The weakest link?

What don't you like about the tube sound? Did you buy the tube gear used? If so, they may have put in cheap tubes before they sold it. (Cheap meaning poor sounding tubes.)

Three questions:

1) What do you think is "missing" sonically ?

2) What speakers are you using ?

3) Do you run your preamp passive or active ?

Other than that, this would appear to be a pretty solid system. Obviously, personal preference and system synergy could come into play, but i see no MAJOR offenders in this one. Sean
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Pardon me people, but I see nothing tubed in Harnelt's system, so if it sounds "tubed" it's likely a soft sounding IC, speaker cable or PC. And I agree with Sean in that this looks like a good solid system that should sound great-- although I know nothing of the "wires". Good Luck. Craig

Yes the system sounds very good now. when I said I don't like the sound of tube to me it is not detailed or maybe brite sounding I like the crisp highs. I run the preamp in active mode it sounds more detailed to me not flat? and my speakers are the joseph rm22si mk2. and the speaker cable is kimber 4tc. Thank

...Krell KSL might be a solution in your case or Pass X.02.

...or experiment with another speaker cable. (can you audition a Nordost SPM -- just for ref purposes?)
I'm just as perplexed as Sean & Garfish: that's a good-looking system you have there!

Theoreticaly speaking, speakers are most of the time biggest 'offenders'. I think Joseph speakers, in general are neutral, so as the rest of your electronics. And what is ultimately missing in your system is musicality, warmth or 'colour' if you will. So, maybe tubes 'ala CJ' is actualy what you are looking for? I would start with the PRE amp.

I have a 750 and a Pass amp. This gear is designed to run balanced. I believe that your system will sound much better in balanced mode. If your DAC does not have a balanced audio OUTPUT into the ADCOM I would replace it with one that does. Or I would try a single box player that has a balanced output. (I use a Wadia 850.) I would then replace my interconnects with balanced cables of your choice. When I ran my system with RCAs it did sound thin. The XLR cables really flesh out the sound, IMHO.

The weakest link is usually the owner himself and not the equipments. Equipments are passive and the owner is the mastermind behind all of them......

Cheers :) :) :) ...........

Hi all, I would try 2 things; First, bypass the preamp using a passive volume control. If you like the change then look for a new preamp. If it sounds worse ,then start with replacing the interconnect between your transport and DAC. Try to barrow the passive volume control or even build a simple one . This should answer your question. In my setup the cable between my preamp and amp changes the sound like a tone control but the digital cable is my best guess as to where your problem is. I can not give you much advice on which digital cable will work best so try at least a few. Hope this helps.

Maybe the electric power is a dirty mess? I was looking for the tube gear also above. Guess there is none.

Dredster, FYI, when the 750 is in passive mode it essentially is just a switch and a volume control. I like your suggestion about the digital cable!However, he should still try balanced, IMHO, owning some of the same gear our correspondent does. Ilike sugar's suggestions too.

Hello All
Thanks for all the help. I tried the xlr cables first and WOW!!!! that did it I hear stuff I have never heard before
But I have to agree with Edle alittle to. Thanks again Mark