David,
Thank you for pointing the direction for some mods to improve them further, not that there is much more needed, they sound very good as they are. |
Rebbi,
You read the Audiogon thread Zu Omen vs Lore, it came out overwhelmingly for Lore. But as always trust your own ears in your environment . Wishing you the best. Rob |
Rebbi,
I'll sit here and laugh my evil laugh joyously listening to my various Tekton speakers (M-Lore/Lore $650 and $1,000 respectively).
I did refer you to that Tim Smith Wall of Sound review previously, more than once in your previous threads. I also alerted you to a number of other Tekton reviews from the likes of Enjoy the Music, Part-Time Audiophile, Positive-Feedback as well as some others. Every review comes to the same conclusion: Tekton speakers are excellent top to bottom and checks all the audiophile boxes.
For $1,500 bucks you cannot do better. My De Capo vs Tekton-Lore shoot-out was no contest in the bass, Tekton clear winner! On every other parameter the Tekton was as good or better. Tim Smith liked the M-Lore better than his Harbeth 7s amongst others. The Lore is even better.
If you got $2,100 for the De Capo I'd get the Lore 2.0 for $900 (8 ohm, 98db, 30hz) with the money left over get a good power cord and interconnects. It will kill the De Capo. |
Last comment: you could also have Eric Alexander put in a Mundorf silver cap, it's inexpensive, raises the bar even more. |
Rebbi,
I like the De Capo a lot; but I like both Tektons much better. First, the bass is really, really good. Remember, I am a bass player. The Tekton is easy to drive, benevolent 8 ohm impedance, 95db, 98db efficiency, 38hz or 30hz bass. They throw a huge stage, in my room usually wall-to-wall if the recording has it, deep and nicely layered. The height is normally close to life-like. Female vocals like Ella check. One of my go-to Jazz CDs is: Louia Armstrong/Duke Ellington, The Great Summit/Complete Sessions/Delux Edition. You want to talk "truth of timbre", harmonic rightness, natural organic sound this CD will show it in spades, full, rich, just glorious! I feel like I'm in a small club and Sach, Duke, everybody is there in all their life-sized reach out and touch them. Louis' trumpet, the Duke's piano, Trummy Young's trombone doesn't get much better, Barney Bigard on clarinet is so live I had to invite my niece over to play hers to compare. If only she had Barney's talent...Danny Barcelona on drums, cymbals and brushes so perfect, and last, but not least, Mort Herbert playing a five foot tall bass that nailed strings slapping with buzz and body, the notes just floated so naturally, nice decays. This is not hyperbole.
On a classical recording such as Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Hungarian Sketches (Fritz Reiner, CSO) on RCA Living Stereo, the dynamics are phenomenal. This is truly a great recording to test your speakers. That big U of orchestra is there and it is easy to pick out all the instruments in their rightful spots.
I have no connection to Tekton. I have enjoyed quality sound both live and recorded since childhood on some of the best audio stuff ever produced. For $1,500 bucks you can get 90% there. As alway YMMV. |
Sebrof,
I agree with your comment that the Lore plays nice and full at low volume.
The M-Lore does as well. And by-the-way, I think the Tekton is a refined
speaker, the De Capo doesn't beat it in this regard either, just different. |
Charles,
Tone, harmonics, presence, "if ain't got that, it ain't got nothin'!
This year I plan to get to a number of shows. The last one I went to was AXPONA in Jacksonville, FL with my wife, that was a couple of years ago; and you are absolutely right, many rooms can't get the "essentials" right.
There is no shame in getting 90% there. That you can do so with a modest system cost is mind-blowing. In the Enjoy the Music review they put together a total $5,000 buck system including all wiring and DAC, amp, speakers. It included: |
Sorry about that, accidentally hit the submit button. To Continue:
$1,200 Coincident Dynamo 34SE amp
$1,000 Tekton Reference Speakers
$500 Schitt DAC
$1,000 CD Player
The rest in cables, speaker, interconnect, a little over $5,000. 90% there.
And Rebbi, I bet your system with the AN Kit-1, Tekton Lore 2.0 with upgraded Mundorf silver cap, your turntable or a decent inexpensive Cd/transport with say, something like a used MiniMax DAC, good power cable, speaker, digital, interconnect would elevate the above mentioned stuff. |
Rebbi,
Browns fan gives sage advice, as does Mapman. I really like the Tekton speakers that I own, but also really like the De Capo's as well. My gut feeling is that the AN Kit-1 is a superb match with the De Capo as you described and should get better as your amp breaks in further.
Since you inspired my wife and she is still determined to build the AN Kit-1 herself I've given a lot of thought to what ancillary audio equipment will create real music with a moderate budget. I'm still pondering that equation and think I'm going to do something like this:
AN Kit-1 $2,100-2,500.
Yamamoto Dac $1,000.
My Sony S9000ES SACD/CD as Transport
Tekton Lore Speakers.
Something like Silnote Power Cord, Interconnect, Digital and Speaker cables. Maybe Triode wire...or ???
Probably upgrade to Jupiter Cap...???
Probably upgrade tubes after stock burn-in...Black Treasure ???
Since I already own a bunch of this stuff total cost might be around $5,000. Of course I could also save some money by utilizing my Minimax Dac instead of the Yamamoto which I think I want for my main room system with the Franks.
Best Rebbi, I'm happy for you that all is well and you are thoroughly enjoying the music. |
Charles,
Believe it or not one was for sale here for less than $600.00. I just missed it! At any rate I am on the hunt. If I must pay full price, that is ok. Beats paying $7,000 plus for the latest Lampizator. I am happy with the MiniMax DAC, likely even more happy if I change Op Amps per Doug Schroeder of Dagogo. |
Jeff Day 6 Moons Review plus good word on the street prompted me to purchase them. Day used them mostly with Omega 3s. Day also had a nice EL84 shootout, you might consider going back and reading his results in 6Moon Archive. Rob |
Get the right speaker cables and interconnects and there will nothing vague about imaging. In my system when I borrowed my brother DeCapo, the imaging wasn't any less in the Tekton in absolute terms, yet it slayed the DeCapo in almost every other parameter. All rooms are different. Tubes, interconnect, speaker wires all make difference. And of course we all differ in how we like music presented, what we value most/least. When it comes to presentation of the music I'm a timbral listener, the tone, natural, organic flow, the harmonic rightness, texture, fullness, weight, mean more to me than spotlight imaging. In real life music that spotlight imaging doesn't exist. And when it comes to beer budgets with Champange tastes the Tektons are a remarkable feat. The reviewer in Stereotimes stated that the Tekton Reference was kissing cousins to the DeVore 0/96 in sound, they cost $12,000, the Tekton Reference $799 in its Plain Jane/beer budget form, or you could upgrade the veneer and get better capacitors for a few hundred more.
When I get the Franks from Coincident I 'm going to pause long and hard about speaker match. I've listened now to the DeVore 0/96 and O/93, $12,000 and $8,000 respectively, and I know now from personal experience (not in my room), the Tekton gives you 95% of same. I also know AN/Snell which I've owned in past, same comment as above. The New Omega Alnico sounds intriguing at about $3,000 plus. Rabbi, what's the budget? People keep recommending speakers, even used, that seem to exceed what you want to spend...best, Rob. |
Atmasphere,
Rebbi's room is about 11x12, my office system, 14x16. Believe me, even true 92db, 8ohm, no problem. My 8 watt Coincident Dynamo is sublime with my 95db or 98db Lores depending on model. How loud do you listen? I generally like about 80db, sometime louder, never a problem. I could't listen much louder in a sustained way without ruining my ears. I really loved the Gizmo and OTL, but even he eventually went The Big Tannoy with 300B. Best Rob |
Well, still about double the cost of the Tekton Lore Reference. I sincerely doubt you'll get double the value sound-wise, likely less, but at any rate, good luck in your endeavor. Best, Rob |
Drubin,
What would that be? |
From Jeff Day Wordpress Blog, as Reviewer for Posive Feedback/6moons his listening bias which exactly matches my own:
I thought it might be handy for those following my writing at Positive Feedback Online to know what my listening biases are to aid you in interpreting and decoding my reviews. Just to alert you, my listening perspective is somewhat of a minority opinion in the Hi-Fi community of North America, but will be more familiar to those listeners in Turkey, Africa, and Japan, who tend to be more familiar with timbral ways of listening. My hierarchy of importance is aligned more closely to how well a Hi-Fi rig plays the musical content of recordings (I know, it’s a heretical concept), rather than how it ‘sounds’ in the more traditional audiophile ‘sonic’ sense.
As a result of my being drawn towards the musical content of recordings, I tend to be a bit more of a timbral listener than is typical for a lot of Westerners, meaning that the reproduction of the textures, colors, and tones & overtones in the music are really important to me. To this end I look for timbral realism at the band level (the band’s signature ‘sound’) and at the individual instrument level (the unique ‘voices’ of instruments). I want them to sound recognizably like themselves in tone and texture, so that their full tone color can develop, which I think helps lend a feeling of beauty and expressiveness to the music. I like the melody (the tune you ‘whistle while you work’), harmony (treble & bass accompaniments to the melody) and rhythm (the steady beat that determines the tempo) to have a life-like flow and connectedness in how the musicians interact—just like in real life. I want dynamics (variations in loudness) to evoke that which I hear in life for an emotional connection to the melody and rhythm. For loudness I like my music playback to be similar to live loudness levels, which for the kind of music I listen to the most, jazz, usually means 80 dB or louder. Finally, I want tempo portrayed so that both the mood and speed of the music are conveyed through it, just like it is with music in real life.
I consider the sonic performance of a Hi-Fi rig on the non-musical artifacts of the recording process to be of value, but of less importance to me than the performance on the musical content of recordings (as above). So things like transparency (being able to ‘see’ into the recording), soundstage (the three dimensions of the recorded space in width, height and depth), soundspace (the acoustic ‘space’ of the soundstage), and imaging (the feeling of solidity and localization of instruments & musicians on the soundstage) are important to me, but they are not my primary focus – the musical content is.
So I like my cake (the musical content of recordings) with a little frosting (the sonic artifacts of the recording process) for a balanced taste treat. Too much frosting and not enough cake puts me off. So that’s me, and you might be different, but at least now you know how.
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Rebbi,
Believe me when I say you are not aggravating me in the least. I'm actually chuckling a little bit thinking, poor Rebbi, he has a case of audio nervosa. Again, as Charles stated, ultimately you trust your own ears in your environment. I, like many here are attempting to be helpful due to our experience. How much does the new Zu cost? Just curios, I'll look them up, no ax to grind, many people like them very much. I don't so much. So, right now more than a half dozen positive in depth reviews plus personal testimony from a number of Agon members, plus you heard the Tekton Reference and Katz for yourself, yet one reviewer on Audio Ayslum liked the new Zu, that got your attention? |
Yikes!!! $3,600 for the Zu Omen Def MKII. Here I thought we were discussing speakers for less than what you could get for the DeCapo and have some $$$ left over for some decent cables. OK, I promise to stop trying so hard to get you great value speakers that play in the ballpark with many of the costly big boys. Same goes for the wiring.
Thanks for all your info on the AN Kit-1, my wife and I will build it based on your blog and other stellar reports, hook them up to the $1,000 Tekton Lore and never look back. Happy hunting. Best Rob |
Hi Atmastphere,
All the tech stuff is well and good. I welcome your expertise, but bottom line in my home I just enjoy SET sound the most. I've been without a 300B DH SET for a couple of years, to be remedied very soon. I didn't mean to mislead readers, 80-85db is my usual listening level, but no problem cranking it a little, also about 95db on occasion. I didn't know Harvey well enough to comment on your OTL, but he did give sound advice on tweeking-up my 300Bs at the time as well as turning me on to thin silver wire to use with the 300Bs. Ultimately I think he convinced Goertz to make their original silver interconnect, I could be wrong about that.
I've only heard Audiokinesis once in my life and liked them, but before I drop the larger bucks once again I'm going to hit a lot of shows, get as much listening in that I can in New York, Chicago area and LA. High on my list is DeVore O/96, Daedalus, Line Magnet 755 Field Coil, Tannoy, Coincident and some others, you get the idea. Thanks again for your input. |
P.S. I also meant to comment that in the meantime I'll be very content to live with the various Tekton that I own. Best, Rob |
Smctigel,
My office is 16x14x9, but rises to a peak of 12 feet for about 4 feet. Not to long ago I owned the Almarro model you use. Nice. It played well in this room with the Tekton M-Lore. I was fortunate to have a number of excellent EL84s, 7189s. I liked the NOS Amperex EL84s best. I paired them mostly with NOS Sylvania 3 Mica Black Plate 5751. Best, Rob |
Tubegroover,
I listen to large scale classical everyday, get the scale, dynamics, l can go as loud as I wish, go electronic, techno, big band, Jazz, folk, yes, even head-banging Rock n Roll (I played it live back in the day). But the really great aspect is, when called for I can achieve what SET does better for me than any other tube or SS I ever owned. I agree wholeheartedly with Charles. |
I also started on the trumpet at about ten, thanks uncle Bill. Rebbi I have to disagree with your imaging assessment of the Tekton. Now I realize you are in your venue and I am in my venue. If you aggregate all of the reviews of Tekton, I believe all the reviewer's thought the Tektons imaged extremely well. Also, this might be an apples/orange thing, you heard the new Lore Reference, I own the M-Lore and Lore. But I believe the house sound is similar. When I did compare the DeCapo directly against the M-Lore, yes, the DeCapo slightly edged out M-Lore/Lore in imaging, but it was more of a case of spotlighting, which is not the way we actually hear music live. The M-Lore/Lores throw an enormous stage in my venue. Great scale, height, width, depth. All the reviewers agreed on this aspect. When it comes to tone, color, texture, a weighty fullness, harmonic rightness, solid bass, and more...the DeCapo couldn't compete in my room with the 8 watt Coincident Dynamo and Tekton combo. By comparison the DeCapo was thinner and you could tell it was stressing where the the Tektons were relaxed and handling everything thrown at them. I'll give a couple of examples pertinent to this discussion: on the Bach, Stokowski London Phase Four, Toccata & Fugue in D minor, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, it pretty much starts full tilt violins/violas, then with major thwack descends into deep Cello and Bass strings, then loud cacophony of French Horns and Brass. The Tecktons handled this piece with aplomb, the DeCapo's went yelping down the street completely thin and missing all the power of the deeper notes, as was always the case on the deep end that ultimately affected the balance of the music, what you should hear from a live orchestra when it hits those big moments such as also in Mussgorsky, Gates of Kiev.
Even playing Jazz you would lose a lot: one of my faves was diminished, Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington/The Complete Sessions/Deluxe Edition, because the DeCapo could not capture all of Mort Herbert's terrific bass, especially the body and volume of air and fat notes floating out, it totally missed the foundation. You made my point with Lorde and that type of music. In sum, to my ears/room the Tekton beat the DeCapo pretty much in every parameter.
We all hear differently. I like the quality of sound top to bottom much better as presented by the Tektons. YMMV and it obviously it does. Same goes for everyone else and that is a good thing. After all, variety is truly the spice of life. Best. |
Charles,
Completely logical. Everything in audio requires planning, experience for one's self...that is, how you explained, how we ultimately got to SET. It is a journey, in the end we make a decision as to what satisfies us the most according to our own personal value system. Different folks make their own, perhaps different choices. But you and I don't run around trying to tell them their choice was limiting or wrong.
I want to ask all the speaker makers here, why did you go to 4 ohm? You have forced amp makers to have limited choice. Why make speaker loads and efficiency harder to comply with, not easier? Do 4 ohm speakers inherently sound better? I think not. |
Rebbi,
My wife and I send our sincere condolences to you and your family. Your Mom was a wonderful person as you described her. And, thank you for reminding all of us what values are important. I'm going to give all the family members a huge hug today. Best. |
Tubegroover, Others,
The DeCapos are my brother 2nd system, usually paired with Leben CS600. Admittedly, in his system everything is fine, except the lower bass realm, yet does not best the Tekton with said Leben. The DeCapo Ref is a very nice speaker, I have said so here many times. I personally like the tone and presentation better with the Tekton. My brother's primary speaker is the Harbeth SHL5 also very good. Another thing to note as previously mentioned here is that between my brother and I, we often enough have audio shootouts at our houses with usually 6 to 10 audio buddies, their systems are all over the map. Between my brother and I we have owned or listened to many, many serious systems. Not as reviewers, but music lovers...I've even shopped at one of the stores Mapman worked at back in the 70s.
With regard to "limitations" all audio equipment/amps have limitations and must be matched synergistically with appropriate ancillaries. Monitors have limitations, usually a a lot missing below say, 55hz; Ribbons have limitations and usually require amps with over a 100 watts and high current; Electrostatics present other problems; many speakers have a Head In The Vice sweet spot; some speakers are difficult to set-up; and so on and so forth. A SET is no more problematic than anything else. Historically low-powered amps with gigantic horns filled large movie theaters with loud dynamic sound. I would argue that just because an amp is powerful does not make it a good match for many speakers, sure they'll play loud, likely dynamic; but what of the quality of sound?
Too me, like Charles, Brownsfan, Roxy, many non Westener listeners such as the Japanese, we seem to be Timbral listeners and have very specific musical requirement as outlined above where I pasted Jeff Day's blog on "Listening Bias". As a former professional musician I care for the above musical attributes. Directly heated SET matched with appropriate high efficiency speakers does it for me and I suspect legions of others. I also think speaker manufacturing took a wrong turn with 4 ohm based solely on financial considerations. I strongly believe we would all be better served with efficient, easy to drive speakers, perhaps, some rare exceptions. |
So, Atmasphere,
Then why don't we have manufacting that promotes high efficiency nominal 8 ohm or higher speakers. Seems like it makes amp manufacting funnel into a narrow "limiting" high power proposition that does Limit and force a specific choice that doesn't often times serve music by my definition, but does loud/dynamic. As a maker of a fine amp, don't you realize many benefits with more efficient speakers in the manufacturing process. |
|
Amps are either well designed and built, or not. A perfect measurement does not necessarily equal good sound. |
Pehare,
I also loved my RM 10, I was stupid for selling them about 10 years ago, but I love the Coincident Dynamo even more. Like anything audio, careful system synergy, your ears, your room. Best, Rob |
Rebbi,
I am confused by much of your vacillation and think Brownsfan gave you superb advice; but did you, or did you not, like the sound of the Tekton overall? Do you want a speaker that spotlight in the stage? There are not too many speakers in the $1,700 range that are going to give you absolutely everything you desire, but I believe you know that...that is why in my value system I pushed the Tekton idea, it gets you 90-95% of what the big buck speakers do; that is the aggregate consensus of more than a half-dozen quality Review Mavens from respected publications. You made a stellar decision with regard to an amp, the AN Kit. Perhaps, as Brownsfan suggested, hold on to the DeCapo, live with their bottom end limitation until you can save up for something that give the whole Megillah. Another thought with respect to the Tekton you heard. The limitation you thought you heard in imaging I believe is due to your cabling, interconnect, and perhaps something else not discovered due to your lack of time with said speaker. As I stated previously I do not have that problem with either the M-Lore or Lore. Also, maybe Eric is correct and the Tekton 2.0 is the ticket being that it is 98db efficient, 8 ohm nominal, digs down to 34hz. Plus, being taller. Statically this speaker betters the M-Lore/Lore. I also believed your room was smaller than it actually is, this 2.0 version will not overload your room based on dimension and shape as you recently described. Regardless, best in this pursuit. Rob |
Rebbi,
Couldn't agree more with most your post, as I always state truthfully, YMMV, you do not have to like what I like; but to be completely honest you must also admit that perhaps you rushed, didn't have the time to properly set-up, plus as stated are using a "mishmash" of power, speaker and interconnect; and your comments about imaging and coherence border on the ridiculous and absurd. Not one respected Reviewer, nor do I agree with you. When I compared the $3,000 DeCapo to primarily the $650 M-Lore, I carefully set them up in my office system where I normally run the M-lore. I used the well-known Sheffield Test CD, which was recorded in a "live" room 32x18x13. From the Sheffield notes: A closely matched pair of classic AKG C24 vacuum tube stereo microphones was used, in a matrixed array, and, if your system can reproduce it, you will find that the special representation is simply phenomenal!
That's the point of the track--to see exactly how well your system can reproduce space.
Doug Sax walks around the room with a pair of claves (wooden "click sticks"), talking and clicking the claves. As he moves, he tells exactly where he is in relation to microphones. When he finally stops in the center of the room (about 6 feet from the microphones) he's joined by Roger Skoff (about 8 feet back) and they both start talking at the same time!
Not only does this track give you a VERIFIABLE check of your System's ability to IMAGE and accurately reproduce a soundstage, unraveling the two voices and BEING ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT BOTH ARE SAYING constitutes a supreme test of resolution and Clarity! Quoted from the Sheffield Booklet describing the main test. The Tekton easily flew through the Resolution, Clarity, Coherent, test. The DeCapo did nearly as well as the Tekton on this test; but the Tekton bettered the DeCapo when Sax was on the back wall, more clear and resolved, the claves had more body, louder with more body and weight.
So, I call BS on the imaging, resolution, clarity. Additionally, there is no drift, images is rock solid. |
Atmastphere,
I respect you greatly, understand what you are saying, yet I fully agree with Brownsfan, my parameters in my home match his. Yes, at times I might go 95db-100db with one of my Various set-ups, but not normally in my home office system in a 14x16x9 room. Hey, I must get some work done on occasion. Plus, I too, prefer/listen to Bach, Beethoven over the Wagner stuff 99% of the time. I'm happy for you that you have found your sweet spot. I'm happy for Charles, Brownsfan, Jet, Granny that they have achieved their sweet spot; now let us help Rebbi get closer to his sweet spot with a smaller budget. Theory is fine, but $$$ speak. The real question is: how far can we push the envelop and get to sound quality of 90-95% of expensive systems for Rebbi and the majority of music lovers who will not or cannot spend $$$$$$$ and upgrade every other month. |
I do not own the Lore Reference, but the M-Lore and Lore. In general, my Lores, though different from the brief trial Rebbi had with the Lore Reference, DO NOT sound anything like what he described in my long-term experience with my two Lores. I believe they generally have a family sound and presentation.
As stated previously, not one of the many, more than eight Reviewers from respected magazines or Web sites such as Enjoy The Music, Stereo Mojo, 6 Moons (Tim Smith, the writer even piped in here), Stereotimes, Wall-of-Sound, Part-Time-Audiophile, and so on thought the various Lores were in anything like weak in the areas Rebbi described; frankly, quite opposite. Enjoy the Music used the Lore Referece and gave it it's Blue Note Award. No one in any review agrees with Rebbi comments and neither do I. Last night I listened to Roy Orbison, All-Time Greatest Hits on Monument, from the original masters. The soundstage was deeply layered, wall-to-wall wide (14 feet), with very good height, natural organic flow, each instrument and voice properly placed with uncanny realism. Orbison was center, back-up singers came out in proper scale/distance from Orbison, left, right, center, way behind depending on mix. Nuance! You want nuance, this was it! In all my experience with these speakers I have never/ever had a flat soundstage.
Rebbi, your review here is disingenuous to me. Again, it is contrary to the aggregate of respected Reviewers, my experience. To give you a big benefit of doubt I think you were rushed, had the owner of the Reference hovering over you. Plus, you don't seem to have particularly good speaker wire or interconnects. At this juncture I really hope you do not buy Tekton. The Omega's at $3,000 plus will likely get you to where you want to be, or some others speaker. Save your money, make a bigger jump. In the meantime I'll laugh my evil laugh knowing the M-Lore gets 93-96% of the Devore 0/96 ($12,000) for peanuts in comparison. I'll also likely spend that much as I'm as much an audio fool as the next guy. |
Jet,
The AN-e is a great choice, especially the synergy with the Kit. I had family member in past who owned these--just need find used, Rebbi, you should be in Heaven.
Jet, beside building the AN Kit-1, my wife and I, with my brother's guidance (DIY) since the 60s, are going to modify/upgrade the Coincident Dynamo. Another Audiogon member is doing so and gave some seriously good advice. Plus, I became inspired/motivated by a Jeff Day Blog where a notable builder of 300B and the new SPEC amp, Yazaki-san, recommended a Day modify his beautifully restored amps with certain Capacitor and resistor changes. The Audiogon person is going to go with Jupiter capacitors and some others. I'm going to go with the Arizona capacitors, I think, plus change out the stock IEC connector to Furetech, get rid of the cheap tube connectors and upgrade to something like Woo Teflon, and last, find a real good volume control. Still need a little further research, maybe internal wiring to WE 16ga, but as retirement nears, I think I will overcome my fears and get soldering. Rebbi, you, Grannyring, have been inspirations. Best. Rob |
I have 't heard this integrated amp, yet I believe Jeff Day in his review of The SPEC, current in this issue of Positive Feedback, that Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki-san, the designer, a top-notch Japanese 300B builder, modifier, build this amp voiced like 300B. According to Day, says it sounds like it has many 300B attributes. Cost: about $9,500. |
Why do people keep recommending speakers for Rebbi outside his purchase margins? |
Rebbi,
In case you missed it there is a pair of AN-E for sale on Agon for $1,499. |
Rebbi,
Great info. Being familiar with AN speakers I have a huge soft spot in my heart for them. I did own Snell at one point which is where AN got the design and modified them, but you likely know that. At any rate, let's hope a pair of AN-E 98db version pops up soon at somewhere near your price point. The Agon has been slow and tough to sell as of late. I have my Primaluna Dialogue One up for sale for a reasonable $1,750 with about $300 worth of NOS tubes. Usually my stuff sells within 7 days. About 800 views. No sale. I'm already into relist. So, maybe an AN-E shows up one day at good price. Best, Rob |
Yes I am familiar with Hi-fi Shark. I'm sure all the regular participants on this thread will also keep an eye out for you with regard to AN-E. |
Jetrexpro,
I'm with you. I almost forgot how good these speakers are. I haven't listened to them in about 15 years; but you know, I remember them sounding really good with very low watts, so I You Tubed them and sure enough, they were really excellent with AN and other tubed gear. Only $2,000 grand new, about 102db, 8 ohm, gets down to 30hz, very live and dynamic, yet still warm. Sounded a bit like Tannoy Turnberry. I think a lot of people would be happy rediscovering these classics. I might change some of my direction myself. Jet, nice of you to bring this speaker up, it is well worth consideration at a astoundingly good price new. Older models can be had In the high hundreds. Best, Rob |
Rebbi,
The Tektons play very well at low volume. In my listening room, 14x16, I generally have the volume near 9 o'clock. At 10’clock it starts to really rock the room. When at 8’o'clock it is quiet. Yet very clear and still dynamic. Remember, this is with my 8 watt Coincident Dynamo 34SE, EL34.
You should read all the reviews. I especially liked the Tim Smith (6 Moons) and Enjoy the Music reviews since they both used the Tektons with the Coincident Dynamo SE. The reviews were thorough and honest evaluations. They match my listening observations. The Stereomojo review garnered their award. So too, Enjoy the Music. Positive-feedback also matches my listening experience. |
Charles,
You are right on.
As you can see from my post from Jeff Day Blog what my values are. In that spirit I want to pass along some other info that Day wrote about. While doing a Review of the SPEC SS Integrated for Positive Feedback, build by a Japanese 300B aficionado, Yazaki-san, Yazaki-san suggested to Day that he try NOS Western Electic 16ga stranded tin copper wire for speaker wire on Day's Tannoy Westminster Royals ($1.39 foot) as well as Belden 8402 microphone cable as interconnect (about $3.25 a foot) and to terminate them with Swichcraft SWC 3502AAU RCA, which Day did with great success. He had industry friends over for a shootout between this stuff and Sablon. 2 voted Sablon, 2 voted WE and Belden, Day said equal but different presentation. Reading between the lines and subsequent posts later I think he gives slight nod to Sablon. Yazaki-san has been using this combo for about 10 years and compares the sound to the ancient NOS 40s 274b tube, not the later iteration. Yazaki-san calls it an artistic tube incorporating all the values I mentioned above in "Listening Values". With the Coincident Dynamo I changed out my PS Audio Statement/Kimber 8TC/Silnote speaker cables as well as Goertz silver/Kimber Hero/Silnote interconnect and was floored. Of course, not many here believe me I suspect. But about 600 folks on Day Blog/Cable Asylum/Decware site seem to be buying this We and Belden. I only heard one person grumble, then after more break-in he became a ”believer”. Best, Rob |
