For me its the first or very early LP's of: Allman Brothers - "Allman Joys" "Idyllwild South" Santana - "Santana" 200 g reissue Emerson Lake and Palmer - "Emerson Lake and Palmer" and, Beethoven - "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major" Rudolph Serkin/Ozawa/BSO
Dire Straits - Communique. Going through more of my doubles (triples in this case) and grading them. This one is in pretty decent shape and I only paid $3.60 for it. Keeping the MFSL though, this one is off to the for sale/giveaway bin.
Wow. So, I have this little iFi Mini Tube ‘device’ I’ve been using for some time now. A real ‘Swiss army knife’ device which I like a lot. Well, I haven’t messed with its tube signature settings, (or any of its settings), since adding the Hagerman. But, since adding the Gold Lion 12AX7’s to the Hagerman, yes, everything is more heightened and balanced across the audible range, but actually, at times, at the expense of the tube ‘depth’ the stock Mullards had, and at times, on the edge of being a tad too bright…..for me.
Well, I’ve been thinking of swapping the stock Mullards back it just to check them out again, when it hit me…’how about changing the Mini Tube settings first’. So I did. For months now I’ve used the ‘default’ “classic tube” setting on the iFi. So I tried the SET (single ended) setting; better, richer, deeper, took the edge off, but that also took some of the ‘life’ and dynamics out of the system. I used to use that setting with digital playback before getting the Denafrips DAC and a better digital cable to calm digital playback down. So, I then tried the ‘Push-Pull’ setting and was gobsmacked at how much better everything sounded almost immediately; depth, definition without too much brightness, better soundstage, imaging, everything. Now, I never used the ‘Push-Pull’ setting as it always seemed too ‘aggressive’ to me before, and a bit too bright and forward for my taste. But for whatever reason, with the Hagerman (and current tubes) in the chain, it now sounds fantastic in that mode. I’m sitting here in amazement. Everything all of a sudden sounds ‘right’ with a flick of a switch.
Strange but true. Crazy ‘hobby’. The little iFi ‘Swiss army knife’ baffles me again at its capabilities, especially on a system as mine.
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew. Sealed Ebay find of the 2015 reissue on Columbia/Sony/Legacy. It sounds very good to me but I don't have anything better to compare it to that may be some of the preferred versions out there so I'm very happy with this find. Dead quiet vinyl.
Antal Dorati conducts Rimsky-Korsakov - Le Co D'Or Suite & Borodin - Prince Igor Excerpts. London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Mercury Golden Imports 1973
@bkeske- regarding your tube rolling, are the Mullards you refer to current production black label (made in Russia) or classic production white label (made in England)?
The Mullards I spoke of are the stock tubes (Russian) that came with the Hagerman. They are the current production long plates. Not bad tubes (for the $) at all really, but just lacking in some mid-hi clarity. The Gold Lion’s are an improvement in that regard.
But, I’ll keep the Gold Lion’s in with the iFi setting set as ‘push-pull’ as the combination, collectively, has ever sounded this good just by changing that setting. And that really surprised me, as I never expected it to have such a big effect.
My twitchy fingers are looking for NOS Telefunken’s, and I’m close to pulling that trigger….But really, right now, I’m pretty pleased with how everything sounds together.
Brian, as you know, those "Mullards" are not really anything like UK (Blackburn) Mullards. Is that iFi unit some sort of sound processor? Seems at odds to getting a 'pure' sound. No?
Winding down the night with Luigi Cherubini Requiem in D Minor. Czech Philharmonic on Deutsche Gramophone purchased at Half Price Books years ago. Near Mint and sounds great.
Is that iFi unit some sort of sound processor? Seems at odds to getting a ’pure’ sound. No?
No, not really. It’s what you might want to call a ‘tube buffer’, (a military GE JAN 5670, and I have it between my pre and amp), but really, that is doing it an injustice, as it does much more. Thus, yes, it has a tube which changes sound signatures, but with various options. Those options are actually ‘switching’ analog options, not a digital filter for the ‘SET’/standard/‘Push-Pull’ sound signatures, as example. I’m sure you can find more detailed info on the web.
it wasn’t cheap, and picked it up used when attempting to get better 2 channel sound when using my AVR as my preamp (gasp), and also try to take the ‘glare’ out of digital playback. You can actually set it up with dip switches as a preamp itself (with volume control), which I did, and by doing so realized my AVR had to get out of the 2 channel set-up…..pronto.
It’s actually a pretty cool device, but not something you would need, or others with a complete tube chain. iFi does some pretty neat engineering with their products, and are very clean and transparent when used. For me, it has a place, for the time being.
Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Walter Piston - Symphony No. 2 & William Schuman - Concerto For Violin And Orchestra. Boston Symphony Orchestra with Paul Zukofsky, violin. Deutsche Grammophon 1971
Shared a wonderful 4+ hour musical visit w Greg yesterday as he made the trek North from Olympia - bit of antipasto, the black LP ( sides to cover more ground ) and great conversations....
Brubeck - Time Out ( 45 rpm AAP ) Talking Heads - Fear of Music ( OP ) Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall Skynyrd - Second Helping ( 45 AAP ) Terry Evan’s - Puttin It Down Sea Level - Cats on the Coast Ry Cooder - Chavez Ravine ( lovely gift from Greg ! ) Eric Clapton - No Reason to Cry Emmylou Harris - Wrecking Ball
Greg left me with some new music, which I will savor along w new friendship - to the best thread in Audiogon !
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