High End Separates.....

[BeerCan]

A few from the collection I just happened to take a pic of several months ago (sorry for the grainy pic)....

Up front are a pair of Threshold s/300's, each have been modded with higher value output caps, upgraded rectifier and bypass caps.

In between the Thresholds is a Tube Audio Design TAD-60. This can also be used as an integrated and has adjustment for output and global feedback. It can use a variety of tubes and is pictured here with KT-88's. It can be switched to ultralinear or triode operation and can also be biased down to a class A single ended triode (not a true SET, but friggin' sweet sounding just the same!). I love this amp. So much so I added a second one to the collection.

On the bottom of the rack is a Phase Linear 700B which is currently out for White Oak mods.

Above that is a Tube Audio Design TAD-150 tube pre and it can run 12AU/AX and AT7's tubes.

Above that is a Rega DAC which has been sent to another owner (and replaced with a Schiit Gungnir).

And to the left of that a Hafler 110 which has been given a host of upgrades (just in the rig at the time of the pic to do some testing in mono).

And sitting atop the Hafler is the best SS preamp I've ever owned, the Acurus RL11 which has had the board practically gutted and repopulated with better bits and had the power supply upgraded and moved to an outboard device....all performed by AK's resident Acurus/Aragon guru Mondialfan.

Wow I bet that system sounds great. Is that the setup you used to try the LS50's?

 

[Lavane]

Wow, some really nice equipment posted so far! I'm in the middle of ordering parts (another big order today) and building a complete system pretty much from scratch. I'm even toying with the idea of building a TT. I may get in over my head on that one.

 

[luvvinvinyl]

...I'm in the middle of ordering parts (another big order today) and building a complete system pretty much from scratch. I'm even toying with the idea of building a TT. I may get in over my head on that one.

I admire, greatly, your ambition!

 

[Lavane]

I admire, greatly, your ambition!

I kinda dove head first down the rabbit hole. It doesn't help having friends leading you further down telling you everything will be OK. ara:

 

[ehoove]

Did some one say Tube Monoblocks? Here is a pic of my Quicksilvers in my Quad amp main Rig. (Triamped Magnapan MGIIIa's and Stereo Subwoofers)
Regards,
Jim

 

[TubeHiFiNut]

Wow, some really nice equipment posted so far! I'm in the middle of ordering parts (another big order today) and building a complete system pretty much from scratch. I'm even toying with the idea of building a TT. I may get in over my head on that one.

Emphasis added.

You are much braver than I am. :yes:

Would love to see the result.

 

[rcspkramp]

Kind of messy now, but here it is:

Ryan 630 speakers
Coda S-100 power amp
Modwright 36.5 line stage
Auralic VEGA dac
Auralic ARIES streaming bridge
Sony ST-J75 FM tuner
Cambridge Audio 752BD disc spinner
Panasonic SE 405 demodulator/phono stage
Luxman PD-121 w/ SME M2 10" with Panasonic Strain Gauge Cart
Kenwood KD-600 w/Jelcon 10" with AT-33PTG MKII MC cart
Audience aRTSS power conditioner
Torus Power power conditioner
Sony HAP-1ZES network player

 

[ehoove]

Kind of messy now, but here it is:

Ryan 630 speakers
Coda S-100 power amp
Modwright 36.5 line stage
Auralic VEGA dac
Auralic ARIES streaming bridge
Sony ST-J75 FM tuner
Cambridge Audio 752BD disc spinner
Panasonic SE 405 demodulator/phono stage
Luxman PD-121 w/ SME M2 10" with Panasonic Strain Gauge Cart
Kenwood KD-600 w/Jelcon 10" with AT-33PTG MKII MC cart
Audience aRTSS power conditioner
Torus Power power conditioner
Sony HAP-1ZES network player

Very Nice! your thoughts on the HAP-1ZES?
Regards,
Jim

 

[rcspkramp]

Very Nice! your thoughts on the HAP-1ZES?
Regards,
Jim

It's really good, but the VEGA/ARIES is better. They should be though, they cost more. With the Sony a good power cord and good interconnects are essential, really wakes it up.

 

[tomlinmgt]

Wow I bet that system sounds great. Is that the setup you used to try the LS50's?

With the LS50s it's been Schiit Gungnir DAC > Mondialfan Acurus RL11 > either Threshold s/300, TAD-60 or Pass First Watt F5 clone and of course the multiple subwoofers. So far I like the Threshold powering them, but with some recordings the tube amp sounds really good, as well. Next I want to try the TAD-150 tube pre with the Threshold.

 

[TubeHiFiNut]

It's really good, but the VEGA/ARIES is better. They should be though, they cost more. With the Sony a good power cord and good interconnects are essential, really wakes it up.

A good network player is definitely on my Christmas list.

 

[Billfort]

Here’s my current state with separates – a Joule-Electra LA-100 MKIII and home built 2A3 SET. The Joule is about a 15-20yr old all-tube Mu-follower design that at some point was upgraded to the then current MKIII silver-wired version, the 2A3 amp is a simple cap-coupled convertible 45/2A3 circuit using a Western Electric 417A triode driver.

Separating the pre-amp and amp has been an important thing for me as my speaker mix has really evolved over the years and I find amp>speaker matching to be one of the most important things in rolling a system.

When I had DQ-10s, I started with big SS amps from Bryston (3B & 4B), Van-Alstine, Hafler, Naim, Adcom and B&K, then big tubes from Conrad-Johnson. As speakers (and rooms) changed to smaller more sensitive monitors (Co-incident) on up to high efficiency Altec 604s, those amps changed to various 300B circuits and ultimately, to my warm comfortable place – this 2A3.

With the SS amps, I quickly moved from Naim & Bryston pre-amps to liking tube pres – Conrad-Johnson PV1 & PV5, then an Audible Illusions-2B. With the SET stuff, I’ve gone from the AI to a couple Counterpoints and now the Joule with a modded Sonic-Frontiers SFP-1 phono-stage. I found the CJs a little ‘caramel colored’, the AI a little lightweight and the Counterpoints a touch bright and in-your-face. The Joule just suits my taste with a great soundstage, luscious mids, nice bass and a remote volume control (!). The SFP-1 is a great match for my low-output Zyx moving-coil too and betters any of the phono stages I got to compare it too (AI and Counterpoint).

I have recently added an HK 870 amp behind a Behringer DCX2496 crossover for augmented bass off the second set of pre-outs on the Joule but the main system remains as sorted prior to this experiment and un-molested. I think this – keeping an active SS crossover/EQ out of the main system loop – has been key in getting me to a very good place with bi-amping. I keep trying different pieces and listening to other bi-amp system approaches but I just prefer the sound of an active pre-amp direct-connected to a simple SET amp – SS lower bass is a very good thing but I like it out of the main signal path.

Speakers are the big driving factor in all this and the compromises dictated by my chosen path (I like efficiency, big dynamics and a point-source design) seem best served with 1 full-range SET amp, a well-designed passive crossover playing full-range and some DSP chip magic and SS muscle in the lower bass only.

 

[rcspkramp]

Love that Joule Electra pre.

 

[TubeHiFiNut]

Here’s my current state with separates – a Joule-Electra LA-100 MKIII and home built 2A3 SET. The Joule is about a 15-20yr old all-tube Mu-follower design that at some point was upgraded to the then current MKIII silver-wired version, the 2A3 amp is a simple cap-coupled convertible 45/2A3 circuit using a Western Electric 417A triode driver.

Separating the pre-amp and amp has been an important thing for me as my speaker mix has really evolved over the years and I find amp>speaker matching to be one of the most important things in rolling a system.

When I had DQ-10s, I started with big SS amps from Bryston (3B & 4B), Van-Alstine, Hafler, Naim, Adcom and B&K, then big tubes from Conrad-Johnson. As speakers (and rooms) changed to smaller more sensitive monitors (Co-incident) on up to high efficiency Altec 604s, those amps changed to various 300B circuits and ultimately, to my warm comfortable place – this 2A3.

With the SS amps, I quickly moved from Naim & Bryston pre-amps to liking tube pres – Conrad-Johnson PV1 & PV5, then an Audible Illusions-2B. With the SET stuff, I’ve gone from the AI to a couple Counterpoints and now the Joule with a modded Sonic-Frontiers SFP-1 phono-stage. I found the CJs a little ‘caramel colored’, the AI a little lightweight and the Counterpoints a touch bright and in-your-face. The Joule just suits my taste with a great soundstage, luscious mids, nice bass and a remote volume control (!). The SFP-1 is a great match for my low-output Zyx moving-coil too and betters any of the phono stages I got to compare it too (AI and Counterpoint).

I have recently added an HK 870 amp behind a Behringer DCX2496 crossover for augmented bass off the second set of pre-outs on the Joule but the main system remains as sorted prior to this experiment and un-molested. I think this – keeping an active SS crossover/EQ out of the main system loop – has been key in getting me to a very good place with bi-amping. I keep trying different pieces and listening to other bi-amp system approaches but I just prefer the sound of an active pre-amp direct-connected to a simple SET amp – SS lower bass is a very good thing but I like it out of the main signal path.

Speakers are the big driving factor in all this and the compromises dictated by my chosen path (I like efficiency, big dynamics and a point-source design) seem best served with 1 full-range SET amp, a well-designed passive crossover playing full-range and some DSP chip magic and SS muscle in the lower bass only.

Outstanding equipment!

I have enjoyed reading about your audio journey since I joined AK. :thmbsp:

 

[Lavane]

Here’s my current state with separates – a Joule-Electra LA-100 MKIII and home built 2A3 SET. The Joule is about a 15-20yr old all-tube Mu-follower design that at some point was upgraded to the then current MKIII silver-wired version, the 2A3 amp is a simple cap-coupled convertible 45/2A3 circuit using a Western Electric 417A triode driver.

Separating the pre-amp and amp has been an important thing for me as my speaker mix has really evolved over the years and I find amp>speaker matching to be one of the most important things in rolling a system.

When I had DQ-10s, I started with big SS amps from Bryston (3B & 4B), Van-Alstine, Hafler, Naim, Adcom and B&K, then big tubes from Conrad-Johnson. As speakers (and rooms) changed to smaller more sensitive monitors (Co-incident) on up to high efficiency Altec 604s, those amps changed to various 300B circuits and ultimately, to my warm comfortable place – this 2A3.

With the SS amps, I quickly moved from Naim & Bryston pre-amps to liking tube pres – Conrad-Johnson PV1 & PV5, then an Audible Illusions-2B. With the SET stuff, I’ve gone from the AI to a couple Counterpoints and now the Joule with a modded Sonic-Frontiers SFP-1 phono-stage. I found the CJs a little ‘caramel colored’, the AI a little lightweight and the Counterpoints a touch bright and in-your-face. The Joule just suits my taste with a great soundstage, luscious mids, nice bass and a remote volume control (!). The SFP-1 is a great match for my low-output Zyx moving-coil too and betters any of the phono stages I got to compare it too (AI and Counterpoint).

I have recently added an HK 870 amp behind a Behringer DCX2496 crossover for augmented bass off the second set of pre-outs on the Joule but the main system remains as sorted prior to this experiment and un-molested. I think this – keeping an active SS crossover/EQ out of the main system loop – has been key in getting me to a very good place with bi-amping. I keep trying different pieces and listening to other bi-amp system approaches but I just prefer the sound of an active pre-amp direct-connected to a simple SET amp – SS lower bass is a very good thing but I like it out of the main signal path.

Speakers are the big driving factor in all this and the compromises dictated by my chosen path (I like efficiency, big dynamics and a point-source design) seem best served with 1 full-range SET amp, a well-designed passive crossover playing full-range and some DSP chip magic and SS muscle in the lower bass only.

I'm very interested in your crossover. I have a 300B and plan to bi-amp it with a heavily modified console amp for bass. I would like to keep it passive if possible. I was going to go with SS for the low end, and still might later. The crossover though still has me scratching my head.

 

[Billfort]

I may have mislead. My main speakers are 2-ways and use only a 2-way passive crossover - the 2A3 amp runs full-range powering these.

The Behringer crossover, SS amp and a pair of Altec 416s are only used for lower bass - kind of like a conventional subwoofer arrangement.

 

[Lavane]

I may have mislead. My main speakers are 2-ways and use only a 2-way passive crossover - the 2A3 amp runs full-range powering these.

The Behringer crossover, SS amp and a pair of Altec 416s are only used for lower bass - kind of like a conventional subwoofer arrangement.

Ah, OK, I'm building rear loaded horns with FR drivers. 200htz and nup throughthe 300B and horns with the low end through the other amp to a couple of subs. When it ones to crossovers I'm kind of lost. So I'm not clear on what would be the best route.

 

[4-2-7]

Dang I don't know were to start giving strokes to all this beautiful gear in this thread and 80% of it I don't know what it is.


@ TubeHiFiNut

This is a bad ass turntable..

 

[4-2-7]

Did some one say Tube Monoblocks? Here is a pic of my Quicksilvers in my Quad amp main Rig. (Triamped Magnapan MGIIIa's and Stereo Subwoofers)

Regards,
Jim

WOW

I love Cobalt Blue

​

 

[TubeHiFiNut]

Dang I don't know were to start giving strokes to all this beautiful gear in this thread and 80% of it I don't know what it is.


@ TubeHiFiNut

This is a bad ass turntable..

Thank you, 4-2-7.

This is the Micro-Seikei RX1500 with ET II arm. Just got a spare arm mount so I can run two arms.