[jrebman]

At just about noon today a guy in a brown uniform showed up with a solid little 30 pound box from Arkansas, and the journey that started 10 days shy of a year ago, came to an end.  I was now the very proud owner of a Vaughn Carina!

Here's the thread where it all got started:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=45419.0

I had actually started a dialog with Eddie around that time and had placed an order, but some unexpected medical bills forced me to prematurely cancel that order.  Then more recently luck was with me and I found myself with enough money to finish my little office system which really never took any kind of final shape for any length of time and ended up being sold off piecemeal, leaving me with nothing but the little klipsch computer speakers on my desk.

After going over a short list of small SET amps I had narrowed the field to the Decware Zen Select, the Almarro A205 Mk. II and the Carina.  The Carina was the most expensive option but ultimately the one I knew I wanted.  So once again I contacted Eddie, discussed options and customization and ended up sending him the money.

I decided that this was to be a keeper so I was going to have it made to my tastes and get every detail just right.  Eddie was great to work with on this as he answered all my questions, gave me feedback on various things, and at the end of the process this is what we came up with:

o -  Carina with Voicing 2.

o -  2 inputs with rear mounted toggle selector switch, and a 3rd set of RCAs for a headphone amp pass-through -- also with it's own switch to enable or disable the pass-through function.  This keeps the load impedance of the interconnects and headphone amp from effecting the normal input signal when using the amp.

o -  Replaced stock binding posts with Eichmann Cable Pods -- I had a spare pair on hand and none of my cables would work with the stock 5/16" posts that Eddie supplies.  They are also direct gold on copper and low mass -- no brass anywhere.

o -  ERS cloth shielding on input wiring.

o -  Custom red Harley Davidson paint job on non-magnetic stainless chassis, and topped off with a custom Maple Burl knob with tactile brass insert that was made for me by our own SomeYoungGuy, Scott.  He actually made the knob for another project, but I thought it would go well with the red paint job, so sent it to Eddie to be put on the Carina.

I don't have any pictures yet, but I hope to have some soon, but Eddie thinks that is one of the most beautiful amps he has ever built -- the red goes extremely well with the copper hammertone powdercoat on the transformer and inductor endbells, and also sets off nicely with the black motor run caps.

Do I sound like a proud papa?

As for the rest of the original thread, I am now also the owner of a pair of Ed's Horns w/EnABLed drivers and a cube bass augmentor, and soon enough I hope to get all these wonderful things playing happily together.

The story's not over yet -- there's still going to be some playing with sources, and a new custom Maple rack from The Standman will be arriving one of these weeks, and then my little office/man-cave system will be fully realized, and in fine style.

Off to play...

-- Jim

[floobydust]

 Jim, congrats... hope it's everything you wanted and more... and besides, you have yet another set of special speakers en route to you to add to the mix. When you get a chance, do post post some feedback and some pics. Happy listening!

 Regards, KM

[ohenry]

Congrats Jim,
I love the Carina with the Horns as it provides flexibility with tone and operation settings... not to mention tube rolling.  Have fun and let us see your one-off amp!

[Thermionic]

Here are a couple pics of Jim's amp. I very rarely (more like never!) photograph anything I build, but this time I just had to take a couple of quick, sloppy shots before dropping it in the box. Sorry for the poor pics; they were taken with my dinosaur of a digital camera, and as you can see my bench was horridly cluttered at the moment as well!





As Jim had mentioned, the chassis finish is a factory Harley-Davidson color, and is IMO one of the most gorgeous reds I've ever seen. A friend who's a nationally known, award-winning custom motorcycle painter recommended it, when I asked him for a beautiful, deep red that was neither too dark nor too bright. He immediately said, "I know just exactly what you're looking for."  Both the chassis and filter caps are a base coat/clear coat finish, over an acid-etch primer to facilitate adhesion to the aluminum and stainless steel surfaces.

The end bell finish is a polyester powder coat with a hammertone texture. The pics didn't render the actual color very well, but got it closest on the center-most end bell in the rear panel view. It's called "Ironstone Copper" by the powder manufacturer.

All in all, I was pleased by the overall visual effect of the chassis and end bell finishes, and the big, burled wood knob. I'm even more happy that Jim was too.

Eddie

[jrebman]

Eddie, thanks for posting pics of the amp.  I get no end of compliments whenever people stop by my office, and the vast majority of them have no interest in audio whatsoever but can appreciate a fine piece of industrial art no matter what the function.

Yesterday was actually the first day that I was able to get everything setup and playing, and despite the fact that everything from the power cables, to the amp, tubes, ICs, and speakers is brand new, it sounded quite fine.  My experience leads me to believe that when all is good and seasoned and all tweaks done (filling the Horns with BBs, etc.) that this is going to be one extremely sweet sounding system.

Even the Horns with the "new" FE-126 driver sound a lot better to my ears than my old ones with the 108s -- but the room is completely different, the amp is different, etc., so obviously it can't all be attributed to the driver, but there is considerably more bass and more top end as well.

I currently have a pair of new production Mullard EL84 reissues and a TAD GZ34 rectifier in the amp which I'll be using for the burn-in period.

I'll check back in when I have about 15-20 hours on it to let folks know how it's coming along.

-- Jim

[floobydust]

 Nice looking amp... very nice. Love the deep red chassis color. Oddly, I've never warmed up to the old Hammertone finish, then again, back in the 50's and 60's Hammertone came in gray only and then you had wrinkle black as well.... didn't like that either. Still, a very pretty amp indeed.

 Jim, put some time on it... and report back on how it sounds. Will "the boys "ever send you the Fonkensteen F120As?? Seems like many minor excuses to hold on to them for major periods of time 

 Regards, KM

[jrebman]

Kevin,

They've been with Bud for a few weeks now as he was doing some final tweaks to the drivers and patterning the enclosures as well, and he did ask me for my shipping address late last week, so I'm pretty sure they'll be headed this way any day now.

Believe me, as eager as I am to get them, I also wanted the guys to take as much time as they wanted to get them just right.  Bud sounds pretty enthusiastic as to how they've turned out.

They'll be going up in my main system in the living room -- even though I had initially started the project with the idea of using them in my office.

Getting there...

-- Jim

[mgalusha]

Very nice Jim. I know you've been eagerly anticipating the Carina and it sounds like you've got a winner.

mike

[DaveC113]

Wow, the amp turned out great. I'll have to remember that red, beautiful!

Dave

[jrebman]

Hi Mike,

Maybe one day I can drag her down to your place and we can put Li'l Red on the mids/tweeters and Big Red on the bottom end .

P.S. -- I've got a little treat I'll be bringing to RMAF for you.

Dave, thanks -- believe me, this amp is as solid as it is beautiful.  The new maple rack is shipping today so I should have that in a few days, and then I'll have to find a way to get the Horns over to my buddy's shop for painting, veneering, and drilling the BB fill hole and mounting the cover plate that Mike's Dad's shop made for me.

-- Jim

[Thermionic]

My experience leads me to believe that when all is good and seasoned and all tweaks done (filling the Horns with BBs, etc.) that this is going to be one extremely sweet sounding system...........Even the Horns with the "new" FE-126 driver sound a lot better to my ears than my old ones with the 108s

I've yet to hear the FE-126 drivers in Ed's wonderful little speakers, and sure do wish I could. Alas, I've never had the pleasure of enjoying their company, only the FE-108 model. Quite a few Carina owners are using the FE-126 Horns, and they all say the combination is nothing short of magical. The owner of a über hi-end audio store in London who heard the Carina + Horns even said it was one of the best systems he'd ever encountered. Once all is said and done and you've patiently endured the millenia-long burn-in of the V-Cap TFTF's, I hope you have the same great results.

Cheers,
Eddie

[ohenry]

Another heirloom from Eddie V.  The really cool thing is that they look as good inside as out.  Congrats to both Jim and Eddie.