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The dark side

dmag

dmag

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I'm thinking of looking into the dark void of solid state gear, and am wondering if anyone in the area from ,say, Providence,RI to Nashua, NH has any knowledge of shops that sell equipment , nice enough to retire my soldering iron and tube tester.
I'm looking for gear a few steps above Rotel ,NAD and the like,but not such that I'd have to sell my first born child. A good website wold be a plus .
Phono section is my primary source. Two channel only. No extra buttons or lights. No AV . Just music.
Thanks in advance.
 
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Goodwins in Waltham can satisfy your needs...and I can verify that they have some very nice solid state gear, though it may be a financial shock. Also, what about Spearit Sound?
 
You won't have to retire your soldering iron just yet. But build the Nelson Pass First Watt series of SS amplifiers and pre-amps, and you will get components on par with the good tube stuff. This is coming from a decade + long SET tube owner.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
When I lived in Maine near Portland the high end audio store told me there weren't any more companies building vacuum tube audio gear. He must be right.
 
Modern Tube Equipment isn't dead yet...

The Sound Environment - a high end audio shop in Omaha, NE - is having a show for VTL on November 13, 2014. Tube equipment hand built in Chino, California. They've been a dealer for VTL since 1997.

http://vtl.com/
 
As I read this, I don't think the OP was looking for more tube gear....he owns it already. Think the gist of the post was is there SS gear that would satisfy him.

Don't think anyone in this hobby really believes that tube gear is not still being made.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I now have tube gear. A bit shy in the preamp department though. Lately I've had some discussions regarding the upside of S.S.lgear. And more to the point no tweaking, mods,and the constant urge to roll tubes and speakers.
Not to mention,seeing a tube from a favorite ,matched pair or quad roll off the bench and go pop.
I used to go to Spearit Sound ,when they were in Boston ,as well as the store that they bought out. I'm not fond of the latest incarnation there. Especially when I found that the "salesman" Leland, i believe,that I enjoyed dealing with there was no longer employed.
I've heard of Goodwins. Perhaps ill stop by there to see if I can justify the sticker shock. Considering all the stuff I've bought in the last few years ,I probably could have invested a bit more,ok a lot more ,and got something nice.
And as for the Pass gear, that may be a solution .i will take a closer look.
Mister Pig are you using Pass gear ? If so which pieces?
I'd be curious to hear from anyone else that gave up tubes for the convenience of S.S. and how it worked out.
 
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dmag said:
Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I now have tube gear. A bit shy in the preamp department though. Lately I've had some discussions regarding the upside of S.S.lgear. And more to the point no tweaking, mods,and the constant urge to roll tubes and speakers.
Not to mention,seeing a tube from a favorite ,matched pair or quad roll off the bench and go pop.
I used to go to Spearit Sound ,when they were in Boston ,as well as the store that they bought out. I'm not fond of the latest incarnation there. Especially when I found that the "salesman" Leland, i believe,that I enjoyed dealing with there was no longer employed.
I've heard of Goodwins. Perhaps ill stop by there to see if I can justify the sticker shock. Considering all the stuff I've bought in the last few years ,I probably could have invested a bit more,ok a lot more ,and got something nice.
And as for the Pass gear, that may be a solution .i will take a closer look.
Mister Pig are you using Pass gear ? If so which pieces?
I'd be curious to hear from anyone else that gave up tubes for the convenience of S.S. and how it worked out.
Click to expand...

hi

Actually I am using some of the First Watt gear that has been built by other hobbyists. While I can make a decent solder joint, I am not really a DIY'er, especially when it comes to SS parts.

For the last 12 or so years, maybe more, I have owned SET electronics. I have had gear from Electra Print, Art Audio, Bottlehead, and AES(Cary Audio factory direct line) and other tube gear such as Quicksilver, Audible Illusions, Audio Innovations, and a couple of other pieces.

The First Watt electronics is on equal footing with my SET gear, and while it has some different characteristics, it sounds good if not better on my Hawthorne Trio speakers. There may be alternate speaker systems that the SET gear would win out on, after all there are no absolutes in audio. Another aspect of the First Watt gear is that some of these designs will put out 25 WPC into 8 ohms, and 50 WPC into 4 ohms....which is a ton of power compared to my 8 WPC SET amp. This opens up a lot wider selection of speakers, which tend to be the real expensive part of SET based systems. I currently am using an Aleph Mini J, and in the next couple of weeks will take posession of a freshly built F6. The F6 is an interesting amp as it uses a pair of Jensen transformers for the first gain stage, and the secondary windings are used for a local feedback loop. I also have the B1 pre-amp, which is a passive design with a powered impedance buffering circuit on the front side of the pre-amp.

Now one day I may acquire a speaker system that allows me to put my Electra Print gear back into play. But as long as the Hawthorne Trio speakers are here, the First Watt equipment is my choice for amplification. Which is remarkable considering how long I have owned tube gear.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
My first foray into 300B SET power (for Altec 19's) was with a pair of modded Golden Tube Audio mono blocks and I indeed found plenty there to enjoy...but the honeymoon was short lived as not long after the SET monos showed up an opportunity for a Pass First Watt F5 clone presented itself. It pretty much galvanized my understanding of statements like "when the designs are of sufficient quality the differences between tube and SS become less discernable". I've since sent the F5 off to have the build (which I didn't do) double checked and tweaked by a capable tech and will likely send the SET monos to another home.
 
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After getting my first tube receiver, I thought I would never do SS again. But now I have a pair of new, modern speakers on the way (Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary model) that are biampable, so I will surely be looking into the possibility of going back to at least HALF-solid-state. We'll see though.

Jeez... Phil Rudd was arrested for plotting to murder two people, and I go and buy a pair of modern speakers... What's the world coming to?
 
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Fidelis is located just down 101a from exit 8, Route 3 North in Nashua, NH. I haven't been in there for awhile, so I'm not sure what components they have in the store. They also sell records and have some nice listening rooms. You could call them and talk about stock and prices before you make the ride up.

http://www.fidelisav.com/
 
I've been a little late getting back to this. Thanks for the input as well as the ling to Fidelis in NH.
Wifey will be away this weekend . Sounds like a chance to shop. ..or build.
The Pass gear sounds quite interesting. Good explanations and support as well.
 
Teac AI-1000 is a honey of a integrated amp - you can get it for 65% off now on ebay from a Canadian source in new condition!

I heard it in South Korea and together with the CD-1000 on JBL 4302 speakers ? and they just made music in a true hifi fashion - liquid and transparent!

Definitely cut or two above NAD for not much more mullah...
Check them out on youtube - also AI-2000, and 3000 and CD-2000 and 3000
 
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