Audiophile talk

[Fabiaman]

Hi Sammys3!

 

Welcome to MCF, just got back from the very good meet up we had at East Coast. Turn out was fabulous - at least 30 MCFians turned up!

 

My tube amp is a pretty cheap one bought from Kingston at Adelphi many years ago. Its a pre and power amp... cant remember how much I paid for the 2 but remember it was on huge discount (how else can I afford a tube amp?)

 

Yes, I love tubeys too. My previous amplifier is the Muscial Fidelity A1 and I love it VERY VERY VERY much!!! Too bad I left it at my ex-gf house and never took it back after we broke up.... shhh..... Now want to get the classic A1 also may not get already!

 

 

You wrote:

 

Hi...Fabiaman..I'm new in this forum. Heard you love tube amps...me too an audiophiles who love with tubemania......my last tube amp was ' Manley ichiban' monoblock bought 2nd hand from a friend of mine....6 years ago....love the sound, warm,sweet and airy on the vocal. Too bad now,i have miss the amps.sold it to friend at AudioJas in sembawang sc. cannot tahan the tube upgrade cost me a bomb, using KT90 need about 24 tubes (12 each ) amp, Where times are bad now...

 

May i know what tubes amp do you stiil stock in your closet.....I still have 1 more that lying around on the rack.( VTL 90 stereo tube amp )

 

 

cheers.

Sammy

[Sammys3]

Hi...Fabiaman....Your pre-power that you bought from Kingston,is it a Conrad Johnson. wow...... i love the pre-amp premier 14 'Tokong' the combination i had with my 'Manley Ichiban'. This baby can produce the unexpected, the ambience and the depth of the soundstaging is simply 'siok-man' , with the 21 steps volume pot, the low and the high gain were carefully control by the resistor at 1 ohm per dicibel. Best to feel the depth when play vocal, ( Muddy Waters ) my favourite collection.

 

 

I still have in stock of my 3rd generation transistor amp before upgrading to Tubey.

Threshold SA-3, 60 watts pure class A Power Amp.

Threshold Fet-10 Pre-Amp with DC power block.

Couples of NBS interconnect cables.

Van Den Hull Revalation Speaker cables. 8 foot pair.

Acoustat Electrostatic Speaker. ( sold to a friend )

 

In the closet: VTL ( Vacuum Tube Logic ) 90 watts Stereo Power Amp. ( KT88 Tubes )

Home made Passive Pre-Amp with dual Elna 21 steps Volume pot, 1ohm per decibel.

Dynaudio floor standing Speaker. ( Oak finish )

Dynaudio 1.1 Bookshelve Speaker with sand fill stand.

Marantz CD99 Transport. ( need to replace the rubber for the drawer )

DPA ( bigger bit ) D/A converter. ( need to service the parts )

 

 

Cheers bro,

Sammy

[Fabiaman]

Hi Sammy, wow your system is much more higher end than mine leh. You even separated the transport & DAC for the CD! I had a friend who did the same with MF DAC and cant remember which transport and the sound was absolutely fabulous!

 

I am using Arcam Alpha CD player and have 2 sets of speakers to choose from: Monitor Audio floor standing (with crossover a bit modified by Zenn Audio) and a Italian speaker Chario big bookshelf speaker on sandfilled stand.

 

Using Audioplus speaker cable (bi-wired) and interconnect I use either Canare or another brand which I cannot remember off hand (just remembered its model name is a Ruby)... its been a while since I dabbled in audiophile man!

 

My A1 used to be modded by Zenn and he himself was erribly surprised at its muscial reproduction esp those vocals and new age - ahhh.... the tubey that I have now is not modded as Zenn wouldnt do it.

[Fabiaman]

So Sammy, do you understand the acoustics of ICE since you are a home audiophile freak? I personally find it hard to reconcile the theories and logic of both the set ups in car and at home. It just still dun make sense to me. I felt that you have to spend many more times for ICE to create the same level of music quality in a home audiophile.

 

Your take?

[Sammys3]

Well..to be honest, To create a good acoustic level of sound, one have to sacrifice something to achieve the result. For my case, i'm greatfull as my wife and 3 teenage daughter love music, as we discuss together, we decided to sacrifice 1 room ( 14 x 9 ) turned it into our Listening and Home Entertainment Room. We spent quite a fortune to re-contruct the room. ( sound absorbing material on both corner of the room, carpeted the floor and two side of the wall, heavy drapes on the back of the wall, lighting, 3 seater sofa and off course aircondition). Next is to position your equipment, arrange it like most of us saw in the show room. Speaker placement is very important as you must measure the distant between each speaker, positioning from the back and side of the wall in order to get good layering of soundstaging. Listening and seating position is also important as the sound travelling from the speakers has to reach your ear level in order to get the reality feeling ( toe in or out your speaker untill you reach the sweet spot ) it's like an triangle from your listening spot. Most of the equipment are 'Spike' to prevent vibration.( good ones are those made from allumunium ). Run new wiring 20amp and connect to isollator then run with good power cord attached to 'powerwedge' where your pre-power amp and other accessories connect through this. Walla.... the room is set. ( soorry leh..abit long winded. )

 

 

As for ICE in car.....sorry bro, i don't find it worth to spend, cause we don't spend our time driving around. Not an easy task to achieved a good acoustic level. ( space, sound insulation, listening and seating position just to name a few ) ICE are for the young and yuppies, not someone likes me who is already 40. I can't stand the sound pressure level at 110db, but the young and yuppies enjoy this. So there's the different generation gap. Hope you understand this not to inject any flame to other bros, different people enjoy their music in their differenr way.

 

 

 

Cheers bro,

 

Sammy

[Seansene]

Hi Sammy, and welcome aboard MCF! Interesting, that you also have a pair of Contour 1.1s, are you using them as your rears, since you mention floorstanders as well (1.8 or 3.0 maybe)?

 

I'm not really a tube person, and I guess it's a matter of taste here. I personally aim for the neutral, not too dry, not too warm, cosy and yet detailed... here's my setup:

 

amp: Roksan Caspian int

cd transport: Pioneer PD-S904

dac: MSB Link III

spk: Dynaudio Contour 1.1

cables: Nordost

 

Good to see more audio enthusiasts here!

 

Hi...Fabiaman....Your pre-power that you bought from Kingston,is it a Conrad Johnson. wow...... i love the pre-amp premier 14 'Tokong' the combination i had with my 'Manley Ichiban'. This baby can produce the unexpected, the ambience and the depth of the soundstaging is simply 'siok-man' , with the 21 steps volume pot, the low and the high gain were carefully control by the resistor at 1 ohm per dicibel. Best to feel the depth when play vocal, ( Muddy Waters ) my favourite collection.

 

 

I still have in stock of my 3rd generation transistor amp before upgrading to Tubey.

Threshold SA-3, 60 watts pure class A Power Amp.

Threshold Fet-10 Pre-Amp with DC power block.

Couples of NBS interconnect cables.

Van Den Hull Revalation Speaker cables. 8 foot pair.

Acoustat Electrostatic Speaker. ( sold to a friend )

 

In the closet: VTL ( Vacuum Tube Logic ) 90 watts Stereo Power Amp. ( KT88 Tubes )

Home made Passive Pre-Amp with dual Elna 21 steps Volume pot, 1ohm per decibel.

Dynaudio floor standing Speaker. ( Oak finish )

Dynaudio 1.1 Bookshelve Speaker with sand fill stand.

Marantz CD99 Transport. ( need to replace the rubber for the drawer )

DPA ( bigger bit ) D/A converter. ( need to service the parts )

 

 

Cheers bro,

Sammy

[Sammys3]

Hi.....Seansene..... the contour 1.1 treat as a main speaker not rear, the floor stander is 1.8. Both speaker bought from AudioJas at Sembawang SC. Jay and Steven both are my old kaki's. You have quite a good setup, If you go for neutral and detailed sound, should upgrade on your cable......try NBS.....You'll hear the different.

 

 

Cheer Bro,

 

Sammy

Edited May 21, 2002 by Sammys3

[Seansene]

I think I'll wait for the system to settle into my new place before deciding on upgrades. Besides, my wife will kill me if I spend anymore money in that direction...

 

Having said that, a well-placed REL shouldn't do any harm to the sound, don't you think?

 

Not quite sure of one thing, though. If you're using the 1.1s as your mains, then what are the 1.8s doing? If they're just sitting there, I certainly don't mind, taking over, if just for awhile!

 

And you can see that I did get most of my stuff at Audio Jas, with the exception of the Pioneer and cables, of course. Steven's such a nice guy, quite different from some of the stuck up chaps you find at Adelphi...

[Fabiaman]

here's my setup:

 

amp: Roksan Caspian int

cd transport: Pioneer PD-S904

dac: MSB Link III

spk: Dynaudio Contour 1.1

cables: Nordost

 

Good to see more audio enthusiasts here!

 

Hi Sean... wah, you also into all these stuffs! Looks like a hard core as well!

 

Question: isn't Nordost cables a bit bright? at least that is my impression. You have Nordost on both the inetrconnects and spkr cables?

Edited May 22, 2002 by Fabiaman

[Seansene]

Question: isn't Nordost cables a bit bright? at least that is my impression. You have Nordost on both the inetrconnects and spkr cables?

 

Yup, both interconnects and spk cables are Nordost - Solar Wind and Flatline Gold II repectively. I love then but the interconnects especially are not terribly rugged. Helps with the lifetime guarantee (already exchanged a cable FOC), but there isn't a distributer now, so...

 

As to whether they are bright, I guess it's a matter of system matching. With an Audiolab and metal dome tweeter I'm sure they can cause earbleed, but I love their transparency - very addictive.

[Sammys3]

Hi Seansene.....The 1.1 was hook alternately with my VTL( Vacuum tube logic ) amp and Threshold SA-3, Your amp would not have enough power to drive the 1.8 unless it's a high current one, basically i do interchange them to my preferences when in mood of listening.

 

 

 

Cheers Bro,

 

Sammy

[Guyver]

I think I'll wait for the system to settle into my new place before deciding on upgrades. Besides, my wife will kill me if I spend anymore money in that direction...

 

Yah man.. think most woman will make noise..... especially when they want something and we say expensive.... and they'll dig all this things out and whack us..... *sigh*.... It's ok.. just buy more insurance lah....

[Seansene]

Hi Seansene.....The 1.1 was hook alternately with my VTL( Vacuum tube logic ) amp and Threshold SA-3, Your amp would not have enough power to drive the 1.8 unless it's a high current one, basically i do interchange them to my preferences when in mood of listening.

 

Wow, I really envy you, the freedom to change speakers according to mood.

Oh, don't worry about the current - the Caspian puts out 50 Amps peak to peak - so how about it? I would love to hear the behaviour of the 1.8 in my new place, much more space than the old one...

[Mrgoh80]

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