[jandrews]

Greetings
I ordered both a Transcendence RB 10 and a SET 120 from AVA about a week ago.  I have a couple weeks of waiting to get the units and really looking forward to receiving them. 
Currently I am using a pair of Omega Super 7 monitors that are 95db sensitive and have had a pair of Magnepan LRS's on order since January.  I'm not sure I'm going to vibe with the LRS's....It's more of a test..we'll see, but I was happy to read Franks assessment a few weeks ago regarding the pairing.

The RB 10 / SET 120 combo will be replacing the superb sounding (to my ears) little Vista Audio Spark which will be moving to a more desktop environment.
I'm equally excited to have the headphone amp on the RB 10 as I am to be using the SET 120 with loudspeakers.


I'm curious about the tubes in the RB 10.  Does anyone know what 6DJ8 tubes ship with it and are there any particular versions of that tube that others have had great success with in this pre-amp.  I'm definitely not planing to switch anything out initially and plan to spend some time with the amp in it's stock configuration.  Just more curious if there is a tube for this pre that is a worthy upgrade at some point.

Same question re: the stock power cords.  I have no interest in spending a fortune on power cords, but is there a reasonable upgrade to the stock cords or are most users perfectly happy with those?

Lastly, are these two units stackable or is that ill advised?

thank you
JS

[BadDNA]

I would not feel comfortable stacking the two, I always prefer to keep the separated by a shelf, etc.

As for power cords....... I've heard arguments from both camps (For/Against), and Frank himself thinks they're a waste of money. If you think he is full of nonsense, or if you just want sexier looking cables, by all means spend extra money!

[charmerci]

I've heard the Vista Spark and there's no competition, the AVA will blow it out of the water. As for cable,Frank doesn't want to hear it but the Cullen Cable made a nice subtle improvement at a reasonable cost, though it was through my Odyssey Tempest. My AVA Ultra and Synergy had captive cables.

[Chazz5]

My Transcendence RB 10 arrived with 6922 EH tubes. It fits great into my system. A few days ago, after about 900 hours of use, I noticed a low-volume whoosh from one speaker. It was audible only standing next to the speaker and with nothing playing. And it was independent of the volume control.  When I swapped the tubes, the sound moved to the other speaker. I emailed Frank. He graciously replied that it was a tube defect and would have a replacement sent, which I'm waiting for.

[Chazz5]

My Transcendence RB 10 arrived with 6922 EH tubes. It fits great into my system. A few days ago, after about 900 hours of use, I noticed a low-volume whoosh from one speaker. It was audible only standing next to the speaker and with nothing playing. And it was independent of the volume control.  When I swapped the tubes, the sound moved to the other speaker. I emailed Frank. He graciously replied that it was a tube defect and would have a replacement sent, which I'm waiting for.

I received the replacement and now have fresh tubes in place. The whoosh is gone, and if I am not fooling myself, the audio separation and detail improved.

[jandrews]

Great to hear
I received my RB 10 and SET 120 this morning from UPS.
Haven't had a chance to hook them up yet, but looking forward to doing that tomorrow
JS

[Jeff_From_Michigan]

"I'm not sure I'm going to vibe with the LRS's....It's more of a test..we'll see, but I was happy to read Franks assessment a few weeks ago regarding the pairing."

I had a conrad-johnson CAV-50 (45 wpc) control amp driving both MMG's and 3.6R's over the years with no problem whatsoever. As long as you play at moderate volume levels, I predict that you'll be very happy with the SET-120 and LRS pairing.

[jandrews]

received my RB10 and SET120 this weekend
Hooked everything up and there's 2 things I am noticing

First, I've never had a system that sounded better.  Very rich , deeper soundstage than I'm used to , pretty wide soundstage , lots of decay info vs the little solid state integrated I was using before, stereo image in the center really floats from the floor to the ceiling.   Great bass....the tube pre is just a bit warm which works so well for me. 

However, I'm also getting a low level noise /hum/hiss out of both speakers.   It's only noticeable when the music stops or during very low passages, but I suspect that even with the tube preamp, this is probably not as it should be.


Before I write Frank to ask him to help me diagnose it, curious if anyone here may have a suggestion?
The amp and pre are plugged into a Furman pst-8, my streamer is connected to my CAL DAC which is connected to the RB10 via a high quality interconnect.  The RB10 and SET120 are connected to each other via a high quality interconnect.
I've got Supra speaker cable (20 ft) connecting my Omega Super 7's to the SET120.

The hiss is a little erratic ...not a constant periodic signal .
I've tried the chassis grounding rocker switch on the back and that has very little to no impact.
Any thoughts?
thanks
JS

[danielgk]

jandrews

To diagnose the hiss, 1st thing to do is find out if its coming from the power amp (theSET120).  Easiest way to do that is turn the preamp off while leaving the power amp on.  If you still have hiss you need to look at the power amp.  If the hiss is gone you need to look at the preamp.

If its the preamp, you again have to find out whether its actually the preamp or what's in front of the preamp.  Do this by turning the source off.  Also note if the volume control excessively affects the hiss - you kind of need to use your judgement here...high volume will always have more hiss/noise than zero volume.

For quietest operation, most SYSTEMS will need one and only one piece grounded (then the other pieces get ground through the interconnect cables).  If every piece has a ground switch then the power amp should be grounded and everything else not grounded.  If your systems has one (or more) pieces that don't have a ground switch then you will probably get best results with all the ground switches off.  Exceptions are everywhere, so you still have to select which ever is quietest, but this is a good place to start.  Also, it is not uncommon for the ground switch to not make much difference at all.


Dan

[avahifi]

Make sure you try both the AVA amp and preamp ground lift switches.

Four amp - preamp combinations to try:  both on, both off, amp on and preamp off, and amp off and preamp on.

One combination will likely eliminate the hum issue.

Hiss issue?  One channel or both channels? If one channel, swap the tubes to opposite channel. If the hiss follows a tube let us know.

If both channels, probably something needing more serious trouble shooting.

Call me at 651-330-9871 for help.

Frank

[jandrews]

Thanks Frank and Daniel !

Wasn't expecting you both to respond.
Will try these suggestions and will update you here or on phone
I can't get to it until tomorrow though.

Forgot to mention that the hiss/hum issue happens when volume pot is at 0.  The speakers are pretty sensitive , 95db...not sure if that matters.  Yes it's both speakers.
I can send you a video or phone recording if that helps
thanks
Jason