This is my first foray into the wonderful flea-powered world of single-ended triodes. The change came about as a result of a major event the birth of my son requiring the need for softer listening sessions without the sacrifice of dynamics.
My previous two-channel system was based around a Conrad-Johnson Premier 11A/B&W Nautilus 805 combination. It was a very rewarding pairing, but needed some volume to really sing. Given my room size (16 x 13 x 8.5), I felt the less is more theory might be worth exploring.
After some hefty reading over on Audio Asylum and email exchanges with several inmates, I decided to take the plunge.
I contacted Jeff Korneff and had him build one of his 45-based single-ended amps. Its output is about 2 watts per channel of effortless sonic bliss. Its extremely transparent and can deliver impressive dynamics given its minimal output.
Terry Cain, from Cain & Cain, built a pair of his Abbys (a modified Voight pipe design) for my less is more system. The Abby houses a single 6.5 Fostex full-range driver, and uses two interchangeable drivers for different listening experiences. A Fostex FE 166e driver is the more aggressive of the two, delivering a very forward presentation. The second of the two, a Fostex FF165K is a more laid-back, softer presentation. To paraphrase Terry Cain; the difference between these drivers is the deep and clear sound of the FF165k, as opposed to the dynamic projection of the FE166e. I like to think its the difference between sitting in the 10th row and being on stage with the musicians.
The room is equipped with two dedicated 20amp circuits - one to drive the source equipment and one for the amplification. Speakers are placed about 2 ½ feet from the rear wall and about 3.5' from the sidewalls. The chair is 10' from speakers, which are slightly toed-in.
Ive found this system is capable of incredible detail retrieval and conveys the emotion of the music better than any other set-ups Ive had in the room.
Gain: 26 dB Maximum Output: 15 V rms Hum and Noise: 100 dB below 2.5 V output Distortion at 1.0V output: less than .1% THD or IMD Phase: inverts phase of all inputs at main output Output impedance: less than 850 ohms Zero Negative Feedback
The 17ls uses a 4ft BC-14G Cryo Power Cord
Jeff Korneff 45SE
Class A Single Ended Triode, using 45 output tubes, a pair of 6SN7 drivers and a 5Z3 rectifier. The amp delivers 2WPC @ 8ohm with zero feedback. Materials used include: - Electroprint output transformers - Hammond 300 series power transformer - Elna Cerifine caps - WBT binding posts - Kimber RCA jacks All wiring is point-to-point. The 45SE uses a 4ft BC-14G Cryo Power Cord.
Cain & Cain Abby
Modified Voight Pipe horn-loaded loudspeaker. Single Fostex FE166e driver with Fostex T90A super tweeter crossed over using Fostex CS 0.68 uF cap w/ 1ohm resistor in series and 30ohm resistor in parallel.
Sota Star Sapphire
Self-Sensing Vacuum Hold-Down System w/ Remote Double-Regulated AC/Vacuum Pump. Balanced Sub-Chassis Hung from Four Point Spring Suspension. Rosewood Plinth. Vacuum/Motor assembly has been modified to include internal dampening sheets and an upgraded power cord.
Graham Engineering 2.2 Deluxe
Unipivot Tonearm with micrometer adjustability for azimuth, VTA, and tracking force.
Lyra Helikon
Output voltage: 0.5 mV Frequency range: 10 Hz 50 kHz Stylus: 0.08 x 0.12 x 0.5 mm natural diamond shank, Ogura PA line-contact profile (3 x 30 um) Cantilever: 0.3mm diameter solid boron
Turntable Isolation Platform. Twelve layer laminate of high-density polymer, multi-density composite board, polymer adhesives and non-resonant primer with six large IsoNode footers.
Audio Points Isolation Cones
1" Brass isolation cones positioned under the CDP, DAT deck and phono stage
MonsterPower AVS-2000
Voltage Stablizer
JPS Labs Digital AC
Replaces stock power cord on the Meridian 588 CDP
Acme Audio Cryo Silver Plated Outlet (20A)
Two cryogenicly treated 20A outlet residing on each own's 20A dedicated circut. One outlet feeds the power amp and one feed the source components (through the AVS-2000)
Homebrew BC-14G Cryo Power Cord
Bob Crump designed power cord using Belden 19364 14-gauge wire, Wattgate 320i and 5266i connectors. All parts have been cryogenically treated.
Bybee Quantum Purifiers
Internally mounted in series to the positive terminals in the Abby speakers (one per speaker)
Sounds like a good way to test the water!! Just for the record though, the Berman 76 circuit is VERY simple -- just a handful of parts per channel. With a couple of mods, I made it even simpler (I don't like the idea of having 2 separate volume controls, for example!) Whichever direction you go, I think you'll appreciate the sonic improvements!
Great system, although I think you might talk to Mr. Korneff about building a Berman 76 line-stage to replace the C-J. The Berman is a very simple, all-triode design with a super-spec'd power supply that, in the words of a Listener Magazine reviewer "adjusts the amount of realism in the room." A friend of mine had a very similar system to yours and we both felt ultimately that the C-J preamp was the weak link, adding some "hi-fi" artifacts that the single-ended triode/horn speaker combo was trying to get away from. I built a Berman 76 myself (with some over-the-phone advice from Jeff) about 5 years ago and still feel it's the most magical sounding preamp I've ever heard! I don't know what Jeff would charge to build one, but if you're handy with a soldering iron and basic power tools, you can do it yourself for about $1,200 in parts (less than you can sell your C-J for, I'm pretty sure!) You can find the preamp in Sound Practices magazine (I think it was in issue 12 or 13.)
