Well, this baby sounds awesome. I was listening to a 1978 Pioneer SX-780 receiver that put out a whopping 45WPC solid state. I have had it for about 15 years and it has needed a cap job for about 9 of those years. I never wanted to do it because to me, it wasn't worth it.
So, I put together a system that I am now pleased with. The Octal 6, feeding into a 1972 Crown DC 300A series II that shows well on the 'scope, with a Kenwood 5-disc from like '91 or something. I can actually listen to it without cringing at the mids and highs, like I was forced to before. I have vinyl, but no player, and it is going to stay that way. I wanted a tube pre-amp so that I could get rid of the harshness that cd's put out. It is now super-smooth with a tube front-end ! I have an eq in the system, but it sounds better without it ! All you need is a volume control. The Octal 6 custom that I built, that Lloyd helped me with, is superb and well worth the money. If you take as many components out of the signal chain as possible, and just get back to basics you have then cleaned the signal up by tenfold. All the decibel loss REALLY matters ! KEEP IT SIMPLE.
I also have a mid-fi system in my truck and it rocks, but there is nothing like tubes. My guitar amp speaks for itself. (Fender Hot Rod Deville with 4-10's and 12AX7's, and 6L6's in the power amp stage.) 60 watts mono, but it sounds like 300.
I'm 30 years old, and have listened to a lot of really fine systems including Carver through Bose 901's, Phase Linear through Gauss 18" drivers and they are all junk !
Tubes are the way to go.
Thank you Lloyd.
P.S. maybe we can convince him to offer a high-wattage tube power amp so we can shatter our neighbors windows if we would like ? (hint-hint)
