System #214 (SL3)

[eknuds01]

If you do make it to RMAF it will be my great pleasure to have you over for a listen.

That goes for all folks from the site who may be in Denver for the festival in October. I'll just plan a mini ML Get Together! Food, Beverages, good friends and Tunes!

Nice. May have to take you up on that, Tim.

 

[eknuds01]

And it's a sweet one, too.

A few years after I bought it I changed the tubes from the stock Chiinese ones to NOS Valvos. That improved the sound, but shortly after that when I was in San Diego I came across some Gold Aero Platinum Grade Gold Pin 7308s (exact replacement for the 6DJ8) for $35 each (a great find). The improvement over even the Valvos was nothing short of amazing.

If you want to improve your SP9 with only a relatively small cash outlay, I cannot recommend highly enough that you replace the cheap plastic ALPS volume control with a DACT stepped attenuator (24 steps, I think). The improvement is HUGE. You can get the DACT for a little under $200 from www.partsconnexion.com. I think Michael Percy carries it as well. It's not a one-for-one replacement as you have to slightly increase the size of the mounting hole and run short wires from the DACT to the PCB.

This is something to consider. For the mounting hole, did you have to drill that out? What size bit did you use?

Erik

 

[Bernard]

This is something to consider. For the mounting hole, did you have to drill that out? What size bit did you use?

Erik

The enlargement was very slight, so I used a round file. You also have to file a small notch into which a tab on the control fits so that the whole assembly does not rotate.

The pin-out arrangement is the same as that of the ALPS.

 

[VanDaRo]

Nice rig you got there, Bernard. The only comment one could make is to consider replacing the panels with the new ones. The ClearSpar replacements really, really enhance the look of already beautiful speakers -- I get a smile every time I walk past my listening room.

Mine now have about 15 to 20 hours of break-in on them and they have calmed down considerably :music:. In another 20 hours, they should sound as smooth as silk:guitarman:

~VDR

 

[Bernard]

Nice rig you got there, Bernard. The only comment one could make is to consider replacing the panels with the new ones. The ClearSpar replacements really, really enhance the look of already beautiful speakers

Thanks VDR. Yeah, I would love to replace those panels, but it's not in the budget right now, and besides, the existing ones still sound great. :music:

 

[eknuds01]

The enlargement was very slight, so I used a round file. You also have to file a small notch into which a tab on the control fits so that the whole assembly does not rotate.

The pin-out arrangement is the same as that of the ALPS.

I am a little confused as to how this thing fits into pre-amp. Are there any fasteners involved?

I understand the need for the tab, because that will prevent the whole unit fom rotating when you want to change the volume. Also, I take it you used the stock nob. So the stock ARC nob fits onto the new volume controller?

In what way did this mod improve the system? What made you want to change this of all things? Also, with respect to running the wires from the DACT to the PCB, did that entail soldering?

thanks,
Erik

 

[Bernard]

I am a little confused as to how this thing fits into pre-amp. Are there any fasteners involved?

I understand the need for the tab, because that will prevent the whole unit fom rotating when you want to change the volume. Also, I take it you used the stock nob. So the stock ARC nob fits onto the new volume controller?

It fits the way any other volume control fits; it has a threaded shaft. You take off the volume control knob and undo the nut around the threaded shaft of the old control. This releases the old control, so you can remove it and replace it with the new. And yes, the stock ARC knob fits the new one fine; the shaft of the new one is very slightly longer. Note: before this process you have to unsolder the old pot from the PCB.

In what way did this mod improve the system? What made you want to change this of all things? Also, with respect to running the wires from the DACT to the PCB, did that entail soldering?

thanks,
Erik

This mod improved the clarity of the system top to bottom. My non-audiophile wife noticed it immediately. There were instrumental lines I had never heard before; voices were more alive.

I changed this as the old control got dirty and made a scratching sound when turned. I sprayed it with a cleaner, but the problem returned soon after. When looking for a replacement I read a bunch of threads on audioasylum, where the concensus was that a stepped attenuator is superior to any pot. Believe me, it is.

Yes, there is soldering involved.

 

[TrumpetDoug]

Bernard,
Why the cigar box looking on your electronics. Perhaps you just like cigars? That would be great I love em to. Or maybe something else is going on? Let me know.
BTW- I love the look of the Marantz stuff myself. I had at one time a Marantz receiver that looked just like your piece.

Doug - out

 

[Bernard]

Bernard,
Why the cigar box looking on your electronics. Perhaps you just like cigars? That would be great I love em to. Or maybe something else is going on? Let me know.
BTW- I love the look of the Marantz stuff myself. I had at one time a Marantz receiver that looked just like your piece.

Doug - out

Those "cigar boxes" are VPI Bricks. They are to damp out the covers of the equipment; they ring like bells (especially my ARC monoblocks). In the case of the VPI PLC it is to reduce the buzz of the transformer.

I got two of the Bricks free from VPI; I traded with Harry Weisfeld for my old Syrinx PU3 arm that I would have discarded when I bought a VPI arm; Harry collects old tonearms. Pre-9/11 I hand-carried the arm across the border on a business trip to D.C., and Harry shipped the bricks to my hotel. Worked out well. Imagine trying to carry that on a flight now!

 

[Bernard]

A New Acquisition

I recently picked up the PrimaLuna Prologue Eight CDP, after auditioning it in Montreal; it is an advance Christmas gift from my wife.

On connecting it up into my system I could not help but think that the singers seemed to have loosened their underwear ! Everything seemed to be less constricted and flow much better. I also got a better bass foundation; the cello really growls now. Everything is so much clearer top to bottom. I plan to do some tube rolling after living with it for a few months. I did buy all of the super board upgrades with it.

I also moved recently, so have updated my system pics (first few posts). I do not yet have the room dialed in; room treatments are in the works. I now have a problem in that my front wall is an expanse of glass. I do, however, have a much larger room (20x14x10.5), which is great.

 

[Bernard]

A Stand With a High WAF

I had two mismatched stands for my monoblocks, and was looking for two identical stands. I noticed that the two end panels of an old record cabinet I was throwing out were in great shape, so I disassembled the cabinet and trimmed the panels to size, then affixed spikes I got from OregonDV. This stands meet with my wife's approval; she prefers them to the old black metal stands I used to have.

 

[User211]

I have determind that holding your palms against the window panes to be a most effective form of damping. Therefore, before you listen, be sure to do it.

You might need some friends to help you out, of course...

Then again, there's always the dots!:devil::devil::devil::devil:

BTW: very nice pics. A pornographer in the making.

Is that speaker cable? Wow!

 

[Bernard]

Then again, there's always the dots!:devil::devil::devil::devil:

I may well have to go that route. Then again, if I can block the wave before it gets to the window.....

BTW: very nice pics. A pornographer in the making.

Thanks; I'll consider that a compliment, coming from a self-professed pornographer.

Is that speaker cable? Wow!

Yes, the much-hated-by-Nsgarch Cardas Neutral Reference. I like it.

 

[jfm]

nice system and room!

I'm looking with great interest at your ARC monoblocks. I still have those V140s on offer from my dealer, that I asked about in the ARC/CJ thread.

Could you please comment on your VTM120s, how they are to live with and what you like/not like about them. Thanks!

 

[Bernard]

Could you please comment on your VTM120s, how they are to live with and what you like/not like about them. Thanks!

Nothing to not like about them. They mate well with my SL3's; I bought them off a guy who told me that they did not mate well with his CLS. They let me hear the results of any changes I make. Recently, before getting the long interconnects I needed I was using an el cheapo interconnect; as soon as I installed the new one I heard the improvement. Same with the PrimaLuna. It seems like the ARC is not the limiting factor in the system. They are very reliable as well. That said, I just replaced the power switch on one of them.

 

[MiTT]

Recently, before getting the long interconnects I needed I was using an el cheapo interconnect; as soon as I installed the new one I heard the improvement.

WHAT!?!?! That's impossible!:ROFL:

 

[Bernard]

WHAT!?!?! That's impossible!:ROFL:

EW! Why do you say that ? !

 

[twich54]

EW! Why do you say that ? !

Bernard, Tim is such a "cable skeptic", LOL ! ........... NOT !!

I believe he's busting your stones a wee bit !!

 

[Bernard]

Bernard, Tim is such a "cable skeptic", LOL ! ........... NOT !!

I believe he's busting your stones a wee bit !!

Yeah, I know !

BTW Dave, my CDP is already broken in (100 hours just left on, not necessarily playing a CD). Imagine it after 500 hours !! :devil:

 

[amey01]

I just moved from a 16'x12'x8' dedicated music room to a 20'x14'x10.5' living room. Room treatments to come.

OUCH! That's gotta hurt - or does it? Why the move? I'd kill for a dedicated room (of decent size anyway).