[cjr888]

Random thoughts of the evening.

1) I hate the web for its convenience.
2) Because of this, buying things on the web is way too easy.

3) Taking pictures, packing boxes, advertising, and going through the sales process of equipment is not one of my favorite things to do.
4) Because of this, I tend to umm, 'collect' audio equipment by accident.

5) There's a possible chance that there's an Antique Sound Lab Tulip 2A3 amplifier in my living room as of this week.
6) There's a possible chance that there there's a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls in my living room as of this week.
7) There's a possible chance that there's a pair of Telefunken based speakers from the 1950's in route to my house from Canada.
8) There's a possible chance that I still haven't taken pictures, packed, or advertised the extra equipment I have.
9) There's a possible chance that my girlfriend thinks we're opening a used audio store in my living room.

10) The Tulip amplifier is relatively small, and extremely heavy for its size.
11) Klipsch Cornwalls are extremely huge and each weigh just about what my girlfriend weighs.
12) My girlfriend wanted to help carry them.
13) Because of size of the Cornwalls, I'm afraid the Cornwalls may get hungry and have the Tulip or my girlfriend for dinner when I'm not looking.  Feed me Seymour!
14) Speakers always seem 1/3 their actual size in pictures and should carry a label stating this, just as the "objects in mirror may appear..." stickers do.
15) Its frightening to think that I almost took purchase of a pair of La Scala's.

16) Audiogon and eBay should add to their interface so that when you choose 'Buy it Now', 'Bid', or 'Contact Seller', it asks you several times in a row questions such as "Are you sure?", "Are you really, really sure?", "Are you drinking?", "Will your girlfriend be pissed?"

17) It was interesting to see how much volume I could get out of a 3.5w amplifier and a pair of Acoustic Reality Studio monitors.  Very comfortable levels with a lot of music.

18) It was interesting to swap between an EAR2 (250w) and a pair of modified Eminent Technology LFT-VIII's (83-84db), and a Tulip (3.5w) with Cornwalls (98-100db), as well switching between ClassD/Push-Pull Planars and SET/PartialHorn.

19) One thing I find rather interesting with the Tulip/Klipsch is how intelligable lyrics are.  
20) Its time to go back and see if I can decipher all of Tom Yorke's mumblings.

21) I rented a minivan/caravan/surburban-assault-vehicle to pick up the Cornwalls.
22) Surburban Assault Vehicles do not give you the feeling of 'cool' while driving them.
23) SUVs are really glorified minivans.
24) Speedbumps do not qualify as offroading.
24) I think most SUV owners are people that can't stomach an SUV, yet do not realize that everyone else understands that they are driving a glorified minivan.
25) I must wonder if prior to getting married, people swear that they will be different and not own a minivan, and then later find themselves behind the wheel of one.  I believe this may be the true cause of the average midlife crisis.  Paper to follow.
26) To those that own them, I apologize, and can only say, "Life will get better."
27) I apologize for the tangent about minivans.

So in short, I still haven't packed and sold off my extra gear, I have driven a minivan and suddenly want to have little soccer players, and happened to purchase two more pairs of speakers and a little 2A3 amplifier on a whim in the past week or so to satisfy a curiosity...or a problem...or an addiction...or something.  I'll post impressions of trying something completely different from what I've had previously sometime this week I'm sure.  Really just playing around for now...

Anyone gone from one end of the spectrum to the other?
Anyone want to suggest what to swap out first in tube rolling?  Driver? Rectifier? Output?

[gonefishin]

change the drivers first  What tubes are you using now?

  have fun with yer minivan  Tho I prefer my big blue Ram with 360cuin ...course the 454 in my boat is kinda nice too

[JohnR]

How do the Cornwalls sound?

Anyone want to suggest what to swap out first in tube rolling? Driver? Rectifier? Output?

I'd go driver, output, rectifier, in that order. Actually I've found the output tubes to make more difference but they also cost more. YMMV

[audiojerry]

very funny stuff cjr, I can resemble and can relate to a lot of what you said, although being married has tempered some impulsiveness.

As far as minivans go, nothing could be more practical, except maybe the new Honda Element. I don't see how anyone can justify an SUV for anything other than vanity. Do soccer mom SUV owners ever do any off road  driving? Does an SUV haul more than a minivan? Does it get better gas mileage? Does it carry more passengers? Does it go faster 0 - 60? Is it more comfortable? The answer to all is no (if you compare comparably powered and equipped vehicles) Does it cost more? Tractionwise, nothing beats a front wheel drive Caravan or Voyager in the snow. I can't speak for other minivans, but I'm sure they are great too. And the new Toyata Sienna and soon to be released Nissan and Honda minivans raise the bar even more.

And finally, and most important: owners of large SUV's and ridiculous monstor pickup trucks are largely responsible for our dependence on Middle East oil. Wouldn't it be nice to say 'adios' to all the insane fanatics who hate America? Won't they be thrilled when their prophesy is finally fulfilled, and America is no longer interested in their precious lands. What will they do with their oil then?    

But enough politics.

I'd be very interested in hearing more about your impressions of the 2A3 vs the EAR - old technology vs the newest.

[MaxCast]

Very funny stuff, cjr.

On the subject of big gas guzzeling trucks.  No one seems to complain about the big brown gas hungry truck that shows up in front of your door with your new audio goodies.  The way I see it, if you want everyone to drive little gas efficient cars....move to Tokyo.

[Woodsea]

I love our '99 Odyssey but prefer my 00 Jetta.  That big brown truck is economical and brings a smile to everyones face, cuz it is Santa in a brown suit.

[nathanm]

Wow, Audiojerry made a post I can agree with 100%!

On the subject of big gas guzzeling trucks. No one seems to complain about the big brown gas hungry truck that shows up in front of your door with your new audio goodies. The way I see it, if you want everyone to drive little gas efficient cars....move to Tokyo.

Feh!  If there was enough push for it the UPS truck could be made more efficient as well.  And does anyone REALLY enjoy "gas guzzling" cars?  It makes no sense.  Bring on the smaller, efficient hi-tech cars says I. Down with soccer moms!  

[audiojerry]

I thought I said enough politics  

[cjr888]

Jerry - agree with all your SUV comments.

Fishin - Currently using Sovteks for all tubes -- amplifier included the original tubes, plus all Sovteks, so installed the Sovteks initially.  Read plenty in the last week or so and have a handful I'd like to try for each tube (2a3, 5ar4, 12ax7) -- some at the cheaper end of the spectrum, so at the complete opposite end.  I pretty much assume that at least for a few months tube swapping will become a new hobby.  Part would like to find my sound, but part would simply like to become more familiar with the various effects of tube swapping in general, and at various locations.  How could you not want to, right?  

John - Cornwalls are interesting.  Had limited to time to give them a listen -- really just wanted to throw a pair of speaker cables at them and ensure that they were 100% functional and survived the trip without issue.   With haphazard placement, trying a single amplifier, a single set of taps, and grabbing the closest speaker cable laying around I won't bother commenting on anything that seems a bit off, as its most likely related...  But I was pretty impressed with them regarding dynamics, maintaining coherency and instrument separation at high levels with heavy/busy music, and letting through a lot more of the ASLs character..  Matched with the little ASL, tone of voices is very nice.  I have a handful of friends that have solo CDs and band CDs, so I'm obviously familiar with their voice.  With the right tracks, its nice to hear something that reminds you moreso of what you know in real life.  I actually attribute a lot of this to the dynamics and amplifier character..  Will be messing with placement once I can move some stuff in the area away over the weekend.  Would love to work on the cabinet and speaker -> floor interface at some point..  If I get some time this weekend, I'll see if I can get some more specific initial impressions.

Can't remember if I mentioned it in my previous message, but this effort was part to satisfy a curiosity, but also I'm looking to do some sales soon, and go with a cheaper system in an effort to redirect audio money elsewhere (home).  So a lot of searching for deals, trades, etc. and  also figured if I was going to do this, why not try something completely different?  If/when the home purchase can occur -- long story but good deal, things may completely change again in audio land when funding is available, but as long as the system brings some fun to the table, its just equipment....and I don't care so much what it is or what philosophy its from.

As for low distortion and high SPLs, I'd love to hook up the EAR2 to them, put them in a much bigger room, and really turn up the volume.  Would be an interesting test for live listening levels.....  I know I'll be hooking it up in my room over the weekend to amuse myself.  Be interesting to see how it functions using barely any of its available power at all with sensitive speakers.....

[Wayne1]

Being both a soccer and hockey dad and owning a Dodge Grand Caravan AND a Jeep Cherokee, I can speak with a little authority

Jerry, I have four snow tires on my Caravan and it wouldn't move partway down my driveway when we had the big storm here a couple of months ago. While, with the Jeep, I was happily motoring about picking up essentials, like beer In light snow, 6 inches or less, the Caravan isn't too bad, but nothing will take the place of 4 wheel drive when the snow or mud is up to the axles.

The Caravan is a very good thing for a home owner to have. You can fill it up with everthing you need for those weekend projects your wife is always talking you into. You can also remove the seats and fill it with enough audio gear to take to Ohio for an audio fest

Being married for 23 years, owning a house, and having two teenage kids into sports has changed my requirements about transportation. I did own a couple of fast, impractical vehicles when I was single. Now I am not so selfish

[gonefishin]

cjr888...As always...tube rolling results will vary based on your system, your room and your preferences.  What I have found is that some of the smaller driver tubes (such as the 12ax7's you have) seem to make less of a difference than rolling other driver tubes.  But, you can still pick these up at a fairly decent price...so it's certainly worth it to try a few different pairs to give them a try.  When your ready and looking to buy...only thing I would suggest is to stay away from the "audiophile" boutique shops...the price some of these places charge is a joke.  

   Something else to keep in mind is that once you roll a number of driver tubes...and find your favorite...that's all well and good.  But remember, if you later make a change to your 2A3 output tube...you will want to (re)roll your drivers.  

   Most of all...have fun rockin' -n- rollin'!


   As far as SUV's...I'm not a huge fan of them myself...I prefer a pick-up.  While there are a number of people who may not use their SUV's as trucks...it is still up to them.  But there are many of us who do use our trucks as trucks.  Either way...it is their choice...not yours...and nothin'...nothin' at all has better traction than a 4x4 in the snow...front wheel drive isn't even close. (you still can't drive like an idiot tho)

   I would also be willing to bet that in the last seven years my gas consumption is far less than the majority of you small car owners.  I live only a short distance from my work...there are also numerous stores nearby within a very short drive.  There is never a time when I don't drive somewhere I want to go because I'm worried about throwing down an extra gallon of gas...but most places I want to go are a short drive.  

   I certainly wouldn't ask anyone to shorten their daily commute......so their yearly gas consumption is less than mine, but after reading your views regarding a persons oil consumption...maybe you would ask them this?


   either way...take care...and have fun!