AudioCircle
Industry Circles => Odyssey Audio => Topic started by: ddgtr on 13 Jan 2009, 07:05 am
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I just thought I'd share a few thoughts on my Candela preamp - I know I'm pretty vocal when something goes wrong, so for a change I'll post some positive impressions!! :D
I've owned it for about 9 months now, and being my first tube anything I had to abuse Alex on a couple of occasions with questions and concerns. He has been very helpful and quite honestly I learned a lot just by talking to him.
I have it paired with a Pass 250.5 amp, a Bryston DAC and a pair of Monitor Audio Golds. The clarity of sound, the distinct separation and instrument placement are only a few things that impressed the hell out of me. Not to mention the touch of warmth it brings into my system. I am currently running a pair of rca cleartops in it and have no desire to replace them any time soon! :icon_lol:
It's definitely going to stay in my system... pending upgraditis infection, in which case I'll send it in to have it modded by Alex... :drool:
Regards.
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I've had my Candela for a several months now and absolutely love it. I haven't heard of any mods besides tube swapping. If there are mods available I'd love to know what they are! Anybody know of anything?
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Hey dd, what preamp did you use before?
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I've had mine since July if I remember correctly and I've been very happy with it. I have yet to tube roll though and perhaps one day I'll pick up a set of rca clear tops to see if I can hear any difference. I love my Odyssey equipment, which I see myself staying with for quite some time. My only wish is that Klaus and Alex would develop an affordable usb tube NOS dac so I can use my computer as a source.
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I have had mine for a few more months than most of you, and I'm still discovering things comming out of my speakers. Sunday night the main squeeze and I listened to the steel plate ontop a guitar vibrate after the note was dead and gone. Later we heard the same thing in the strings of an acoustic guitar that had no pickups on it. Not too much after that as we were to drunk to rationalize anything that made sense. Monday I sat down and listened to Duke Ellington and Ray Brown play parlor music. Go back and dig up my previous post about the acoustic upright bass. I'm sorry that I really didn't do the upright the just service it deserves. This is absolutly the most real upright I've ever heard short of setting five feet in front of Ray himself (and I've been there). I heard the bridge vibrate on the $100K piece! I heard his finger nails scrape the neck between the strings. I felt his body move from side to side while leaning over that instrument. No rattles no steril sounding bass we so often hear. Ray would have loved it!
Today I listened to Count Basie jammin' live! And he was cookin' playing with a quality sextet. You all know I love Count Basie, and when I'm in a funk I can always count on him to bail my butt outta the fire (by the way; would that be considered a pun?). But I'm sorry Mr Basie, but Milt Jackson just stole the show on side one. Roy stepped in there a time or two, but in the end we all knew it was Milt's bag. So where's this rambeling headed? Maybe nowhere I don't know, but here's a clue. Have you ever listened to a good man on vibes at three AM when everybody else is getting in the cabs parked out front? It's quiet! maybe a half dozen of us die hards and the doors are now locked. You can just feel the vibrations moving thru the air while you take another drag on that cigar and four fingers of Bushmills. The man's hands are moving fast with very precision while you pick out the decay of the previous note. You wanta cry cause it's pure. Jimmie steps in from stage right with his tenor. Hits the bottom end of the scale while playing "Round Midnight". Tears fill your eyes! You find yourself talking to him while he's just ripping thru chords that no man has the right to play! So what's all this crap about? Doing justice to the masters! Will that Chinese whatever it is do it? NOPE!! But there's one for the masses that will.
Sometime in your long lives I want each and everyone of you to listen to someone that's got a clue of what they are doing while playing the upright bass (forget Ron Carter). Listen to him in a very quiet and darkened room. Listen to the bass as it's supposed to sound, and not what some P.O.S. cd sounds like! Listen to his finger drag accross the strings. His finger nails scratch the daylight outta the neck. I know it's hard to hear a good man on vibes but do it anyway. Hear the decay in the notes as he moves to the next bar. Listen to the vibration in the very low end of the register of a good tenor. Pick up on the speed and the presence when he takes three steps to the left and two steps forward. This is as close as it gets to heaven, but with four fingers of good Irish whiskey on ice.
Now with all this rambeling finished all I'm gonna say is that this is what I have at my house. It's not perfect because Jimmie, and Ray are gone forever, but their peers say this is as good as it gets. This is a Candella preamp at my house.
gary
note: this is not for the masses, but for a guy named Alex. It's time for an upgraded Candella. It wants to have the long wanted two tape loop, and five inputs (one of them being very discrete for my turntable). It would love to have a seperate battery power supply to keep everything honest. And just maybe a leggy auburn haired vixen to hand me the remote from time to time. This would be the $3K preamp we've all been waiting for.
glt
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Hey dd, what preamp did you use before?
You know, I've been using an Onkyo 805 as a prepro. In Pure Mode, it sounded pretty damn good. The Candela is my first preamp separate ever. I do have it paired with a Bryston BDA1 dac and a Pass Labs x250.5. When I first plugged it in, it really opened up the sound. THe detail is impressive to say the least. I also have a pair of rca cleartops in there and don't want to get them out any time soon... :D
I'm already talking to Alex about either adding another set of outs or some balanced connections. We'll see...
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I have had mine for a few more months than most of you, and I'm still discovering things comming out of my speakers. Sunday night the main squeeze and I listened to the steel plate ontop a guitar vibrate after the note was dead and gone. Later we heard the same thing in the strings of an acoustic guitar that had no pickups on it. Not too much after that as we were to drunk to rationalize anything that made sense. Monday I sat down and listened to Duke Ellington and Ray Brown play parlor music. Go back and dig up my previous post about the acoustic upright bass. I'm sorry that I really didn't do the upright the just service it deserves. This is absolutly the most real upright I've ever heard short of setting five feet in front of Ray himself (and I've been there). I heard the bridge vibrate on the $100K piece! I heard his fionger nails scrape the neck between the strings. I felt his body move from side to side while leaning over that instrument. No rattles no steril sounding bass we so often hear. Ray would have loved it!
Today I listened to Count Basie jammin' live! And he was cookin' playing with a quality sextet. You all know I love Count Basie, and when I'm in a funk I can always count on him to bail my butt outta the fire (by the way would that be considered a pun?). But I'm sorry Mr Basie, but Milt Jackson just stole the show on side one. Roy stepped in there a time or two, but in the end we all knew it was Milt's bag. So where's this rambeling headed? Maybe nowhere I don't know, but here's a clue. Have you ever listened to a good man on vibes at three AM when everybody else is getting in the cabs parked out front? It's quiet! maybe a half dozen of us die hards and the doors are now locked. You can just feel the vibrations moving thru the air while you take another drag on that cigar and four fingers of Bushmills. The man's hands are moving fast with very precision while you pick out the decay of the previous note. You wanta cry cause it's pure. Jimmie steps in from stage right with his tenor. Hits the bottom end of the scale while playing "Round Midnight". Tears fill your eyes! You find yourself talking to him while he's just ripping thru chords that no man has the right to play! So what's all this crap about? Doing justice to the masters! Will that Chinese whatever it is do it? NOPE!! But there's one for the masses that will.
Sometime in your long lives I want each and everyone of you to listen to someone that's got a clue on what they are doing play the upright bass (forget Ron Carter). Listen to him in a very quiet and darkened room. Listen to the bass as it's supposed to sound, and not what some P.O.S. cd sounds like! Listen to his finger drag accross the strings. His finger nails scratch the daylight outta the neck. I know it's hard to hear a good man on vibes but do it anyway. Hear the decay in the notes as he moves to the next bar. Listen to the vibration in the very low end of the register of a good tenor. Pick up on the speed and the presence when he takes three steps to the left and two steps forward. This is as close as it gets to heaven, but with four fingers of good Irish whiskey on ice.
Now with all this rambeling finished all I'm gonna say is that this is what I have at my house. It's not perfect because Jimmie, and Ray are gone forever, but their peers say this is as good as it gets. This is a Candella preamp at my house.
gary
note: this is not for the masses, but for a guy named Alex. It's time for an upgraded Candella. It wants to have the long wanted two tape loop, and five inputs (one of them being very discrete for my turntable). It would love to have a seperate battery power supply to keep everything honest. And just maybe a leggy auburn haired vixen to hand me the remote from time to time. This would be the $3K preamp we've all been waiting for.
glt
Gary, I've got to say it: this is one of my all time favorite posts ever.... :D