larryi
Responses from larryi
| 12ax7 vs 5751 Yes, as a general observation, British tubes do deliver a warmer sound. There are makes of other nationalities that will also do the same. For a warmer sound, I like Amperex Bugle Boys (Netherlands). These tend to work reasonably well in all appli... | |
| How to break in a tube preamp? I own a linestage with teflon caps, but i would never say that they are universally good--it is all a matter of voicing. A cap that works well in one design, and to one person's taste can be really bad sounding in another application. I've heard g... | |
| How to break in a tube preamp? To some extent, so-called "break in" is the listener becoming accustom to the new sound. That part requires listening to the system, so just do that and don't worry about break in. | |
| Best tube preamp ever I own two preamps and one linestage and I cannot really decide which is the "best" among the three, never mind the whole universe of products. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. The most detailed, dynamic and extended in frequency response is ... | |
| How do reference speakers rank to today's standard I will not say that technological changes don't matter, but, when looking at a particular manufacturer's line, it is often changes in philosophy, deliberate change in the kind of sound to match perceived changes in market demand, etc. that matter ... | |
| How do reference speakers rank to today's standard Most conventional dynamic speakers do not wear out. Some might have components, such as the rubber surround, that will age (primarily from exposure to pollutants in the air, such as ozone), but not all do. Eleven years old would make MOST speakers... | |
| 12ax7 vs 5751 If clarity, 3d soundstaging, and dynamic punch is your thing, the ultimate tube for those qualities, to me, is the Telefunken ECC803S. But, it can be, in the wrong application, quite lean and analytical sounding (bass is very tight and fast, but n... | |
| Do I need BOTH amp and pre to be sonic holography? The delay that Carver's holography unit developed was not just to somewhat counteract the signal from the opposite speaker, it also accounted for diffraction caused by the listener's head. When sound from the left speaker hits the listener's head,... | |
| 12ax7 vs 5751 I agree with Rccc that the only way to really know is to experiment--tube performance is very specific to the particular application, and in addition, there is the matter of individual taste. This can be, unfortunately, quite expensive. The advice... | |
| Which is a better choice? New, or used preamp? I am not familiar with the sound of Sonic Frontier gear, but, your description of your preference would suggest something other than Audio Research and even BAT. The Audio Research gears tends toward a quite lean sound (much more so than most soli... | |
| Tom Waits Bad? For someone who might find his later year voice, and the overly affected style of his music a bit off-putting, I would recommend the two volume complilations of "Early Year" recordings (recorded before his big commercial releases, but actually rel... | |
| Which is a better choice? New, or used preamp? There probably has been no fundamental change in tube technology in 60 yrs. There have been some improvements in convenience (e.g., remote control), but, the circuitry remains the same, and as for parts quality, there are plenty of older parts tha... | |
| six year old 6sn7's, pushing my luck? I would NOT leave the linestage on all of the time. That will shorten the life of the tubes as well as other components (heat shortens the life of capacitors and resistors).Your Cary has tube rectification which provides a soft start turn on of th... | |
| Cartridge Recommendation What did you have before, and what did you think of the sound of that cartridge? Do you have any issues with other sources (CD, iPod, etc.)? I am wondering if you are certain that your issues lie entirely with the cartridge and not some other part... | |
| Pressing Issues The most common source of the "problem" IS tape print through. You can hear it on CD reissues of music that was originally recorded to tape where the producers of the CD do minimal or no processing in the remastering process. Good examples are the... |