[jeffreybehr]

OK, back to Super-7s.. Here they are including my new lowboy backend-equipment stand and my new/old pair of Allnic A-6000 PSET poweramps.. The empty bay will be occupied by the incoming AudioKineses stereo SWARM subwoofer-system amps.



The Allnics didn't stay there long after one tube shorted and destroyed the fuse holder and fried the pair of resistors attached to that 300B socket.. Parts coming.. Reinstalled my Atma-Spere MA-1s but again with only 4 pairs of output tubes (instead of 7), and the system sounds GLORIUS.. Still haven't had the x-overs rebuilt or gotten the super-duper wiring harness installed.. These parts-improved MA-1s are still the finest-sounding poweramps I've ever heard. 

[Tyson]

I've found that the Super 7's are never the limiting factor in my system.  No matter what equipment I throw at them, they always show exactly what the upchain gear is doing. 

[jeffreybehr]

Made some progress at finding a poweramp better sounding than my much-improved Atma-Sphere MA-1s.. Here are a couple candidates...

...being the Opera Consonance Cyber 845S (left) and the deHavilland 845-G.. One of the Operas quit working and I'll have it repaired next week.. The deHs sound very-good to excellent but did not dethrone the Viva Auroras...

...which have a richness, wholeness, 'roundness'--but NOT thickness--that I've never heard.. They also are very resolving and spacious.

I'm still waiting for a few inexpensive parts for the Allnics, and I'm anxious to hear them..  Almost bought ANOTHER pair today!  My late, loving wife called me Mr. Excess for good reason.

[jeffreybehr]

Have REdecided NOT to buy the 120VAC H-6000s in Virginia since I already have a pair (of 230VAC versions) and I now do not wish to pursue the Emission Labs 300Bs, which, with a filament-suppy-resistor change, makes the A-6000s' max power 60 Watts.. Will send my pair to Sonic Craft for repair and upgrades.

[jeffreybehr]

Have REdecided NOT to buy the 120VAC H-6000s in Virginia since I already have a pair (of 230VAC versions) and I now do not wish to pursue the Emission Labs 300Bs, which, with a filament-suppy-resistor change, makes the A-6000s' max power 60 Watts.. Will send my pair to Sonic Craft for repair and upgrades.

Well, times change, along with my alleged mind.. Have ordered a 'ten-tet' of EML 300B-XLSs from Jacmusic; the matched set of 10 cost US$4125 airmailed to me.

Another GEA-friend heard my system last nite and agreed that it did indeed sound better with the Auroras than with the A-S MA-1s which he had heard maybe 2 weeks ago.   
 

[jeffreybehr]

WAHOO!!!! Got the Allnic A-6000s running.. My goodbuddy and I replaced a bunch of resistors and the amps run and sound quite good for not being run for months.. Will be burning them in for maybe a hundred hours.. They're running now with no NFB.



Probably will size the coupling caps for an HP filter point of around 50Hz; I've never used an HP filter on the panels except with a 250WPC poweramp.

[morganc]

Those look great.  I love the Allnic house sound. Can’t  wait to hear your impressions of these. 

[jeffreybehr]

...
Probably will size the coupling caps for an HP filter point of around 50Hz; I've never used an HP filter on the panels except with a 250WPC poweramp.

Decided not to do that and will be using the Miflex KPCUs in original values of 1uF/600VDC; we'll get them in somehow.

Have sort of bit the cost-bullet and ordered two long ICs (3M and 5M) of Audioquest Dragon for the main pre/pro-to-poweramps run.. Then will move my current, excellent, Neotec UP-OCC-silver cable to the centerchannel amp (all XLRs) and have better AQ cable--Yosemite--coming for the Magneplanar DWM (Dipole Woofer Module, a two-channel system), now driven by one of the stereo modules of my Emotiva 11-channel poweramp.. Also coming are short AQ Dragon high-current powercables for the Allnics and the PS Audio P20 power regenerator.

The Emission Lab 300B-XLSs still aren't here.

[bernardo]

Jeff

Your 10 Sep 2022 post mentioned "incoming AudioKinesis stereo SWARM subwoofer-system amps."

Just wondering if you have received it yet. Any impressions?

[jeffreybehr]

Jeffrey

Your 10 Sep 2022 post mentioned "incoming AudioKinesis stereo SWARM subwoofer-system amps."

Just wondering if you have received it yet. Any impressions?

No; the cabinet company lost its foreman, so the whole system is about a month away.. That system, BTW, is a stereo system with 3 boxes per channel.
Also, the 300B-XLSs have been here and running for a month or so but are yet not burned in.  That tentet arrived in a relatively huge carton, very safely.

[Danny Richie]

We've done the swarm configuration with our servo subs at several shows.

No need for additional subs up front though. Just add a pair of sealed box servo subs tot he back of the room in each corner.

The results were fantastic.

[jeffreybehr]

Every once in a while--maybe once per year, when the sun and the moon and all the other planets and stars...and my nasal congestion...and my hearingaids, etc., are aligned--I find that my music-reproduction system sounds better than ever.. This Saturday evening, it happened again, and I have to write that the system sounded better than it EVER has in about 65 years of being an audiofool.. The music was Edward Elgar's Organ Sonata, o. 28 (orchestrated by Gordon Jacobs), with Richard Hickox conducting the BBC National O. of Wales and recorded by Chandos (in multichannel, of course) and released on SACD CHSA 5049..  BEST...EVER.

Frontend is still an Oppo '203 discplayer driving via HDMI my Marantz '8805 pre/pro.  Mid-fi?  Maybe..  Backend is still the Super-7s with their humble AQ GO-4 speakercables.

Changes in my system from the last best-ever event?  Surely the biggest difference is the return of my significantly improved Atma-Sphere MA-1 v.3.1 poweramps but this time with more main-PS-caps bypassing and also after replacing a few slightly noisy output tubes.*  Other changes are the inclusion of AudioQuest's best interconnects, Dragon balanced (XLRs)..  These 3- and 5-meter singles are quite expensive, but now I know that they're worth every penny.

I've been experimenting with several SETs recently--see earlier notes--but I'll be selling them soon.
.

* I use Russian Winged-C 6H13Cs and in the frontend a mix of Tung-Sol round-plate and BRIMAR curved-plate 6SN7GTs/CV1988s.

[corndog71]

https://youtu.be/9Ao_taobq44

[jeffreybehr]

Sad to write...my Super-7s are for sale.. These are one pair of the original 20 (?) and in silver and black.. MUCH-improved x-overs and includes a complete rewiring loom of UPOCC SILVER conductors made by Sonic Craft.. Pls PM me if you're interested.

[Jaytor]

I heard the Super-7s at CaptainHemo's place. These are really nice speakers.

[jeffreybehr]

Just read this entire thread; WOW! Here are a few of my changes the last-couple years; I'll try to be quick.

Wanting more...what?...maybe just more, I bought a pair of Vandersteen 7.2s and HPA-M7s, their bespoke high-quality hi-pass amps.. While I was using them, they were the highest-rez, most coherent-sounding, FULL-range speaker/poweramp system I've ever heard.. But...after months of loving them, they ended up sounding short.. Yes, short, as in the soundstage started around the floor and extended upward to about the top of the speaker, stopping substantially short of my ceiling.. So this spring I ordered a pair of Sound Lab Majestic 745 ESLs.

https://www.soundlabspeakers.com/majestic/



They were delivered about a month ago and sounded excellent, as in extremely resolving, projecting wide, deep, and TALL soundstages, and, being full-range with only one diafram*, VERY coherent and MUSICAL.. With adjustable bass and 'Brilliance' controls, they're quite adjustable tonally, and are quite extended and powerful in the bottom three octaves.. After trying several relatively hi-power amps with the SLs, I fell in love with the highly musical sounds of a pair of Pass Labs X260.8s.

I still have my Super-7s and they're still for sale, retrieved at my house in Phoenix, for $5K.. PM me if you're interested.


* Another petpeeve of mine is the STUPID use of 'ph' for a simple 'f'.

[corndog71]

What didn’t you like about the 7’s?  Or was it just regular audiophile nervosa chasing the next shiny thing?

[pboser]

* Another petpeeve of mine is the STUPID use of 'ph' for a simple 'f'.

So how do you like living in Feenix?

[Tyson]

What didn’t you like about the 7’s?  Or was it just regular audiophile nervosa chasing the next shiny thing?

I can answer for me as I am also moving on from my Super 7's.  In all my years doing audio show coverage and also listening to tons of systems at friend's houses, the Super 7 was the 2nd best speaker I'd ever heard. 

The LineForce was the only speaker I'd heard that was better and I'm moving up to the LineForce.  It's basically the big brother to the Super 7's so I'm able to re-use all the drivers, subs and amps from the Super 7's for the LineForce. 

I never thought I'd be able to own the LineForce because the midrange drivers are no longer in production.  But I stumbled upon a used set of 4 about 6 months ago on eBay and bought them up.  Pure luck. 

Anyway, the LineForce cabinets are just finished being made and shipping to me in the next couple of weeks.  I'll probably sell my Super 7 cabinets for cheap, and whoever buys them will need to source all the drivers themself. 

[jeffreybehr]

What didn’t you like about the 7’s?  Or was it just regular audiophile nervosa chasing the next shiny thing?

Same as the V-steens--soundstage too short/low .