Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

"Andy Evans" wrote


snip rather nice valve troll


Keep the faith - "If it ain't glowing, it ain't going"


OK, having hooked ukra back up again (as I said I would) it's interesting
that all I'm seeing is valves and cable threads.

I blew the cable thread (seen it all before - way too many times now) and
read the valves thread with some interest as it has coincided exactly with
my current experimentation:

Yesterday evening, my 'audiophile salesman' chum Nigel was up to hear the
Technics SE-A2000 (that I've just bought from his shop) in my system. It's
an interesting bit of kit with (I'm told) a fairly unusual 'twin monaural'
construction using mosfets and bipolars in all the right places....??

I got it mainly for protracted 'background' use and because it became
available and because I've got a soft spot for the 'higher end' Technics
gear generally. (I also love the 'power meters' but for Gawd's sake don't
tell anyone..... :-)

I had it paired up with an EAR 834L (1 x ECC83 JJ Tesla and 2 x 5814a JAN
Philips) line stage and played Nigel a selection of 'his sort of thing'.
Apart from a little 'dryness' and possibly a hint of 'dull' (if you listen
closely for the first few minutes), I find this combo completely
inoffensive, once I've got used to it. It's certainly got clout - deep and
very tight bass which can create quite a bit of 'sternum pressure' and can
send little puffs of air past your ears, even from small speakers. (That
remark will either mean something or it won't....)

Anyhoo, all was perfectly fine and Nigey Wigey loved it.

Then the Devil in me kicked in and halfway through the evening I quickly
swapped to my WAD Kit88. With Chris Rea 'On The Beach' actually playing
(like already started) I swapped leads and switched it on and it creaked and
squeaked its way up from stone cold. (All other aspects of the kit were
unchanged.)

In less than a minute the Kit88 valve amp had blown the Technics (MY
Technics, no less) into the weeds!

It was all there - sweetness, soundstage, tone, warmth, 'naturalness',
'friendly' even!. All those little 'red rag' terms I know you all love so
much! ;-)

Ain't got the grip or slam of the Technics but beats it in every other
respect. (After an hour the Technics stood no chance whatsoever.) For the
remainder of the evening I asked Nigel from time to time 'which one?'
(bearing in mind he's *totally* Technics 'high end' himself) and each time
he just shot a finger toward Johnny WAD....

Believe it or believe it not, I don't give a ****. (Checkable by phone if
anyone *had * to hear it from the horses mouth, I suppose, Google up A N
Audio, St Neots - they've got a website - and ask for 'Nigey Wigey'! :-)

I've got no real axe to grind with valves - you either 'get it' or you
don't. They can be a right pain in the arse and they definitely ain't for
everyone! (It doesn't hurt to be a damn sight 'techier' than I'll ever be,
for a start!) I've also no axe to grind with 'specs' and 'metrology'
(essential for designers and builders) but, FFS, just once in a while put
the slide-rules down and have a good *listen* will ya?

There - my £0.02......

Now, anybody else get a freebie HFN this morning with MF's heejus new TT ad
included with it? Oops! Wrong group.......!

;-)

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:59:35 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


Yesterday evening, my 'audiophile salesman' chum Nigel was up to hear the
Technics SE-A2000 (that I've just bought from his shop) in my system. It's
an interesting bit of kit with (I'm told) a fairly unusual 'twin monaural'
construction using mosfets and bipolars in all the right places....??

Twin monaural - Wossat? Sounds a bit like two shoes, matching left and
right, rather than a pair of shoes.

d

_____________________________

http://www.pearce.uk.com

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 09:59:35 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:


Yesterday evening, my 'audiophile salesman' chum Nigel was up to hear the
Technics SE-A2000 (that I've just bought from his shop) in my system.
It's
an interesting bit of kit with (I'm told) a fairly unusual 'twin
monaural'
construction using mosfets and bipolars in all the right places....??

Twin monaural - Wossat? Sounds a bit like two shoes, matching left and
right, rather than a pair of shoes.


Heh heh! Didn't see my own post - seems I'd managed to killfile myself! (Ya
gotta larf don't ya...? :-)


Right Don, you wear shoes on your ears do you? - That can't help much, can
it......? ;-)

'Twin Monaural' is 'Technicspeak' for 'dual mono'......

(Wot else?)

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

In article ,
Don Pearce wrote:
Twin monaural - Wossat? Sounds a bit like two shoes, matching left and
right, rather than a pair of shoes.

Posh name for separate power supplies for each channel. Or poor matching
of performance. ;-)

--
*I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 11:26:33 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:

Arrrummm.... so what is the difference (for ten points) between dual
mono, and stereo?



**** Nose. I always thought two monos made a stereo.......


Is it just that the channels are not well enough
matched to qualify as stereo?


More than likely (are they ever?)... But, by some stroke of great fortune,
the (likely) imbalanced amplifier channels coupled with the slope of my
floor, the prevailing East wind, one speaker cable being a quarter inch
longer than the other, using different cable on each speaker in any case, me
being more deef in one ear than the other, the obvious poor match of my
speakers, odd shape of my room, the cellular phone transmitting mast right
outside my window, the cat sitting over near the door, the 'list' on my
cartridge, the turntable pitched up 15º from the right, collapsed springs in
my listening chair and the grace of Gard (Charleton Heston in the movie....)
all manage to provide me with a beautifully placed, solid, utterly central
image.....

Funny how things turn out, ain't it........?

;-)

Just you wait 'til the clocks go back. It'll all need changing again.

d

_____________________________

http://www.pearce.uk.com

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 11:26:33 +0100, "Keith G"
wrote:

Arrrummm.... so what is the difference (for ten points) between dual
mono, and stereo?



**** Nose. I always thought two monos made a stereo.......


Is it just that the channels are not well enough
matched to qualify as stereo?


More than likely (are they ever?)... But, by some stroke of great
fortune,
the (likely) imbalanced amplifier channels coupled with the slope of my
floor, the prevailing East wind, one speaker cable being a quarter inch
longer than the other, using different cable on each speaker in any case,
me
being more deef in one ear than the other, the obvious poor match of my
speakers, odd shape of my room, the cellular phone transmitting mast
right
outside my window, the cat sitting over near the door, the 'list' on my
cartridge, the turntable pitched up 15º from the right, collapsed springs
in
my listening chair and the grace of Gard (Charleton Heston in the
movie....)
all manage to provide me with a beautifully placed, solid, utterly
central
image.....

Funny how things turn out, ain't it........?

;-)

Just you wait 'til the clocks go back. It'll all need changing again.



****.......

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

In less than a minute the Kit88 valve amp had blown the Technics (MY Technics,
no less) into the weeds!

"If it ain't glowing, it ain't going."

=== Andy Evans ===
Visit our Website:- http://www.artsandmedia.com
Audio, music and health pages and interesting links.

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

In article , Keith G
wrote:
"Andy Evans" wrote



In less than a minute the Kit88 valve amp had blown the Technics (MY
Technics, no less) into the weeds!


I would be interested to know your reactions if you first fitted a pair of
resistors in series with the outputs of the Technics. Values of around 0.47
to 1 Ohms between each output and the speaker. This would roughly mimic the
relatively high output impedances typical of valve amps.

I'd be curious to know if, after listening, you felt this changed things in
a way that made you feel that the Technics now sounded more like the valve
amp.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Audio Misc http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/AudioMisc/index.html
Armstrong Audio http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/Audio/armstrong.html
Barbirolli Soc. http://www.st-and.demon.co.uk/JBSoc/JBSoc.html

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 08:24:29 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 00:51:14 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

If valves are so wonderful, why has nothing been produced which is
better than the 300B, in 70 years?

212

though looking at lines, I would say the 45 was way better than the 300b

The 845? That's a mid-thirties valve designed for use in radio
transmitters............

Agreed, but FWIW, I remember you rating this

http://www.nagrausa.com/nagra_VPA.htm

In a earlier post, its got them in.

Indeed it does, and it uses them very sensibly, in a push-pull
configuration. I've never argued that there are *some* good valve
amps, and indeed the 845 is arguably the very best power triode, but
note that all of those good valve amps are ludicrously expensive
compared with an equivalent SS amp.

BTW, the 845 is hardly evidence that things have improved in the 70
years since the 300B was introduced, since it's only a couple of years
younger................
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering

Hello valve lovers, wherever you are.
 

On Wed, 23 Jul 2003 08:27:05 +0100, Nick Gorham
wrote:

Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

And no, you can't sample that sound and push it through a comparitor.

IOW, it's all in your imagination, and your knowledge of the cost and
'exoticness' of the device.

Maybe, not that bothered, but I don't see how its exotic, just the
reverse I would have said.

What, with the Ongaku at £35,000 for a 25 watt amp, using a humungous
output tranny made with silver wire, and a 1920s radio transmitter
valve? Just how exotic does it need to be?
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering