The best sound I have heard was found at Jacob Heilbrunn's house.

[Zeotrope]

Its difficult to beat a 2a3 except by the likes of 45, 46, etc, provided your speakers can be driven by such flea watts

Which 2a3 tubes are you using

I have the original 2A3 that came with the Souga. They are Kondo branded. Not sure who makes them.
What do you suggest for replacements? It’s not easy to find 4 matched NOS 2A3s at a reasonable price.

 

[Kingrex]

I would be.happy to hear. I bet a good tube is better in some regards. I would never say Dartzeel is the best out there. It's really really good. Its working for me as a tube lover. But If I had a good tube amp, I would put the Dartzeel to the side and use it.

 

[bonzo75]

I have the original 2A3 that came with the Souga. They are Kondo branded. Not sure who makes them.
What do you suggest for replacements? It’s not easy to find 4 matched NOS 2A3s at a reasonable price.

Fivre and AVVT are the main sought after, never heard myself. Finding quads will cost you over 2k each. Current production the KR is good and linear, neutral and transparent, not sure how it compares to the kondo stock

 

[Zeotrope]

I disagree.horns reproduce the best sounds I have ever heard.there’s nothing like a good horn.

Totally agree. Until you’ve heard a well designed horn system, you haven’t heard what a great speaker can do.

 

[Zeotrope]

Fivre and AVVT are the main sought after, never heard myself. Finding quads will cost you over 2k each. Current production the KR is good and linear, neutral and transparent, not sure how it compares to the kondo stock

The Kondo stock is nothing special. Normally they use GEC and EH standard run of the mill tubes. The “Kondo magic” does not come from the tubes used. That makes what Kondo has achieved even more special. I will consider the KR when it’s time to replace the stock, thanks!

 

[andromedaaudio]

Totally agree. Until you’ve heard a well designed horn system, you haven’t heard what a great speaker can do.

 

[Kingrex]

I put my tubes back into play this morning. Nothing at all wrong with them. They present different. And it's quite enjoyable. I will probably keep this setup for a week ot two. I like tubes. But I also like my Dartzeel. I'm blessed to have both. I bet Surge will like both and not be able to pick one over the other.

 

[gian60]

The Kondo stock is nothing special. Normally they use GEC and EH standard run of the mill tubes. The “Kondo magic” does not come from the tubes used. That makes what Kondo has achieved even more special. I will consider the KR when it’s time to replace the stock, thanks!

I had 2 Souga in 2015/2016 to biamp my speaker and i changed original 2A3,one Souga with Sylvania and other with Marconi
a good improve from their original tube

 

[Kingrex]

Psvane and linLai are good tubes for the money. You don't need nos. You want better than Shuguang.

 

[TrackingAngle]

I was finally able to go to Jacob Heilbrunn's house and hear his sound system. It was breathtaking and even surpassed the WAMM installation at Dave Wilson's house.

As the photo will show, he had some exquisite gear, most notably an Air Force Zero with Graham and SAT tonearms and DS audio optical cartridge. Preamp and amp were Dartzeel which really impressed me. There was clearly something magical in the pairing of Wilson Audio WAMMs and the Dartzeel mono blocks. They are also the prettiest amplifiers I have seen. Digital which did not sound digital was the full Vivaldi stack.

Describing this fully in words is difficult but I think of two words, lifelike and effortless. Music just flowed so smoothly and naturally. Soundstage was deep and wide. You just could not locate where the speakers were if you closed your eyes.

A truly religious experience for me. It's valuable to hear how realistic the latest reference gear can be. Spooky good in many areas!

Perhaps even better was having a few hours to talk to Jacob. He is a very interesting and intelligent person. I am very glad we have him writing for The Absolute Sound.

I agree with Lee that Jacob’s sound is incredible. The darTzeel electronics took things to another level as did additional room treatment

 

[Zeotrope]

Fivre and AVVT are the main sought after, never heard myself. Finding quads will cost you over 2k each. Current production the KR is good and linear, neutral and transparent, not sure how it compares to the kondo stock

I misspoke - you don't need to find 4 matched tubes, since each channel is biased. Just 4 of the same brand.

 

[microstrip]

I misspoke - you don't need to find 4 matched tubes, since each channel is biased. Just 4 of the same brand.

Unless you accept the risk of a channel playing louder than the other I think we should use tubes matched for transconductance in SE amplifiers, particularly if they have no feedback.

Matching can refer to plate current or transconductance - unfortunately many tube sellers do not refer to it.

 

[microstrip]

Although it precedes the arrival of the DartZeel's, people can get a good feeling of Jacob's room in this video documenting the installation of the TechDas Zero.

 

[TrackingAngle]

I agree with Lee that Jacob’s sound is incredible. The darTzeel electronics took things to another level as did additional room treatment

and of course what's most interesting is that I have the XVX and darTZeel in a room that appears to be far too small for the speakers to work well but they do. The speakers are shoved directly into the corners, rear firing ports and I'm getting 20Hz tight response and they completely disappear as anyone who's been here could tell you. It's nearfield Cinerama 5th row. Still thrilling me every evening.

 

[LL21]

and of course what's most interesting is that I have the XVX and darTZeel in a room that appears to be far too small for the speakers to work well but they do. The speakers are shoved directly into the corners, rear firing ports and I'm getting 20Hz tight response and they completely disappear as anyone who's been here could tell you. It's nearfield Cinerama 5th row. Still thrilling me every evening.

Very interesting...big Wilsons have been setup this way going back to the original X1s. If you look at Conrad Johnson's original main room, the X1s were also in the corners toed in...of course rear-firing was the only option then.

Enjoy!!!

 

[chuck]

and of course what's most interesting is that I have the XVX and darTZeel in a room that appears to be far too small for the speakers to work well but they do. The speakers are shoved directly into the corners, rear firing ports and I'm getting 20Hz tight response and they completely disappear as anyone who's been here could tell you. It's nearfield Cinerama 5th row. Still thrilling me every evening.

Is room size an audio Myth? I have a relatively small room (15x20) and wanted to get big Wilson X2.2s but was worried about this. So I asked the guys at Wilson if they would work. They said yes. Would I get all the X2s could do? Yes. I asked if smaller speakers would be better: No, the X2s would be the best. They were right. "Cinerama 5th row" rules.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Is room size an audio Myth? I have a relatively small room (15x20) and wanted to get big Wilson X2.2s but was worried about this. So I asked the guys at Wilson if they would work. They said yes. Would I get all the X2s could do? Yes. I asked if smaller speakers would be better: No, the X2s would be the best. They were right. "Cinerama 5th row" rules.

"Room size is an audio myth" proves too much, I think. The fact that some small rooms can work extremely well does not mean that some larger rooms cannot sound even more convincing.

Perhaps the audio myth is that only smaller speakers can work well in smaller rooms?

 

[microstrip]

Is room size an audio Myth? I have a relatively small room (15x20) and wanted to get big Wilson X2.2s but was worried about this. So I asked the guys at Wilson if they would work. They said yes. Would I get all the X2s could do? Yes. I asked if smaller speakers would be better: No, the X2s would be the best. They were right. "Cinerama 5th row" rules.

If our definition of small room is 15x20, surely! But IMHO 15x 20 is a medium room that can easily accept some large speakers - for me a small room is something like 12 x 15.

IMHO many audiophile myths survive because they are ambiguously formulated.

 

[microstrip]

and of course what's most interesting is that I have the XVX and darTZeel in a room that appears to be far too small for the speakers to work well but they do. The speakers are shoved directly into the corners, rear firing ports and I'm getting 20Hz tight response and they completely disappear as anyone who's been here could tell you. It's nearfield Cinerama 5th row. Still thrilling me every evening.

The main problem with big speakers in small rooms is not weak or reduced bass, but excess of bass, usually around the 40-120Hz . Some rooms have good absorption in this zone due wall flexing and can deal with it, some others can be a nightmare and must be treated. Big speakers must be placed close to corners in small rooms that causes bass / mid bass reinforcement.
The possibility of using rear ports in the XVX perhaps can help - how are you using them?

 

[TrackingAngle]

The main problem with big speakers in small rooms is not weak or reduced bass, but excess of bass, usually around the 40-120Hz . Some rooms have good absorption in this zone due wall flexing and can deal with it, some others can be a nightmare and must be treated. Big speakers must be placed close to corners in small rooms that causes bass / mid bass reinforcement.
The possibility of using rear ports in the XVX perhaps can help - how are you using them?

I am using the rear ports, which sound better. Getting 20Hz bass, tight and no obvious overhang as every visitor has noted. Its the best bass I've ever had in this room. It's a concrete slab floor, which helps and its a lower level with 3 feet of cinderblock above which is normal framing so the combination of hard and flex seems to work really well and walls of records produces excellent decay characteristics. It just looks wrong.