JStrid
Active Member
I recently posted over in the Dollars and Sense forum about some local speakers that I found, and also that I was given an old organ tube amp for free along with the deal. The original thread was here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=268050&highlight=local&page=2
and the same photos are here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=183734&d=1260418951
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=183735&d=1260418951
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=183736&d=1260418951
Anyways, somehow I was in the mood to get this sucker up and going tonight. I went in the garage, dug out an old set of RCA cables, an old Marantz Imperial 6 speaker (no need for it's mate, as this is a mono amp) and brought them in to the living room. I brought down my ELAC Miracord 50H from the bedroom along with a solid state phono preamp that I picked up on the cheap from Amazon. I stripped down the RCA cables so that I could wire each channel into the separate posts, hooked up the Imperial 6 to the 8 ohm/ground posts and fired up the amp. I let it warm up for about 10 minutes, and there is a slight low end hum to it.
I decided to see how it sounded, but threw on the closest thing at hand--Herbie Hancock's "Sound System" album. It sounded terrible, but then I realized it wasn't the amp's fault, but rather just a crappy album in general! Heh... Anyways, I dug out a real album to throw on, a 6-eye copy of Billie Holiday's "Lady in Satin." (one whose overall condition matches Billie's voice--a little rough around the edges, but still nice to listen to). Anyways, it all sounded pretty nice. I even got my first little tube burn on my finger when I was trying to adjust the amp's position as it was resting on the top of the speaker. Those black 6L6's get dang hot!
There was something immensely satisfying about sitting back in the couch, watching the warm glow of the tubes and listening to Billie singin' it like it is. I was actually impressed with how well it sounded just coming from one speaker. Things sounded nice and warm, without being too mushy on the detail end of things. It seemed like the proper place for this setup might be in a room with a fireplace, a wet bar and a nice little collection of old blues/vocal recordings. Anyways, it definitely made for a fun Thursday evening.
Oh, about the hum, any advice on that? It needs new caps, right? Where might I be able to find them for it? Thanks!
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=268050&highlight=local&page=2
and the same photos are here:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=183734&d=1260418951
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=183735&d=1260418951
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=183736&d=1260418951
Anyways, somehow I was in the mood to get this sucker up and going tonight. I went in the garage, dug out an old set of RCA cables, an old Marantz Imperial 6 speaker (no need for it's mate, as this is a mono amp) and brought them in to the living room. I brought down my ELAC Miracord 50H from the bedroom along with a solid state phono preamp that I picked up on the cheap from Amazon. I stripped down the RCA cables so that I could wire each channel into the separate posts, hooked up the Imperial 6 to the 8 ohm/ground posts and fired up the amp. I let it warm up for about 10 minutes, and there is a slight low end hum to it.
I decided to see how it sounded, but threw on the closest thing at hand--Herbie Hancock's "Sound System" album. It sounded terrible, but then I realized it wasn't the amp's fault, but rather just a crappy album in general! Heh... Anyways, I dug out a real album to throw on, a 6-eye copy of Billie Holiday's "Lady in Satin." (one whose overall condition matches Billie's voice--a little rough around the edges, but still nice to listen to). Anyways, it all sounded pretty nice. I even got my first little tube burn on my finger when I was trying to adjust the amp's position as it was resting on the top of the speaker. Those black 6L6's get dang hot!
There was something immensely satisfying about sitting back in the couch, watching the warm glow of the tubes and listening to Billie singin' it like it is. I was actually impressed with how well it sounded just coming from one speaker. Things sounded nice and warm, without being too mushy on the detail end of things. It seemed like the proper place for this setup might be in a room with a fireplace, a wet bar and a nice little collection of old blues/vocal recordings. Anyways, it definitely made for a fun Thursday evening.
Oh, about the hum, any advice on that? It needs new caps, right? Where might I be able to find them for it? Thanks!
