My objective is to duplicate the sound of a good jazz venue as best I can. I'll never match it but getting close is fine. I've had various audio components through the years and tubes particularly DHT tubes/ASSET have gotten me the closest. So this is where I will settle down and appreciate.
Balanced AC power is fantastic !! 1800va balanced isolation transformer/conditioner. All aspects of music reproduction are improved for every single component.
Tripoint Tripoint Troy.
A wonderful grounding box component. When added to my system it increased the sense of natural sound quality and emotional engagement. The Troy has a humanistic and “soulful “ quality to it.
Coincident Speaker Tech Total eclipse 2
This wonderful speaker is transparent,open and involving. It`s large yet completely disappears as the source of sound within the room. Very easy to drive,94db and 14 0hm impedance (Minimum 10 ohm). I replaced the stock Solens capacitor with the Duelund CAST in the crossover.
Coincident Statement linestage
Superb performance. In my opinion , a masterpiece by Israel Blume. As would be expected, a wonderful match with its sibling the Frankenstein MK II.
Coincident Speaker Tech Frankenstein mark 2
A terrific 300b SET amplifier that is the foundation of my system. The EML XLS 300b tubes are a superb match with this amplifier.
Acquiring these 300b SET mono blocks changed the course of my music listening experience. They elevated the emotional engagement, tactility and “breath of life “ realism.
Yamamoto YDA-01
Wonderful music lover's DAC that has a very natural/organic sound quality. Duelund CAST addition(output coupling capacitors) makes it sound even better. It has a very minimalist circuit/design that was implemented well.
Ocellia Silver Reference IC
Very natural and pure sounding with excellent tone and timbre preservation.
Ocellia Silver Reference Speaker Cable
Same qualities/ comments as the IC.
Star Sound Technologies Sistrum Apprentice component platforms..
These Star Sound platforms are mandatory in my system. Effectively managing resonance and vibration leads to a very noticeable sound improvement with every component and especially the speakers. Excellent product.
High Fidelity CT1 Ultimate Digital cable
A highly impressive digital cable that mates beautifully into my system. Contributes to the natural sound presentation.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2T
This is a superb Redbook CD playback transport. It’s both high resolution and impressively natural.
. I’m using the excellent Fidelizer Nikola II LPS. Splendid pairing.
Lavricables Grand and Master series Power Cables.
Pure silver wire and unshielded power cables. These are used with all of my audio components. They are very open, transparent, high resolution with beautiful natural tone and timbre presentation.
Abbas Esoteric Audio 3.2SE
Built by renown Ukrainian Abbas Zulfugarov. NOS DAC utilizing the classic Phillips TDA 1541 multi bit chip. Two 6080 tubes in the analog stage. 5 various rectifier tubes in the power supplies.
3 separate toroidal transformers (And 2 chokes ) for the power supplies.A very serious and successful upper tier DAC implementation. Using with the Abbas SPDIF and power cable.
Hi Charles I too have found the Mullard CV378 GZ37 the best rectifier of all . More open and natural than any of the Sylvania or General Electrics's. I found they (Mullards) had a substantial impact on the sound landscape. Definitely quieter than any of the above rectifiers and mids and highs are substantially more articulate. Also noticeable is a cleaner less smeared bass with more control. The only other tubes I like as well, but not as much as the Mullards, are the RCA black plate 5u4g, but they must be early to mid 1950's ;a very nice rectifier tube . But I am sure you will definitely love the Mullards in your wonderful system . I've tried almost every good rectifier tube available and the Mullards are definitely the best of any rectifier tube I've tried in my Franks. Regards, David
Hi Charles I hope al is well with you. I was curious if you ever have rolled the 5au4g tubes or the 6em7's in the Franks. We've talked a lot about the 300b tube rolling but not the others. I recently did change both the rectifier and gain tubes with some astonishing results. Regards David
Hi Charles and all, I must say that I am happy those with the new 101d tubes are enjoying what they "bring to table". I an not surprised by your comments but must say I am relieved; as I was nervously awaiting your response , which is greatly respected by many including myself, having been one of the first posters for comments on the W.E. 101d Enjoy Regards, David
Thanks for the advice I initially set my system up with the 8 ohm taps on both the Frankensteins and the Dragons during break in, which is still ongoing but almost complete. It was then suggested to try the 16 ohm taps . Upon first listening to the 16 ohm taps I immediately noticed the increased bass presence at what appeared to be the expense of the higher frequencies and closed in sounstage and figured there is too much of a trade off between taps and that maybe I should go back to the 8 ohm taps. Then I was informed that these taps required there own break in time from scratch! Silly me you'd think I should have figured that one out myself. I just assumed that if my amps and associated gear were almost broken in, then so should the unused taps! And yes Charles, as you have suggested, the 16 ohm taps sound exactly as you described , with my Pure Reference Extremes and the sound is improving as "the new" break in period continues. Thank you so much for enlightening me and suggesting this. David
Almarg, Hi Al, The dragons have a volume control that makes it easy to integrate with biampimg. Actually it is quite handy for certain types of recordings to compensate for inadequate bass. David
Hi, Yes. This way the Franks don't have to worry about the extra load of the driving the Bass units. The Franks are never stressed and can perform their magic, and the Dragons provide extremely powerful and controled tuneful Bass. This combo gives the best of both worlds. Extreme realism and SET magic with tuneful impactful powerful bass. It is a match made in heaven as the two amp types perfectly and seemlessly integrate with no gaps in the freuency range. It also allows for some pretty hefty SPL'S with no amp congestion or strain. Really amazing synergy
Hi Charles I have recently purchased a Coincident system comprised of Pure Reference Extreme speakers,Statement line stage ,Frankensteins driving the mids and highs and biamping with the Dragons for the bass. I am extremely impressed pleased with this new system . I am also using the Extreme cables throughout. I am wondering if you have ever heard the Extremes ,ic's and sc's in your system? I am thinking about the "Shotgun" version of these , are you familiar with them? I was thinking about silver as well but always found them a bit too light,incredible detail speed and emotion, just a bit lightly weighted for me . I have not heard them with my current system but was concerned if you felt they lacked in the bottm end weight and a bit in harmonics. Also I am using the Shuguang Psvane Black Bottle and think they are wonderful but may want to try tube rolling . Where can I get the Takatsuki 300b tubes, and how much are they?
