I just got my Vandersteen Quatros today. The guys from Stereo Unlimited did a quick checkout with the Vandertones CD and will come back for more complete adjustment when the speakers are settled in.
Until I get my Bryston 3B-SST back from Bryston service, I'm using a pair of cute little Rotel RMB-100 mono amps. I might keep using them; I like the idea really short speaker cables.
The speaker wires shown are homemade in a "true" bi-wire configuration from Streetwires Supercable (14 AWG; hey, it was a pretty blue) and intended for the 3B-SST. Raptor #10 gold barrier spades on the speaker end and Audioquest 5/16" spades on the amp end. Crimped and soldered.
I still have some scraps of Supercable left over for under 3' runs to the Rotel RMB-100s. The Rotels make bi-wiring easy by providing 2 sets of binding posts. These short cables will use #10 ring connectors (just tin) on the speaker side as per RVs preferences and Audioquest 1/4" gold spades on the amp side.
I think after this I need to do some work on noise reduction (I live near a freeway) by adding a second pane to some of my windows.
I had a lot of buyer's remorse after ordering these, and had a lot of time to think about it over the 7 weeks they took to get to my door. $8k speakers!? Are you mad?! But after several hours of listening those anxieties have evaporated. Well, except for being $8k poorer. I'll try to post more about the sound of the speakers after I've lived with them for a few weeks.
180W monoblock tube amps. 4 X KT-88 + 2 X 12au7 + 1 X 12ax7 per side.
Balanced Audio VK-3iX
Includes optional phono stage.
AURALiC Vega
With Sanctuary Audio Processor as heart, AURALiC introduces several cutting-edge technology for VEGA: Megahertz upsampling algorithm up-samples all PCM music to 1.5MHz in 32bit; Femto Master Clock provides an ultimate clock precision with jitter only 82 femtoseconds(0.082 picosecond). Binding with other AURALiC's patented technologies such as 'ORFEO Class-A module' and discrete 'Purer-Power solution', VEGA will bring high resolution music playback experience to climax.
Michell Engineering Gyro SE
With the power supply upgrade, the Orbe clamp, and tonearm decoupler.
SME 309
Magnesium tonearm with detachable magnesium headshell.
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B
The transport for my Logitech Media Server system, it replaces a Squeezebox Touch. The Pi runs piCorePlayer.
Benz Micro Ace High Output
An original Benz Micro Ace High Output cartridge (before the "S"). I had put this away, not liking it's overemphatic midrange, but now loaded at 1500 Ohms, it's sounds great.
Wacky and wonderful: I was reading some comments on Dunlavy speakers and thought it might be fun to set up my old Dunlavy SC-IIIs with my current equipment. I'd never heard these with any of my tube gear. Long story short, these sound amazing.
These are difficult speakers to set up in my "common" room because of all the entrances and exits in (two stairways, a hallway, french doors, kitchen, etc). These speakers really need to be close to a room boundary to have decent bass, but they also need to be at least 3 meters apart, since you need to sit that far from each because of the driver arrangement. Luckily I live alone, so it doesn't matter too much that the left speaker is too close to the french doors and the right speaker is at the top of the entrance stairs and in front of a bay window. They can easily be scooched aside in any case.
Yeah, that was one of the reviews that I read before buying the unit. I then went online and was pleased to see that one of the dealers was my favorite San Diego high-end shop. That Bruce, the owner of Stereo Unlimited -- who is not normally a digital guy -- took on the product also influenced my decision.
I am very happy with it, but don't think I have anything to add to the half dozen rave reviews already published.
While I feel the Vega does take my system to much higher level, I don't have any experience with other DACs at this price level. I do know that my previous DACs weren't cutting it (Neko DAC and the Cambridge 840C).
I'm using my Squeezebox Touch with the Enhanced Digital Output app as a USB transport.
I just got a pair of Tung Sol 6V6GT reissue tubes today, and after hours of run in, these really do seem like they are a step up from all the 6V6 I've tried: the stock JJ 6VG-S, the EH 6V6GT and the NOS Sylvania and Pope 6V6GT (the Sylvania were the overall best of this bunch to my ears.) The Tung Sol has the good bass performance of the other 6V6GTs (the JJ's are somewhat disappointing in the mid-bass), but with more air and more saturated colors than the others.
I've gave up on the Gold Lions. Aside from too much tube rush, they are rolled off and muddy sounding compared to Electro-Harmonix 6922s (just the regular $15 steel pins).
I also treated the tube sockets with Caig Deoxit Gold. Best tweek ever.
Amazing how long I put up with poor sound because I was sure that $45 tubes sounded better than $15 tubes.
I can also report that no KT-120s have blown since I got them. I'm sure I would have blown at least one KT-90 by now.
I changed out the 6-foot runs of Audioquest Slate (in a bi-wire configuration with both "high" and "low" runs in the same jacket) for 3 foot runs of Anti-Cable. These are in a bi-wire configuration that is shotgunned into the spade at the amp end (the Rogue monoblocks).
I asked that the Anti-Cable wires not be woven together. The stiffness of the Anti-Cable allows each wire to be kept several inches away from the other wires for most of their run, as recommended by Richard Vandersteen.
The wires simply go in a short arc through the empty space from the amp to the speaker without touching anything else. I think the wire is stiff enough that this suspension in space would work even if the wires were a few feet longer, so maybe I'll order a longer pair for the Bryston.
The change resulted in a big improvement in transparency, image focus, and bass definition (though I do wonder what cleaning the Audioquest spades would have done; they were pretty dirty on the speaker end.)
I'm also using a Pope 6V6 from Upscale Audio. The 6922s are Genalex Gold Lion (current production). I've only tried a few different 6922s, so I don't think I can name a favorite.
Trying the RCA clear tops (12AU7) again. These have a seductively transparent and articulate midrange, but they are disappointing in the frequency extremes. Their bass is particularly weak.
A KT-90 blew in one of the Rogues, so I decided to replace all the KT-90s with KT-120s. Not cheap, but I'm glad I did. The just give you more of everything: more treble, more colors, more drama. As happy as I was with the original sound of the Rogues, I always wanted a bit more texture and warmth on massed strings, and the KT-120s give you that.
I also just put in some RCA black plate 12ax7s, and they give even more top-end air.
While I was waiting for the new tubes I had a Bryston 3B-SST hooked up. The sound of this amp never seemed as good as it should have been...until I used some pliers to the binding posts. Then it sounded great. So now I have a satisfying "summer" amp.
The trim pots you want to use are marked on the circuit board as R145 (left) and R245 (right).
To adjust the balance, I play a 1 kHz tone on my Squeezebox and then use my Radio Shack voltmeter (set to RMS) to check the output levels at the amp speaker outputs, adjusting the trim pot of whichever channel is has a higher voltage until it matches the lower voltage. You could also check the voltage from the single-ended preamp outputs on the 3ix.
Rather than trying to use the probes that come with the voltmeter, it's easier to use a couple dual-banana-to-BNC adaptors and a BNC cable (some amps will not take dual bananas, though). Or an RCA-to-BNC adaptor if you want to measure the preamp output.
You might also try swapping tubes around to see if that will reduce the imbalance.
I am a proud owner of a 3iX as well, have rolled tubes and now out of the blue have ran into a balance issue. You talk about adjusting the trim pots, could you please go into further detail about the procedures in balancing? The right channel is about 1db louder than the left resulting in the center of the soundstage being right about 10"-12". Thank you in advance.
I decided to make one last ditch effort to "rehabilitate" the 3ix by buying a quad of Genalex Gold Lion EC88s (6922) reissues. These are pricey current production tubes that have been getting a lot of positive comments about their sound quality. (I also put the Pope 6V6 tubes back in place of the EH 6V6.)
While installing the new tubes I decided to check that I was using the right trim pots to trim the balance of the tubes and -- ho, ho, ho -- turns out I was using the wrong pots the whole time (the inner pots). And it turns out I was really destroying much of the imaging with this mis-configuration. (The correct pots are R145 and R245.)
Now how did I not notice this destruction of the imaging? I can only assume that some changes in my other components added too many other confusing variables at the time I was playing around with the pots.
Well, a lot of my audiophile odyssey has consisted of recovering from my own mistakes and misunderstandings. Par for the course, I guess.
But my system is whole and satisfying again: analog and digital together. Listening to a few records the other day confirmed to me what a great combination the AT33PTG cartridge and the BAT VK-P3 phono card are.
Now it's possible I could have gotten satisfaction from the EH 6922s at 1/3 the price, but I don't feel inclined to swap them back in right now. The Gold Lions do seem to be a big improvement in the fullness of midrange tone, where the EH are perhaps a little dry. I can also report that the Gold Lions are very quiet.
Temperatures have been mild, so I'm back to using the Rogues. Thankfully, because the Bryston was never really engaging. I've also switched over to triode mode, which seems to give me the most air and ambience.
I'm also back to directly connecting the DAC to the amps and using the Touch's 24-bit digital volume control. This is simply the best sound I've gotten out of my system: the most transparent and lifelike. The soundstage floats free of the speakers.
The 3iX does add some "texture" to the sound, but it swallows too much of the detail and air that gives the illusion of space.
I've spent a lot of time now listening with the digital volume control and have heard no deleterious effects from it. I'll have to get some kind of switchbox so I can reintegrate the analog gear back into the system.
It was getting too warm in the listening room with all the tube gear so I switched to running my Neko DAC directly into the Bryston 3B-SST, using the Squeezebox for digital volume control.
The Bryston has a switch that lowers the gain by 6 dB, and with Neko output being 6 dB less than the typical DAC, that puts my "serious" listening volume at about -10 to -15 dB. However, late night listening might need to go down to -25 to -30 dB. A more ideal "direct" setup would probably involve some stepped attenuators in the signal path.
I was somewhat skeptical of those who say that an SS amp takes as much as 24 hours to warm up, but damn if the Bryston didn't take even more than that to lose a sort of electronic haze it puts over the music. Having sat unplugged for a long time might have had something to do with it as well.
But it does lose the haze and sounds pretty good after that. Going to SS is not all bad. Images are a bit large and diffuse compared to the Rogues, and the midrange is less colorful and a bit recessed, but the Bryston is more dynamic and dramatic, and sounds more extended at the frequency extremes (excellent bass).
I was thinking of getting a Wyred4Sound integrated for next summer. I definitely don't want to pay too much for an amp I'll only need 3 months out of the year.
I've come full circle back to current production tubes in the 3iX. I finally just got tired of the noise from the Amperex tubes, and I just don't want to deal with NOS hunting anymore.
So I ordered EH tubes for everything, the 6922s and the 6V6's. Truth be told, as nice as they are, the Amperex orange globes are a bit closed in on top compared to the EH tubes. The EH tubes are extremely quiet. You can turn the BAT's volume up to 99 and only hear a whisper of steady-state (no crackle) tube hiss at the listening position (the Amperex noise would be a roar at that volume).
The EH 6V6 is also interesting (my BAT originally came with JJ 6V6 tubes). They seems to have a cleaner bass. You hear more very low bass.
Lately I find myself deeply satisfied with the sound I'm getting from the system. I wonder if the warmer weather also has something to do with it.
One downside of the Amperex orange globe 6DJ8s is that I've already had a couple develop a sputtering noise. I wonder if the fact that they are 6DJ8s has something to do with it. The high gain of the Rogue amps doesn't help. Noise from the pre-amp didn't bother me as much with my previous amps.
After running for a while with the RCA VT107A 6V6 tubes, which seemed to have very good dimensionality, I switched back in the Popes, which I hadn't used in a while. These are even better for dimensionality and have a richer bass (rather contradicting my original comments on the Popes above). The VT107A did seem to counter the BAT "darkness" a little more, but I'm very happy with the overall tonality, and the sense one gets of the original recording space is quite striking.
I only had the 55SE for a few days. I thought the midrange was to die for, but the bass was rather flabby and it was too soft on top. I've never heard a Rogue with that kind of romantic midrange, but the bass of the M-180s is excellent, controlled and hefty, and the top end is good, though not "detailed".
Davers. Thanks for your insights, last summer I had a BAT VK 55SE for a short while.I wasen't ready for how hot it ran and being summer it caused my AC to run twice as often causeing a distraction.But I did feel it offered a you are there feel that my VK200 diden't
Since I sold it I have been considring a VK 250SE or another tube amp but definatley a cooler runnig one.
In my system I really need a stereo amp maybe a Rogoe 90 as mono blocks take up to much space for me.
Your system looks really nice, and with a SS back up for summer looks like a good solution for the added heat.
No, the Rogues don't run as hot as the 55SE. You could stand in front of the 55SE and feel the heat. You have to be hovering right over the Rogues to feel the heat rising from them. I remember the M-150s run slightly cooler (KT-88s vs. KT-90s.)
Still, in the hot summer months I have a Bryston 3B-SST to fall back on.
Haven't had the 250SE since December. I find it hard to compare them from memory. As good as the soundstage of the 250SE was, the Rogues are still better at evenly filling the space between the speakers.
I see you have in the past had a Bat 55SE do the Roge amps run as hot as the 55SE does? I would also like to know how the Rogue amps compare to the BAT VK 250SE you just had?
