What did you do to your stereo rig today?
Comments
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I picked up some ADS L880s locally yesterday. I gave them a listen today in the small room for a couple hours. Once I got though playing around with placement for them, they sounded pretty good.
FWIW, and not that you asked and not that you may even be interested in my opinions!
But I thought (think) that the L-710 and L-810 are quite a bit better sounding than the L-780 and L-880. I got a gorgeous pair of L-780s, in their boxes, from a coworker years back. A few listens comparing them to my dump-find L-710s... and I sold the L-780s for what I paid for them. And all y'all know I don't get rid of much.
Haven't heard an L-880 for many, many, many years... but I reckon it would be the case for that one, too (and... heh... also FWIW, I like the L-710 better than the L-810, which I always found a little thick sounding, relatively speaking).
Not that any of this matters one whit, but I still felt moved to share it.
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Well......the blue tape is where the horns were the last time I set them up. I just can't leave well enough alone! I guess I'll move the tape in a few years when the speakers settle in their final resting place.Gotcha. Thanks. Nice lookin' rig ya' got there.
What speakers are the blue tape for?
Tom
Thanks for the compliment!See my profile for list of gear. -
6AQ5s are very nice little output tubes for hifi -- essentially a 6V6 in a 7 pin miniature envelope -- with virtually zero audiophile cachet*
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* which is not a bad thing, since it helps keeps the prices down!
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mhardy6647 wrote: »6AQ5s are very nice little output tubes for hifi -- essentially a 6V6 in a 7 pin miniature envelope -- with virtually zero audiophile cachet*
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* which is not a bad thing, since it helps keeps the prices down!
That's what the builder told me. He was a great guy to deal with. I fire it up every few months,and run it for a couple weeks. It's sounds pretty good to these ears.See my profile for list of gear. -
mhardy6647 wrote: »I picked up some ADS L880s locally yesterday. I gave them a listen today in the small room for a couple hours. Once I got though playing around with placement for them, they sounded pretty good.
FWIW, and not that you asked and not that you may even be interested in my opinions! But I thought (think) that the L-710 and L-810 are quite a bit better sounding than the L-780 and L-880. I got a gorgeous pair of L-780s, in their boxes, from a coworker years back. A few listens comparing them to my dump-find L-710s... and I sold the L-780s for what I paid for them. And all y'all know I don't get rid of much.
Haven't heard an L-880 for many, many, many years... but I reckon it would be the case for that one, too (and... heh... also FWIW, I like the L-710 better than the L-810, which I always found a little thick sounding, relatively speaking).
Not that any of this matters one whit, but I still felt moved to share it.
Gee.....thanks for raining on a parade. -
TEAforONE, I don't know your real name (I guess 'cause you are somewhat new 'round here) but If you would indulge my thinking out loud here...
I have had systems that were over 3800 or 4200 watts total. Rigs that would easily make the lights blink with the heavy transients. That just depended on the day and the constantly revolving setup on the rig way back when. Some of the most fun I have had in my audio journey was with a little 8 watt tube amp and a set of Focal Chorus 807V's. IIRC, it was a Radii (sp?) tube amp. Nothing extraordinarily special...
While it was/is nowhere near where I am at today with regards to the main rig? I do hold a very soft spot for that simple little setup. It was fun, a complete pleasure to listen too and there are a lot of aspects that I still miss with that little ol' measly 8 watts.
Paired right? Simply awesome.
Looks to me you have it paired right. You may have given me interest in pulling that amp back out and repairing it. Years ago, I smelled something burning while I was cooking. Well, it wasn't my cooking that I smelled. It was a resistor inside of that amp that to this day, I still miss.
Rock on brother.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Sorry! Believe it or not, I did think twice before posting that stuff -- I just failed to act upon my better judgement. I do apologize.mhardy6647 wrote: »I picked up some ADS L880s locally yesterday. I gave them a listen today in the small room for a couple hours. Once I got though playing around with placement for them, they sounded pretty good.
FWIW, and not that you asked and not that you may even be interested in my opinions! But I thought (think) that the L-710 and L-810 are quite a bit better sounding than the L-780 and L-880. I got a gorgeous pair of L-780s, in their boxes, from a coworker years back. A few listens comparing them to my dump-find L-710s... and I sold the L-780s for what I paid for them. And all y'all know I don't get rid of much.
Haven't heard an L-880 for many, many, many years... but I reckon it would be the case for that one, too (and... heh... also FWIW, I like the L-710 better than the L-810, which I always found a little thick sounding, relatively speaking).
Not that any of this matters one whit, but I still felt moved to share it.
Gee.....thanks for raining on a parade.
You said they sound pretty good; I agree!
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Found it. Radii MPP-M8 tube amp. 8 watts - https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/68610/radii-mpp-m8-stereo-tube-amplifier
Apparently after researching this again tonight, it was more than a resistor that blew up. This was that little 8 watt tube amp I was talking about. Might have to send this one down to Hotlanta when I get the Dodd MLP repaired.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
Hi Tom,that sounds like an interesting amp. Get her up and running!!
RaySee my profile for list of gear. -
Found it. Radii MPP-M8 tube amp. 8 watts - https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/68610/radii-mpp-m8-stereo-tube-amplifier
Apparently after researching this again tonight, it was more than a resistor that blew up. This was that little 8 watt tube amp I was talking about. Might have to send this one down to Hotlanta when I get the Dodd MLP repaired.
Tom
The resistor was most likely a symptom -- a victim of the root cause
Could still be something very simple (e.g., a tired output tube - or tubes - that couldn't hold bias) -- do you know what kind of bias scheme the amp uses?
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Nope. No manual adjustments though IIRC.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?See my profile for list of gear. -
Warming up the ol Parasound by airing out the A9's getting the man cave HT rig ready for some Sunday football games.Home Theater
Parasound Halo A 31 OnkyoTX-NR838 Sony XBR55X850B 55" 4K RtiA9 Fronts CsiA6 Center RtiA3 Rears FxiA6 Side Surrounds Dual Psw 111's Oppo 105D Signal Ultra Speaker Cables & IC's Signal Magic Power Cable Technics SL Q300 Panamax MR4300 Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables Audioquest Forest USB Cable
2 Channel
Adcom 555II Vincent SA-T1 Marantz SA 15S2 Denon DR-M11 Clearaudio Bluemotion SDA 2.3tl's (Z) edition MIT Terminator II Speaker Cables & IC's Adcom 545II Adcom Gtp-450 Marantz CD5004 Technics M245X SDA 2B's, SDA CRS+
Stuff for the Head
JD LABS C5 Headphone Amplifier, Sennheiser HD 598, Polk Audio Buckle, Polk Audio Hinge, Velodyne vPulse, Bose IE2, Sennheiser CX 200 Street II, Sennheiser MX 365
Shower & Off the beaten path Rigs
Polk Audio Boom Swimmer, Polk Audio Urchin
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Nothing to the rig itself but to the room. Cleaned up and finally put away the stacks of CD's have been going through rotation lately. Also rectified an issue that has been bugging me for a while. The overhead light.
Whenever I turned it on, the flush mount dome light would essentially blind me when I turned it on while at the same time, didn't provide me with enough light to see the titles of the CD's hung up on the wall.
I installed an oil rubbed bronze track light that I thought I would hate (not a big fan of track lighting AT ALL) but almost instantaneously liked quite a bit when I turned it on. The light no longer blinds me when I turn it on, the rig is clearly the focal point of the room now and I can clearly read all of the CD titles up on the wall (I have about a 5 or 6 foot stack, about 80 or so wide)
This stock photo above is in the wrong finish (nickle) but it is what it looks like. Looks better in person, IMO.
Add in these...
.....which were already installed and it really sets the ambience in the room. I know it's a small pleasure that probably amounts to sheer pettiness or a *rolls eyes* moment to some here but when I close my eyes now, I enjoy the music a bit better because I don't have this heavy blob of light shining through my eyelids.
With that said, while I typically can not stand track lighting, it turned out to be just what the doctor ordered in the listening room. Perfect application.
Tom
~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?
This was a fun little PP 6AQ5 stereo console amp (of Canadian provenance) that spent some years at the ol' Hardy place after being procured at a local antique radio/audio swapmeet.
PP 6AQ5 console amp 021714 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
I couldn't resist it at the asking price... but when I actually listened to it, I was astonished by how good it sounded.
A shelf queen no more, the amp has since been passed along to an analog luminary who lives in the wilds of New York state.
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mhardy6647 wrote: »
I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?
This was a fun little PP 6AQ5 stereo console amp (of Canadian provenance) that spent some years at the ol' Hardy place after being procured at a local antique radio/audio swapmeet.PP 6AQ5 console amp 021714 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
I couldn't resist it at the asking price... but when I actually listened to it, I was astonished by how good it sounded.
A shelf queen no more, the amp has since been passed along to an analog luminary who lives in the wilds of New York state.
One of the nice things with the 6aq5's is you can roll tubes on the cheap! Was your amp turnkey?See my profile for list of gear. -
mhardy6647 wrote: »
I fired up the tube amp. I figured since I have the horns set up,why not let them feed on some tubes?
This was a fun little PP 6AQ5 stereo console amp (of Canadian provenance) that spent some years at the ol' Hardy place after being procured at a local antique radio/audio swapmeet.PP 6AQ5 console amp 021714 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr
I couldn't resist it at the asking price... but when I actually listened to it, I was astonished by how good it sounded.
A shelf queen no more, the amp has since been passed along to an analog luminary who lives in the wilds of New York state.
One of the nice things with the 6aq5's is you can roll tubes on the cheap! Was your amp turnkey?
Yup -- although 100% original as found, but it worked fine and sounded... pretty amazing.
Had I ever rehabbed it, I'd've done something to drop the HV a tad bit for modern AC mains. Easy way to do that would be to go to a rectifier with a higher voltage drop than the 5U4GB or whatever it was that was in there.
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Today I received the Amperex Holland Rogers 12AX7's I ordered last week. I'm VERY impressed!! Great tone,definition,and a gigantic soundstage.See my profile for list of gear.
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Tube rolling! Got a matched set of Sylvania tall black plate halo 12au7's with the Baldwin Logo on them today to match my Hallicrafters. I liked the sound of the Hallicrafters so much I bought these as a back up just in case something happened to these. I'm surprised there is even a difference in sound with identical tubes! These baldwins are a little more forward (?) and edgy or raspy or something. Haven't decided it I like that or not yet. Sounds great when listening to techno though. With the volume all the way down and tapping on the Hallicrafters they were virtually dead silent. One of the Baldwins gave out a good amount of tapping sound through the speaker so I may mark that one as noisy and see if I can find a quiet one.
How are you tube guys dampening your pre's? I read somewhere online that you should put some closed cell foam under the feet of a tubed pre so it doesn't pick up external noises.Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
I use footers that isolate/decouple the vibrations and if needed, I will put a Herbie's ring or the like around the problematic tube. Keep the tubes as far away from subs and the speakers as possible.
The question you asked will have 100's of different answers and is kinda an open ended question. I'm not suggesting that you need too, but starting a separate thread on this particular subject may help you a lot more than on this particular thread.....too many other subjects going on in here.
Just a thought...
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
I picked up the unusual Usher T-515 from Skip this past weekend. The price was right, and they work very well in my small-ish room. I was also impressed with the build quality once we started packing them up and I really got my hands on them. These will likely be here until I can make a bigger leap on to new speakers.
Analog: Hana ML > MoFi UltraDeck > Bob's Devices Sky 20-S > Sutherland 20/20 w/LPS
Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Hifiman EF600 > Hifiman Arya Stealth
Discogs -
Awesome brother! Looks great! Basement: Polk SDA SRS 1.2tl's, Cary SLP-05 Pre with ultimate upgrade,McIntosh MCD301 CD/SACD player, Northstar Designs Excelsio DAC, Cambridge 851N streamer, McIntosh MC300 Amp, Silnote Morpheus Ref2, Series2 Digital Cables, Silnote Morpheus Ref2 Series2 XLR's, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Pangea Power Cables, MIT Shotgun S3 IC's, MIT Shotgun S1 Bi-Wire speaker cables
Office: PC, EAR Acute CD Player, EAR 834L Pre, Northstar Designs Intenso DAC, Antique Sound Labs AV8 Monoblocks, Denon UDR-F10 Cassette, Acoustic Technologies Classic FR Speakers, SVS SB12 Plus sub, MIT AVt2 speaker cables, IFI Purifier2, AQ Cinnamon USB cable, Groneberg Quatro Reference IC's
Spare Room: Dayens Ampino Integrated Amp, Tjoeb 99 tube CD player (modified Marantz CD-38), Analysis Plus Oval 9's, Zu Jumpers, AudioEngine B1 Streamer, Klipsch RB-61 v2, SVS PB1000 sub, Blue Jeans RCA IC's, Shunyata Hydra 8 Power Conditioner
Living Room: Peachtree Nova Integrated, Cambridge CXN v2 Streamer, Rotel RCD-1072 CD player, Furman 15PFi Power Conditioner, Polk RT265 In Wall Speakers, Polk DSW Pro 660wi sub
Garage #1: Cambridge Audio 640A Integrated Amp, Project Box-E BT Streamer, Polk Tsi200 Bookies, Douglas Speaker Cables, Shunyata Power Conditioner
Garage #2: Cambridge Audio EVO150 Integrated Amplifier, Polk L200's, Analysis Plus Silver Oval 2 Speaker Cables, IC's TBD. -
Finally got my B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks back from getting refreshed. Letting them burn in.Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
Today I swapped out the Amperex Holland Rogers 12ax7's for the Sylvania red label 12at7's. To my ears, the Sylvania's seem to throw a bigger soundstage. Oh,and before I forget,last night I put the Chartwells back in the system.See my profile for list of gear.
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displayname wrote: »I picked up the unusual Usher T-515 from Skip this past weekend. I was impressed with the build quality once we started packing them up and I really got my hands on them. These will likely be here until I can make a bigger leap on to new speakers.
NICE!
Do I spy a Dueventi? Thoughts? End game kit?
Thanks, man!AC Regenerator PS Audio PerfectWave Power Plant 10
Source Lumin U1 Mini into Lampizator Baltic 4 DAC
Pre Cary SLP-05
Power Rogue M180 Dark monos
Mains Salk HT2-TL
Rythmik F12 -
I LOVE the Dueventi. But the fact of the matter is that 10/20 watts only gets you so far. Because my room is fairly small and bright, it gives me more speaker options, but even then it's not going to work with a lot of speakers.displayname wrote: »I picked up the unusual Usher T-515 from Skip this past weekend. I was impressed with the build quality once we started packing them up and I really got my hands on them. These will likely be here until I can make a bigger leap on to new speakers.
NICE!
Do I spy a Dueventi? Thoughts? End game kit?
Thanks, man!
If I end up with endgame speakers that are high enough efficiency I could certainly see sticking with it for a very long time. But if I move to a bigger space and fall in love with some high efficiency speakers, I would probably need to make an amp change. It's also just the start of the Mastersound line. It's hard to say the Dueventi is end game when I know the Evo 845 exists, lol.Analog: Hana ML > MoFi UltraDeck > Bob's Devices Sky 20-S > Sutherland 20/20 w/LPS
Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Hifiman EF600 > Hifiman Arya Stealth
Discogs -
I've been reconfiguring my speaker storage and decided to move them for easier accsess when I wat to swap them out.
It's a lot easier now without have to go fishing in the closet.
Really enjoying the new foam collars that I made my full rangers.
I may experimnt with different density foams in the future.
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Polkaguy58 wrote: »
I see two things very wrong here. Black Velvet and what appears to be a inordinate amount of pubic hair on those speakers.Gustard X26 Pro DAC
Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)
There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus -
Polkaguy58 wrote: »I've been reconfiguring my speaker storage and decided to move them for easier accsess when I wat to swap them out.
It's a lot easier now without have to go fishing in the closet.
Really enjoying the new foam collars that I made my full rangers.
I may experimnt with different density foams in the future.
Are those Dayton drivers? I've been wanting to try some full range drivers for a long time. -
Polkaguy58 wrote: »
I see two things very wrong here. Black Velvet and what appears to be a inordinate amount of pubic hair on those speakers.
After many drinks, those port holes could look tempting.... to some
