Search results

  1. S

    American Sound, "The Absolute Nothing"

    Very true!
  2. S

    Autoformer volume control in an active tube preamp?

    Fred Volz told me, maybe 10 years ago, the best sounding preamp he ever made had the Epifania circuitry with Slagle autoformers on the output. @Glide3 maybe that was yours? My custom Epifania predates that one. I also have a standalone Slagle AVC box and I have compared it to the Epifania...
  3. S

    "Long-Term Equipment Loans: A Win-Win for Everyone" by Robert Harley, The Absolute Sound

    “Modern” and “Vintage” are somewhat in the eye of the beholder. In my book, 1994 is modern! For some context, my woofers were made in 1947. They are 15” Jensens with paper cones and Alnico 3 magnets. My previous Jensens were 10-15 years younger and sported “modern” Alnico 5 magnets. The...
  4. S

    Todd's AG Trio G3 System -- it's about time

    @Germanboxers I have been through a similar process of going back and forth between active linestage and passive. In my case, it was between an Emotive Epifania tube linestage and Slagle EMIA AVC passive. For a long time, I preferred the very slightly better clarity and bass weight of the AVC...
  5. S

    Best phono stage?

    Here are two other important design elements that are easy to spot from just a peek inside the chassis. First, no toroid transformers. Second, if the tube heater supply is DC, as most are, there should be a separate power transformer for the heater supply. Feeding the heater rectifiers from...
  6. S

    Best phono stage?

    My feelings exactly. I don’t discuss my electronics very often in this forum since they are all DIY but you just described my phono stage—-two tube stages per channel (D3a and 5687) with nickel output transformer, no loop feedback, outboard power supply with tube rectifier, all parts selected...
  7. S

    Sophia (blue) EL-34-ST Tubes

    Your description of “hard, brittle and bright” just sounds so different from my experience. I would describe the GL KT-77, once fully broken in, as a warm tonal balance with a rich lower midrange and slightly soft treble, with excellent dynamics and excellent midrange detail. Of course your...
  8. S

    Sophia (blue) EL-34-ST Tubes

    The gold lion KT-77 change rather dramatically after a long break in, more so than any other output tubes I’ve tried. If you didn’t use yours for at least 50 hours, I suggest you try them again.
  9. S

    ARC announces price increase effective Mid-March '24

    I am skeptical. I just checked Michael Percy’s Audio catalog and he sells the Vishay TX2352 bulk foil resistors (their top model) for $11.95 each for most values. Now it’s true that values over 100K do cost more, up to $39.50 for 249K, but you can still buy the vast majority of values for...
  10. S

    Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers

    I agree. Since I use woofers made in 1947 and a midrange horn made in the late 1940s, I could say that anything made after the Korean War is modern. But I won't.
  11. S

    Review of EMIA Autoformer

    Words like "right" and "wrong" overstate the issue. Like everything else in a system, cables should be selected to give the proper balance, and sometimes a particular silver cable gives the best balance, and sometimes a particular copper cable does. I said "particular" cable because not all...
  12. S

    Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers

    My complaints about modern speakers are that most of them: (1) have unnatural bass. With many the bass is too lean in the upper bass and lower midrange, not warm enough, which contributes to a sense of restrained dynamics;. With other modern speakers, the bass has an unnatural boom and thumpy...
  13. S

    EMIA Elmaformer (volume control) review

    There’s an interesting review of the EMIA Remote Autoformer in the April 2024 Stereophile. The reviewer Alex Halberstadt actually had two versions at hand, the copper and silver, and overall he seems to prefer the copper. I have the copper Slagleformer in my system but I haven’t compared it to...
  14. S

    Review of EMIA Autoformer

    There’s an interesting review of the EMIA Remote Autoformer in the April 2024 Stereophile. The reviewer Alex Halberstadt actually had two versions at hand, the copper and silver, and overall he seems to prefer the copper. I have the copper Slagleformer in my system but I haven’t compared it to...
  15. S

    Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers

    We each have our own comfort level. All of the big crossover caps in my speakers are old paper in oil caps from the PCB era. None of them are leaking and I use them all standing up vertically to minimize any possibility of leakage. I would like to use non-PCB caps if they sounded as good but...
  16. S

    Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers

    Don't forget YL Acoustics (Yoshimura Labs). They made great sounding drivers and horns.
  17. S

    Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers

    I don't have a satisfying technical explanation for the changes. Even with a first-order crossover, the electrical response is down quite a bit in the bass; and of course the tweeter's response drops like a stone below 1K. I highly doubt there is any measurable change in bass frequency...
  18. S

    Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers

    This has been my experience as well. For example, my horn tweeter uses a first-order crossover at 6500 Hz. Changing the crossover cap to a different brand of the same value not only changes the sound of the treble but it also can have a significant impact on the low frequency performance. The...
  19. S

    David Karmeli’s Bionor/Lamm/AS-2000 Audio System

    Not a chance.
  20. S

    David Karmeli’s Bionor/Lamm/AS-2000 Audio System

    I just exercised the Ignore function for the first time regarding a certain member who will go unnamed whose posts are of no value and are clearly intended to annoy. I feel better already.
  21. S

    General Question about Belt Drive Turntables

    @PeterA Your photo reminds me of what some Platine Verdier owners did in years past. They had the motor pod several feet away from the platter, often on a separate rack, and it was connected to the platter with a long, loose thread. The platter on the Platine Verdier also has an air bearing...
  22. S

    What Cartridge(s) Is Everyone Using

    That brings back memories. Back in the 1970s I had a Decca 4RC and Decca Mk5. Deccas are truly amazing on many records.
  23. S

    Two way horn

    Looks great!
  24. S

    What are the advantages/disadvantages of different amp topologies?

    Comparing a number of amps with different topologies can be a lot of fun, but I wouldn’t count on drawing any reliable conclusions about topologies alone. The sound of an amplifier is affected by so many different factors and the circuit design is just one factor. Different output tubes...
  25. S

    What are the best speakers you've ever heard ?

    I have two most favorite speakers and both were at the 2018 CAF. 1. The first set was in the Deja Vu Audio room—-GIP 18” field coil (replica of the Jensen M18) in open baffle, WE 713B in a 32A horn, and GIP 597a field coil tweeter (replica of WE 597a). 2. The second was in Dave Slagle’s EMIA...
  26. S

    SET amp owners thread

    Can you provide more details on this system? Or if you already described it elsewhere in this thread, can you give us a link?
  27. S

    Vishay Z-Foil vs Audio Note Non-Magnetic Resistors

    You say the resistor in question is “after” the input jack but before the volume control. Is it a loading resistor (one lead going to the signal input and one lead going to ground)? Or is it in series with the signal input? If it’s a loading resistor, I highly recommend a 2w Audio Note Silver...
  28. S

    Turntable Level

    I don't understand the need for such precision in a level. I simply use a carpenter's from Home Depot which is a 2 foot long aluminum case with a bubble level in the middle. It cost around $25. Each time I put it on my turntable platter I turn it around so I can check it both ways and the...
  29. S

    CJ's True work of Art, it's a passion nothing else!

    From your wording, I suspect there is a Mosfet CCS on the cathode follower. Is that right?
  30. S

    CJ's True work of Art, it's a passion nothing else!

    From the description of the hum issues, it’s pretty clear what the problem is. CJ evidently has not bothered to minimize susceptibility to ground loop problems. Electrically there is an easy solution and it doesn’t compromise safety the way cheater plugs do. Safety requires that the earth...

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