Joe,
I don't have any doubts that my early 60's NOS Siemens Cca are indeed the Holy Grail versions. Superb sounding from top to bottom. |
I wish either Joseph or Victor would respond to some of these technical questions. I think they are hesitant in posting for fear of the moderators deleting this thread. I don't know how many hours my original cca had on them, but I'm guessing that they had quite a bit more than 2000 hours. I have a new problem now with my preamp. Last week, before I went to bed, I turned the system off, including my preamp, which is the standard evening procedure after listening. The next morning the preamp was on. I knew I had turned the switch to off and sure enough it was off, yet the preamp stayed on. I had to unplug it to turn it off. I emailed Joseph and he told me either a switch wire was shorted or the switch went bad. He sent me a new switch and I went ahead and changed out the wiring, but guess what? new switch doesn't work. Same problem. I tried to call Joseph, but apparently he doesn't return calls on the weekend. |
Switch problem solved. Apparently a cold solder joint on the board. Now back to some great music. (o: |
Gammajo,
Got any new impressions on your upgraded pre now that some hours are on it? |
Well, I finally won a cheap old tube tester on Ebay and I'm glad I have it now. When it arrived a couple of weeks ago, I tested my Siemens Cca tubes and although they both measured over 85% good, they both tested gassy. I bought a NOS pair of Cca and both tested great with no gas and the sound is much cleaner and musical. I had known that something wasn't quite right and was trying to blame the cables or AC. Before I got the tube tester, I even shipped my preamp back to Joseph and had to pay him $25.00 to tell me that nothing was wrong with it. |
Due to the poor economy, I believe, you can now find a good pair of NOS Siemens Cca for $150-$200. Still expensive, but better than the $300-$400/pr. from not too long ago. I have been reading that the new Gold Lion E88cc/6922 might be a good new tube to try out. They are selling for about $45.00/pair.Here's an example from an Ebay seller:
http://cgi.ebay.com/GENALEX-Gold-Lion-6922-E88CC-Gold-Pin-Tube-New-/160457178638?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item255bfe3e0e
|
Oops! I meant to say $45.00 /each for the Gold Lion Genalex tube. |
Keep your eyes open for a few German dealers on Ebay. Occasionally they come up with some nice Cca tubes for a great deal. The ones to look for are the early 60's with grey plates. I just got in a pair from one dealer for $150.00(1960 dates) and another pair for $199.00(1962) The later 70's with the silver plate aren't as good, but for locations 2 and 4 in the AH preamp, they work well for me( especially the A-frame model). Also, remember that the stock tubes that Joseph puts in the pre are the EH 6922. Maybe you should pop those in again for a listen. (o: |
I don't know the seller, but he's selling here on the Gon a pair and a quad of Siemens E88cc. The quad is relabeled CBS, but they look like the real McCoy to me. I'd be curious of what the date codes are. |
Agreed. Most everyone knows that although Siemens made the E88cc and cca identically, the cca were specially selected for the post office back then. |
You are right on about experimenting with different tubes in the AH preamp. I just bought a pair of older(1958) Amperex e88cc I am going to experiment with. I found that so far my preamp sounds best with a pair of early 60's Siemens Cca in locations 1 and 3 with a pair of early 70's Siemens A-frame e88cc in 2 and 4. All Cca seemed to be too smooth, lacking in spatiality and air. The AH preamp also responds to power cords. No matter what power cord I try on the preamp, I can hear the difference, for better or for worse. Also, Victor just informed me in an e-mail that Joseph will be announcing this next year a new tweak for all his preamps. Stay tuned for an announcement soon from one of his Beta-testers. I don't know the details of this new tweak. |
Oops! I just looked at my e-mail from Victor and this new tweak will be a bi-metal wiring harness said to "give the music more warmth, richness and purity of tone". Cost is estimated at $300-$350. |
The only float I use(if you can call this a float) is a suggestion that Pat(Rx8man) gave a couple of years ago by using small o-ring gaskets between the screws and the Pcb. I think this is just an isolation rather than a true float. I'm not sure if Joseph is using this method or another type of isolation in his current preamp versions. I use a mix of Herbie's Feet and Isonodes under my preamp which provides for isolation and improved sonics. It's amazing how various feet can change the sound so much. I've read some good things about these Mig cones from Synergistic Research that I might try out some day. I've tried a few o-ring-type tube products that deadened the sound too much. |
Rhyno,
Rolling tubes in 2 and 4 also made a difference to my ears. Joseph told me from day one that 1 and 3 were more critical to the sound, but 2 and 4 also play a role in the overall sonics, IMHO. (o: |
Mark,
Since you are the one who started this thread, I think that you should be the first to try the new amp. Only fair. (o: |
I'm still following the thread. Have a great New Year as well. |
Thanks, Gammajo. I hope you are doing well also. I hear our friend Pat paid you a visit recently. He told me he really enjoyed the visit. My daughter lives in Fayettevile. I'm hoping to visit her sometime this Fall. |
This thread suddenly went dead for over a year now. I'm curious what everyone is doing now. I had a lower abdomen hernia surgery in Nov. 2010 and went into a slight depression and lost interest in my music system. I shut the system down for over two years but recently got back my interest and am enjoying the music once again. Anyone upgrade to the new 2.3 version/s? I'm still enjoying my original 2.0. I have come back to using the original Hovlands in the ouputs, mainly due to a tweeter cap change in my speakers that greatly changed the overall sound for the better. I hope everyone is doing well. |
Thanks, Grannyring. I'm still trying to get the full measure of these JB JFX caps in a speaker crossover. I've got an extra pair for future projects. |
I did a lot of research over the years on the various Siemens E88cc tubes. The famous Cca and E88cc from Siemens were made identically. The only difference was that the Cca were hand selected for low noise for the German postal service. Otherwise, they both sound identical. The secret is to find either one made from 1959-1965. The best ones have a dimpled getter support( although some have no dimples) with codes etched on the glass or plate of support of three lines, reading vertically of A12, A13, A14, and A15. The A16 and A17 don't sound as good. I read this from users on the Tube Asylum and have proven it to myself. It is also important to find one of these models that has high emission rate with low, noise, zero microphonics, and no shorts or emission leaks. I spent a lot of money for an early pair of Siemens Cca a few years ago and they sounded terrible because of noise and emission leaks. I bought an inexpensive tube tester to test all tubes that I buy to make sure that they meet the seller's ad specs. Also, beware of fake Siemens tubes. A good eye can spot these fakes. In any event, once you find the right Siemens E88cc, you will have many years of wonderful music before they lose their emission strength and you have to buy another pair or more. I have a quad in my back-up that should hold me until I'm playing the trumpet in Heaven. |
Joe,
I'm guessing that Heaven, with all the great musicians who have gone there already, is filled with some great jazz groups, orchestras, symphonies, etc. One can only imagine the kind of music that is going on up there. |
Wow...I didn't know that Joseph now offered a tube power supply for the preamp. I might have to look into this. Has anyone tried Joseph's new Reference Platinum "More than a fuse"? I recently replaced a silver Hifi-tuning fuse with this new AH fuse in my TP 2.0n and the sound improved immensely...well worth the price. Joseph offers a couple of discounts to current AH preamp owners and if you post an impression of the fuse. |
Sabai,
You can read a brief comment I made on the new fuse along with other user's comments.
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/tweaks-audiohorizons-platinum-reference-more-than-a-fuse-2013-11-23-accessories-95670 |
I was wondering if anyone received an owner's manual with their AH preamp( any version). I don't recall getting one and was lately wishing that there was one. I would like to get a schematic of my TP 2.0 to look it over. I haven't talked with Joseph or Victor yet...I thought I'd get current owner's comments first. I didn't see one available on their web site to download. |
Just a note: I recently emailed Joseph and didn't get a response, so I forwarded the email to Victor. Victor told me that Joseph was extremely busy lately, hence his delay in responding. You might get faster response if you email Victor: vcomerchero@sbcglobal.net |
Scifi,
I was hoping to get a schematic of the preamp to see what the values of caps were in the power supply. I've been experimenting with my tuner and recently replaced the Panasonic FC caps with some Elna Silmic II and the difference in musicality was mind-blowing. These Silmic II RFS(Black/Gold) electrolytic caps are amazing. I've ordered some more to replace in key audio positions of my tuner. |
Thanks, Scifi. I'll pop the top on my preamp and look at the cap values. Joseph has always been nervous when people get into their preamp and make changes. No point stirring the pot. ;o) |
I'd like to know what Joseph charges for this mod to accommodate such a low output cap. The original TP 2.0 has a 4.7uf cap. Too low a value can raise the bass roll-off too much. I experimented with lower value caps in my TP 2.0 preamp and they just didn't sound right. I understand that this output cap is very important. I found the original Hovland and the Claritycap MR to sound the best. I would imagine that the V-Cap copper would be the best sounding of the lot, but like you said, they are very expensive and if a lower value can be used, then I'd like to know how.
I have been experimenting with electrolytic caps in my tuner power supply. The previous modder had Panasonic FC caps in there, an upgrade from the originals, but when I replaced those with Elna Silmic II caps, the sound improved greatly. I'm thinking about doing this in my preamp power supply. |
I was going to start a new thread but I thought I'd stay with this established one. I recently emailed Victor Comerchero to ask him a question and there was no response. Victor is usually prompt in responding so I was a little concerned after a week passed and no reply. I googled Victor Comerchero and found that a Victor Comerchero passed away in Sacramento on Dec. 21, 2014. The photo in the obituary looks just like Victor's photo in an Audio Horizon photo with Victor and Joseph at a show. If Victor has passed, why hasn't anyone mentioned it, especially from the current AH product users. I don't want to start rumors. I just wanted to get a status on Victor if anyone knew something. |
Thanks for the confirmation, Strateahed. I had suspected he had passed. I read up on Victor and he had quite a career. He was a prominent English professor at Cal State until he retired after 39 years. He befriended Joseph and while in retirement , he helped him get AH off the ground and being an audiophile, he enjoyed what he did as spokesperson and marketing director for Joseph. I hope that Joseph has found someone else that will help him as Victor did. I'm sure that was a huge loss for Joseph. I still have my original TP 2.0 preamp which I've tweaked quite a bit. |
This is an old thread that died a while back, but if anyone still has their AH preamp, I bought a quad of Black Gate capacitors, 470uf, 160v from Joseph and mounted them to the chassis to replace the four caps on the main pcb. After a long break-in, this made a huge improvement in musical naturalness and dynamics. I can post a pic if anyone is interested. |
