I am now a little more than 200 hours into the 400 hour break-in process for the V-Cap CuTF modification made to the 6EM7 input coupling stage of my Frankenstein power amplifiers.
The change in sound from day 1 of the break-in process to the sound quality I am experiencing today is nothing short of amazing. What makes the audio transformation even more spectacular to my ears is that I am using a relatively inexpensive CD player (I am an analog only household for the most part) and I am also using cheap 300B tubes.
I hope to start a long term comparison of the Frankenstein to the Dragon by mid-August. I also plan to compare various 211 and 300B tubes during this process.
My comparison will be conducted using the most updated version of the Tchaik 6 power conditioner from Dave Stanard at Silver Circle Audio.
I am going to delay my planned long term comparison of the Frankensteins to the Dragons until some further clarification is brought to the issue of using Elrog 300B tubes in the Frankensteins.
Considering the efficiency of my Coincident Total Reference speakers, there is not as much of a trade off between these two amplifiers as you might think. I must emphasize that the Coincident Statement 101D Line Stage really helps to fully reveal the strengths of each amplifier.
The Coincident Total Eclipse II speakers are 94 db efficient, so I suspect you will enjoy these speakers with the Frankensteins.
It may be too soon to give you a fair comparison between the Frankensteins and the Dragons.
I originally purchased the Frankenstein before it was even given the MKI designation. I recently purchased the MKII but with the V-Cap CuTF pure copper Fluoropolymer capacitor modification recommended by Art Salvatore. I am approximately 70 hours into a very long break in period.
One positive observation I have already made is that the Frankenstein MKII is almost dead quiet in comparison to my original Frankensteins.
Some time ago, I upgraded from the Dragon MKI to the Dragon MKII. The MKII was definitely more quiet than the MKI. My MKII Dragons are one of very first serial numbers produced so they do not have the upgrades of the current MKII Dragons.
I recently experienced a catastrophic failure with one of my Elrog 211 tubes which caused some damage to the Dragon amplifier. The Dragons are in for service now and I should know within the next 2 days the extent of the damage in the one amplifier.
After the amplifier is repaired, I may decide to purchase the most current version of the Dragons.
My listening room is a dedicated space and it is fairly large - 31 feet in length, 16 feet wide by 12 1/2 feet high. My Coincident Total Reference speakers are fairly efficient at 98 db@1m-1w. I decided to purchase the Dragon MKI because my original Frankensteins could not reach the volume levels I desired with some of my favorite progressive rock music.
The Dragon MKI and MKII are more than capable of driving the Coincident Total Reference speakers to ear shattering volume levels.
I am planning a long term comparison of the Frankenstein MKIIs to the current version of the Dragons. The 300B tubes used for this comparison will be Takatsuki, Elrog and AVVT. Since the Frankenstein MKIIs now have a second fuse protecting the amplifier in the event the 300B tube fails, I am not overly concerned about using the Elrog tubes here. However, I am no longer comfortable using the Elrog 211 tubes in the Dragons, so I will be using NOS RCA, NOS GE and Psvane tubes.
The Frankensteins and the Dragons are capable of making incredible music in my listening space. Once I start the comparison, I will regularly report my findings here. I think I can safely say that in the more than forty years that I have been purchasing audio equipment, no company has provided better overall value in their equipment offerings than Coincident has.
Charles, I had planned to install some lightly used Sophia 300B tubes I had in my tube inventory during the extended break-in period; however, I just realized that using Sophia tubes in the Frankensteins will violate the terms of Coincident's warranty.
To make the best of a bad situation, I am now finding the time to play music on CD that I do not have on vinyl.
Art Salvatore and others have had much success with the V-Cap CuTF modification to the Frankensteins. Israel and the V-Cap manufacturer made me aware prior to the modification that the break-in period would extend beyond 400 hours. Now that I have started the actual break-in marathon there is no looking back. However, 400 hours of break-in also means exhausting useful tube life. My plan is to run a cheap CD player approximately 10 hours a day until the magic returns.
I have started the long, tedious break-in process for the V-Cap CuTF capacitors (Copper Foil, Fluoropolymer Film) recently installed on my Coincident Frankenstein 300B MKII amplifiers at the 6EM7 input coupling stage. I am very familiar with this incredible sounding amplifier and to say that things now sound horribly wrong is an understatement of epic proportion. Someone please shoot me.
Undercurrent and Midnight Blue are in fairly regular rotation here. I had a fairly short listening session this evening - both sides of Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus - an original deep groove pressing on the Candid label. Dolphy's time with Mingus was well spent as evidenced by his playing on this record.
I am not familiar with the Hicks recording, but Dolphy and Little at the Five Spot is a winner.
Tonight's listening session started with both sides of Duke Ellinton's Blues in Orbit and ended with both sides of Grachan Moncur's Evolution. However, my Girlfriend questioned my decision to sandwich in between those recordings Side 3 of Yes' Tales From Topographic Oceans titled The Ancient/Giants Under the Sun. I guess you had to be there. To my ears it was memorable.
I am giving some thought to auditioning one or more High Fidelity cables after I break in the new Frankensteins. I recall that you have at least one High Fidelity cable in your system. I get sticker shock every time I look at the prices of their upper tier offerings.
Charles, I will be replacing the stock Solen capacitor with the V-Cap CuTF (copper foil fluoropolymer film).47 UF 600V. I elected to install the V-Cap instead of either the Jupiter or the Dueland primarily because I previously achieved extraordinary results with the V-Caps when modifying my Audion Quattro pre-amplifiers. I am looking forward to revisiting my Takatsuki/Elrog comparison with my newly modified MKII amplifiers. Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch will be first out of the gate.
Charles, I may have slightly jumped the gun on adding the Frankenstein MKII to my System thread. I should take delivery of my new MKII by month's end. To date, my Elrog and Takatsuki comparisons have been conducted via my MKI amplifiers. With my MKI in the mix, I prefer the Takatsuki over the Elrog, the Sophia Royal Princess, and every other new production tube I have tried. I have never had the opportunity to audition NOS WE 300Bs in my system.
To give context to my comparisons, please note that I did not replace the stock Solens capacitor at the 6EM7 input coupling stage of my MKI (this change will be made to the MKII). Also, the music I listened to for comparison purposes may be somewhat different than your jazz music preferences. I also love jazz music, but most of the jazz music I listen to was recorded in 1959 and later. Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, Mingus, Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Miles Davis, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton are a sampling of the artists I listened to. I also favor progressive rock music from the late 1960s through the mid to late 1970s.
BTW, the Total Reference Loudspeaker's are keepers for life.
