Coincident Dragon Amplifier

Thanks very much to all for the good comments and suggestions, and the nice words. Further comments and suggestions will continue to be appreciated, as I will not be finalizing my decision for a couple of months or so.

01-15-11: Jax2
Hey Al - Did you ask Lou for his suggestions? I know he likes the Modwright amps I use, and I can tell you that combination is outstanding (Disclaimer: Modwright is a client). I also heard the Ulysses the first time via what I'm pretty sure were 211 based amps - Lou was showing with this manufacturer at RMAF '06 and it was also a magical combo that had me glued in his room for over an hour as I recall. Great choice of speakers!

Thanks, Marco. Re "great choice of speakers," it was actually your comments some time ago, in addition to some comments by others, that led me to the Ulysses, which are as magnificent as you had indicated!

I will make a point of touching base with Lou before finalizing a decision. Re the Modwright's, I'm certain that they are excellent amps and excellent matches for the speakers, but I do want to stay with tubes, and preferably DHT's for this upgrade.

Best regards,
-- Al

Finsup, thanks very much for your comments. Regarding what I am not getting from my current amplifier, nothing in particular that I can identify at this time. I've been pretty happy with it, since retubing it with "Winged C" EL34's and Genalex reissue small signal tubes.

But it would stand to reason that my very inexpensive, though seemingly well built and good sounding Paxthon amplifier, would not bring out the full potential of the speakers. Plus I would like to give DHT's a try, plus I suppose my immunity to audiophile upgrade-itis is only partial :-)

Best regards,
-- Al

Looks like Marco is correct about RMAF 2007. Scroll down about 1/3 of the way on this page.

Finsup, no self-rebuke is called for. I interpreted your comment in a positive manner, as you intended.

Thanks to all once again.

-- Al

My amplifier upgrade recently occurred, and so I thought I would provide an update to this thread:

While the thread was active I received a helpful, credible, and experience-based email about the original (and then current) version of the Dragon from a member, which caused me to have some doubt that it would be all that I was hoping for sonically. At around the same time, a post by a different member in an unrelated thread made me aware that a Mark II version of the Dragon was in the works. I decided to wait until it was introduced, and the details became known.

That introduction occurred in the past couple of months. The Coincident website describes several very substantial changes and improvements in the Mark II version, reflected in part in a considerable increase in weight, and an increase in size as well. Its price, though, increased by $2K, which strikes me as very reasonable in relation to the described improvements, but which put it beyond the limit of what I wanted to spend.

Meanwhile, the more I researched and reflected upon the suggestion that was made by Drake (“Raquel”), of the VAC Renaissance 70/70 MK III, the more enthused I became about the idea. An opportunity recently arose for me to purchase one in excellent condition, at a very reasonable price, and within local pickup distance. And that’s what I did.

It came with a brand new set of Chinese 300B-98 and 6SN7 tubes which the previous owner had purchased from VAC. I emailed Kevin Hayes at VAC to confirm that those 300B’s are suitable for use in this amp, and that they could have been purchased from VAC. His very gracious and almost instant response provided both confirmations.

I am thrilled with this amp. Its combination of purity (for want of a better word) and power amazes me.

I did have a very anxious several hours, though, when after about two hours of use all of a sudden there was an eruption of loud static and squealing (through the speakers). I eventually determined that one of the new 6SN7’s had failed, developing a high impedance grid-to-plate short. I then replaced all four small signal tubes with 1960 CBS 6SN7GTB’s which I happened to have on hand. All has been well since, and I think the vintage CBS’s sound slightly better than the new Chinese tubes did, during the brief amount of time I was able to listen to them.

Thanks again to all who responded, and especially of course to Drake.

Best regards,
--Al

Thanks very much for the nice comments, guys.

Waltersalas, you're most probably already aware of the need to make certain that any 300B used in the Renaissance amps conforms to the original Western Electric specifications (which many 300B's that are available do not). But to be sure, let me point out the following statement on page 9 of the manual (which is available at their website), concerning KR tubes:

KR Enterprises: Many versions produced, most deviant from 300B standards. Be certain that the version you use conforms to the WECo 300B standard for filament current (1.5A) or amplifier damage may result.

The email from Kevin that I mentioned in my previous post specifically suggests checking with him when in doubt.

Consistent with your findings, btw, the manual comments somewhat negatively on the sonic performance of the JJ's in the amp.

Thanks for joining the thread and sharing your experiences. As you certainly know, while the Daedalus speakers are very easy to drive and unusually versatile with respect to amplifier selection, at the same time they will make the sonic character of the amplifier that is used very evident, which in this case is clearly something special.

Best regards,
-- Al

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your interest. I still haven't gotten around to having the McMurdo Silver cabinet refinished; it's a low priority for me right now. Also, I don't envision selling any of my sets in the foreseeable future.

Since you are relatively new to the hobby, I'll suggest that if you already haven't you check out the site of Antique Radio Classified, including the links it provides to other sites, and the books they offer for sale.

Regarding a visit here, personal circumstances make that impractical for me in the coming weeks.

Regards,
-- Al