 60's tubes that's where I really noticed a HUGE difference. But I had to know, so that's why I experimented with close to $300+ in tubes.

It's fine to buy a pair of the cheaper alternatives, but don't settle. Keep doing your research and get a really nice tube like the Mullard 8100, etc.

This time around with the Dared VP16 tube integrated I just bought for the office rig.......I've already started at close to the top of the chain based on tube recommendations. In the end it's much cheaper and more satisfying .

Have fun, keep exploring and maybe even get a second job..........because you've opened your own Pandora's Box

H9

Alright, i think i'll get the cheaper ones that Mike linked, and then shoot for getting the 8100s by February.

Thanks!

concealer404

Well... these are definitely burning in.

Hooooooooly crap, i'm listening to DMB "Two Step" right now, and the acoustic guitar over the the intro is giving me goosebumps. Hell, the whole cd. Everything sounds so FAT and warm and mellow. This is amazing.

I can hear the sympathetic harmonics on the guitar strings. Damn. And i still can't get over the bass i'm getting.

coolsax

ok.. so excuse my naivete on this but is this hooked up between the DVDP and the Sansui?

kawizx9r

coolsax wrote: »

ok.. so excuse my naivete on this but is this hooked up between the DVDP and the Sansui?

The Onkyo is his amp the B&K his pre.

coolsax

ok.. so what exactly does the Tube buffer do then, and where does it go in chain of gear?

kawizx9r

coolsax wrote: »

ok.. so what exactly does the Tube buffer do then, and where does it go in chain of gear?

It can be placed between an amp and a preamp or a source and a preamp.

The signal runs from [component] through the tube buffer for added warmth and out to [component].

coolsax

ahh ok

concealer404

Yeah, i don't have my sig in signal order.

It's between my CDP and B&K. Though really, it's NEXT to the B&K.

I may try putting it between my Preamp and Amp, though. Not sure how much difference it would make with the other signals. (Cable box, PS2, tuna)