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.
Bill reading left to right. Honestly each listener, component and system is just different. I had a very good SS amp, Symphonic Line. The Frankenstein is just a more realistic sound and better across the board. That's just me and what I'm drawn to. You have two excellent amplifiers you can rotate in and out as you wish. I know you're having a ball. Regarding the Yamamoto I agree with you. It just makes music and keeps you involved. That's what emotion will do when it's conveyed. Charles,
In the direction of the letters? Left to right or right to left looking at the back of the amp?
I am liking the Yami a lot. Very nice DAC that brings you close to the music. It connects you or places you into the music.
The amp is very good and a trade off from my Samson SS Monoblock amps. I think the DHT set amp sounds wonderful and beautiful and enjoy it, then I put my Samsons in and....The soundstage grows by leaps and bounds. The detail retrieval is better with the Samsons and they are more extended on top. The Samsons illuminate more of the music's scale, inner details, pace and impact. They also sound beautiful.
Then I put the DHT amp back in and the music is more intimate, smaller and perhaps closer to me ..... Perhaps more involving......not sure just yet.
The Samson would score higher on all Aphile parameters we all know about. However the DHT amp is enjoyable in a less impressive way.
Hi Bill, I placed it in the direction of the label/letters. It sounds so right I didn't bother reversing direction to compare. Your fuse is a step up from my SR Quantum, so should sound even better. I took the DAC's top cover off 3 years ago and just left it that way. How are the DAC and the Monaco SET amplifier coming along? I look forward to reading your impression of the Jupiter caps in the Yamamoto. The Duelund CAST worked out superbly in mine. Charles,
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!
Hi Roxy54, I used that tube successfully for quite a while. It will improve based on my experience with them. I hope it isn't a case of an odd tube/amplifier mismatch qhich happens sometimes.
Charles, Well, I received the Black Treasure 300b z tubes yesterday, and plugged them in last night. Thankfully, I was prepared for a bumpy ride regarding break-in, because it looks like that's the way it will be. So far, the good: Larger sonic "picture" More robust bass, which was needed Seems to be more linear in the vocal range And the bad: At this point, no where near the crystalline clarity of the stock tubes in the mid and treble Compared to what I am accustomed to with the other tubes (lower end Shuguangs),instrumental separation is not so good at this point, and depth is also truncated. Sound could be characterized as energetic, with less drag, or overhang (hard to put in words what I mean here), but rather opaque sounding, which was surprising. What I am missing most so far (because it is nearly absent) are the delicate nuances I have come to expect from this amp, and the information it gives me about the subtle volume shifts in voices and instruments, as well as timbral information, and the shaping of notes that I routinely heard before. That sounds like a lot of complaints, but as I said in the beginning, from what I have read, I have a couple of hundred hours to go before I can make any definitive judgments about these tubes, so I will be patient, and see how they settle in.
Bill, Another point to mention. When you'll look inside the DAC you notice a lot of free space(much room for larger caps if needed). Shigeki Yamamoto believes in fewer part count for a simpler/purer circuit.No Op amps or NFB at all. A single resistor forI/V conversion. Only a single transistor per channel, only one filter is used in this DAC, very minimalist concept and execution. Same simpler design as with your SET. No wonder you describe your sound/music as beautiful. This is all happening(both new components) with just the stock parts! Charles,
Bill, Honestly, I was pretty confident you'd be very impressed with the Yamamoto DAC. No hifi sound, just excellent natural music reproduction. It conveys the emotion and soul of music wonderfully and your focus is drawn into the music. I also thought your 845 SET would be very impressive. I really like the design of this amplifier(lower voltage and stress on the output tubes). Again, a component made for natural music reproduction as the criteria/objective. I can imagine these two combined in your system are quite special and involving. Congratulations. Charles,
Bill, The Yamamoto draws negligible power from your AC outlet. I would leave that DAC on 24 /seven. It will probably only add about $.20-$.30 cents a month to your electric bill.
Hello Bill, congratulations on getting both the Yamamoto DAC and also acquiring the S ET amplifier. I believe once your Yamamoto settles in you are going to enjoy it very much. It is a music lovers delight, I also think you are going to be thrilled with your SET amplifier with those 845 tubes. You are in store for some very fun and enjoyable listening sessions in my opinion . That new amplifier should mate beautifully with your speakers. I really look forward to reading the listening impressions of your two new components. Charles,
Charles. I thought I had made a huge mistake when listening to the Yamamoto dac right off the UPS truck. Well let's say this DAC is starting to sound really good. Yes, I will mod it with better caps and vibration damping etc...
I also have my new DHT 845 amp in the house! I will report back on that once I listen to it. I had to replace the power switch and have not really listened to it yet. I was a little scared at power up as I have never owned an 845 amp. The tubes look like they could illuminate an airport! My goodness are they bright. No KT88 here! I did not expect that.
Schubert, Maybe I'm missing your point but I don't see foolishness in Jeff's comment. Both jazz and classical repertoire pay much honor and respect to the "older' music. Jazz musicians do play the 'standards" of their genre in their own interpretations. Certainly much of classical music is centuries old, yet is still performed and enjoyed. As with jazz these older compositions are subject to various interpretation by conductors and musicians.
When Ron suggests the jazz musicians play the 'same old stuff' one could say that's true of the opera and classical he enjoys live. IMO both jazz and classical have music that is truly timeless. I can tell you that Jeff is a hugh admirer of classical music Schubert. He and I have surely enjoyed both genres over the years at live concerts. Charles,
Ron if you can go to live Classical concerts, I don't understand why you can't go to live jazz events. You have new people and conductors playing the same old stuff from years past in classical.
Hi Ron, I will look for Venissa Charles, thank you. Ron, regarding live jazz music, I guess that's where you and I differ. I attendees performances regularly probably 25 to 30 performances each year (just heard live jazz 3 days ago) and enjoy every single moment of them.I simply enjoy hearing the various musicians play in their own style with their own interpretation of both old and new music. I do enjoy listening to music at home in my system it is a wonderful way to spend time, however it does not substitute for hearing live talented musicians playing their instruments in person. The sheer beauty of these live listening experiences have been a terrific template in helping me to voice my system at home.I feel extremely fortunate to be able to enjoy both forms of musical entertainment. Charles,
I found the Ruby Braff live recordings "Reggattabar" both Vol 1 and 2 CDs I look forward to listening to them.on amazon for 3 dollars each. Amazon has been a very good resource for me over the years. The library continues to grow.
Cdrc, Thanks for the Braff live recording recommendation. I love live jazz recordings. I'd suggest to you the Duke Ellington California Dance Party series(there are about 6 or 7 volumes available). These were done in the late 1950s, they're very good. As far as tube/SET amp talk is concerned, it's welcome here at anytime. People want good components to play all the wonderful music that's available to discover and enjoy. Charles,
