Tubes shine through

[indy mike]

I got to use my Dynaco MK IV mono blocks for an extended period this weekend - my son and I spent the weekend visiting my folks and my oldest brother. I was able to run the amps for over 6 hours (my 19 month old son keeps me from firing them up for daily use, and the wife acceptance factor won't let me put 'em up on top of the entertainment center). System was the MK IV's, Marantz CD67SE cee-dee player (volume control on the remote so no preamp) being fed to a Musical Fidleity X-10 tube buffer stage to a pair of speakers I designed many moons ago (Peerless 8" woofer/1" dome tweeter, custom crossovers from Madisound, vented 1.5 cu. ft. boxes) - boy, once those amps warmed up everything sounded great; my brother liked the "round" sound, my 75 year old dad liked Who's Next (the ending sounded like Greek music to him), and he noticed the drums had a nice kick sound when the bass drum got thumped. Me - made me want a bigger house where I can set up those pups and run them every day!

[Steve Hoffman]

Mikey,

Your tubey magic will improve once you put an active preamp in between your amps and your Marantz CD player. By adding a line stage, your dynamics will increase, your Breath of life will get breath-ier and you can run your CD player on full volume, which it needs to get the best out of it.

So, next time you're cruising on Ebay or a garage sale, keep your eyes open for some kind of line stage....Or, you can make one out of old Green River bottles.. :)

[indy mike]

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a Dyna PAS-3X (tone controls out detent to keep them outta the circuit) full of Telefunken 12AX7's - I've been listening to youse toob guys here! Gotta keep the Green River bottles outta the circuit - might short it out... :D

[Gary]

Originally posted by indy mike
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a Dyna PAS-3X (tone controls out detent to keep them outta the circuit) full of Telefunken 12AX7's - I've been listening to youse toob guys here! Gotta keep the Green River bottles outta the circuit - might short it out...

Indy, what a newbie you are! You gotta (hic) drink the con(hic)tents firrrst, then (hic) youse'll never short out (hic). :D

[Sckott]

I've made 3 Doc Bottlehead "Foreplay" copies already. Better caps, better tubes. If anyone wants to get one, as its just a line stage, let me know... :) I put them now into art/craft Cranberry boxes. Makes it look cute.

[indy mike]

Sckott, you're killing me! With my Adcom's phono section kaputt I need to go an inexpensive route for a pre with a phono stage, and those PAS preamps are a good place to start...

[fivecent]

Greetings,

Long time listener.....first time caller.

Being the younger brother of Indy Mike (and damn proud of it!!!!!!), I gotta say the experience at our older brother's home was indeed very pleasant. Kinda cool watching Dad light up over the sounds coming out of the speakers.

Fivecent

[indy mike]

Originally posted by fivecent
Greetings,

Long time listener.....first time caller.

Being the younger brother of Indy Mike (and damn proud of it!!!!!!), I gotta say the experience at our older brother's home was indeed very pleasant. Kinda cool watching Dad light up over the sounds coming out of the speakers.

Fivecent

Hey,
No Mr. Obvious quotes!!!! (For you folks who don't recognize "Long time listener, first time caller" it's from the Bob and Tom show outta Indianapolis - running skit called "The Mr. Obvious Show") Bout time you jumped in here for some chat!!!! :D

[fivecent]

Just quietly sitting back and soaking it all in...........besides, I'm still trying to get my "voice" and hearing back from Friday night. I may have been a little too close to the speakers at Mellencamp....and I can't yell like I used to.

[indy mike]

Hey, were they using tube amps at the Mellencamp concert??? You oughta tell the good folks about your concert experience - we like insider info like what goes on backstage...

[fivecent]

No tube amps that I saw anywhere.....if I had, I'd have been getting the gloves out and doing my best roadie impression as soon as I'd driven the pick-up past the security folks. I'm thinking my Dodge Dakota wouldn't look out of place with all the Kenworth's hauling Mellencamp's show around.

Think the after show event would be an Off Topic kinda thing.....?

[indy mike]

Well, you could get bold and start a thread about concerts folks have gotten backstage passes or access to...

[Jeffrey]

Originally posted by fivecent
Being the younger brother of Indy Mike (and damn proud of it!!!!!!),

Fivecent

Hi,

Geez, I sure hope Mike gave you more than five cents for saying that!:laugh:

-Jeffrey

[Jeffrey]

Originally posted by indy mike


Hey,
No Mr. Obvious quotes!!!! (For you folks who don't recognize "Long time listener, first time caller" it's from the Bob and Tom show outta Indianapolis - running skit called "The Mr. Obvious Show")

Hi Mike,

Don't they also use this line on Frasier? I've heard it before and I'm a long way from Indy.

-Jeffrey

[indy mike]

Nah, I'd say a nickel is just about right!!! I'll keep my ears peeled for Mr. Obvious references on Frazier...

[akshobhyavajra]

Originally posted by Steve Hoffman
Mikey,

Your tubey magic will improve once you put an active preamp in between your amps and your Marantz CD player. By adding a line stage, your dynamics will increase, your Breath of life will get breath-ier and you can run your CD player on full volume, which it needs to get the best out of it.

So, next time you're cruising on Ebay or a garage sale, keep your eyes open for some kind of line stage....Or, you can make one out of old Green River bottles.. :)

I guess that must really depend on the quality of both the amp and the preamp:

1. My Decware SET SE84C sounds less detailed and has a diminished soundstage when I tried various preamps - hence I use it without for best results. Pre-amps tested in the system:

A. Reference Line Preeminence One passive line stage with step attenuation - wired with Kimber

B. Mapletree Audio Design Octal 6 Vacuum Tube Duplex Stereo Preamplifier with switchable active circuit topologies - SRPP and common-cathode/cathode-follower (also a passive switch)

C. A run-of-the-mill Parasound SS preamp

The amp still sounded much better w/o pre....

2. My ALS Wave AV8 PP monos on the other hand sounded best with the Octal tube pre... so maybe proper system matching could have something to do with it? As in audio so in life - not all that many absolutes...

[fivecent]

Originally posted by Jeffrey


Hi,

Geez, I sure hope Mike gave you more than five cents for saying that!:laugh:

-Jeffrey

Mike gets billed quarterly for all shameless plugsI throw out for him....so far we're up to one.

All in all, I couldn't ask for better brothers and sisters than the one's I've got.