Made the switch to all tube gear around November 2009. Never going back to solid state! This system can get very loud, even with "only" 8wpc from the Coincident Frankenstein monoblocks. Nice match with the Zu Essence speakers. Subwoofer adds a lot in a large listening space. Any changes you would recommend?
Combo tube preamp/CD player. Computer audio ready via USB port.
Clearaudio Champion Limited SE
Only 1000 made; clear acrylic plinth, separate outboard motor, Unify 9" carbon fiber tonearm, Talismann MC cartridge.
Zu Audio Essence
Full range driver augmented with ribbon tweeter, 97 db/watt/m efficiency, custom jet black gloss finish.
Aliante Pininfarina One
Accurate and detailed Italian made monitor.
Aliante Pininfarina Vela
Custom made for the Pininfarina One.
Moon M-1 Monitors
Upgraded LSA-1 monitors, Auri caps, Cardas posts, new crossover. Back up rig right now. With optional stands ($500 extra)
JL Fathom F-112
12 inch driver with three inch travel, self-contained 1500 wpc Class D amplifier
Clearaudio Smart Matrix
Automatic record cleaner. 25 year and older vinyl needs all the help it can get. Works very well.
Adcom GTP-400
Older solid state unit. Emergency backup rig in case the house is destroyed.
Jeff Rowland Model 102
100 wpc Class D amp. Largely relegated to backup duty now. But as it gets dog hot in the summer, may find more usage. Not a huge step down from the MastersounD at all.
LG Electronics LE5400
55" LED-LCD HDTV wall mounted. No surround system; use as two channel video set up.
LG Electronics BD590
Blu-Ray DVD player with wireless connectivity
Zu Audio Libtec
10 foot pair for the Essence
Zu Audio Mission LS cables
10 foot pair, 5/16" spades
Nordost Blue Heaven
Bi-wired 3m pair
Signal Cable Ultra
9 ft bi-wired pair
Zu Audio Mission IC
15 foot XLR pair for the subwoofer.
Zu Audio Mission XLR
5 foot IC
Coincident Speaker Tech Extreme IC's
2 meter RCA pair specifically for the Frankensteins.
Audio Metallurgy GA-0 Interconnect
1.25 meter pair, terminated with NextGen Signature RCA plugs
Audio Metallurgy GA-2 interconnect
1.5m XLR pair
Discovery Plus 4
3 meter XLR pair
Signal Cable Analog Two
Custom made 6'/10' splitter IC to run both the MastersounD and JL Fathom off the Ayon CD5 preamp.
Black Mountain Cable Pinnacle Gold Interconnect
2m RCA pair
Coincident Speaker Tech CST PC Power Cords
6' pair for the Frankensteins.
Balanced Power Technologies BP-1 Ultra
Power conditioner with three high quality power cables, upgraded 15 amp wall outlets. Thanks to my Audio Guy for setting me up.
Steve Blinn Designs Three shelf extra wide rack
Black anodized aluminum frame, walnut stained shelves. Superb isolation. No feedback at all from TT.
Steve Blinn Designs Amp stands
Custom sized for the Frankenstein monoblocks, black anodized aluminum finish and walnut stained maple platforms to match main rack
The only change I would recommend is for you to send me the Mastersound Compact 845. I've been looking for one for ages, but can't find one in my price range.
Very nice system you've put together. I agree with your statement regarding tubes. I finally switched a few years ago now. Everything is tubes now, except Class D for HT.
Hi. I ran into an old post of yours and was simply curious if you ever finally got to hear what your inherited Infinity RS9 Kappa loudspeakers could actually do. I see you went in a completely different direction. I enjoy some different friends systems very much which are quite similar to yours. I've stuck with my collection of Infinity, Carver, Apogee....which I still have.
I am running my pair of RS9 Kappa(originals) with a pair of McIntosh MC2600 left in stereo hooked up vertical bi-amp which are capable of 600rms/2200peak w/102.5amps peak current from each of the 4 channels driven by a Carver C19 Reference vacuum tube pre-amp(rolled to E88CC 5-gold pin black plates). It was sad to see all those people turn you off because they were mostly wrong. They're not that terribly hard to run, BUT, everyone "was" correct in stating that you'll never hear what they actually sound like until you throw enough power(current) at them. I think you made the right move perhaps. I don't think there are many who would really want to go down this road. The K9's will absorb "both" MC2600 into power guard at run and hide volumes and sound absolutely incredible(from outside) but also at any level below that even down to a wisper and you can still feel the bass a little in your chair.
If they're still in storage and you want to entertain yourself, find a pair of old Hafler XL600 amps for cheap(I've had them). They will run your Kappa 9 very well. Beautiful warm detailed(tube) sounding mosfets with the muscle. Get them recapped, maybe buy a couple of the cheapest sets of upgrade boards from Musical Concepts or Van Alstine,
vertically bi-amp them and you will be completely amazed with what you had in your closet. Anyway, I'm sure they're gone. Would be fun though. 😁
Hey, Charles. Nope, the Triton is still up with my friend. Should get it back this spring. The Franks sound great. Just got the MastersounD back, it's fun jumping back and forth. Choose what you want- detail or plain old grunt.
Hi Tony, How have you been? have you had the chance to compare the Ayon Triton with the Frankenstein? They`re such vastly different amps in terms of power rating and circuit/ design goals I`m curious to read your impressions. By the way, how`s the Frankenstein sounding with your turntable?
LOL. You and the TV, Vernneal....it's the only place in the house I can watch something other than Oprah or Judge Judy. So it has to stay....
Added an Ayon Triton recently. Letting a friend break it in for a couple months before it takes its' place on the rack. Couldn't pass up a nice deal. Should really rock with the Zu speakers.
The Matrix is a nice addition. Easy to set up and use, and it does a great job cleaning and reconditioning old vinyl. My records are all 25-35 years old, and some were beaten up pretty good, so there was a lot of hissing and popping. With the Matrix, a good deal of that was eliminated. Can't get rid of all of it, but it got rid of most of it.
The Blinn rack is a great iso rack. Was worried that I'd still get feedback through the TT with the huge bass the JL can pump out, but it's dead quiet at any volume. Credit to the isolation qualities of the rack, as well as the solid build of the Clearaudio TT. Fat, heavy plinth, with three large stainless steel isolation feet....thing weighs over 40 pounds. Record cleaner arriving soon. 25+ year old vinyl that hasn't been cleaned in that long needs a little help. Hope the Clearaudio Matrix provides that assistance.
dont forget preamps have a input and output impedence because your cd player or dac goes in then the signal goes out to your amps. But that should be ok considering your high quality equipment but ive seen cases before where that was the whole problem so it never hurts to check!
100k ohms is completely normal thats what most good amps are and 50k ohm is great aswell so you want to stay at at least half that so yea 500 ohm 600 ohm is more than perfect! Alright now you at least know how to make heads or tails of some specs which is more than alot of guys do so now your a little ahead in the game! Just always make sure you keep this in mind and if you ever have doubt just try to go against it and then youll understand! Have good one!
Yes, it does help. The input impedance on the Frankensteins is listed on Coincident's site as "100kohm". Can that be right? Maybe...the MastersounD is listed as 50 k Ohms. Coincident's linestage preamp has an output impedance of 500 ohms, so that fits. My EAR is 600 ohms, and the CD5 is 300 ohms on output impedance, so it's all good.
I hope that helps and explains some of what I meant. Alot of putting a good stereo together involves knowing stuff like this more than just a good ear; however your ear will know the difference.This is really the number 1 reason alot of people hunt forevr and ever and cant ever be happy or check this out people will talk about they never got the right sound until they bought all of their equipment from one company or youll hear in threads about people talking about one cable brand or one brand of equipment though out just gives a synergy or using only one brand of equipment is the way to go,but the reality is if you use one brand then all of the impedences are right everything is supposed to match up so thats the "synergy" or the "magic" of using a single brand of equipment in your stereo. If you just make sure you output impedence(preamp/cd player,ETC) is as low as posibble and its never higher than your input(preamp, amp,etc) youll be fine. For example my preamp is 10 ohms and thats not a missprint 10 ten ohms output impedence so it will match up with anything! I hope this makes sense as knowing this can save you alot of time and money! Not to mention heart ache!
Yeah, I do. Not well, but I try. You must have seen the snare in one of the pictures....I collect snares. That one is a Limited Edition Johnny Craviotto snare. One of the few Lake Superior Sapphires. Solid shell made from 700 year old maple salvaged from a Lake Superior shipwreck. The wood is partially petrified, giving it a bluish (sapphire) hue. I believe Johnny had very few of the Sapphire shells ever made. This shell was one of the last seven he had. They're all gone now. Had it finished with gold flanges and gold lugs. Sounds awesome. Right now, I'm using one of Craviotto's Mahogany snares in my kit. He makes killer drums. I also have one of his limited edition Black Cherry snares, a Tama walnut snare,a Tama Starclassic snare, a Brady Jarrah stave snare and a Noble & Cooley solid shell snare. Fitted the Lake Superior with a 30 strand snappy...sounds killer. Overall, the solid shells wipe the floor with standard multi-ply constructed snares. My main kit is a Tama Starclassic seven piece birch set, with Zildjian and Paiste cymbals.
You're right, it does help with adjusting the sound of the system. You know exactly what those drums, especially the snares, should sound like.
Oh tube equipment has very tight tolerances but im not so much talking about interconnects or speaker cable or speaker impedence but the speaker impedence/ohms does have to be right on the dot with tube. You cant go too low but im sure you know that. What I mean is all equipment has output and input impeadence for Ex. your preamp has a output impedence of 10k ohms and your amp has a input impedence of 5kohms well that is a bad match. A rule of thumb is always make sure your output impedence is less than your input impedence. Like if your preamp has an output of 2k and your amp has an input impedence of 10k your golden! With tube this is EXTREMLY important! with tube you want to try to keep your output impedence as close to half of your input impedence. EX. output 5k ohms and amp/input 10k ohms is perfect. I hope this makes sense if not I can give you the email of someone who can explain this alot better that I can. This is one of the things that people over look 90% of the time and 90% of the reason people keep upgrading. Theres nothing wrong with what they have its just the impedence is off so they lose bass and lower middrange and their stuff sounds thin and dry. Kinda like speaker placement alot of problems can be solved by just moving your speakers in or out. Ive got 3 years of electronics so I read specs on stuff and look for these things but most people dont or they look at the wrong parts of the specs. Theres a reason the companies state all those input and output impedences on their specs. Because they are important!
Hey do you play drums? Ive played for 25 years well maybe more but when I listen to music I always judge the accuracy of a recording on the drums. Just habit and from the fact that I know what they are supposed to sound like especially the snare. If I dont feel the pop of the snare I adgust until I do.
LOL, Jay. Too late. Too much invested to go back now. Besides, I really enjoy the tube sound and messing with them, rolling and stuff. Would like to roll some 300B's, but they're expensive.
Stupid question- what do you mean by matching impedance? I know this is something I should have thought of before, but I don't have much of an idea as to what components you're talking about. Everything has impedance- cables, sources, speakers....can you give me some pointers?
Yea I have a suggestion! Run from tube now before its to late!HA HA! just kidding but as you know it gets expensive and complicated. There are so many variables with tube. Just a word of advice always and I mean always make sure you equipments impedence is all matching. That can break any system but tube is especially prone. Enjoy and have fun!
