High End Tube Gear Transition to High End SS

Thank you both for your excellent and valued responses. Fortunately, the contemplated downsizing is not urgent nor forced. In fact, my wife of many, many years loves the sound of the system and is much more cautious than I am when it comes to change.

This "downsizing" notion of mine may be a function of getting older and thinking about "simplifying" my life. I must say that the MFA gear has been exceptionally reliable and trouble-free, and has required little of me except basic maintenance. Their physical presence in our living room cannot be ignored, however. :)

Perhaps the reason I started this thread is to "think" aloud with some feedback from a few dedicated audio kindred spirits.

I will be auditioning a pair of Larsen 6 speakers soon. If they meet my expectations, I will likely sell my upgraded Chapman T7's- a truly great speaker, but one which makes its physical presence known and requires placement at least 2 or preferably 3 feet from the wall.

Thank you again, and please feel free to give me more feedback. I've been out of the audio game for a long time and miss the courteous camaraderie. :)

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. The more I think about "my situation" the less inclined I am to change electronics. The MFA gear has been extremely reliable and has required little more than basic maintenance during the many years we've enjoyed it. The upgrades I had Scott Frankland perform were beyond what was "necessary" but something I elected to do. Even it their original form, they sounded great.

Russ69 suggested I clean up my set-up, which I have been doing. A fine idea! The TT is a Rega P5 and does not disappoint. CDP is a Shanling CD-T 100se, a very nice unit. IC's and speaker cable are by Grover Huffmann. Great wires at a great price. They just get out of the way and let the music speak.

So, that leaves the speakers. As I mentioned, I expect to be auditioning a pair of Larsen 6's soon. The reason I'm interested in those is that they are smaller than the Chapmans and are designed to be placed against the wall. Hence, they will be much less intrusive, and, if I like the sound, the days of toe-in are over. No more searching for the "ultimate sweet spot." :)

Our new living room/audio configuration dictates I sit fairly close to the Chapmans and it's not an ideal situation. I'm too aware that the music is coming out of boxes. This is NOT the Chapmans' fault, but it's how I have to arrange the room. A dedicated listening room is not an option. I will, however be installing a couple of dedicated electrical lines now that my wife and I have agreed on the room arrangement.

You guys are really helping me to sort things out!

Thanks again, you guys. I am learning a lot here. I will make but one change soon, and that will be speakers.

Lou_setriodes, I appreciate you sharing your experience and completely agree about aural memory. And, I can see myself easily becoming a "habitual changer" and do not want to go there. :)

My goal with the speaker change is to remove the two large floor standers from our living room and I hope this will make it much easier to simply sit and enjoy music. I've been cautioned by a trusted dealer NOT to get rid of the MFA tube gear. He, too, said I'd regret it. I built a very heavy but attractive audio rack a few years ago, and all the gear, while hardly unobtrusive, sits on the rack in a purposeful way. The rack is in a corner so it's a reasonably tidy presentation, and not in a visual or traffic path.

I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Larsens and will let you know how that goes.

I am not going to perform any tweaks or any other changes until I've lived with the new speakers for sufficient time. This should be quite fun and at the very least, interesting!

Lou-setriodes wrote:
"I agree, I would not touch the MFA gear it is classic tube gear and the preamp was especially very highly acclaimed. What kind of output tubes do the mono amps have? I am not as familiar with them, but remember reading incredible things about your preamp. Would love to see pictures of your system and room when you have an opportunity"

Hi Lou:
I appreciate your comments. The term "habitual changer" is now in my lexicon! :) I am using 4 matched Genalex Gold Lion KT-88's in each amp. They are a substantial improvement over the old 6550's. I am not much of a tube roller but I also have a set of almost new matched Ruby KT-88's which I'll try one of these days. Scott Frankland did a fantastic upgrade on the Lumi Preamp- taking it as far as he could. Even though it sounded darn good prior to his work, I was astonished at how much better it sounded after the upgrades. The amps were also noticeably improved but not quite as dramatically as the Lumi.

This thread has helped me to understand that change may not always for the better. :)

I'll see about doing a snapshot or two of the system.