[Chico Jim]

It’s gets very hot in the summer in Chico so fate intervened when I was at a local thrift store in the way of an early 1990’s Yamaha CX-630 preamp for $10.00.  It was being sold AS-IS.  Not deterred, I bought it and brought it home.  After a few days I hook it to my Audio Research VS110 and other than dirt static in the volume pot, it performed flawlessly and sounds rather good in pure direct.  Cleaned out the offending pot since and decided to build a beer budget SS setup and bought a Yamaha MX-630 amp to mate with it to drive my 2.5’s.  It’s rated at 190wpc in 4ohms with ample headroom.  Should be here in a day or two.  I’ve always liked Yamaha made in Japan as the build quality and parts are better than mid-fi on their upper end offerings.

I’m a certified tube lover, yet am getting a bit excited waiting for my new SS amp to get to me and audition it.  It should be enough to properly drive them well past my normal listening levels, yet if I like what I’m hearing will eventually get one more and bridge them as mono blocks. 

[Chico Jim]

Getting ready

[Chico Jim]

My new amp arrived earlier today and I’ve had my initial session with it.  I’m blown away how good it sounds, my prior experiences with SS haven’t been to my liking.  I took a chance and am very happy I did.  The amp is said to be reference quality and was preceded by the more well known “M” series.  The heft and weight of tubes is all there which surprised me. The ribbons really are dancing and without any grain or fatigue. The detail, cohesion, clarity is all there, as is the holographic soundstage.  Really nice room energy at low volume.  This tube head still has tubes in his CD Player👍.  The amp delivered was only $250.00, and the pre the find of the year for a measly $10.00!  I get now why many say SS for Maggie’s is the way to go.  This doesn’t mean I won’t be glowing tubes when winter comes around 😁

[SteveFord]

Real good deal in more ways than one.
I always enjoy fooling around with SS gear but it's always close but no cigar compared to the monster VTLs.

[Chico Jim]

Steve:

My Audio Research isn’t a slouch by any means, but the Yamaha pair is amazingly good, who knew?  By far the best sounding SS I’ve owned and so much less expensive.  I just hooked up my Totems’ and they too sound wonderful on Yamaha SS. Geez, this is being said by a dyed in the wool tube junkie.  Most SS has a tizzy sound with grain on the top end (to my untrained ears), I’m not experiencing any of that.   What’s nice, I’m on a tight budget these days, this really helped to that end.  Of course, if I still had my Marantz 9’s, I might be dancing to a different drummer, loved how forward and lush they were.

[NIGHTFALL1970]

Chico Jim,
Don’t you need some airflow for the amp? You have everything stacked. Your amp needs to breathe.

[Chico Jim]

Put four hours of continuous listening and no heat issues.  There are side vents and space between the pre to get ample air for it. 

[mcgsxr]

I enjoyed a set of MMG’s with a Yamaha 797 2 channel receiver. 

It can sound excellent, and glad you found a great summer solution.

[Chico Jim]

Thanks, it is a pleasant surprise, i,e, how good it sounds. Definitely not Mid-Fi sounding. 

[Chico Jim]

Okay, now it’s racked up.  I’m really liking the way it sounds, very open and everything seems faster and tighter (still relaxed with good air), note bloom and decay.  No siblience or tizz.  I keep looking for faults but there aren’t any that I’m hearing.