Visit of Rajiv, Stevieboy and Santhosh

[captrajesh]

Adding a pic of the new AP speaker in the background while Mithun was performing:

Whoa, the speaker looks so beautiful. Can't believe it is a prototype.

 

[captrajesh]

Hmmmm made me wonder just what the Lyrita could do with upgraded trannies!

I took some time off and have visited Viren last Saturday when I was in Delhi. This is precisely what I had discussed with him.

Apparently the trannies available abroad are more than 4 times the cost of the amps

One of our FMs could afford and has chosen to be the proverbial 'bakra' (Guinna pig) Let's wait for the outcome.

 

[prem]

Hi Captrajesh

I am the guinea pig. A small correction. The upgraded trannies are 4 times the cost of the amps. Not 4 times the cost of the trafos. Viren has already started work on my amp. I am not going with the DHT pre. Just the autoformer vol control and the power amp. Viren feels this works better. Its purer and more dynamic

 

[stevieboy]

One of our FMs could afford and has chosen to be the proverbial 'bakra' (Guinna pig) Let's wait for the outcome.

Captn,

There's nothing guinea pig about the decision. It's a sure bet

Regards

 

[captrajesh]

Hi Captrajesh

I am the guinea pig.

I know that Prem; just didn't want to quote you without your consent.

The upgraded trannies are 4 times the cost of the amps. Not 4 times the cost of the trafos.

Uh oh, Prem actually that's what I wanted to write but somehow goofed up.

I am not going with the DHT pre. Just the autoformer vol control and the power amp. Viren feels this works better. Its purer and more dynamic

OIC. I'm very much interested to know the outcome. I'm glued on to this thread.

 

[prem]

Thanks Captrajesh. Have updated Virens feedback on that thread.

 

[santhosh]

Sorry have been busy and could not update the thread all these days.

The Bangalore trip started at Coaltrain's place. Great to meet someone from the same field and a very nice person to boot. A lovely place he's got. Cambridge audio CD player, Pathos hybrid amp and ProAc speakers. Listened to a few CDs including Harry Belafonte. My impressions were that the vocals were lovely. The bass however seemed to be not so tight. Maybe a little playing around with placement, room treatment after the system settles in after a while? Also the power is currently coming from an extension cord, changing that to a well built extension box should help a big deal all across the frequency range. Will be visiting him again once the amp has run in to help him change tubes. Another one in the tube gang

Agree with Steve's observations that the mids were very good but the bass could improve with change in placement or maybe the tubes need some more time on it. Rajiv suggested a tube upgrade (can't remember the name) and said it made a significant difference in Captain Rajesh's DAC which also originally used the same tubes as Coaltrain's. Spoke to coaltrain and we'll will be listening again with the Primare i30 to see if there is any change.

Then on to Santhosh's place. We started the listening with a Leben 600 amp then we listened with the Lyrita DHT pre and 45 globe SET amp. I feel a little awkward comparing another product to something I own, however in that system there was just no comparison. Anil has a similar system with his Altecs and there one could see what the Pass F5s were doing and they were doing a lot of things right. Here in comparison, the Leben fell short. I'm not going to compare price points I'm just comparing whole systems cos at the end of the day that's what matters. An individual product might shine in another system. eg I've heard the Leben at Arj's place and it did not seem out of place there.

Both are good amps in their own way, guess it is a sensitivity and synergy thing. I don't listen too loud and don't go beyond 80-85dB at listening position. The Altecs being ~102+ sensitive just need a clean tube amp, nothing very powerful. While the Lebens sounded great with the Altecs, the 1.5wpc SET amp (45 tubes) drove them well, had ample headroom and my ears liked them better. I did try the ATC SCM 11s with the Leben CS600 and it sounded awesome. It drove it very well and I was truly amazed with the warmth, detailed and dynamic sound - very intimate sounding system. Source was the Marantz CD-94. If I could afford the Leben CS600, I would have definitely gone for it.

But, my priority at the moment is to get amplification for the Altecs and the ATCs next. Reason is the Altecs were DIY and are slightly closer to my heart. I will address amplification for the ATCs a little later as I need to get new everything (source, cables, amplifications etc), so currently I am using the ATCs as fronts in my HT system. Sound is acceptable for Stereo at the moment as the Emotiva has a decent stereo pre-section and the NAD 216 THX has decent drive. Getting the Lyrita for the Altecs will also free up my ADCOM pre for use withe the ATCs. Whole lot of permutations and combinations...but getting there slowly but surely.

Back home, amps still lying on the floor unplugged, a long tiring weekend but the best one for a while

Thanks a lot Steven for getting the amps over to my place twice. This helped me listen to just the 2A3 integrated as well as the DHT Pre with the 2A3 used as a power amp. It helped me zero in on an amp for the A7s. Much appreciated.

The next system was mine which I will omit hehe.

Your setup is sounding even better now with the upgraded 2A3 and the DHT pre, it now has more depth and detail when compared to the previous listen. I prefer the 45 tubes in your system, they go very well with the rest of your gear. I was in Chennai last Sunday (was a quick visit as we decided to take a different route returning from a holiday in Pondicherry) and listened to Rajiv's system again....this time with his addition of the DHT pre. Again, the DHT pre has taken his system also the next level. Since we drove down, I also managed to get the Altec 805 horns and the Lenco L75 TT:clapping: from him. Now to set them up.

 

[GeorgeO]

Now the fun begins!


Now to set them up