mulveling Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 I picked up my McIntosh MC2100 from the local repair guy. He measured it at 150 Watts/ch with low distortion (in his words a "righteous" amp). That was good! While in the shop I saw a Marantz 8b, Mc2300 (rated 300 Watts/ch, but probably hits nearly 500), and an Mc40 among others. Helped move the behemoth mc2300. That was cool! I put 4 hockey pucks in place of the missing rear spikes for my Tannoys. Feels more solid, works good! I replaced the crooked-bottle Electro Harmonix EL34 tubes in my Eico HF87 with some new Teslovak EL34ls (same as the Groove Tubes version, and made in the JJ factory I hear). The new tubes look great (much better built) and sound very clean, very powerful! Replaced the 6sn7's and 12ax7 with some better ones (Sylvania 6sn7WGT and Brimar cv4004). Sat down to listen to just a couple test tracks on the Zana/Eico/Tannoys, ended up sitting through all of Dire Straits Communique...TWICE in a row....on a mere redbook CD on a mere stock Denon 3910! This was very good! Hooked up the MC2100 with non-HGA ICs and yep, it works great! Will have to wit 'till day to really push it Finally tried my new 6BX7gt tubes in the Supra SE. They sound fantastic! Been listening to records w/ HD650 & Zu tonight...very good! Today was an excellent day for audio! Tomorrow will be a sucky day for taxes and bills... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riceboy Posted April 13, 2008 Report Share Posted April 13, 2008 Today was an excellent day for audio! Tomorrow will be a sucky day for taxes and bills... I'm glad you had a good day . Tomorrow will be sucky for taxes for sure.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt61 Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 So how bad was the next day? And any new revelations with your system Mike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 last night was a great night for audio, for me. Last night was a good audio night for me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBLoudG20 Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Last night was a good audio night for me too. Last night, tonight, and tomorrow night are good nights for alcohol. SPRING WEEKEND Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt61 Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Well I'm heading up to Marc's place tomorrow, so Sunday may very well be a great day for audio for me. Not only will the mods to the ?22 and Opus DAC (apparently modding the Zapfilter power supply paid great dividends) be a lot of fun to audition, but I've also got a pair of balanced 600 grilled HD 580s w/APS mods, gigantic woodied CD3000s and my Omega Grande 6 speakers that I've never heard yet. Well I did hear the modded CD3000 a year or so back, but not with my current system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Last night, tonight, and tomorrow night are good nights for alcohol. Nice! I should finally be able to have a drink tonight. For the past 10 or so it's been a no-no, alcohol and 300V B+ do not mix. And Steve, that should be really sweet. Can't wait till you get it all put back together and can enjoy it properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Nice! I should finally be able to have a drink tonight. For the past 10 or so it's been a no-no, alcohol and 300V B+ do not mix. WIMP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duggeh Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Last night, tonight, and tomorrow night are good nights for alcohol. SPRING WEEKEND A night which is not a good night for alcohol is the night before an exam, or the night before your funeral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 WIMP! True enough. But this being the first time I'd ever worked with more than a 50V B+ (not to mention PTP wiring) I figured better safe than really sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 A night which is not a good night for alcohol is the night before an exam, or the night before your funeral. For my money, the best night for alcohol is the night before your funeral. As long as alcohol isn't the reason for the funeral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 For my money, the best night for alcohol is the night before your funeral. As long as alcohol isn't the reason for the funeral. And a year ago tomorrow, my best friend died after a night of drinking. About 1.5 bottles of jack daniels, followed by 4 eggs, 8 strips of bacon... and then bang a heart attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laxx Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Wow, that's alot of bacon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark baguette Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Thats alot of Jack Daniels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Yah, that's not the way to go. But if I've got something non-alcohol related that's terminal, you can bet there's some non-zero chance I'll have a taste of something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin gilmore Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Thats alot of Jack Daniels But clearly the problem was the glass of orange juice to go with the bacon and eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 But clearly the problem was the glass of orange juice to go with the bacon and eggs. Obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voltron Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Have a great time getting [re]acquainted with all your gear Steve! That sounds like so much fun, that I plan to meet my Beta next Thursday! Hmm, better confirm with thrice that it will be in Florida when I get there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvdunhill Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Well I'm heading up to Marc's place tomorrow, so Sunday may very well be a great day for audio for me. man, I better get on that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 But clearly the problem was the glass of orange juice to go with the bacon and eggs.You're dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fierce_freak Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 man, I better get on that... interested in hearing what you did to the zap ps...did you just replace it, or beef it up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvdunhill Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 interested in hearing what you did to the zap ps...did you just replace it, or beef it up? I just replaced the filtering with some Mills MRA-5 and Nichicon Fine Gold caps. I tried a bunch of stuff (too much stuff probably) and found this this really added transparency to the Zap, and this sorta hot top end. I have no idea why, but it did. I'm going to let Steve listen to both versions, as it's unclear to me if it's really an "improvement". More like 2 different flavors. By the time I finished messing with it, his rig is now the anti-HD650 rig... So, I'm really wanting to hear his cans on this rig with his AES/EBU source. I think bypassing the output relays in the ZF would be another possible improvement. With my new found love for EI transformers (maybe R-core too, I have 2 custom units on the way) in digital equipment, that would really be the only other thing I could think to do to the DAC... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulveling Posted April 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 So how bad was the next day? And any new revelations with your system Mike? I know better than to listen the morning after; expectations are way too high. I got some work done instead Overall things have been sounding excellent for quite a while! Loving all of my various gear. I'm becoming more steadfast in my Tannoy & vintage amp fanaticism. Heard some Tannoy Kensingtons at the local hifi last week - wow, wow, WOW! Now I know exactly what to do if $14K ever falls in my lap The L3000, Qualia, and HD650 are all getting their share of deserved love - the L3000 is still the one I'd choose to live with if I could only have 1 headphone (that includes R10, Orpheus, etc). Enjoying some Loggins & Messina vinyl on L3000 as I type...life is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvdunhill Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 I just replaced the filtering with some Mills MRA-5 and Nichicon Fine Gold caps. just swapped out the diodes... ok, I'm finally happy with it. I'm not going to let Steve go back to the previous version without a good too bad we're having power issues / electrical storms, or I'd let it burn-in all night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt61 Posted April 27, 2008 Report Share Posted April 27, 2008 Today is most certainly a great day for audio! OK, I spent a good deal of time at Marc's place yesterday. The first thing we did was hook my transport up to the Opus DAC and gave it a listen. Well all I have to say is that I didn't even ask Marc to bother modding the Zapfilter power supply back to stock for comparison. It was very noticeably improved with the mods, and not subtly either. The major standout is the soundstage. It's absolutely huge. The ability to place instruments is phenomenal. I'm listening to Billie Holiday and it's quite clear that the DAC can pinpoint instruments much better than before. Oh, and I didn't mention that I'm not using headphones to determine this. I'm powering my new Omega Grande 6 monitors from the ?22's speaker taps. I'm absolutely gobsmacked! I've had these speakers posing in my little studio for about 6-8 weeks now, but this is the first time I've heard them. I had been quite pleased with my Paradigm Active 20s for many years, but these Omegas are in a whole other realm as far as I'm concerned. They have a liquid quality that's just so beautiful. I wouldn't call them neutral. They definitely have their own flavor, but it's absolutely to my taste. The mids are gorgeous! I've got a little work to do with placement, but I'm most certainly on the right track. OK back to the DAC. Marc replaced much of the wiring with solid Silver/unbleached cotton wire. The result is a top end that is quite a bit hotter than previous. However with my Chocolate Donuts, K340 and Sextett it was a great match, and a step in the right direction. With my HD 580 it was almost too hot, but not painfully so by any means and this may be a desirable result for certain genres of music. More on that after much listening. The big surprise were the woody CD3000. I expected them to be almost unbearably bright, but that wasn't the case at all. The top end was quite nice. The mids are a bit different on these headphones, but the bass is very deep. DT990 deep. They have a few similarities to stock CD3K's, but are a very different phone with the giant wood cups. The star of the show here was no real surprise. The mods have had a beautiful effect on the K340, and it's a little early, but I do believe they've regained their #1 status in my system. Marc waited for me to arrive with my CD transport built by our resident Circular Hole Cutter Tech, to determine exactly what flavor of AES/EBU it used. Once determined that it was indeed AES 3 Marc removed my RCA S/PDIF terminal and wired in the XLR jack. A benefit to this new input was the removal of a few more caps. The AES/EBU input is audibly superior IMHO, and I belive Marc felt the same here. Marc also built me a beautiful new 110 ohm XLR cable for the AES/EBU input, and a gorgeous new umbilical cable to go between the ?22 and ?22s. It's sleeved with a fiberglass sleeving that's really elegant. The ?22 was also rewired with the Silver wire (refer to Marc for specifics on this wire) as well as a second input added (switched from the back). I believe Marc performed a few other mods here, but he'd be better informed than I on these. Wednesday my new Consonance A120 Integrated amp is due to arrive, and I'll compare it to the ?22 for a speaker amp. I've heard great things, but honestly it's going to have it's work cut out surpassing the ?22. We shall see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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