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.
I received my Black Treasures 2.5 months ago, along with my new monoblocks. It seems that the sound of my system has just recently ripened and matured, with more weight and a more natural presentation. It keeps getting better and better. There was a noticeable improvement around 20 hours, then around 100 hours. I now have about 300 hours on the tubes and amps. It is a night and day difference between what I am hearing at 300 hours and 100 hours. Granted, I am also breaking in my amps, but I had read that the Black Treasures take a long time to break in. That was a good price you paid for the tubes!
Thank you for the compliment regarding my amplifiers. You are a true gentleman.
I am really enjoying switching back and forth between the Franks and my OTL amp. The Canary is on the sideline for now; it does sound closer to the Franks than the Joule. You are right, they are different presentations, both very enjoyable. The biggest difference is that the Joule, with its 8 output tubes and 80 watts a channel, sounds bigger and weightier, especially with bass notes, and the highs have a velvety richness to them that I find very enchanting. The Franks are noticeably clearer and more transparent, and I am finding the dynamics to be more startling than the Joule. Funny thing is the Franks sound a lot like what I imagine a great OTL would sound like, and I imagine the Joule has qualities that are a lot like a SET amp.
I bought the Franks because I wanted something that puts out less heat and is mechanically more quiet than the Joule. My intent was to sell the Joule if I liked the Franks, but I have been really enjoying switching back and forth. Then there are days like in the past week where I can sense the bass and treble ripen with the Franks, which has got me thinking I could easily live with just the Franks and sell the Joule. It's been fun.
There might be somewhat of a speaker mismatch, but it could also be that your amp is still breaking in.
My speakers are from Coincident, with 93db sensitivity and 10 ohms nominal impedance. I believe yours are 92db and 8 ohms, which is not far off from what I have.
I am breaking in a new pair of Frankensteins that are an excellent match for my speakers. However, for the first 100 hours or so, the bass seemed a bit distant, disjointed and unfocussed compared to my other amp. I kept switching in my other amp because I missed the bass. Music at higher volumes was also on the harsh and shrill side with the Franks at first. However, the bass has suddenly improved as has everything else. I am experiencing better tonality, and greater weight and authority. I'm listening to some pop and rock this evening at 85 to 90db listening levels and I am thinking my system has never sounded better with this type of music! No more harshness, no more lack of bass.
If you do switch speakers, I would not hesitate to recommend a speaker from Coincident (I haven't heard Tekton), as Charles suggested.
Thank you for the comparison. It is very timely and interesting for me, as I ordered a pair of Frankensteins and should be getting them in 3 weeks. I am really looking forward to hearing how they compare to my Joule Electra OTL amp, which is also based on the 6c33c tube. I will let you know what I think.
Thank you for the kind words. As noted above, there is a lot of "meat to the bones" with the Joule OTL. That is why I am curious about the Frankensteins, because it seems the Franks share similar sonic attributes with the Joule. If I could get the sound that I am fond of, and reduce the heat, I would be in heaven. I am looking forward to the day that I will be able to compare the two amps.
Shawbros3, I have the VZN-80 Musicwood version. With regard to pairing the Joule OTL to the right speakers, I have Coincident Victory II speakers. The Victory II's are a very nice match with the Joule, imo, even better than Merlin VSM's, which I also own.
Charles, I have not had any of the Atmasphere amps in my system. They were on my short list before I bought the Joule OTL. I would love to hear them one day.
Funny thing you asked about the Joule OTL. I had been in discussions with a gentleman about selling the Joule amp to him. Out of the blue, he offered to send his Coincident Statement phono stage to me because he wanted to hear my opinion on how the Statement would sound through the CSL and the Joule OTL. Alas, I told him two days ago that I decided to keep the Joule because I could not bear to let it go, so the Statement will not be coming into my music room.
The CSL pairs really well with the Joule OTL. There is a kind of magic to the combination that leads to hours of addictive listening sessions, which I do despite the heat. You use the words natural and organic a lot to describe your system, and that is what I think I am getting, too. Sometime soon, I am going to get a pair of Franks and will be able to compare them with the Joule OTL. That should be an interesting comparison.
As for the Canary amp, it pairs really well with my Joule LA-150, but when the Canary is used with the CSL, I am finding that I do not stay in my music room as long as I do with the Joule OTL. I currently have EH Gold tubes, and I suspect if I changed 300b tubes, I could change the character of the sound to something more to my liking. However, I am not inclined to fork out the big bucks for four 300b tubes at this time. Why, you might ask? Well, $2k to $4k for premium tubes could go a long way towards the purchase of a new pair of Frankensteins ;-)
Regarding the Mullard GZ34's, Salvatore has the black based ones for sale. It seems he would have tried them with the Franks, and that he would have kept them if he liked them.
BTW, my Line Stage is really starting to shine after I swapped the Shuguang 101D's for the Psvane Hi-Fi series.
I have only had my CLS for 3 days and I'm still trying to get a handle on it. I bought it used to demo for a few months, and if I like it I will go ahead and order a new one. After a little hiccup trying to insert the tubes correctly (I originally did not push one of them in hard enough), I am impressed. I put on some familiar records, and am noticing that some things are being pushed forward with more detail, but in a very natural and coherent way. I am not certain yet, but I think dynamics are improved over my Joule LA-150. The bass of the Joule is more prominent and is a main reason why I like it, but the CLS seems more clear, coherent and natural between the bass, mids, and highs. The CLS is more like I am getting a performance in front of me. I thought my Joule was excellent in that regard, but the CLS is even more natural and real sounding. The Joule has given me many hours of toe tapping delight, without being overly analytical. I was curious whether the CLS would be analytical or whether the toe tapping would continue. So far, victory is on the side of the toe tappers. Take this for what it's worth, as I have only had the CLS for 3 days.
The rest of my system:
Coincident Statement Line Stage Coincident Victory II Canary CA-306 stereo push pull 300b Joule VZN-80 MKV stereo OTL Lectron Doshi JH 50 EL34 amp Allnic H-30000 phono stage Lenco L-75 rebuilt by Jean Nantais Sony ES-5400 cd/sacd player, stock
The saga of my system overhaul started when I bought the Victory II's last spring. The cabinets were a little beat up, but I fixed most flaws with a little bit of elbow grease. I bought them locally for a great price, with the intention of being able to audition amplifiers in my music room to replace my Joule OTL's. I absolutely love the Joules, but they put out a tremendous amount of heat. I was able to work around that by putting them in a room behind my music room, but we are doing a remodel soon and I will be losing that room. The Victory II's were supposed to be a temporary visitor to my music room, but as soon as I set them up, I noticed that a hum that I had been hearing through my Merlin/Joule combination had disappeared when I went with the Victory/Joule combo. I have no idea why just a speaker change would do that, but I ended up moving the Merlins to my living room and now the Victory II's are the reigning champs in my music room.
The same dealer that sold me the Victory II's is a Canary dealer and he sold the CA-306 to me for a good price. It has a modified power supply which makes it whisper quiet at idle and it has a very big, bold, and propulsive sound with music playing through it. It is also very clear sounding, with the edges more clearly defined than my Joules, which surprised me as it does not fit the stereotype of 300b amps that I had formed in my mind. Although it is only 22 watts a side, it holds up well to my Joule amp which is 80 watts a side. The Joule has a loveliness to it, though, which is hard for me to capture in words.
This is probably more than you wanted to hear! I am on the lookout for a used pair of Frankensteins now. I am curious how they would compare to the Canary's.
