[Louis O]

Hi el dub,

Speakers are looking great and this week for sure. Great to hear you're tube rolling. Makes a huge difference.

Looking forward to getting some impressions with the XRS 6.5 alnico.

Hi Eadron,

Great to hear and they are suitable for a lot of different amps. SS is great too. Haven't heard the latest version of the preamp though. Really happy that you're enjoying the system.

Thanks,
Louis

[el dub]

The tube fever finally broke last night after I won a bid for a quad of used mullard el34's. I'd been peeping ebay 10 times a day, studying offerings, making bids and getting a crash course in old tubes. But all that ended when I scored the el34's. I know its so because I had no desire to go to ebay this morning when I got up. So its over. At least temporarily. hehe

The Manley will now be outfitted with Dutch tubes from the late 50's, the Dynaco with British valves from the early 60's and the Eastern Electric BBA has a set of telefunkens coming its way.  aa 

With any luck, our new Omega alnico's should be arriving about the time the last tubes are shipped our way. 

lw 

[el dub]

Turns out I lost a resistor on the input board when I fried that rectifier tube. The right channel has less volume than the left, but it still sounds great! I'm getting it repaired tomorrow. 

I switched out the manley for the dynaco for awhile, but the dynaco has a lot easier time pressurizing the large room, even with a problem in one channel.

lw

[el dub]

SO I ended up replacing the resistor on the input board yesterday myself. Really wasn't a big deal once I managed to locate the bad resistor with the multi-meter. Bob Latino walked me through the process before I headed to radioshack for the soldering pen and resistor replacement. From that point, it was pretty easy. Man, this system sounds nice!

lw

[carusoracer]

Nice thread, sounds like you are having a ball. I luv the cat's away syndrome I've done it myself

Please post your findings regarding the EL34 Mullards. I'm intersted in what your hearing. I have Svetlana EL 34's in my Jolida 302B. I prefer the NOS sound as well.

BTW, The most sensitve tube in the BBA is the rectifier. Get that to you liking and the BBA will take off to another level.

[el dub]

Hey, caruso. Thanks for the reply.

As for the rectifier tube in question, I'm sitting on a 1952 black plate RCA 6X4. I almost opened up the bba last night, but decided to wait until the pair of telefunkens arrive to do the whole thing at once. (Hopefully that will be later today.) 

Still waiting on the Mullard el34's, too. I'll keep you posted.

Oh yeah........ We're still waiting on the guest's of honor at this little audio swar-ay. Oh, Louis......... hehe

lw

[el dub]

Fed-Ex dude delivered a pair of Omega 6" alnico xrs this morning. (I had no idea today was the day.)

It took me about 5 minutes to get them out of the box and into place and another five minutes for sweet music to begin emanating from the living room. The cherry finish is beautiful and the sound is smooth right out out the box. (Through this first disc I've heard a little edge come and go, but the book shelf's were the same.)

Anyway, my hopes for the manley doing better in this set up appear to be founded. The book shelf set has about 50' of wire between them and the amp and the sub is then connected at speaker level. In the living room, there is about 12' of speaker wire and the sub is connected to the "sub out" of the manley. Luckily, the Manley does a lot better with this load. At this point, the sound in the kitchen is pretty similar to that in the living room. And that makes me happy! 

Thanks again, Louis.

Omega Alnicos rock!!!!

lw 

[el dub]

I hooked the Dynaco up to the new Omegas this afternoon just because I could. 

Looks like we'll prolly be in the market for another Dynaco st70 and Omega deep hemp cube sometime down the line. (Maybe sooner than later. 

lw

[el dub]

Well, folks, it kind of pains me to say this, but the manley has to go. No two ways about it. The Omegas in the kitchen have so much more clarity and bass control that it isn't even a close call.

I should be able to fund another dynaco st-70 as well as another Eastern Electric BBA with the proceeds. 

lw

[DaveC113]

Well, folks, it kind of pains me to say this, but the manley has to go. No two ways about it. The Omegas in the kitchen have so much more clarity and bass control that it isn't even a close call.

I should be able to fund another dynaco st-70 as well as another Eastern Electric BBA with the proceeds. 

lw

I saw you ordered new-issue Mullard el34s... I recently got the new Tung Sol el34 and am very impressed using them in my SET.

So... what do you think of the difference between the stand mount and the XRS?

Dave

[el dub]

I have not tried the reissue mullards. But I'm waiting on a quad of used mullards from the mid 60's.

As for a comparison between the two flavors of 6.5" alnicos......

I'm not really ready to comment on that yet as they are being driven by different amps. I think when the smoke clears, the two models will sound very similar, but at this point, the bass isn't as controlled in the floor stand pair and the highs are more rolled off. (I attribute mostly to amps and a little bit to break in, maybe.)

I switched amps briefly the other day and most everything improved drastically with the floor stand 6.5's. The sound in that room was still a little boomy, but a different brand of sub is in play. I since found that nerf balls in the bottom ports control that boom nicely.

These omega alnicos are capable of such crystal clear musical reproduction that its almost scary. 

lw

[el dub]

This is getting interesting......

Slowly but surely, the manley and new omega speakers are closing ground on the dynaco/omega set up. While the manley in triode is still a bit murky, flipping the switch to ultralinear really provided some missing detail. (The same flip of the switch the other day didn't have the same results, instead sounding thin and a little brittle.)

My guess is that break in of the new omegas is the biggest factor at present. Looking back, I only noticed an edge on certain frequencies the first disc we spun. So resolution and clarity have been improving rather than anything glaring or negative going away, imo. Like I said, these speakers sound great right out of the box. And they start sounding incredible after 20-40 hours.

Manley is sending me a master bias pot they started including with the stingray in the last couple of years. (Just after mine came out.) Paul was kind enough to offer to send one my way at no charge. This apparently raises the current available on the plate to allow for biasing a wider range of tubes. And with the military grade el84's we have coming, I'm hoping I can bias at 300mV rather than 250. I have to ask the mfg that question.

After repairing the dynaco, I'm looking forward to performing this equally simple operation on the manley. And with the photos Paul from Manley supplied me, it should be a snap.

scott

[el dub]

Holy mother of high fidelity! 

The used quad of mid 60's mullard double getter el-34's just showed up. I popped them in the dynaco, let warm up for a few minutes and started biasing with fingers crossed. Apparently there's plenty of life left in these old tubes, as they bias just fine and sound even better. I kid you not. I had to turn the bass down on the sub and reign the horses in a little. But now its all there and all under control. First impression is that they are more powerful AND sensitive as well as a bit warmer. And I really like that.

While it may sound like the dynaco is the best thing since sliced bread, I've learned that the synergy between Omega and Latino's version of dynaco is just off the hook. It takes two to tango.

ps: Still not sure what if any the 10 gauge solid copper wire plays in this most excellent system of sound.

lw       

[el dub]

Holy smokes.....

I put a new power cord on the manley this afternoon and 99.9% of the hum went away. (With system on and no music playing.) Last night, after a cd being played fairly loud ended, I could hear a hum from my listening spot. Today I have to put my ear to the cone and turn the volume past loud listening levels to hear a TINY hum. The clarity has also improve considerably. I can still hear a little difference between the two systems when I go back and forth, but now its more like different flavors and not one unit clearly superior to the other.

Best hifi $12 I ever spent.

lw   

[ikakenewa]

so have I missed the word on the $12 power cable?

If so, where's the post?

If not, do tell!

[Louis O]

Hi ikakenewa,

The $12 power cord is the best thing you can get for your gear. Creston at Austin HIFI. Has them. These are jaw droppers.

Hi el dub,

Quite the journey with all the tube rolling. Sounds like a whole lot of fun and will get on it myself. I'll be tuning the dyna into a 6L6 with NOS. It's been a little chaotic here lately and will order them up in the morning.

Great to hear about all the progress. You’re right about the 6.5s as they are an easier break in. I love the dyna/omega synergy. Can't beat the value too.

Let you no more when Richard at Leeds sets me up with the tubes. Will be hard wiring in my extra Creston cord up too.


Thanks,
Louis

[el dub]

Hey, Louis. Please keep us posted on the tube rolling and cord swaping experience.

Hard-wiring the Dynaco with a magic power cord, eh? Interesting idea, but I'm guessing it will be a waste of $12 whole dollars. 

Our Dynaco/Omega combo would have to start giving back rubs to be any better and I don't see how that cord could facilitate that bump up.

But seriously..... Even with the new cord, the manley still isn't as quite as the Dynaco's hardwired blast from the past. With the throw back kit look and old-school cord, folks don't EVEN see this one coming. hahahaha  But strap 'em to the omega 6.5's and look out...

lw

[Alwayswantmore]

The $12 power cord is the best thing you can get for your gear. Creston at Austin HIFI. Has them. These are jaw droppers.

Louis, el dub, Google does not produce a company called Austin HIFI. Can you please post a link or phone number? Thanks.

[el dub]

Try concertsoundsusa.com

lw

[el dub]

Ten russian military el84's showed up today from Ukraine. So I installed the new master bias pot on the stingray and proceeded to retube the manley. Seven of the first eight tested biased up fine, but one was stubborn, so I replaced that one with number nine and everything biased fine. (Installing the master bias pot took about two minutes.)

However, while biasing the el84's, I noticed some noise from the left speaker. Tapping on the amp's frame produceda similar noise from the same speaker. I replaced the two dutch made amperex for a matched pair of mullard military grade 12at7's after finishing the bias job. All went quiet and the manley sounds better than ever. (Literally)

lw