On our last exchange (May 4) Mick said it would be another 5-6 weeks, maybe sooner. |
To Bmotorcycle -- you're not alone, I did the same. I ordered the Syrah (line-stage only) just after reading this and other threads like this. Good luck to us both. However, this "3-months" wait is really getting old. My first 3-months of wait for a piece of gear is coming to an end next week -- a pair of Kharma CE 2.2 speakers. |
Wsin - We're on the same boat. My deposit is dated March 29th. |
Rockhead, Fiddler & others: Infact I just sold my old preamp, meaning, I'm without a preamp altogether until the Supratek arrives. I'm lucky because I use a "Air Tight ATM-2" for an amp which allows for a line-level source i.e., CD player, directly into the amplifier using the amps left and right attenuators for volume level control -- but the sound is too thin for me for any extended or meaningful listening. I wish the old pre wasn't snapped up as quickly as it had, oh well! |
Asa, I don't follow you, what is a "Virtual PC"? |
Thanks Bradz. To Asa again - I don't own any Virtual Dynamics PCs. I use all "Absolute Powercords", these are your basic hospital-grade powercords marketed by GTT Audio. The only exception is my "Air-Tight ATM-2" amp, it comes with a (mine did anyway) non-detachable factory powercord with a 2-prong plug. You probably have me mixed up with someone else. Sorry. |
Bwhite - That's so cool...how did you do that, meaning, what software (other tools) did you use to create this rendition - just wondering... |
Fiddler - Like you and others I'm just sitting tight. Obviously none of us want to bug Mick every 15 days but I'm surprized (worried) to know you haven't heard anything yet. I was hoping to receive mine by the end of June. Doesn't look like it will happen -- what a pain in the &$@%.
I once tried counting the number of units in order just from this thread alone - I beleive it was 11 or 12. Without additional hands/help I don't think Mick can pull off the 3-month arrears. |
Afveep -
When I ordered mine (a chardonney) back on March 29th, Mick accepted only PayPay and/or Wire transfer. A deposit of 50% is required when you place your order. The wait is probably around 3-months or more. But couldn't tell you how it sounds - I ordered mine based on the buzz alone, and of course the looks! Good luck. |
Noble110 - what speakers will you be using in your setup? I also own a "Air Tight" but mine is the ATM-2. I expect my "Chardonney" to arrive shortly since I just past the 3-month marker. The speakers I'm using are Kharma Ceramique 2.2, and I use a COPLAND CDA-289 HDCD player as my source. |
I essentially refrained from emailing Mick for the last 3.5 months since I was getting my updates from this thread alone. I finally broke down and inquired last week. In response Mick said it would take a "while" longer. However, he did attach a couple of "goo goo ga ga" reponses from a couple of new owners just to console me. I wanted to ask him "how much longer" but I held back because I just didn't want to get a heart attack - kidding! I'm sure it'll be well worth the wait but I also just wanna get done with the system for a while...hah! hah!
Cheers to Fiddler... |
Hey Gang-
Looks like I'm up next, my Chardonnay is shipping as early as 8/29 - I place my ordered on 3/29. I have no clue how long the shipment will take to get to NYC. By the way - what's involved in the customs clearance? I've seen posts indicating a duty of $130. When and where does one deal with this? Is this something you pay the shipping company when you receive it? I appreciate any advice you can give on this.
Thanks |
Hey Gang-
I received my chardonnay today and I just now hooked it up but I'm have some serious problems. The sound is totally "chocked", as if there is no power at all. There's barely any noise from the woofers. Just wondering what I'm doing wrong.
It is bit too early in the morning to call Mick. Wondering if any of you might be willing to help with the setup. Please send me a note with your phone number and I'll give a call in the next half hour. Or if you prefer to call, let me know so I can send you my phone#.
Thanks a lot.
Jewel
Time now: 8:05pm EST |
Quick Update - Thank you all (bmotorcycle, bwhite, Rmml and Mick) for comming to the resque in such short notice. My preamp is still out of commission. And to add to it, I messed it up even more by turning the two (inside the preamp unit) pods (wrong knobs) that look like volume pods since Mick document refers to them as "inside gain control switches). I should have been used the toggle switches but I wasn't thinking, I went straight for anything that resembled volume control.
In any event, here is what has happended so far:
1) inserted the rectifier tube onto the power unit
2) connected IC from power-amp to "out1" RCA on preamp
3) connected IC from CD-player to "CD" RCA on preamp
4) attached a powercord to the power unit and plugged into the wall -- units powered up immediately because the power on/off button was already in the "on" (drepressed) position -- my fault.
5) the "5AR4 rectifier" tube a Phillips 5G4GT on the power supply chassis flaired up a little but settled down quickly.
6) I placed a Dianna Krall CD in the CD player and hit the play botton with the volume at about 10% - no sound. I kept increasing the volume until it was at 75-80% on volume knob. There was sound but totally "chocked" (for symtoms see my post) as I mention on the previous post.
7) I called Bmotorcyle -- he thought it must be the rectifier tube going bad. I thought as much since there were flairs. He also suggested that I open up the unit and play with the inside gain controls. I openned up the unit turned the wrong things which I later found out.
8) hooked the units back up and powered up. The rectifier tube flaired up once more and this time it died. None of the tubes had any light ob both units.
9) I went out for dinner more than a drinks to drown out my sorrows.
10) Got home and read Bwhite's note.
11) This morning I got up and read Rmml's note.
12) Called Mick and gave him the sequence of events. Mick wasn't exactly sure what the problem was but pointed out that I tunred the wrong things inside the unit. It also turns out that I had the "tape monitor" toggle swtich in the wrong setting. It was set back instead of forward. This in fact could well have been the problem but he was not absolutely sure. Mick said if I want I can send the unit back and he can send me a replacement unit. I thought it might be worth trying it here if I can get a hold of a replacement rectifier today (saturday) in NYC -- I doubt it though. If I find a rectifier I'm supposed to call Mick back this evening (morning his time) so he can walk me through how to reset the voltage back to 300 volts, this is due to turning the wrong knobs inside the unit.
But here's the kicker (stupid me) -- while I was switching back to my prior setup, a McIntoch C32 preamp hooked to a AirTigh ATM-2 power amp. By mistake I plugged the power-amp ICs into the CD-1 of preamp and ICs from CD-player into the Line-1 of the preamp (just reversed). Obviously there was no music, I even turned the volume up but still no music. Looks like I might have fried my power amp.
Think I'm ready for a few more drinks!!
I will keep you posted...
Jewel
|
Update- I've had an interesting Saturday to say the least. Let's just say it tunred out just fine by 6:00pm. I started out with a brand new preamp that didn't work. In the process of switching back and forth I managed to mess up my power amp too. But by the end of the day and a $150 later, both units were in operation once more (only in NYC). I manage to find replacement tubes for both the preamp and the power amp, plus I found a person to repair both the units all in a span of 4-hours.
The preamp apparently had a "short" of some kind besides the bad rectifier tube. Mick says "that's the oldest line in the book". I don't really care so long as the units do what they're suppose to.
Right now I'm just enjoying my Bhudha Bar-II Dinner CD. The only thing stands out about the pre is, the gain control is way too sensitive (almost to the touch) but Mick provides several ways to adjust for that. I shall sign off for now so I can focus on the music.
Many thanks to Bmotorcyle, Bwhite, Rmml as well as Mick for all the moral support - I needed it today.
Jewel |
I replaced my stock 5881 with a Sovtek 5V4G, its a bit taller. It sounds really good. I didn't get a chance to listen ot the stock 5881 due to other problems I was having. But the sovtek works just fine and it cost only $7.99. |
Hi everyone: Any opinions on Vacuumtubes.com as a retailer? Also, would you recommend buying new NOS tubes as opposed to used ones at 50% discount labeled as (used but tested good). For example, a NOS Mullard standard-base 5AR4/GZ34 is listed for $95 while a used one is $45.
By the way, I received my Chardonay back in 8/2002 and its still fitted with all stock tubes. Upon my recent return to this thread I was instantly inspired by posts from folks like Ecclectique, Bwhite & others. I figured it's time to make some adjustments.
Thanks in advance for your tips. |
Bwhite: Thanks very much that is really good advice except, you're a few hours late - I already placed my order for a complete replacement set (used NOS tubes) this afternoon. But I'm sure these will out shine the stock tubes no matter what. My picks were based on what I picked up from yours & Ecclectique's earlier posts. For 6S7N I picked a pair of KenRad VT-231 (black glass) and for the rectifier, a Mullard 5AR4/GZ34 and a pair of Tungsol 7581/KT66 for the 6L6 application. These should arrive in just a few days. I'll be sure to update everyone on their performance in my setup. |
Swampwalker: The toggle switch on your right as you face the unit should be set such that its pulled towards yourself. I had the same problem when I first got my unit back in 08/2003. Hope its the same issue with yours. All the best... |
Tube Rolling Update: The replacement set of NOS tubes arrived last friday. After about 20 minutes of listening with the stock tubes (at a set volume level) I decided to go ahead and replace all the tubes all at once just to be sure all the tubes are working and that they light up properly - and they did.
The replacement tubes I receive:
1. 5Z4 Type - 5AR4/GZ34 Mullard standard-base.
2. 6L6 Type - Tung Sol KT66/7581 (matched pair).
3. 6SN7 Type - KenRad VT231 black-glass (matched pair, rectangular plate - not round plates).
First impressions: not much of a difference I'm afraid. I was expecting a more immediate and easily discernable change to the sonic characteristics of my system; but that was not the case at all, not like the time when I replaced a set of unknown Chinese KT88s tubes with Valve Art KT88s on my Air-Tight ATM-2 power amp. The KT88 experience was immediate; it felt as if the power had doubled on my amp. So in comparison, my first real tube rolling experience was a bit of a let down. Also, this was my first experience with ÂmicrophonicsÂ. With the Kenrads plugged in, even a mild tap on the preamp knobs will generate loud humms through the speakers.
But now that IÂve had these tubes for a few days in my system, I feel the sound has warmed up appreciably, the music has more Âair and the bass is definitely more defined. I think some of the characteristics discussed throughout this thread are slowly beginning to appear in the system.
Late last night my wife and I returned home from a birthday party and instead of going right off to bed, I decided to play with the system a bit more. So I took out the Kenrads VT231s and put the stock 6SN7s back to see what changes are, if any. I could be wrong as I was quite tired and slightly intoxicated - I thought the stock 6SN7s sounded better with the rest of the NOS tubes in place than the kenrads vt231s. As I said, IÂm not a 100% sure however I will check this out tonight as soon as I get home and report back soon. |
Hi Tubegroover: You know what, initially I too was looking for some NOS 6F6g based on Ecclectique's recommendation but the fella (Mike) at www.vacuumtubes.com was telling me that he didn't think 6F6g's could be direct replacements for 6L6 application. I decided not to take the chance - oh well! In fact at the vacuumtubes.com's website they list 6F6gs at $20 new and $10 used without mentioning any brand names etc. But it's cool, I really didn't mind the process as I've been wanting to try this for a while. And really, it's all been quite fun so far. Just the process of tube hunting and then waiting in anticipation was fun & and educational in itself. Now I'm going to set my focus on getting damping material and possibly some DH cones; oh yes and some 6F6g tubes. |
Bwhite: I know you mentioned in one of your earlier posts that the Kenrad Blk-Glass(6sn7) worked best for you but have you tried the TungSol (6sn7) black-glass in your setup? I wonder how they perform (sound & microphonics) against the kenrads. I called my tube vendor yesterday and asked about the microphonics and whether it was worth sending these back to try a different pair. He told me, most if not all old 6sn7 tubes would have microphonics, that's a given. However, I'm thinking of calling him back today to see what it would cost to replace the kenrads with a pair of TungSol blk-glass since I'm still within my 10-day return/exchange period. And perhaps pick up a pair of 6F6g in the process. |
