Arthur,
I played trumpet in my distance past and still own two horns (sentimental reasons) and that experience has me value tone, timbre and harmonics of instruments highly. If a component can't preserve the natural tonality and body then I'm not interested. Attending CES 3 times in the last 5 years, it's startling that some well regared and praised equipment is very "hifi" but lacks natural tone reproduction. There was a definite tendency toward a lean, thinner and less body type of sound(drier as well) that isn't authentic (at least to me).

You have obviously owned many fine amplifiers and I'm sure you know what you like. Have you heard any of the First Watt amplifiers and if so what's your impression? Your speakers permit the use of a wide range of amplifiers to explore.
Charles,

charles1dad April 24, 2014 06:49

I only have experience with 4 single-ended tube amplifiers but I like what I hear, except for the WAVAC 300B which I thought had poor dynamics. My Triode Labs 2A3 amp is really sweet, especially with my Tom Evans Vibe preamp, and does a terrific job for jazz. I think SE topologies are hard to beat for jazz in general - they get the timing right. I credit the simple circuits for that.

However, my favorite amp of all time for jazz are my little French monoblocks called Kora Aries that use a bizarre single-ended MOSFET output stage with a 12BH7 tube front end. Talk about timing! They're amazing. I've never heard anything like them in that regard. Jazz masters they are.

And for brass instruments, my winner is actually push-pull: an inexpensive 6BM8 amplifier from Finale in Canada. It reproduces trumpets and saxophones with unbelievable realism. I played the sax for many years (mostly alto, some tenor) and every time I hear saxophones through this amp, with the Kora Crescendo preamp, I get flashbacks and goosebumps. Out of 40 or so amplifiers I've had, this is the one that pulls it off.

I haven't heard any of the Coincident amps, though I've read a lot about them. At some point I'll surely give them a try.

Arthur

aball April 24, 2014 06:04

Hi Arthur,
I welcome and appreciate your comments. The progression to high efficiency speakers and SET amplifiers 5 years ago is a permanent move for me. The Yamamoto DAC is the spiritual soul mate to my SET amp, same gestalt, emotional connection and encompassing musical realism. I suppose that is to be expected considering the builder of this DAC is devoted to SET topologies himself.He stuck with his principles, very simple circuit, strong power supply and avoidance of any negative feedback in this DAC. Adding the Duelund CAST capacitors was an ideal match given the gorgeous sonic results.
Charles,

charles1dad April 23, 2014 19:33

Hi Charles,
It's really cool to see you have a YDA-01. I wanted one for a long time but then Brian disappeared and I haven't been able to find one since.

Interesting about the Duelund caps. I've been modding a few of my amps lately but haven't spent that kind of money on caps, although I know it can be worth it. One thing though is that you want to keep the leads as short as possible. Part of the high cost of the caps goes into extending their frequency response, but long leads eliminate a chunk of that benefit due to parasitic inductance, especially when they're a couple inches long. It's not always possible to do so, particularly in retrofits, but I've seen the harm long leads make to caps all the time in my computer simulations of electronic circuits. That goes for coupling as well as bypass. You might be surprised by how much you've been missing. But your comments are making me want to get some for my Flash.

I lusted after a pair of Victorys since Roy Gregory went crazy over them but it never worked out. It's nice to see someone else that extols the virtues of high-efficiency speakers. There's really no other way to get proper dynamics.

aball April 23, 2014 18:05

Hi Pops,
I think you'll like Joe Pass. He has a different approach and presentation from Wes, just as for example Kenny Burrell's sound differs from Barney Kessell yet they're all tremendous guitarists. The beauty of artistic individuality. Here are two other guitarist you may like, Bobby Broom "Plays For Monk" and Doug Raney "You Go To My Head".
Charles,

charles1dad April 15, 2014 20:28

Brownsfan,
I've not heard the Triumph monitors but most everything said or written about them has been very flattering. I do concede an advantage to using a preamplifier, amplifier and speakers design/built by the same person with the goal of harmoniously working together. I'll say that Israel Blume was successful.
Charles,

charles1dad April 15, 2014 10:03

Charles, I just checked with Rachel. They got the tubes in yesterday, so I should have mine in a week or two. I will keep you posted.

I share your sentiment on the HiFi series tubes. They are mighty good tubes. I also have one of the new Sony HAPZ1s set to arrive this PM. I expect to send it off for a ModWright mod later this month.

I am really enjoying the Triumph Extremes I bought from Jimmy. I have a hard time containing my enthusiasm for those little monitors. They are really overachievers, probably delivering more bang for the buck than anything I have ever bought. Leaves me wondering what kind of bliss emanates from your total eclipses driven by the franks.

brownsfan April 15, 2014 07:33

Hi Brownsfan,
I've been quite content for some time and just haven't gotten around to ordering the tubes. I'll get around to it in the near future, The standard Psvane 101D are very enjoyable in my humble opinion.
Charles,

charles1dad April 14, 2014 18:53

Charles, just checking in. Heard anything about the WE101D's yet?

brownsfan April 14, 2014 14:23

Thanks for the heads up Charles, love Wes Montgomery and will now check out Joe Pass!

pops April 14, 2014 07:46

For fellow Joe Pass fans I have a good recommendation, "Joy Spring". This is a relatively early career recording (1964) but his talent is already apparent at this stage.

A later Joe Pass (1982) is "Blues For Two" a duet which includes Zoot Sims. This is very good.

Since I'm talking jazz guitarists I must recommend "The West Montgomery Trio" (1959). This is vintage Wes playing along with a Hammond B3 organ, good stuff.
Charles,

charles1dad April 13, 2014 19:57

Hi Dmarkov,
I answered your fuse inquiry on your system page. You have certainly owned some very highly regarded preamps! I concluded a long time ago that the Coincident Statement line stage is a genuine audio gem and a stunning addition to my system.

The Takatsuki and Sophia RP were in a different league from the disappointing W.E.300b reissue (at least in my amplifier).I haven't heard the "vintage" W.E. but I'm very thrilled with the AVVT 32b SL and EML XLS as well.
Charles,

charles1dad April 12, 2014 20:30

If I may share my experience. I also have the Coincident Line Stage. I compared it to several TVC's (transformer volume control), like Music First, both copper and silver (previous models), and Django TVC. I also compared it to Kondo M7 Silver Sound which I still have. Coincident LS is closer to Django TVC but with a bit more control, speed, dynamics. Kondo M7 Silver Sound is a totally different animal and it doesn't nearly has the transparency of Django and Coincident LS. I couldn't choose between Django TVC and Kondo until I found Coincident LS.
Also, Django TVC was extensively compared by me with other preamps, most notably Sun Audio SVC1000 with upgrades (~$10,000) a very-very good pre-amp. Django was overall better with only one weakness, SVC1000 had a bit better control. Since Coincident replaced Django because of the added control, I would say it's better than both stock SVC1000 and upgraded one.

dmarkov April 12, 2014 11:11

Charles, I am about to replace the fuses in my Coincident LS and Frankensteins. Would you advise fast blow or slow blow? Thank you!
By the way, I am also using Takatsuki, AND I compared it to both re-issue Western Electric and Sophia Royal Princess and TJ Full Music Special Edition. It's better than all of them.

dmarkov April 12, 2014 10:38

Hi Ian,
That is a nice box set of well chosen recordings and I currently have about 80% of those titles. IMO the AVVT and EML XLS are quite similar in sound although internally they are visually different. I can recommend either tube with the highest enthusiasm. A few people have said that these European 300bs are a bit mechanical or rigid. Maybe in certain amplifiers depending on driver tube or circuit configuration.
In the Frankenstein they work beautifully and are very fluid and allow the music to flow effortlessly.
Charles,

charles1dad March 24, 2014 09:27

Charles - I couldn't help of thinking of you on this offering, however I suspect you'd have many of these titles already. See this Illusive Disc link for the Blue Note AP Set 1 SACD....

http://www.elusivedisc.com/AP-BLUE-NOTE-SET-1-COLLECTORS-25-SACD-BOX-SET/productinfo/APSABNBOX1/

Ian

ianderson March 22, 2014 20:25

Charles,

Agreed about the the impedance load that would differ between the SE III and the PRE.

I did speak to Dennis, unfortunatly he had 3 pairs of the AVVT tubes last year when he was getting out of them - he now builds 2A3 amps only now. You got 1 of the 3 pairs, they're now long gone.

He does highly recommend dealing with Jac Music in Germany as he is the funding behind AVVT and EML - thats where Dennis sources them. The EML is largely the same tooling an people in Czech.

ianderson March 22, 2014 20:11

Ian,
The Eclipse series of speakers (your former Super and my Total) are likely easier loads to drive . This would explain why the Frankenstein MK II seems effortless with them.

charles1dad March 21, 2014 10:58

Ian,
I recognize that different listeners have varying demands. Some PRE owners are completely satisfied with the Frankenstein alone and others require more power for these speakers. So as usual it's horses for courses.I did find the PRE presentation more "front row" compared to my Total Eclipse II which are slightly laid back (relatively speaking). These speakers have very different tweeter and midrange drivers (ceramic vs paper).

You'd probably like the Takatsuki and the EML XLS with your current system voicing

charles1dad March 21, 2014 10:51

Thanks Charles - Since the last time I'd sent you a e-mail about buying Jimmy's CLS, I bought Dragon MkII from him as well, he took the Super Ecplise III as a partial trade. Therefore I use the 300B's in the output Franks, and the driver in the Dragons.

Funny thing about the initial revelation about the Franks being all the umph I needed with the SE III, with the PRE's it just wasn't the same. The Dragon's bring great balance to the equation, the combo is wonderful!

Further, while the write up's for the PRE are accurate in indicating the they are fast, extended with a ton of detail. What I find with this combo the system presents more a front row perspective, on a bright recording it can get to be a little to much for me.

I tried the Royal Princess in the Franks, beautiful, extended and airey up top and equally good down to the very bottom, however a little more top end energy than the Shuguang Black Treasure. So I'm on a search for a 300b that I can live with in the Franks.

ianderson March 20, 2014 21:32

Ian,
Congratulations on acquiring the PRE speakers, what amplifier are you driving them with?

charles1dad March 18, 2014 22:05

Hi Ian,
The AVVT is a very linear and top to bottom balanced 300b variant (mine is the 32b SL). The Sophia RP was very good sounding in my system for the 2 weeks I had them on loan. Both have a natural high frequency sound and neither sound hyped or emphasized in this region. The RP may be just "slightly" more upper frequency extension if memory serves me correctly. Overall I'd say the Sophia RP is subtly warmer and fuller in my amplifier. Both are at the premium 300b level IMO. I didn't have both at the same time for direct comparison.
Charles,

charles1dad March 18, 2014 19:20

Charles,

How would you describe the high frequencies on the AVVT. I ask because I now have the PRE (Super Eclipse sold) and there are times I would wish for I little less energy up top.

By chance did you ever get a chance to try the Sofia Royal Princess? If so what's your take on it compared to the others?

Thanks kindly for the inputs. In the meantime I think I'll start with Dennis Fraker of Serious Stereo just in case I can avoid the import/shipped hassles.

Cheers,

Ian

ianderson March 17, 2014 21:56

Drdavid says he just got a pair of the AVVT 32b from Jac's Music for his Frankenstein amps.
Charles,

charles1dad March 14, 2014 19:49

Try calling Dennis Fraker of Serious Stereo at 406 222 9229. I bought my AVVT 32b SL from him last year and they were in excellent condition and sound splendid. This hard to find tube is a gem.This AVVT 32b and the EML XLS are cut from the same premium cloth
Charles,

charles1dad March 14, 2014 10:45