tooslowmonroe
Member
Full Disclosure: I have only been listening for about two hours...I am far from a professional listener and do not possess poetic attributes...
For years, I have been contemplating tube power for my SL3s. I am not an Engineer by any trade, and I have not been blessed with the gift of flowerly writing...alas...I am an average Joe. I work long hours, get home from work and spend time with the wife and grandchild until he finally goes home. After dinner and time with the wife...there is very little time left for me.
When I do get time, I cherish my time in "my room"...my budget friendly room...
I will get well into depth later as I update the thread. I know, if I were reading I would have all types of questions.
I wanted to get one thing done and off my chest: PUTTING A TUBE AMP ON MY SL3s WAS THE BEST THING I EVER DID for my room.
Scouring the web for years, I was convinced that only a five-figure tube amp would be a worthy candidate to drive my ML speakers.
I have loved the ML sound for years...having had the wonderful experience of being a salesman in a high-end shop and basically getting to hear about any combination of high-dollar stuff I wanted to hear. The owners were fabulous people that would have the highest of high-end rooms open for anyone to listen to. I got to hear many a "speaker of the year", multiples of "class A" speakers...you get the drift.
For all that, which I just loved...when it came down to spending what little money I had...it was a set of ML Aerius I's that I took home.
They are still part of my life living as my surround speakers in my room.
I was fortunate enough to be able to get some SL3's and my room is just right sized for them.
Again, I'll soon add all the stuff about my room, associated equipment and the like.
I wanted to put something together for any average Joe out there that has been thinking about tube amp on their SL3's.
The amp I found was a used Yaquin MC-100B. The PO has changed all the tubes, and I have a box full of his experimentation tubes and stockers if I ever see the need to make changes. I will update all this data later and I don't have a clue what tubes are in the amp today.
What I can say...DO IT. Do not be afraid of all the crap that has been spewed on the web about tubes and MLs.
The Yaquin says it has 60W per channel and seems to boast a dual-mono design.
I love it.
It seems to be loud enough for me...I recorded 98db (C-weighted, slow) while listening to Dire Straights "on every street" at about the 3:00 mark (from the CD) when the whole band gets rolling.
To my ears, in my room, with my music...I have never heard my system sounding as good as is does today.
Yes, I have subwoofers that really help the bottom end. I did turn them off for a little bit last night...and the SL's sounded fairly nice with the tube power...I actually thought the bass sounded decent...now, I never really did much listening at all to the ML without the subs...but I think the bass sounds better today (could be that I also just replaced the woofers...see the SL3 woofer thread...)
Overall...I am here to say BULLSH!T to the internet that says it won't work.
Now, would a Stereophile Editor find faults in my sound...for sure...they could probably make a monthly article about TooSlow's sub-optimum listening experience, and tell me all the things that are wrong. I don't care. Do I know what a tympanic bloom is...nope.
Average Joe...de-stressing from an average life...listening to FUN music...I could not ask for a better combination.
Yello has never sounded better IN MY ROOM. Randy Crawford...OH MY...she sounds wonderful. Depeche Mode...I can hear individual singers now where before they were just kinda all together...you can really tell when Martin comes in now...his unique tones totally have "space" of their own. I don't really know how to maximize the thesaurus to describe the sound...I just know it gives me tingles now and I feel the same way I felt so many years ago when I heard my music in the High-End room for the first time...I don't want to leave, don't want the album to end.
Now...will my MLs eat these tubes alive...dunno...way to new to me to tell. PO says the tubes have 20 hours on them. I'm hoping I can get a couple of great years out of the set-up as it is. I also can't wait to read up more on the different tube varieties in the amp and what I may be able to tweak going forward. I had a blast with my little Pro-Ject Tube Pre-Amp for my turntable...and was surprised at the sound different tubes made.
Anyways...just wanted to throw this out for starters for anyone that may be considering going down this path.
I will try to make some time to get on here and describe my set-up and room in more detail. I will do anything I can to help anyone that may be considering this path. I wish I did not wait so long. I was so afraid to spend the money...but I always felt there was more in these speakers than what I was getting.
-TooSlow
For years, I have been contemplating tube power for my SL3s. I am not an Engineer by any trade, and I have not been blessed with the gift of flowerly writing...alas...I am an average Joe. I work long hours, get home from work and spend time with the wife and grandchild until he finally goes home. After dinner and time with the wife...there is very little time left for me.
When I do get time, I cherish my time in "my room"...my budget friendly room...
I will get well into depth later as I update the thread. I know, if I were reading I would have all types of questions.
I wanted to get one thing done and off my chest: PUTTING A TUBE AMP ON MY SL3s WAS THE BEST THING I EVER DID for my room.
Scouring the web for years, I was convinced that only a five-figure tube amp would be a worthy candidate to drive my ML speakers.
I have loved the ML sound for years...having had the wonderful experience of being a salesman in a high-end shop and basically getting to hear about any combination of high-dollar stuff I wanted to hear. The owners were fabulous people that would have the highest of high-end rooms open for anyone to listen to. I got to hear many a "speaker of the year", multiples of "class A" speakers...you get the drift.
For all that, which I just loved...when it came down to spending what little money I had...it was a set of ML Aerius I's that I took home.
They are still part of my life living as my surround speakers in my room.
I was fortunate enough to be able to get some SL3's and my room is just right sized for them.
Again, I'll soon add all the stuff about my room, associated equipment and the like.
I wanted to put something together for any average Joe out there that has been thinking about tube amp on their SL3's.
The amp I found was a used Yaquin MC-100B. The PO has changed all the tubes, and I have a box full of his experimentation tubes and stockers if I ever see the need to make changes. I will update all this data later and I don't have a clue what tubes are in the amp today.
What I can say...DO IT. Do not be afraid of all the crap that has been spewed on the web about tubes and MLs.
The Yaquin says it has 60W per channel and seems to boast a dual-mono design.
I love it.
It seems to be loud enough for me...I recorded 98db (C-weighted, slow) while listening to Dire Straights "on every street" at about the 3:00 mark (from the CD) when the whole band gets rolling.
To my ears, in my room, with my music...I have never heard my system sounding as good as is does today.
Yes, I have subwoofers that really help the bottom end. I did turn them off for a little bit last night...and the SL's sounded fairly nice with the tube power...I actually thought the bass sounded decent...now, I never really did much listening at all to the ML without the subs...but I think the bass sounds better today (could be that I also just replaced the woofers...see the SL3 woofer thread...)
Overall...I am here to say BULLSH!T to the internet that says it won't work.
Now, would a Stereophile Editor find faults in my sound...for sure...they could probably make a monthly article about TooSlow's sub-optimum listening experience, and tell me all the things that are wrong. I don't care. Do I know what a tympanic bloom is...nope.
Average Joe...de-stressing from an average life...listening to FUN music...I could not ask for a better combination.
Yello has never sounded better IN MY ROOM. Randy Crawford...OH MY...she sounds wonderful. Depeche Mode...I can hear individual singers now where before they were just kinda all together...you can really tell when Martin comes in now...his unique tones totally have "space" of their own. I don't really know how to maximize the thesaurus to describe the sound...I just know it gives me tingles now and I feel the same way I felt so many years ago when I heard my music in the High-End room for the first time...I don't want to leave, don't want the album to end.
Now...will my MLs eat these tubes alive...dunno...way to new to me to tell. PO says the tubes have 20 hours on them. I'm hoping I can get a couple of great years out of the set-up as it is. I also can't wait to read up more on the different tube varieties in the amp and what I may be able to tweak going forward. I had a blast with my little Pro-Ject Tube Pre-Amp for my turntable...and was surprised at the sound different tubes made.
Anyways...just wanted to throw this out for starters for anyone that may be considering going down this path.
I will try to make some time to get on here and describe my set-up and room in more detail. I will do anything I can to help anyone that may be considering this path. I wish I did not wait so long. I was so afraid to spend the money...but I always felt there was more in these speakers than what I was getting.
-TooSlow
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