[rcag_ils]

Absolute Sound? Does anyone actually still read this magazine, let alone believe what it says?

Yes, I read them sometimes, but I don't believe everything they say anymore, I read them for the pretty pictures most of the time. I am sure some of the things they say may be true.



This guy in the picture told it like it was when he was alive, but after someone else took over his magazine, it was all about fancy cables, and $50,000 amps. I don't know about the early days of the Absolute Sound, I am not old enough.

I made a few comments (nothing terribly bad) in the past about Frank's equipment just to see what makes him ticks, that's about it. I still love the equipment that he builds, good stuff.

Nagsy really shouldn't have doubted Frank on this tube rectifier topic, or his amp will blow up on his face. No offense, but I think what Nagsy said was pretty funny myself.

[trebejo]

Well I got one of these Mullard rectifiers and darn it if it doesn't sound great. It may be a placebo effect, but I like the placebo and it's not too pricey.

It seems impractical to do a proper a/b test, since you have to wait a half hour or so after replacing the tubes to get the amp at its best.

This thread is my last best hope of finding out just why one tube is better than another. The general path of evolution of electronic equipment is supposed to arc upwards, but when it comes to tubes, it may not be so. 

What do you guys think was done right in Blackburn in the 1960's that is no longer being done anywhere today? Thicker wires? Nimbler fingers at the factory? General funding for tubes from military clients that have moved on to solid state, leaving us poor audiophools out of luck?

[dlparker]

Fascinating thread.  I just checked the guitar amp that I'm going to be playing through tomorrow - we're off this weekend and if I can get up at 11am and actually be awake, ambulatory, and all that good stuff before the crack of noon I'll hit my favorite local jam session at 1pm tomorrow.  The amp has a Sovtek 5AR4 with 03 08 stamped below the "Sovtek", so I'm thinking that probably means March 2008.  It's definitely not NOS, I really can't afford any of those puppies anyway.  The outputs are two JJ 6V6s, and when I fired it up and rebiased last night, it sounded pretty decent.  The recommended bias on the 6V6s for this amp is 20-24ma.  I try to keep them biased kind of cool these days.  The line voltage I experience on any given gig is not under my control, and I don't know what it is at any given time.  In my previous life as an IT consultant/troubleshooter (it keeps coming back to haunt me, but people DO give me money for it and I really like that) I have seen variations in incoming line voltage here in KC from around 103-127, according to the log files from APC's SmartUPS monitoring software.  The Radio Shack Kill A Watt looks really promising.  I get stuff from Radio Shack every once in a while, mostly for convenience's sake, and I have the same knee-jerk reaction to the Micronta name that someone on this board (I think) displayed recently, but with the Kill A Watt series I'd  looks promising.  I'd go for one that record the voltages so I could check it out after the gig, and it also looks worthwhile to have at least one in my apt.

Okay - here's an attempt at some substance:  what prompted me to post was the aspect of this thread relating to the importance of a very specific line voltage and a very specific bias in hifi power amps.  My favorite guitar amps are decidedly lo-fi.  One of my favorite sounds is a telecaster into an old Fender Tweed Deluxe 5E3 circuit cranked all the way.  It's loud but not ear-bleeding loud, and if you're playing a big enough venue it's a quite moderate volume level, but it can sure sing!  But hi-fi it definitely ain't!!!

[simon wagstaff]

Got my bits in yesterday and will pull out the soldering iron in the next couple of days. While I am at it I am thinking about replacing the power cord as well since the insulation is starting to crack just a wee bit. I know that changing the power cord will make zero difference in sound but I don't like the looks of the cracks....

I am a little concerned though as all the power cords I am seeing have three conductors so I am not sure what to do about the ground line. Leave the pin in place and just don't connect it at the amp end?  cut the pin at the plug end? Look harder for a two wire cord?

thanks so much!

[avahifi]

Source for polarized two conductor power cord.

Go to hardware store, or Home Depot, etc.

Buy a two conductor 16 gauge polarized extension cord.  Cut off one end.

I will leave it to you to figure out which end to cut off.   

Regards,

Frank

[boycephoto]

I installed the diode mod this afternoon.  I took about 15 minutes.  I have not had much time to listen since then, just some background solo piano before going to a wedding reception.  The system sounded as good as ever, I can't say the mod improved the sound (yet) but the background was black and I felt as if I was listening to a piano solo not a hifi system.   This is a an extremely nice amp. 

Oh, the DJ sound system at the wedding reception was just horrible.  Distortion, distortion, distortion, no bottom end,  as the saying goes, "no hi's no low's" it has to be Bose.  It is amazing what some people call good.       

Happy tunes,
Dave

[Tom Alverson]

Source for polarized two conductor power cord.

Go to hardware store, or Home Depot, etc.

Buy a two conductor 16 gauge polarized extension cord.  Cut off one end.

I will leave it to you to figure out which end to cut off.   

Regards,

Frank

I will second this recommendation and add my 2 cents.  I did the same thing when rebuilding an ST-70 but I found a very nice replacment power cord at the hardware store that was meant for a coffee pot or hot plate or something like that.  The insulation was more flexible than a standard extension cord and was also designed not to melt when subjected to high temperatures.  Doesn't change the sound at all but won't melt if it comes in contact with the tubes or your soldering iron.

TOm

[rcag_ils]

Source for polarized two conductor power cord.

Go to hardware store, or Home Depot, etc.

Buy a two conductor 16 gauge polarized extension cord.  Cut off one end.

I will leave it to you to figure out which end to cut off.   

Regards,

Frank

Actually you can get this kind of power cords from Digikey or Mouser for a little over a dollar, but if you need one right now and can't wait, then go to the hardware store. Or if you have some equipment from the "silver, good spec, high power, direct drive, era" sitting in your garage, and won't get used again, then just cut one off them, that's how I cannilbalize some of my parts in the past.

Don't mean to change the topic here, actually the "silver era" units have a lot of good parts. Japanese companies put good push bottons, power cords, potentiometers in those units, their tuners had good sensitivity, and selectivity, but they just don't sound good, that's all.

[oneinthepipe]

I'm with Lefty on this one. Oneinthepipe has had some success with other brands, maybe he will chime in.

Wayner

I am using a NOS Philips Jan rectifier tube in my U70, and the improvement was significant.

[dB Cooper]

Oh, the DJ sound system at the wedding reception was just horrible.  Distortion, distortion, distortion, no bottom end,  as the saying goes, "no hi's no low's" it has to be Bose.  It is amazing what some people call good.       

Happy tunes,
Dave

Pretty much unrelated to original topic, but this gets me worked up...
Seems no live event is complete anymore without some "mini" PA system puking its guts out to play three times louder than it needs to be to fill the room. I was just recently at a live music event at an Apple store. Solo singer/guitar player. One singer, one guitar, one mini PA system driven by a mixer/ amp with about 75 knobs and sliders on it. I was fifteen feet away. I *THINK* I liked the music... I say 'think' because I could hardly make out a word. It wasn't excessively loud, thank God, but the intelligibility was nil. I had the distinct impression that I would have been able to hear much better with the PA off.

By contrast, I just finished listening to "So What" off Miles' "Kind of Blue" and felt like I was THERE. 50+ y.o. recording...

(boycephoto: Bose= Buy Other Sound Equipment)

[charmerci]

Pretty much unrelated to original topic, but this gets me worked up...
Seems no live event is complete anymore without some "mini" PA system puking its guts out to play three times louder than it needs to be to fill the room.

Amen, brother!

[gjs_cds]

Exactly---if it's not unplugged, it's hard for me to find the motivation to attend a live performance...

[dlparker]

Quote from: boycephoto on Yesterday at 02:57 AM
Oh, the DJ sound system at the wedding reception was just horrible.  Distortion, distortion, distortion, no bottom end,  as the saying goes, "no hi's no low's" it has to be Bose.  It is amazing what some people call good.  :scratch:     

Happy tunes,

Quote from: dB Cooper on Today at 08:17 AM
Pretty much unrelated to original topic, but this gets me worked up...
Seems no live event is complete anymore without some "mini" PA system puking its guts out to play three times louder than it needs to be to fill the room.

Amen, brother!

====
Well now all this explains some things to me.  I remember hearing a "high end" stereo system in mid-early 70s that had a pair of Bose 901s suspended from the ceiling about.  I thought it sounded pretty good, but keep in mind the time frame.  I was almost certainly in some sort of altered state at the time, starting with my drug of choice at the time - alcohol - and followed by who knows what, possibly nothing but probably something.  Also, I was "interpreting" - trying to follow the intended musical content of the source.  Around this time Bose came out with something like the 901s in a PA format, and since I have always been a "roadie" in addition to "I\m in the band, man...", I thought "How cool!  I can unload and setup and play and load up and still have some energy left to chase..."

We REALLY need a new PA, and there are so many competing opinions (7-10 piece band, depending on who is available on that date).  Some of them are on the order of "If you put the speakers up that high nobody can see me!", so who knows what we will end up getting.

[adydula]

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

I just got (2) 1N4007 diodes and got the soldering iron out and heated up.
Opened up the Ultravalve and Woooooooh!

My Ultravalve already had the diodes installed for the 5AR4!!

Nice!

Oh well....I called Frank and said 'Thanks!!' I wish I had called him or looked inside before I ordered the diodes!!

Jolly Gee this cose me $5.31 delivered (smiling.....all's well..)

Back to listening!
Alex
 

[turkey]

We REALLY need a new PA, and there are so many competing opinions (7-10 piece band, depending on who is available on that date).  Some of them are on the order of "If you put the speakers up that high nobody can see me!", so who knows what we will end up getting.

Carvin does a pretty good job on speakers. If you've got a bit more money to spend, you might look at Mackie or McCauley.

Carvin mixers are ok, as are some Peavey ones. If you want something a bit better, then Mackie is a good bet.

For power amps, Crown is the only brand I'd buy.

Don't forget microphones. Get some good ones and treat them like you'd treat your guitar. Keep them in a good hard case and try to avoid letting them bounce around in the back of a truck.

[Wayner]

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

I just got (2) 1N4007 diodes and got the soldering iron out and heated up.
Opened up the Ultravalve and Woooooooh!

My Ultravalve already had the diodes installed for the 5AR4!!

Nice!

Oh well....I called Frank and said 'Thanks!!' I wish I had called him or looked inside before I ordered the diodes!!

Jolly Gee this cose me $5.31 delivered (smiling.....all's well..)

Back to listening!
Alex
 

Put them up for sale here at the AC, others may want to do the upgrade.

Wayner

[adydula]

Anyone interested in these diodes for the upgrade PM me.

Alex

[dlparker]

Carvin does a pretty good job on speakers. If you've got a bit more money to spend, you might look at Mackie or McCauley.

Carvin mixers are ok, as are some Peavey ones. If you want something a bit better, then Mackie is a good bet.

For power amps, Crown is the only brand I'd buy.

Don't forget microphones. Get some good ones and treat them like you'd treat your guitar. Keep them in a good hard case and try to avoid letting them bounce around in the back of a truck.

We're playing outdoors on a flatbed truck tonight.  One singer has a Shure Beta58A, one horn player who fancies himself the MC has an SM-57, the drummer is mic'd up pretty well, and the rest of the mics I'm not sure.  I'm sure they're something on the order of Radio Shack cheapos.  I brought a Sennheiser 835S to one of the gigs for one of the singers (on the RS special) to try out, but he didn't like it.  In fairness to him, I got the mics (4) used off eBay at a really good price, so there's the possibility they may be counterfeit. 

I'm looking at the Heil PR-35s, but they're pretty pricey, although folks who seem to know what they're talking about think pretty highly of them.  I'd also looked at QSC 8" and/or 12" powered mains with a 16-channel Allen Heath (?) mixer, but we're going to have to start commanding some serious bucks before we go that route. 

Are we way off (as in "..I KNEW I shoulda made a right turn at Albuquerque..") topic here or what?  My apologies for that.  One more fascinating day on the AVA board. 

Gotta go get ready for the gig!

[oneinthepipe]

Anyone interested in these diodes for the upgrade PM me.

Alex

Thanks for the diodes.  They arrived today, and I will install them this weekend. 

[adydula]

oneinthepipe!

Glad they arrived ok!

Remember to install them with the correct polarity!!

Thanks Again!
Alex