#111
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The Black Diamonds shipped Monday. I'm hoping I can get them in time for the weekend.
I just dropped over $1K on a Jazz at Lincoln Center subscription, so for now at least, no more new audio stuff if it's more than a few bucks! The modest cost of these tubes is about all I can stomach for a while.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#112
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Which series did you go for? The Max Roach one looks good (along with a dozen or more others).
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Glenn... Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
#113
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Handful of Keyes: A Century of Jazz Piano Elio Villafranca's Letters to Mother Africa The Jazz Age: Untamed Elegance The Swing Era: Revolution in Rhythm Rosa Passos Quartet w. Special Guest Kenny Barron Lucky Peterson: Roots of Acoustic Blues 'Round Midnight: Monk's Legacy The first, third and fourth are the JALC Orchestra with special guests. The first and last on that list include performances by Joey Alexander, an amazing thirteen (yes, thirteen) year-old jazz prodigy, who's especially fond of Monk. The next challenge will be to find someone(s) to go to these with, and to manage my money going forward. The Christmas holidays are coming. Speaking of Christmas, it came a bit early. Today, I received the absolutely awesome apple cake from the Vermont Country Store (shipped directly from the bakery!) AND the Telefunken Black Diamond tubes. I hope to install them this weekend. Given the weather forecast, I'll be indoors for most of it.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#114
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Let me check those dates. If interested, would be nice to meet another member and take in some live music. Been too long since I've done so in the city.
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Glenn... Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag |
#115
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Still at work (usually home now). I installed the Telefunkens on Saturday and seem to have a few minutes. They have about 7 hours on them.
First off, they don't sound like the JJs, leading me to wonder if JJ built them to Telefunken's specs, rather than something that's essentially a JJ tube which Telefunken then "massaged" to get what they wanted. The Telefunkens are not as warm, first off, and are crisper (more open?) on top. Brass has a nice bite to it; it's maybe a bit more bite than the Psvanes and GLs had. But as soon as I heard that, I thought there'd be a problem with the brighter '60s material which was the downfall of the GLs and Psvanes. Yes, the CDs in question are bright to begin with, and I don't think any tube can solve that, but the warmer the tube, the more this brightness is mitigated. Wilson Pickett's In the Midnight Hour was pretty well unlistenanable at my normal listening volume (42 on the C2300), and it almost hurt to hear the saxophones; another track or two was close to unlistenable. I was squinting my eyes at one point, as if sound were light. The tone controls were no help, as they dampened everything when I turned them down enough to make a difference on the top end. The bottom end was satisfying as I went through my usual demo suspects. Not as hefty as the JJs, but satisfying enough that I didn't miss the JJ's bottom too much, despite the Telefunkens being a smidge less weighty. The Psvanes were similar in that regard. This whole scenario brings to mind a couple of things. I remember at the C2300's audition that the Audio Research LS27 I compared it to had a darker sound, which tamed some of the top end better than the 2300 (the system was bright overall, and the 2300 had stock tubes in it). The LS3 I used prior to the 2300 never gave me any pause as far as the sound being too bright (there was a Byrds LP that was noticeably bright, but that's about it). Given that, and I admit this hasn't been thought out fully yet, it seems as if there are three options: reinstall the JJs and be done with it; 2) go through the tubes I didn't play the brighter material with (Mullards) just to be thorough, in case they do better and I decide I can live with the lighter bottom end; or 3) get a new preamp, either an ARC or one with an equalizer (C52). That last option is least likely, but is not impossible. The Telefunkens were burned in at the factory (100 hours?) so I don't think they're going to show me much more than they have, but I may still give them another 20 hours or so, to be fair.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#116
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I'm thinking about going to the upcoming NY Audio show, though with my schedule I'd have to go on Friday.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks Last edited by prepress; 09-08-2016 at 11:05 AM. |
#117
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I was interested in the Telefunkens for my guitar setup as I like JJ's in that capacity. I spent some time reading reviews, last week, and your review aligns with what the guitar players were saying - compared to the JJ's, the Tele 12ax7 tubes were cooler and brighter. They weren't that well thought of.
Conversely, the amplifier tubes are supposed to be darker and have a stronger, more defined low end compared to their JJ counterparts and people liked those. I'm surprised that the sound varies in opposite ways between the Tele and JJ tubes.
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Christian south: Mark Levinson No. 52 pre, Bricasti M28 amps, Lumin A1, Oppo BDP-205, Pioneer CT-43, Sony SS-AR1 Speakers, Audioquest Dragon PCs, Audioquest speaker cables, Audioquest interconnects, HB Power Design Powerslave Star Galaxy power distributor north: Vitus SIA-030, Luxman D10X, Sony TC-KA3ES, Harbeth 40.2, Siltech cables |
#118
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Quote:
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks Last edited by prepress; 09-09-2016 at 04:54 PM. |
#119
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I'm not sure. I was always under the impression, perhaps, incorrectly, that cryo treating tubes would make them less bright, less noisy, and more focused.
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Christian south: Mark Levinson No. 52 pre, Bricasti M28 amps, Lumin A1, Oppo BDP-205, Pioneer CT-43, Sony SS-AR1 Speakers, Audioquest Dragon PCs, Audioquest speaker cables, Audioquest interconnects, HB Power Design Powerslave Star Galaxy power distributor north: Vitus SIA-030, Luxman D10X, Sony TC-KA3ES, Harbeth 40.2, Siltech cables |
#120
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Dan STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113 VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A |
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