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Advicd Needed on Change from Levinson to Audio Research

Maybe it's just an itch, but I gotta scratch it.

When I was a bit younger, I dreamed of owning Levinson and Audio Research gear. I could never justify the expense. Now I can enjoy their vintage gear!

I have sampled tube components in the past (CJ MV75), but never have made my mind up fully about whether I prefer the tube sound or the SS sound. I gave up on the CJ amp because of the daily tweaks I needed to do to the bias current.

I listen mainly to classical (opera and romantic) and rock (60s - 80s), and a bit of Jazz and Blues.

I presently run the Levinson #38s pre and #27 power amps and have for the five years. My speakers are Revel f208 running full range. I normally listen at about 85-90dB SPL. This measures about 1-3 watts at the speaker inputs in my listening position. I am very happy with the sound. I am currently favoring playing LPs using a Benz LP-S, Micro Seiki MA-505L and Technics SL-1200G. I have a fairly up to date Virtual System posted here on Audiogon.

Would a bit of AR tube sound be even better? Gotta listen for myself obviously.

So, I now have an Audio Research SP-6B coming to me in a few weeks from AR after restoration (eBay purchase). I am considering getting an AR Reference 75 power amp, which appears to be a great tube power amp but a bit pricey. But I could stretch if needed.

I would like to receive comments/suggestions/criticisms about my endeavor.

Should I wait until I have an impression of the SP-6B with the #27 prior to the decision about the Ref 75? Or just get the Ref 75 now? Or???

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

 

kevemaher
kevemaher's avatar
kevemaher OP
123 posts
 

@pwerahera 

Hey, thanks for the encouragement.

I really want to try the SP6. Although it is not balanced, I will use an RCA->XLR cable to the first downstream component.The rest of the cabling is XLR,  including the line level to the power amp. Those cables you saw are XLR. I have no noise issues and no IR drop because of the long 12 gaoge speaker cables.

I have built and tested my RCA->Male XLR cable. There is inaudible noise (-100dB) from power related noise, ground loops, or pick up. I use a spectrum analyzer to detect these issues. Doesn't seem to be an issue, but I will definitely test again after everything is hooked up, since my test bench is not in the system.

I will have the  SSP6 back from AR in about 6 weeks or less. Can't wait.

jafant's avatar
jafant
20,457 posts
 

pwerahera

Good to read that you are still enjoying a classic Cary/ML and Thiel combination.

 

Happy Listening!

kevemaher's avatar
kevemaher OP
123 posts
 

Five months later. I have finally have my system sorted.

The SP-6B refurb came back. The phono section sounds unbelievably good. Very punchy when needed, very dynamic and rich sounding. Definitely a keeper.

I have listened with these power amps: CJ CL62, Class D (Apollon), and my old Levinson #27. Speakers are Revel f208. These are somewhat power hungry (for better sound)

After much listening, my old #27 is clearly the choice. It has the ability to keep up with the dynamics. The CL62 is underpowered for the f208 speakers. It sounded OK, but not as good as the #27. The Class D will be a very good backup for the aging #27.

One problem was what to do about the cable mismatch. The SP-6B is unbalanced. All my downstream gear is fully balanced. The SP-6B feeds a balanced analog EQ. Then the EQ feeds the power amp. I made a cable to transition from RCA at the 6B main output to XLR at EQ input. Pins 1 and 3 are shorted together. This works great. No hiss or rumble. No ground loop issue. I have tried transformer and active devices to transition from RCA to XLR, but these inevitably led to more noise, more hum and a conversion from -10dBV to +4 dBu, which is a gain of 4 or 12 dB. This is too much gain for my system. I am going to make my own 1:1 converter and see how that works, but I know now that my simple cable is not adding to the noise.

The tube preamp and beefy solid state power amplifier is definitely the right move for me.

Thanks for all your great suggestions!

 

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