What audio system do you have, or plan on getting?

[Mandryka]

He said that? Life would be much simpler and less expensive if true. When the day arrives to replace my in excess of a decade old pair of Western Electric 300B's a decision has to be made spend £2000 or £200.

He said he did some blind testing with a friend and it proved his point. He'll put you right . . .

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I've done a lot of tube rolling, and I'm not sure that's wrong.

I gave up on tubes....too hot in the summer

Yep, but they're great in the winter! 

PD

[Fëanor]

...
They {tubes and FETs} both do the same thing. I'm not sure why one is more "musical" than the other, except that the vacuum tube has substantial capacitance and other physical effects, complicating its behavior and making it more difficult to achieve accurate signal preproduction.

Tubes produce more harmonic distortion, particularly 2nd & 3rd order.  The result is pleasing for some people, sort of like caramel syrup on the sundae.

[Spotted Horses]

Tubes produce more harmonic distortion, particularly 2nd & 3rd order.  The result is pleasing for some people, sort of like caramel syrup on the sundae.

Quite so, but of course you can use a digital signal processor to tweak harmonic distortion to your hearts content.

[Daverz]

Yep, but they're great in the winter! 

We've been experiencing "May Gray"* here, when the marine layer from the Pacific Ocean gives us cool, overcast days, so maybe I'll fire up the Rogue monoblocks.

* There is also "June Gloom".

[Pohjolas Daughter]

We've been experiencing "May Gray"* here, when the marine layer from the Pacific Ocean gives us cool, overcast days, so maybe I'll fire up the Rogue monoblocks.

* There is also "June Gloom".

It's been unusually cool here, so I haven't had to [yet] aim a fan at mine [or at me] when they're on.

And go for it! 

PD

[drogulus]

    I only use tubes for guitar and bass amps. If I had a favorite power tube it would be the 7591/a. It was designed for home stereo amps and receivers to produce high power in a small package while requiring a modest drive signal, thus allowing for fewer tubes in total. This was the last advance in power tube design, having entered the market in 1957.

[Irons]

Quite so, but of course you can use a digital signal processor to tweak harmonic distortion to your hearts content.

That is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[Fëanor]

Quite so, but of course you can use a digital signal processor to tweak harmonic distortion to your hearts content.

True ... but why do anything the easy way? 

[Valentino]

That Fisher receiver is beautiful.

[drogulus]

    I'm replacing my fake Oppo ("Chinoppo") with the new Reavon UBR-x110 UHD player. It's an x100 plus SACD, but otherwise identical as far as I can tell.

    The Oppo and clones are the best USB media players for MKV videos. All of my videos are on portable drives through a powered hub. All music is on one of them.

[DavidW]

I'm still going strong with my Panasonic 4k player.  It upconverts better than Oppo did.  It has an algorithm that detects edges and applies antialiasing.  It works surprisingly well.  While dvds don't look sharp, it makes them look much cleaner and film like.

[drogulus]

     I considered the dp-ub820 but the manual warned me off with the limits on the USB. Otherwise it looks very good.

[Mandryka]

What you see is a Conrad Johnson MF200 being used to drive Quad ESL 63s. All the gubbins is because it hums and so I've had to put it somewhere where it doesn't annoy me. That meant bringing in the garden extension cable and buying an extra long interconnect - a more discrete 8m extension cable has been ordered.

Is it worth it? Well, yes for this reason. Conrad Johnson transistor amps can do timbre - I knew that because I have their smaller version, the MF80. However this MF200 monster amp can also grip big loads like these electrostatics.

Let me ask the question again - is it worth it? Yes, because it's making Leon McCawley's Schumann CD sound more like a real piano than anything else I've ever had - it does the piano attacks and it does the piano overtones.

So despite the hum, the expense, the trouble of finding somewhere to put it, the enormous weigh of it, and the fact that every time you turn it on you feel as though you've powered up a nuclear power station - I'm pleased.

[Harry]

What you see is a Conrad Johnson MF200 being used to drive Quad ESL 63s. All the gubbins is because it hums and so I've had to put it somewhere where it doesn't annoy me. That meant bringing in the garden extension cable and buying an extra long interconnect - a more discrete 8m extension cable has been ordered.

Is it worth it? Well, yes for this reason. Conrad Johnson transistor amps can do timbre - I knew that because I have their smaller version, the MF80. However this MF200 monster amp can also grip big loads like these electrostatics.

Let me ask the question again - is it worth it? Yes, because it's making Leon McCawley's Schumann CD sound more like a real piano than anything else I've ever had - it does the piano attacks and it does the piano overtones.

So despite the hum, the expense, the trouble of finding somewhere to put it, the enormous weigh of it, and the fact that every time you turn it on you feel as though you've powered up a nuclear power station - I'm pleased.

I would love to hear that set-up

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Recent purchases. General Electric 6ca7 probably made in the 1950s and RFT (Eastern Germany) el34 in the 1980s. The pics are from the web.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

What you see is a Conrad Johnson MF200 being used to drive Quad ESL 63s. All the gubbins is because it hums and so I've had to put it somewhere where it doesn't annoy me. That meant bringing in the garden extension cable and buying an extra long interconnect - a more discrete 8m extension cable has been ordered.

Is it worth it? Well, yes for this reason. Conrad Johnson transistor amps can do timbre - I knew that because I have their smaller version, the MF80. However this MF200 monster amp can also grip big loads like these electrostatics.

Let me ask the question again - is it worth it? Yes, because it's making Leon McCawley's Schumann CD sound more like a real piano than anything else I've ever had - it does the piano attacks and it does the piano overtones.

So despite the hum, the expense, the trouble of finding somewhere to put it, the enormous weigh of it, and the fact that every time you turn it on you feel as though you've powered up a nuclear power station - I'm pleased.

Have some questions for you:  What is that orange and black thing to the right of it?  Is it a fan?  Er, and (pardon), any way to tidy up the cables there?  Just a thought.  Also, is there anyway that you can deal with the hum?  For what it's worth, I have tubes in my system and you can hear a very tiny bit of sound when nothing is playing, but I don't notice anything when I'm playing music.

Best,

PD

[Mandryka]

Have some questions for you:  What is that orange and black thing to the right of it?  Is it a fan?  Er, and (pardon), any way to tidy up the cables there?  Just a thought.  Also, is there anyway that you can deal with the hum?  For what it's worth, I have tubes in my system and you can hear a very tiny bit of sound when nothing is playing, but I don't notice anything when I'm playing music.

Best,

PD

The orange thing is an electrical extension chord from the garden because it was the only one long enough. A more appropriate one has been ordered, and when it arrives it will be tidied. The hum is dealt with by putting it far away from the listening position - hence the need for long wires etc.

[DavidW]

What you see is a Conrad Johnson MF200 being used to drive Quad ESL 63s.

I also notice the absorbing panel behind the speaker, i.e. room treatment.  You really go the extra mile!

[Mandryka]

I also notice the absorbing panel behind the speaker, i.e. room treatment.  You really go the extra mile!

I tell friends that it's a work of art - genre Yves Klein's IKB 79, but not blue and not painted. It is also very good for making interesting lighting effects - there used to be an uplighter floor lamp in front of it, but the place is taken now by Big Conrad.