I agree with Frank, Mark. Please double-check with Joseph. I recall reading about the Russian 6H30 tube and it draws almost three times the filament current as a 6922 and nearly twice the plate voltage. |
Joe, $1,250 for a matched quad is outrageous. I would be hesitant to maybe pay half that price. Law of supply and demand at work here. Apparently some people with deep pockets are willing to pay this price. Thankfully I was able to get a pair for much less. |
Mark,
It's nice to see that you were able to find this info out before there was any damage to your preamp. I look forward to enjoying a fine drink with you some day. |
So what's happening with the "mad scientist" Rx8man lately? You've been kind of quiet. Care to share your new tweak? |
The oilers are still in the preamp and am just trying to enjoy the music for a while. These caps really didn't smooth out until well past 400 hours. I am saving my pennies, though, to try out the V-cap teflons some day. |
Pat, what cables is Lou comparing? Sorry for the use of first names, but this username crap becomes so impersonal for me when communicating sometimes. Ain't that right Rx8man and La45 ? |
Hey Ralph. Locations 1 and 3 are as you are looking on top of the unit from the face counting the four tubes from left to right. E-mail Victor for a detailed explanation of why these locations are of more importance in the preamp sonics. Tubes are system dependent, but I have yet to hear any tube better than the vintage early 60's Siemens Cca in those locations that can sound any better. |
Hi Lou,
Yes, I would very much like to hear your impressions of the interconnects. |
Rob,
I don't have a clue what type of wood the knobs are made from. I would ask Victor or Joseph on this. My knobs are medium dark, similar to your description. They are nice looking, but I wish they had a marking that you could see easier to know where your volume is set, but I don't complain as I go by the volume that sounds best to me anyway. Let us know what the wood is made of if there are no posts made about them. |
Hey Joe! Let us know how the Vegas trip went. Have fun and I hope you find some monoblocks that will sing to your heart. |
Rob, I have to admit that those home-made feet are very elegant and classy looking. And I'll bet they really help the soundstage to open up very nicely. Excellent job on your woodworking skills. |
Hey Markwatkiss! I see that you are selling your TP 2.0 preamp. I think that you are the first to re-sell. I'm curious what you are going to try out this time. |
John,
I agree with Mr. Pat. Just a few listening sessions with the TP 2.0n and you'll be hooked. |
Joe, glad to hear that you had a great time in Vegas. Also that your Siemens cca are sounding so good. By the way. Which Cca version did you settle on? Are these the ones that you sent to Victor for his blessing? Also, did you find some monoblocks that you liked? I just noticed some VAC Musicbloc 160's for sale here on Audiogon. If I had the money I'd snatch these up in a heart beat. |
Yes sir Pat. The VACs and the TP 2.0 are a great match. |
Joe, before you went to Vegas this is what you said,"I am in Vegas the next 5 days - wish me luck, Daddy needs a new pair of monoamps!" I just assumed that you were looking at tubes, but now I realize that they were solid state. I currently have a pair of VAC Musicblocs that I'm using. They are only 70W so probably not enough for your VS speakers which like some power. |
Luis,
I'm glad to see that you got your room maximized to make your system sound its best. I still am curious what that $30.00 cd player is that you have that sounds so good. |
Luis,
I would believe you. That's what friends are for. |
Joe, I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying your preamp. I still love mine and am awaiting some new caps to try in the outputs. I'll post an impression in a couple of weeks. Yes, tubes are fascinating, aren't they? Even the same tubes from the same manufacturer from different batches can have different characteristics. Enjoy your music. |
This thread has been kind of quiet lately. Is everyone just so happy listening to their preamps that they don't have time to post a comment? I just replaced the output caps in my preamp with some VERY expensive V-cap teflons. I'll give my impressions in a while after some further break-in. |
Rob,
It seems that no one yet here in this thread has tried the new Phono unit, or maybe they haven't posted it yet. Maybe a fresh new thread might bring the new users out. I have future plans to get back into phono( and Joseph's unit is at the top of my list), but the budget is not yet ready for me to make the move. It's a shame because I have quite a collection of LP's. For the time being, I'll have to be content with CD's and my beloved tuner. |
I just received some of this Starrdamp material and am going to put it in strategic places inside of my preamp, particularly in the top cover. I'm hoping for an improvement and will let you all know how it goes:
http://www.verastarr.com/vibrationcontrol.html
|
I don't know. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I kind of like the look of my TP 2.0n with the wooden knobs. |
Now that I see a new photo of the new TP 2.1 with wooden knobs, it is rather elegant looking. Oh well. My TP 2.0 is "purty" enough as we say here in Texas. |
Joe, here's the ad with the wooden knobs photo:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?preatube&1188922190
|
Mine is silver with the dark knobs. |
My "dark" knobs are Redheart also. I just now realized this. |
I think that you should submit Joseph's best for review. For those who can't afford it, they can get the "lesser" model and upgrade later. I also feel that both the linestage and phono should be submitted, either as separate or integrated. The idea is to get an idea for the reader of the review to make up his mind based on the sonic merits of each. As to the magnetic or moving coil option, that would depend on the reviewers preference. He might only have a magnetic cartridge( hopefully not) to use for evaluating the phono stage. It would be nice to read a review of both options. Anyway, my two cents, but I might change my mind later. Congratulations on the review Joseph and Victor. I have high hopes for an honest and thorough review from both a subjective as well as an objective approach. |
By the way, fellow TP 2.0 owners. I just put one of these tweak PE units in my system and it has been the best tweak I have ever tried. I look at it now as not so much a tweak but more as a component. The best $75.00 I've ever spent for my system enjoyment.
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?powrcond&1188923292
|
If anyone is still experimenting with tube rolling in their TP 2.0 preamps, in my system I've yet to find a better tube for locations one and three than an early 60's Siemens Cca, but I recently bought a NOS pair of 60's Siemens E88CC with the A-frame halos and put them in locations two and four and the combination is really musical. The A-frames seem to have a larger soundstage with a little more airiness. This combo sounds better to me than all Cca's in the four positions. Here are some similar A-frames to the ones I found, except mine are date coded A3, while these are A6:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Siemens-JAN-6922-Matched-Pair-Gold-Pin-E88CC-7308_W0QQitemZ320143186035QQihZ011QQcategoryZ67816QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I'm still experimenting with output caps but for the time being I am back with the original upgraded Hovlands. I'm going to try two more caps and then make my final decision. Happy listening everyone. I hope you're enjoying your systems. |
I don't know if anyone has noticed this, but in the new TP 2.1nB, Joseph has removed the AC filter. I'm curious about this as the filter was an original add-on upgrade in the 2.0 versions.
http://161.58.252.3/i/s/f/1186200477.jpg
|
I would be interested in hearing someone else's impressions of their upgrade from 2.0n to 2.1n. |
Ozzy, I would allow at least 60 hours of continous play before you do some serious listening. Maybe you can put a tuner on it while you are gone to slowly break it in. The Hovland caps, as well as the Blackgates take a few days to settle in so the off-center soundstage is more than likely a break-in issue. As you have heard, the Blackgates are notorious for long break-in periods. I'd give it a couple of weeks before you do some serious listening. |
You're welcome, Ozzy. Once you get back home for some serious listening evaluations, I look forward to your impressions. |
Victor,
Gammajo took the words right out of my mouth. |
Victor,
I also have no anxieties about what you wrote. I have very good center staging with my preamp, but careful room placement of my speakers and proper room acoustics has played the larger role in that department. I have to admit that Joseph did a great job initially when voicing his preamp with the Hovland caps. Joseph might have since found even better caps, but the 4.7 uf Hovlands have a " breath of life" to them that are enthralling. In my experimentation with several types of caps, I recently tried a 4 uf Hovland and the 4.7uf value which Joseph chose sounds much more evenly balanced. Joseph does indeed have very good hearing. My hat's off to him in the development of this preamp. |
I have a Harman/Kardon Citation Eighteen tuner that Joseph modded about a year or so ago for me. It's the only solid state component in my system. I can't imagine it sounding better. I wonder what this new tube buffer would do to the sound? |
Joseph might agree with you guys regarding SS amps. I believe he has a pair of Levinson monoblocks( personally tweaked and modded) in his personal system. Victor has a pair of older VTL monoblocks which Joseph also tweaked and modded for him. Right now I have the VAC Musicblocs( tubes) and the sound matches very well with my TP 2.0n. I haven't tried a SS amp yet with Joseph's preamp. I can imagine that it would be difficult for Joseph in deciding which type of amp to come out with. You have the tube amp camp and the SS amp camp, and then there's the Hybrid amp camp, the Class D only camp,etc. The list goes on and on. When it comes to amps, there are too many audiophiles with varied tastes. I don't have a clue of an idea to recommend Joseph when it comes to amps. In the meantime, I'm happy with my current system so I won't be considering any more amps for a while. |
I forgot to mention that amps and speakers also have to be matched up properly. Another tough decision for Joseph because of the wide variety of speakers in our systems. Yes, I can understand with Grannyring's recommendation of a 200W amp, but what about the die-hard SET camp using these amps on their ultra hi-efficiency horn systems. I have read a few posts where some audiophiles have gone with the new Zu speakers which are very efficient and are selling their mega-power amps for lower wattage SET, etc. Just another example making it difficult for Joseph to make a decision. |
La45,
Can you tell me what mods Joseph did to your Toshiba SD-3990? Also, a brief description of sound of CD's before and after mods? How much for the mod? |
No need to wait for the show, Bill. Joseph has a 30-day return policy. Might as well get one now to experiment with in your "own" system. IMHO |
I have read where other tube pres have worked out well for some owners of the Nuforce amps. I don't know how the TP 2.1 pre will match, but a quick e-mail to Victor would be advised. |
Has anyone been able to communicate with Victor lately through e-mails? I e-mailed him and he's not responding. Also, I tried to e-mail Joseph at the last address he had: Ading@prodigy.net and the e-mail is being kicked back to me. Has Joseph changed his e-mail address? |
Has anyone ever asked Joseph or Victor if the two output caps in the TP 2.0 and 2.1 are a matched pair ? |
Bill, if you knew Tvad like I think I know him, I'll be willing to bet that he's already cherry-picked a NOS pair of Siemens CCa to try in locations one and three. By the way, I'm currently beta-testing( so to speak) a new, unknown power cord line and this new cord has raised my system to a new level of sonic bliss for me. I've only tried one version on my VAC monoblocs, but later this week I am going to put another version on my TP 2.0n preamp. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. What a thrill! |
Mark,
I will tell you all the power cord brand and names in a little while. I need to get the full measure of these cords in my system before I make a final decision. So far, I'm very impressed. Maybe by week's end. Stay tuned. You know I can't keep a secret too long. I'm still living happily with the stock Hovland output caps in my TP 2.0n. |
Welcome Stltrains,
Here's hoping that the TP 2.1n will be a good synergistic match in your system. Have fun with the evaluation and please keep us posted these next couple of weeks on its progress. Don't forget to allow a good 72 hours to pre-burn in before you do any serious evaluations. |
Well, Bill, I guess no one has yet upgraded to the new 2.1 from their 2.0. The upgrade consists of other things as well as the caps. In order to get Joseph's new caps, you have to buy the entire upgrade package. He won't sell the caps separately. I've already asked Victor. I am going to speculate that unless this new cap wasn't better, and more musical as well,that Joseph wouldn't be offering it in the new 2.1 version. Based on what Victor e-mailed me about his impressions on this new cap, he says that it is superior in every way to the current upgraded Hovland cap, i.e. more musical. |
Okay, then Sherod, why haven't you upgraded to the new 2.1n package? Well, as much as I'd like to( I might in the future) I am currently enjoying my 2.0n so much that the thought of having to carefully pack up my preamp, take it to fedex on the other side of town, ship it to Joseph and wait another two weeks until I get it back, well, I hate knowing that my preamp will be away from me for so long. And also, I am currently breaking in some new power cords( to be announced soon) on both my monoblocs and preamp so I still have a couple more weeks before they settle in so I want to get the full measure of these cords before I do any other tweaking or upgrades. Kapish? What a fun hobby this is. |
Joe,
I'm wondering what the Amperex PQ's in location 2 and 4 with the Siemens CCa in the more critical 1 and 3 locations would do for the sound. |
