[gooberdude]

Thanks Jim!!

At this point i'm puzzled by the increase in bass performance in the last 24 hours...   Its due to other tweaks though, not necessarily to do with the WAVE-8's themselves except for the new powercords.   

Once i removed the Belles and my Muse amp I was left with a spare set of Ultimate Triplepoint footers...both WAVE 8's are just sitting on a Timbernation maple plat on the factory rubber feet (all screws removed, feet adhered)  these pointed brass footers make my TVC sing like a Opera star and bring out BIG bass performance...  adding these under the TVC made a huge change compared to the flat topped mapleshade set i was using.

honestly, i can't tell much of a diff between the bass of the Muse 100 vs. the WAVE-8's (now), which sais a lot.   And they image and are as nice sounding as the Belles...which has merit as well.

last night is the 1st time i've had a complete set of Flavor 2 powercords too, finally got rid of the final DH Labs Power Plus AC cabling...   this has a LOT to do with my impressions. 

bear in mind I have $450 in powercords on these $300 amps...

the biggest surprise was what the small pointed weight on my Imod did...and this is all coming from a person who is 3 days into a bare room, no treatments.
Hopefully after work i'm picking up the Tune Pak...should be real interesting then.   The way my system sounded last night almost made me forget about treatments...

I doubt i'll spend much more $ on these, but i have been itching to install new IEC inlets somewhere.  For $20 total with the decent Furutech iec's it might be a fun weekend project & requires no solder.

the change in performance from having both amps powered by pc's with $15 Wattgate plugs and DH labs cable compared to Oyaide P-079 male, Furu Fi AG iec & Flavor 2 cabling is insane to my ears...  i hate it when this happens...

For $225 this pc is hard to beat, especially when mated with SWO-XXX outlets.

Chris Venhaus knows power cables for sure.

The hardest thing when looking for a tube amp was trying to find one w/o a volume knob....   what's the deal with that??    i don't solder - yet.  After having 2 crappy resistor based passive preamps for years (Belles GR8 and a Creek) i'm really hesitant to buy an integrated.

the Sophia Baby's do have quite a following.   

I may tube roll, i like Mapleshade & Herbie's tube dampers too.

My biggest fear now is getting hooked on some tube that's crazy expensive...i'd go hungry trying to re-tube a 300B amp!!

If i buy a pair of OB subs, the Sterling Auggies, the WAVE 8's may be a fixture in my room for a long, long time...   I already have the plate amp for the Auggies, just waiting for them to be released.

Just based on my fun last night, i don't get why people seriously into this hobby wouldn't keep a tube amp handy, or use it solely.   For subs and deep bass stay with SS, but for music...man, the tubes are a revelation.

i was gung-ho on the idea of using the Belles & buying Promitheus' active preamp...that's not gonna happen for some time.

Glad you mentioned cleaning everything, I spent about 2 hrs per chassis cleaning...went through 10 dirty Q-tips.    Its my new gear ritual pretty much...clean everything, remove all the screws...put about half of 'em back!

I have a spare set of Eichmann Cablepods and a set of solid silver RCA's from Promitheus...they are just waitin' for the right opportunity.  more than likely i won't install them here though...i can't solder and the local shop will charge me $120 for the labor.  the stock plugs seem fine and dandy...


matt

[doug s.]

matt, i wouldn't bother w/the sophia baby, unless you really need the extra couple watts.  i had one, (you can buy these brand-new off ebay for <$200 dirct from china), they are nice, but not really a big step up (if at all) over the modded wave-8's, imo...

and, as you say, if you cross over your mains to subs, the main issue w/the wave-8's disappears.  they don't have to do the lowest octaves, & this makes them less harsh in the upper ranges - the two shortcomings of these amps.  i never used them w/o subs, so i didn't have those issues.   

if you can handle only 5wpc, this will get you close to as good as it gets at any price, imo, & it's only twice the cost of your wave's.   aa  i cannot believe this amp is not sold yet:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatube&1182523412


doug s.

[mcgsxr]

Agree with Doug, SE is the way to fly... IF you can handle the low power, and light bass that most produce.

I biamp with a plate amp too, so the 50+ year old Magnavox console amp really only handles 80/150Hz and up, depending on the Xover settings etc.

Love my tubes!

[gooberdude]

I've only heard good things about Almarro amps, and one with V-caps?  that'd be sweet.

If i upgrade down the road it may be one of these, a Vista Audio amp, a Vaughan Carina or a tube amp custom built by Nick @ Promitheus.  Nick's trannies are something else, wish i had them everywhere..


the Vaughan amps are the darling of Hawthorne Audio...

[jrebman]

matt, i wouldn't bother w/the sophia baby, unless you really need the extra couple watts.  i had one, (you can buy these brand-new off ebay for <$200 dirct from china), they are nice, but not really a big step up (if at all) over the modded wave-8's, imo...

Yes, but when you do equivalent mods, plus some decent output caps, there seems to me at least, to be a pretty noticeable  difference.  But as you point out later, a SEP EL84 will be a very significant step up in sonics.

and, as you say, if you cross over your mains to subs, the main issue w/the wave-8's disappears.  they don't have to do the lowest octaves, & this makes them less harsh in the upper ranges - the two shortcomings of these amps.  i never used them w/o subs, so i didn't have those issues.   

That's a pretty important distinction.  I don't think those are all the issues with the Wave-8s, but if that is what you experienced in your system, who am I to tell you otherwise.  I still say it is a really nice amp at it's price point.

if you can handle only 5wpc, this will get you close to as good as it gets at any price, imo, & it's only twice the cost of your wave's.   aa  i cannot believe this amp is not sold yet:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatube&1182523412

The only reason that amp is still for sale is because I didn't have the cash on the day it was posted.


I will have one when the timing works out.

-- Jim

[eric the red]

matt, i wouldn't bother w/the sophia baby, unless you really need the extra couple watts.  i had one, (you can buy these brand-new off ebay for <$200 dirct from china), they are nice, but not really a big step up (if at all) over the modded wave-8's, imo...

and, as you say, if you cross over your mains to subs, the main issue w/the wave-8's disappears.  they don't have to do the lowest octaves, & this makes them less harsh in the upper ranges - the two shortcomings of these amps.  i never used them w/o subs, so i didn't have those issues.   

if you can handle only 5wpc, this will get you close to as good as it gets at any price, imo, & it's only twice the cost of your wave's.   aa  i cannot believe this amp is not sold yet:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?intatube&1182523412


doug s.

Hmmmm...How do you think a pair of Meadowlark Kestrel Hot Rods at 89db efficency would work with that Almorro in a smallish room? I just happen to live down the road from Portland...

[jrebman]

Hmmmm...How do you think a pair of Meadowlark Kestrel Hot Rods at 89db efficency would work with that Almorro in a smallish room? I just happen to live down the road from Portland...

These are a transmission line speaker, no? What does their impedance curve look like?  As long as the impedance is flat and not too low, you should be fine.

It might help to know your musical tastes, volume expectations, and room dimensions/ listening distance,  but I'm pretty confident that as long as you aren't expecting to rattle the foundation, this will cover a whole lot of musical territory.  If it's any help, I plan to use mine (when I get it) with  pair of GR-Research A/v-3s -- approx. 90.5 dB efficient, 6/8 ohm impedance, nice impedance/phase response profile, in a 10' x 16' x 7.5' room with a 3' x 6' closet in one corner, with a listening distance of about 7 feet, and my musical tastes are all over the map.

-- Jim

[doug s.]

Hmmmm...How do you think a pair of Meadowlark Kestrel Hot Rods at 89db efficency would work with that Almorro in a smallish room? I just happen to live down the road from Portland...

as was just said, i think the only issue you might have would be impedence - the almarro has taps for 8 & 16 ohm speakers.  i am not sure how much they would like a speaker rated at 4 ohms.  i hope someone buys that amp soon, before i succumb & buy it to run a bi-amp set up!   

doug s.

[gooberdude]

FOR SALE:    PAIR OF MINT/MODD'D ANTIQUE SOUND LABS WAVE 8 TUBE MONOBLOCKS

$325 SHIPPED TO YOUR DOOR IN CONUS.


I have to let these little guys go, but they won't be my last tube adventure for sure.

Since ownging these i've installed a few pieces of Black Hole Damping pad on them, check the pictures in previous posts on this thread...

I should be receiving more BHP this week and plan to add some to the transformers themselves, same as i did on my TVC.   BHP can be removed very easily....


8 watts per channel of tube monoblock goodness.   Who wants it?     It has Auricaps & upgraded resistors from a previous owner.

Sounds great now that the chassis is damped & that the trannies are isolated.


Matt