2. amps-preamps
  3. 1334466827

Could use your advice re: tube gear

I posted a long discussion of my MC240 and 8B which came out of storage a couple weeks ago. After listening to them with several speakers in our little local shop, and in comparison to an Anthem 700 MRX SS integrated ($2K) driving the speakers I'm thinking about, I'm missing the highs I thought I was getting. Quite a bit. And on big speakers the bass is loose and very undefined. Both tube amps (with my CJ PV-5) had vastly better midrange though.

What would be a move to keep the mids of my gear but get the defined bass and airy open highs?

Get a SS amp (like the DNA-1)? But would the CJ kill the tight lows and open highs? Could I mod the CJ?

Can I find a (~$1K used) tube amp that has the lush mids but tight lows and open detailed highs? The Quicksilver GLA maybe?

Trying to solve it with speakers, I could probably find a speaker with much tighter bottom (B&W CM-1 maybe) but that would not solve the highs. I have some Superzeros with spiky highs that help but don't replace the missing air and space.

Your thought would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
river251

Showing 11 responses by river251

river251 OP
154 posts
 
Wolf, what preamp and speakers are you using with the Jolida?

Thanks
Jim
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Thanks Wolf, that gives me another possible modifier to check out. Those mods covered under warranty? What's the db on your Silverlines?

Thanks...

Jim
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Thank you all for your advice, esp. on the B&Ws. I'd seen one post to that effect but didn't know whether to believe it, I do now.

This presents a delimma on the Mac and Marantz. I'd like to buy a nicer house. I've been counting on turning those old amps into part of a down payment. So I'm scared to upgrade them and hurt the value. They were in use until 2005, put in storage, woken up and used for a month by my engineer friend with a variac in 2009, and in storage since, and I woke them up over 2 days each with my variac. I would not be surprised if the caps need replacing, but they sound OK. Just afraid to decrease their value. But I am hoping I don't have to ever sell the 8B.

What I need is to make more money to play this game. Hopefully that is in my future :-)
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Hm...maybe I asked a dumb question? or too many? Or probably folks figure the answer is already out there, understandably. Must be one of the most asked questions.

I've been reading threads for a couple days, but it's not clear to me if I can get by with a tube amp. How tight is tight, how open is open? I'm not able to try this gear in my region. But maybe the CJ PV-5 is a limiting factor too (though I now know CJ and Rhb Dezign can upgrade it), in which case no amp will give me the open highs I want with the PV-5.

Right now these amps are for sale in the $800-$1000 range at various places on the internet:
CJ MV-55
Audio Research D76
Quicksilver GLA

McCormack DNA-1
Mark Levinson ML-9

If the latter two SS amps are 10s on a 0-10 scale for bass tightness and open highs, and my MC240 and 8B are 10s on an 0-10 scale for midrange liquidity, can any of the three tube amps above get me a 7 on bass and highs, and a 7 on tube liquidity?

Thanks much.
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Wolf, thanks very much. What a nice amp. I didn't know one could get so much new for that kind of money. Thank you.
Jim
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Thanks very much guys. How does that work....say I have my MC240 driving the speakers. You can make everything below say 100hz go to the sub(s), so your main speakers are not trying to reproduce energy below 100? And the sub is working off of a different amp?
river251 OP
154 posts
 
OK, so check out the Rogue for tight bass and tube mids.

My current speakers are:
Snell Original E -- currently waiting for new foam surrounds from Peter at Audio Note so these have been out of commission since bringing everything out of storage

NHT SuperZeros (original ones -- no sub)

Realistic Minimus 7 Walnut (don't laugh)

Speakers I'm considering:

B&W PM-1 -- probably can't afford these right now

Used B&W 805

Sinclair Brighton 460T http://sinclairaudio.com/460t.html

Haven't hear of these but have auditioned them for hours at local shop, and really like them, great tonal balance. 92db, ribbon tweeters, very reasonable.
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Wolf, I came to Jolida through another route, then called Underwood. I'm looking hard at this option. Then, not remembering which amp you mentioned, I came back to look at your post, so I'd have a list of the two new amps in my range. But yours was Jolida too. Underwood and I talked a long time yesterday. He told me about his upgrades (which are covered under warranty). Is that what you mean by upgrades? He said without the upgrades the Jolidas have the typical tubey sound but with his upgrades they sound modern in both lows and highs. True in your opinion?

Thanks! We may end up with the same amp.

Jim
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Wolf, so how are you liking the Jolida? May I ask what other gear you've used that you can compare to? If you'd rather say it in email, I am at jkk251 at gmail dot com.
Thanks much.
river251 OP
154 posts
 
Jeez. If Jolida's mods cost as much as Underwood's, then you had some good wine indeed.

I searched Jolida's website for a list of the mods but I could not find one. Guess I will have to wait and call them.
river251 OP
154 posts
 

Ths364, thank you for your post, it makes me feel easier about getting the two old timers in spec, without taking a bath. Do you mean, put them back in the stream with the upgraded parts, or put the old ones back in? I have been listening to them so the caps should be reformed well enough to last a while if I mean to take them out then put them back.
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