thom_s

Responses from thom_s

Designer Hall of Fame
surprised no-one mentioned him ... 
amps for Merlin VSM-MXE
Several years ago I gave Bobby a list of amps available used in a certain price range and he picked the RM-9, RM-200 and Cary (either SixPacs or V12R). I picked up a V12R with the 12BZ7 input tubes and absolutely love it with my VSM-MMe. 
Truely Balanced Pre Amps
an excellent preamp. Only available used, of course. 
TSM-MM not loud enough ...
I guess I should have known better ... My fault for NOT saying I've already talked with Bobby, (this was a few months ago, I would doubt you remember, B, given the volume of call you probably receive) I was looking for specific info regarding othe... 
Personal speaker evolution
Rat Shack Criterion two-waysKLH Model 5DIY LS3 5a - KEF T27 and B110Acoustat Model 2Vandersteen 2CeQuad ESL63 w/ Janus W2 subs, Dalhquist DQLP-1 crossoverKEF 104/2Green Mountain Europa w/ Vandy 2WqMerlin TSM-MM w/ Vandy 2Wq 
What new amp for my Merlins
I called Bobby and gave him four choices that I had, not including Joule-Electra, and hands down it was the Cary V12R. He recommended the Six Pacs as well, but I wanted the 100 watt UL option. I drive mine with Raytheon 5751s instead of the 12BZ7 ... 
First Sound Preamp Owner's - What NOS tubes?????
I have found my FS Presence Del. Mk II, like any other component, highly sensitive to other gear in the system.My Merlin TSM-MM monitors were excessively bright and this was tamed by moving from NOS Amperex (D-getter 6922, BB and Orange Globe 6DJ8... 
Recommend relatively obscure high end tube preamps
Any of the progression of Emmanual Go's First Sound preamps, beginning with the Presence Deluxe Mk II, very impressive, simple dual-mono construction, massive power supply, all copper-plated steel chassis, one tube in the signal path, tube shunt r... 
Amperex 6922 overkill?
I have an AN 1.1 DAC and recommend that you first try the Ei Elite 6DJ8 ... it is a very similar tube to the Amperex house sound and will work fine in the AN. Where they don't work well is in high-stress preamps like Audio Research, eats those old... 
Green Mountain Audio still in business?
appears to be buried in work, hopefully that's a good thing. Promised to get my Europa's out first of week, an internal oversight, he thought they went out weeks ago. I'm cool with that. 
Green Mountain Audio still in business?
for about a month. I've e-mailed Roy 2 days ago, but no response, I'll be calling him tommorrow. Hope I'm not in the same camp as the other guy who claims never rec'd speakers