Doctor's Orders-Part Two-The New Listening Room Of Steve Williams

[bonzo75]

Having owned the GG1 (with PX25 tubes) I'd be inclined to agree, however I noticed nothing like that in any of the systems I have heard utilising the Pacific. I am considering acquiring one. What I am sure it does let you evaluate very well is naturalness of presentation / tone. There will always be a hint of a certain mechanical quality to solid state, it can so low to not offend in this day and age, but it is undeniably there.

It also has the highest levels of energy and drive that I know. Far more than any digital and analog. And if the 242 fits in correctly with your audionet, like it did at heihei, you will have a system as good as Mike's without requiring room treatment. Please try that quickly, as I will be put in hyperbole jail, do need your witness to get me out.

 

[Taiko Audio]

It also has the highest levels of energy and drive that I know. Far more than any digital and analog. And if the 242 fits in correctly with your audionet, like it did at heihei, you will have a system as good as Mike's without requiring room treatment. Please try that quickly, as I will be put in hyperbole jail, do need your witness to get me out.

I am most certainly not insensitive to the "drive potential", it is why I added the D1-drivers to my Totaldac and those do make a rather dramatic difference in my situation. Your/hei hei negative results with the driver and the Pacific make it even more interesting to explore.

 

[bonzo75]

I am most certainly not insensitive to the "drive potential", it is why I added the D1-drivers to my Totaldac and those do make a rather dramatic difference in my situation. Your/hei hei negative results with the driver and the Pacific make it even more interesting to explore.

The 242 into audionet is one of the rare finds in audio that happens once in many years. The 242 done right has the highest dynamic range, inflections, dynamics, and transparency to source I know off in audio. Previous experiences with other gear including with the Lampi doesn't prepare for it. Those who have not heard 242 done right think of Lampi as a very good dac with valves as opposed to SS. So because you have audionet, you should try it.

 

[Taiko Audio]

The 242 into audionet is one of the rare finds in audio that happens once in many years. The 242 done right has the highest dynamic range, inflections, dynamics, and transparency to source I know off in audio. Previous experiences with other gear including with the Lampi doesn't prepare for it. Those who have not heard 242 done right think of Lampi as a very good dac with valves as opposed to SS. So because you have audionet, you should try it.

Can you remind me if you preferred to keep the Stern in the chain?

 

[bonzo75]

Can you remind me if you preferred to keep the Stern in the chain?

Yes. It is the whole gain match thing that worked

 

[Taiko Audio]

Yes. It is the whole gain match thing that worked

Thanks, I did end up keeping the Stern in the chain together with the drivers, will explore acquiring a Pacific with 242 tubes.

 

[wisnon]

The 242 into audionet is one of the rare finds in audio that happens once in many years. The 242 done right has the highest dynamic range, inflections, dynamics, and transparency to source I know off in audio. Previous experiences with other gear including with the Lampi doesn't prepare for it. Those who have not heard 242 done right think of Lampi as a very good dac with valves as opposed to SS. So because you have audionet, you should try it.

where can I find your heihei writeup?

 

[bonzo75]

where can I find your heihei writeup?

I haven't written it up just mentioned it in bits. My experience cannot be expressed in words. Only listening

 

[Mike Lavigne]

It also has the highest levels of energy and drive that I know. Far more than any digital and analog. And if the 242 fits in correctly with your audionet, like it did at heihei, you will have a system as good as Mike's without requiring room treatment. Please try that quickly, as I will be put in hyperbole jail, do need your witness to get me out.

 

[Steve Williams]

Nice tidy layout.

Gotta love that LL1.1 Sig and the LP1 Sig.

I'm curious about your choice to stack each channel's control unit rather than have them side by side with the power supplies below. Do you keep the gain knobs pretty much unchanged?

Hi Tim

I have actually got the left and right channel preamp stacked one above the other with their corresponding power supplies lying on the adjacent shelves.

Present configuration was dictated by cable lengths and when I received the Extreme and now the Pacific I had to make changes to what was sitting where

as for the gain control, the left and right potentiometer are exactly equal with each detente position I find the knob position (gain control) is dictated by the genre of music played

For digital the position is between 6-8th detente position

For tape, the position is between 4-7th detente position

Forvinyl the position is between 7-10th detente position

Left and right are always set at the same gain

 

[Steve Williams]

Ked he already has 242s in and based on what Steve wrote about not being the tube roller, he might just sit and enjoy if those 242s work nicely as it can't go much better than with those.

I am not a tube roller but I will search for the combination which gives me the most natural sound

So far , first choice is seeming to be best choice with the KR 242 and RK-KR 5u4g

I need to listen to a tube until it is fully burned in before i will roll to another tube, so next week I will use the RK-KR PX 25 with the RK-KR 5u4g

Yesterday (day 6) was a huge change in the system so I need a few days to get a feel for what I am hearing

 

[bonzo75]

I am not a tube roller but I will search for the combination which gives me the most natural sound

So far , first choice is seeming to be best choice with the KR 242 and RK-KR 5u4g

I need to listen to a tube until it is fully burned in before i will roll to another tube, so next week I will use the RK-KR PX 25 with the RK-KR 5u4g

Yesterday (day 6) was a huge change in the system so I need a few days to get a feel for what I am hearing

It's not tube rolling for the fun of it. The tubes with a Lampi mate differently with different downstream electronics. So if 242 doesn't work, it will sound quite bad and the PX25 or Lampi 45 will make the dac sound much better. For example, with Marslo, the Lampi 45 was quite superior.

 

[microstrip]

The 242 into audionet is one of the rare finds in audio that happens once in many years. The 242 done right has the highest dynamic range, inflections, dynamics, and transparency to source I know off in audio. Previous experiences with other gear including with the Lampi doesn't prepare for it. Those who have not heard 242 done right think of Lampi as a very good dac with valves as opposed to SS. So because you have audionet, you should try it.

The 242 has an amplification factor of 12, the 300B one is just 3.85. Unless people doing the comparisons have access to measuring systems it is very unlikely that fast A/B comparisons are not affected by the difference in gain.

Steve's preamplifer has high gain - it would be nice to have his opinion on such tube swap in the long term.

 

[Steve Williams]

It's not tube rolling for the fun of it. The tubes with a Lampi mate differently with different downstream electronics. So if 242 doesn't work, it will sound quite bad and the PX25 or Lampi 45 will make the dac sound much better. For example, with Marslo, the Lampi 45 was quite superior.

Ked

I believe you but as of last night's listening there has been a huge turn around sound quality. I understand it is not tube rolling but rather for me searching for what sounds the most natural.



I have been setting the gain control on my Lamm preamp to the sweet spot and then use the volume control on the Lampi to dial in the tube. I always seem to find that -12 to 14 seems to sound the most natural. I find that the I have the lampi gain full open and use the Lamm to find the sweet spot for my ears sounds digital and a little bright.

For me at -12 on the Lampi gives me the most feeling that I am listening to analogue

 

[Steve Williams]

The 242 has an amplification factor of 12, the 300B one is just 3.85. Unless people doing the comparisons have access to measuring systems it is very unlikely that fast A/B comparisons are not affected by the difference in gain.

Steve's preamplifer has high gain - it would be nice to have his opinion on such tube swap in the long term.

I plan on using the RK-KR PX25 next week

A stated I have not found a need to use the HAL's audio lab damping rings

 

[Steve Williams]

For my ears I seem to be drawn to a Lampi setting of -12 Db and using the gain on my Lamm preamp to give me a feeling that I am listening to analogue

 

[bonzo75]

The 242 has an amplification factor of 12, the 300B one is just 3.85. Unless people doing the comparisons have access to measuring systems it is very unlikely that fast A/B comparisons are not affected by the difference in gain.

Steve's preamplifer has high gain - it would be nice to have his opinion on such tube swap in the long term.

Yes we did fast over 4 years

 

[wisnon]

The 242 has an amplification factor of 12, the 300B one is just 3.85. Unless people doing the comparisons have access to measuring systems it is very unlikely that fast A/B comparisons are not affected by the difference in gain.

Steve's preamplifer has high gain - it would be nice to have his opinion on such tube swap in the long term.

Do you really think that these are not long term conclusions? typical pac owners has at least 3 pairs of dhts. I have over 10.

 

[bonzo75]

Do you really think that these are not long term conclusions? typical pac owners has at least 3 pairs of dhts. I have over 10.

Micro always makes these subtle insults quoting out of context. Then when we hit directly he complains to mods.

 

[Steve Williams]

as for the noise issue that some report with the tubes I just haven't heard any. Perhaps I just got lucky although I truly believe that my use of Center Stage 1.5's under the Lampi has helped to achieve this. I found the same when I placed a set of CS 1.5's under my Extreme and the jump in SQ was huge

Of course as they say YMMV