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  #21  
Old 11-09-2013, 02:40 PM
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Hey Myles, you mentioned the stereo ART as an option to my LP140's. Have you ever compared these? I would love to entertain some Pass XA160's with a GAT. Have you ever listened to your GAT with Pass?
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  #22  
Old 11-11-2013, 02:48 PM
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Thanks Roneash. So the preamp is operating at full gain once a signal is flowing to it, but the output is attenuated via the volume control? So it could just be a noisy tube. I believe the music had been pumping for several hours prior to the distortion. I certainly would rather have noisy tubes than have to send an amp in for repair. I have been thinking about the input tube matching design issues with the LP140's & have contemplated switching to LP275, as I believe someone said they didn't have these issues. Of course expensive to retube, but I bet they are glorious with well recorded material.
The tube matching issues for the 6922s in the lp 140 and 70 was fixed by a mod which may have been done on your amp-if you contact cj with your serial number they can tell you if it has been done. The 275 does not need this mod.
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  #23  
Old 11-11-2013, 07:54 PM
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Hey Myles, you mentioned the stereo ART as an option to my LP140's. Have you ever compared these? I would love to entertain some Pass XA160's with a GAT. Have you ever listened to your GAT with Pass?
Yes, I went from the LP140Ms to the ART amplifiers. Greater sense of ease, quieter, just more of what cj does well.

Now the one thing I ran into was the issue of sensitivity. The 140Ms were 0.5 V to full power while the ART is 1.8 V to full power. That turned out to be a bit of an issue with the borderline output phono cartridges with the ART and TEA phono; not so with a bit higher gain of the Doshi phono or others.

The only ss amplifiers that I ran the GAT into were the Cello Encores. Running with a solid-state amplifier shouldn't be a problem because the GAT's output impedance is 100 ohms. What one might run into is a gain issue with the ss amplifier like I did with the Cello. Ergo sometimes either you might need to knock the gain down or else you might get an ever so slight hiss.
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  #24  
Old 11-11-2013, 10:29 PM
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Thanks Ray & Myles
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  #25  
Old 11-12-2013, 05:06 PM
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Ergo sometimes either you might need to knock the gain down or else you might get an ever so slight hiss.[/QUOTE]

Myles,

"knock the gain down"? What was the issue with the Cellos? Too much output signal from the GAT? Do you mean reduce the GAT's gain? If so, how would you do that? Most c-j equipment seems to be a bit difficult to listen to at low levels as the gain is so high that you can't turn it down much. I had the c-j folks reduce the output of an ACT2S2 but didn't like the sound as much so back up it went.

Thanks,
Bob
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  #26  
Old 11-12-2013, 08:09 PM
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Ergo sometimes either you might need to knock the gain down or else you might get an ever so slight hiss.
Myles, "knock the gain down"? What was the issue with the Cellos? Too much output signal from the GAT? Do you mean reduce the GAT's gain? If so, how would you do that? Most c-j equipment seems to be a bit difficult to listen to at low levels as the gain is so high that you can't turn it down much. I had the c-j folks reduce the output of an ACT2S2 but didn't like the sound as much so back up it went. Thanks, Bob[/QUOTE]

No the Cello had too much gain.
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  #27  
Old 11-13-2013, 09:42 PM
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Coppy, I have the LP140's & have considered Wilson Sasha or Sophia 3 but was concerned I didn't have enough juice. Do you feel your 140's run the Sasha's well?
John
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  #28  
Old 11-14-2013, 11:48 AM
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Coppy, I have the LP140's & have considered Wilson Sasha or Sophia 3 but was concerned I didn't have enough juice. Do you feel your 140's run the Sasha's well?
John
John,

I don't know how large your listening area is but I find the LP140 mono blocks drive my Sashas with ease. My room, actually our living room, is 13' wide, 20' long with 8' ceilings with wide openings to other rooms on two sides.

I also have a c-j Premier 350 SS amp in the system, (350wpc into 8 ohms, 700wpc into 4 ohms) but seldom use it and notice little difference, if any in the volume output. The SS amp does a wee bit better on certain bass lines but looses so much of that "you are there" feeling tubes impart.

My preamp settings, depending on the media playing range between 7 and 18 out of 100 for both amps.

If you have any concerns at all the Sophia is a bit easier to drive and is close to the Sasha sound quality. Some prefer that speaker... and you can save some serious $$$. Your ears will tell you what's best for you. Looks like Wilson is coming our with a new offering this month, maybe in this speaker range, Sophia 4 or Sasha 2.

Enjoy,
Bob
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  #29  
Old 11-14-2013, 12:23 PM
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Good Morning Bob,

My room is roughly 15' wide, 28' long, 8-10' semi-vaulted ceiling with speakers backed against the 28' wall, at one end of the room, toed in towards sofa maybe 10' from seating area. So its not like I have them on the short wall trying to fill the whole room with sound, but I tend to have my preamp for serious listening between 70-80 clicks on my CT5. My Magnan interconnects, being highly resistive, cause me to turn up the volume maybe 15-20 clicks. Dynaudio C-1 ii's are 85db 4ohm speakers.
My Dyn dealer also sells Wilson and has urged me to consider them. This setup is in a family room of a small beach cottage, & the wife likes the small mini-monitors.
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  #30  
Old 11-14-2013, 12:29 PM
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Bob, I forgot to ask you if you have always run the LP140's with the GAT or did you upgrade from another CJ preamp. I'm also considering upgrading to the GAT, since a speaker change will likely throw me into divorce court Do you feel the need to upgrade your amps to the ART or LP275's to get the best out of the GAT?
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