“If I get some money I buy tubes. If there is any left over I buy food and clothes.”

The only way to give any kind of educated answer is what you said:

What amp?

How much do you listen?

And mostly how interested in tube rolling?


You can spend all you have or not buy tubes for years or anything in between.

A Decware UFO tube replacement cost would be dramatically different than that of the Sara. Tube replacement costs is amp dependent.

Whatever tube amp he is considering, instruct him to get a list of the tubes and look up cost for each tube up on the internet. That would be a helpful answer that he can determine himself.

A friend of mine is interested in getting into a tube amp and he asked me a question that I really wasn't able to answer.
He wanted to know how much a year he would need to budget for replacing tubes?

I said that of course it would matter on what amp he bought and how much he played it and if he wanted to play around with tube rolling.

I'm a bad person to answer his question because I just change tubes when fire is shooting out of the top of them and have never really taken up interest in rolling them.
Yes, I've owned a Torii for 15 years and are still playing the exact same type of tubes that came in it, call me weird.

So what would be a good figure to throw at him, $250-500 a year?

It's good. I can hear every instrument clearly. That's a great factor in my estimation. I certainly have lesser quality recordings of Evans Trios that I still enjoy (such as all those in "The Secret Evans"). . . .

https://cerra.substack.com/p/bill-evans-the-secret-sessions



This Resonance release sounds better than many. These European broadcast recordings are generally pretty darned good sounding.

Quote:


Ah, that is the same recording. How do you rate the sound quality?

According to discogs it's the same. I don't do files and I'm not going to spend that money on that vinyl.

https://www.discogs.com/release/9597013-Bill-Evans-Trio-Live-At-Hilversum-1968

https://www.discogs.com/release/10176837-Bill-Evans-Another-Time-The-Hilversum-C...

I posted the wrong title above. This is the one from Resonance:

Quote:


I have that too. Same trio but a (very) different set and I like it a lot. I'm going to give Hilversum another listen today.

Listening to disc 1 of this new release from Japan, Miles Davis “Paris Jazz Festval - Salle Pleyel - 10/1/1964” 2 disc hybrid SACD set from Sony.



Followed by

"Carmen McRae" Bethlehem US cd

Quote:


Certainly there is validity to your comment.  In this case it's the change system.  I say that because it's not just what I hear but also what I feel and when it comes to feelings they are somewhat involuntary, can't be forced.

In the case of the Norah Jones Turn Me On it was the sound and character.  I had reason to experience this again this morning, not that I set out to.  The Plixir BDC/Lumin U2 Mini is powered by the modified DHC3 cable.  I was putting things away and had in my hand a modified Puritan Classic cable.  HMMMM🤔... I wonder... so I swapped cables.

Indeed there was a difference.  I listened to the Norah Jones track and another that tells me if the "feeling" is being conveyed... Elton John, Yellow Brick Road - Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies bleeding.

The intro to Funeral For A Friend will either sound "interesting and absolutely creep me out", goose bumps on my forearms and lump in my throat or just sound interesting.  I can't force that, it either happens or it doesn't.  Also, if I'm being creeped out, at the same time I'm seeing the intro to DR. Zhivago as well.  The part where the young lad looks out of the cellar window toward the graveyard on a winters night, wind howling and branches tapping on the window glass.

With the modified Puritan Classic, nice sound, very detailed, not as much separation and no goose bumps, no lump in my throat, no cellar video being played in my mind.

With the modified DHC3, there's depth and separation and goose bumps, lump in my throat and I can almost hear the wind and feel the cold in the intro to Dr. Zhivago.

In no way am I discounting the validity of your comments. When I listen I also wan't to feel emotion as being conveyed by the singer and musician.  No matter how attentive to the sound that I may be, that alone will not trigger feeling.

I have this Evans material on a cd release from Resonance Records, "Another Time." I may like the music a bit more than you because. . . DeJohnette is one of my own drumming's big influences, I just love to hear him play with Evans.



Edited to correct image of Reasonance release.

Right now, disc 2 of the Ike Quebec "Complete 45 Sessions" released last week on Blue Note. Quebec's sound is so full and enticing, and he has both the spirit of the swing era and the modernism of Rollins--I also really appreciate the A&R work he did for Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff.

My first Lost Recording was so good I got another, Bill Evans live in Hilversum, Holland in 1968. It is live Bill Evans, so it is objectively awesome, but the recording isn't as good as Getz and Gilberto in Berlin and the music is a little less engaging (at least on first listen) than some of the recent Elemental CDs. YMMV.



24/176 AIFF download

Y’all are making me feel very lucky. I live on a small island with a phone cord for internet and I’ve never had a problem streaming hi-res. If I did, I always have a phone hotspot, or somewhere in a box there are a few cd’s, vinyl, turntable, and cd/dvd player. Luckily I’ve never needed any of it!

My Torii MKIV has been shipped to Decware for service. It's the perfect time for someone to purchase the amplifier as the lifetime warranty can be transferred to the buyer. I'd be happy to see the amplifier for 3000 dollars. Thanks so much. - Bikehappy1

Sold. - Bike

Bump

Geshelli makes quality gear. I have a J2S AKM4499 with Burson V7 Vivid op amps. It’s been the go to DAC in my system for the past couple of years up until I got a Denafrips Pontus 15 recently. Which is outstanding.

The Geshelli is not embarrassed by the Pontus 15. If you want to try op amp rolling the Geshelli DACs are a great platform.

I've been buying (and posting here) their cds for some time, I have Brubeck, Dearie, Ellington, Getz, Blakey, Catherine, Monk, Davis, Fitzgerald, Getz/Gilberto etc.from their listings. Very good sound, and many performances not available elsewhere.

Dom suggested The Lost Recordings in the Vinyl forum and I checked them out. Very impressive. Vinyl is out of my price range so I got a hirez download of Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto live in the Berlin Philharmonie  (where the Berlin Philharmonic plays its home games) in 1966. And I'm impressed. Great sound, even if Astrud's mic is a little hot and the music is as fantastic as you would expect. If the quality of the LP pressing lives up to expectations you're going to be very happy Dom.



24/176 AIFF download.

P.S. They also have CDs for Lon

My internet is back, for now.  Right now enjoying this one from the Bill Evans Trio.  Streaming through Roon and my pair of 25th Anniversay Zen SE84C+ monos.  I had given them a rest for a month and was playing music through my Torii.  

"David Bowie Live at Montreux Jazz Festival" disc 1

From the box set "I Can't Give Everything Away"

Great performance in killer sound.

A cold morning. Quiet as a tomb. Memphis is not feeling up to the day yet. I got enough sleep and can't shut my brain off so I'm up.

Pulled this up from the shelves, bought long ago and neglexted.

Michael Brecker and Eliane Elias "Amanda" Denon cd

Having physical product is sure a good thing when the internet is down and streaming is your main source! Glad you are getting to experience some good Art Pepper.

Just received an email from The Lost Recordings talking about their new line of Vinyl… The Sapphire Edition.  This line boasts a whole host of features that you can read about here….

https://thelostrecordings.store/en/products/thelonious-monk-live-in-rotterdam-19...

Needless to say that I had to buy one when I noticed that Kevin Gray was involved.  The albums are expensive, so I emailed the company and told them that I was a vinyl collector, and that I was interested in the Thelonious Monk album.  I humbly asked for a small discount being a newly registered customer, and to help offset the shipping charges from overseas. I did receive a nice email from the company who offered me a  5% discount. It’s a preorder…so once it arrives, I will report back.

So tonight my internet was on the fritz from the nor’easter in our area.  Thank god for physical playback….now I know why Lon doesn’t stream!!  Tonight is a vinyl only night…and currently enjoying this one from Art Pepper

Aretha Franklin "The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967–1970" Atlantic 2 cd set, disc 1

The Plangent Process really brings out subtle magic in these singles. Wow.

The live Los Angeles Philharmonic recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra is an excellent performance and a spectacular recording. Perhaps the widest dynamic range of any recording I have. You really need to crank the volume up to hear the delicate woodwind pianissimos which means the brassy climaxes will rattle your windows and possibly annoy your neighbors.



24/96 FLAC download

Aaron Parks "Big Little III" Blue Note cd



This is helping to chill me out.

A daily bump.

Released yesterday, Ike Quebec "The Complete 45 Sessions" 2 cd set on Blue Note, mastered by Kevin Gray.

It sounds great.

Hey, I'm not interested in the tapes in any format--I can't afford to go there and am very happy with my mainly digital setup.

Bet they will sound great though!

Interesting link Lon. Looks like IEC is the only eq available for those offerings. Good price for one on one transfer with the masters. My thing is NAB eq even though Steve's ZP3 mod is adjustable for both formats. I really don't want to fool with that setting on my ZP3.

One of the thoughts I keep returning to over the years that your Norah Jones story reminded me of is that often when I get a new piece of equipment or alter something in my system I find myself listening more intensely than when everyday listening- which then leads me to wonder is it the change in system or just me paying more attention. A good A/B session will often find the answer but I’ve honestly found myself about 50/50 on that answer.
Not saying this is your situation, just admitting this anecdote that I have found myself in more than once and helps me relax when I start getting the itch to try something new.

The Sibelius 6th is one of my gotos when I want mellow. And Okko Kamu and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra is rapidly become my goto recording.



16/44 FLAC download

SOLD

Thought tape heads might be into this news.

https://tinyurl.com/59ue8jce

Quote:


Hey Randall,

That's the thousand dollar question, isn't it. I mean you can always do better, what matters is are you getting value.

Some people have woodworking skills and can build their own speakers and stuff. I'm fortunate that I have some computer skills and access to surplus computer parts so it is cheap and easy for me to play around with stuff. This particular project cost me nothing but time. And my time is pretty cheap these days.

I also made the decision early on that I wasn't going to do streaming. I've said before that managing the network at a mid-major research university was my day job for years and either because or in spite of that I wanted nothing to do with networking and my music. That is not a trade off many people would make, but it works for me and has removed a whole 'nother rabbit hole of audiophile nervosa (and expense).

None of that answers your question, which I expect was (mostly) rhetorical. One of the many great things about this forum is getting to know other listeners and being able to share their experience. For me that has been a great guide for allocating my audio budget.

SOLD!

A quick update on the addition of the Plixir Elite BDC MK2 to the Lumin U2 Mini.

Now 30+ hours.  One evening I was not very happy with the sound and chalked it up to burn in.

The following day I started again with the idea to just let it play so that what I thought was the burn in process could continue.  Started with a Norah Jones "Turn Me On" tune, I thought that would an apropos tune to start with and I noticed something that I never noticed before- the character of the piano.

It did not sound like an acoustic piano and I wondered if what I was hearing was an electronic piano.  Looked up the instruments that were used and sure enough it is supposed to be a Wurlitzer Electronic piano which apparently is noted for its "Distinctive warm and gritty sound... often used in jazz recording".  That is exactly what I was hearing.

Checked that by playing pieces with various acoustic pianos and the clarity was striking.  This wasn't detail for the sake of detail.  It added to the flow of the music.  Voices are now so textured.

My intent was to let the burn in process continue and to leave the sound room door open so that I could have background music that would be audible from my office.  HA! not sure where I ended up spending more time, office or sound room.

James I’m not familiar with those components, but I am curious if my bits would sound better if I changed from my blue sound node 2.1 to something else. I keep telling myself the slight improvement wouldn’t be worth the money so I don’t spend any but that doesnt keep me from thinking about it …😎

Randall

On to my OG LP of Joni Mitchell "Hejira"



This may be a bit of an unpopular opinion but this probably my favorite Jaco Pastorius appearance.

A cold fall mrning. Typing is hard with Memphis piled on me in the listening chair! I'm online less. . . a good thing?

Starting off with a revisit to Gerald Clayton "Happening: Live At The Village Vanguard" Blue Note cd

I think a lot of us know that when it comes to playing digital music there is more to it than "bits is bits."

For years I've been playing digital files on an old, low end Windows laptop running foobar2000. I replaced the wallwart power supply with a LPS, I turned off a bunch of unnecessary Windows services and I bought a nice USB cable from Network Acoustics. Each of these steps resulted in improved sound and I thought I was set for file playback.

Then, long story short, I recently acquired an old Intel NUC and installed Volumio. And now my files significantly better than ever. I'll admit I was a little surprised how much better everything sounded, esp. since some years ago I tried several different music distros, including Volumio, and none of the were as good as foobar, for any number of reasons. The Volumio UI is fancier than I prefer, and it doesn't have a couple fringe features that foobar does but now I'm sold on Volumio. I don't know if it is the software or the hardware or some of both but my bits are sounding better than ever.

I got a C-9 unit about 6 months ago. Rebuilt by 4krow, who often contributes to the Forum, I took a risk and put it in my system. As it has worked out, it is one of the best audio investments I have made in the past 5 years. Some tracks with the C-9, like those featuring a female vocalist, don't sound as good as without it. I simply turn it off when that's the issue with a push of a button.

I'm glad to hear that someone else likes their C-9 as much as I do.

I've changed the computer and software I use to play files and I've been reveling in the improved sound. One of my favorite albums is Eternal Heaven, a collection of arias from Handel Operas. And it sound heavenly.



24/96 FLAC download

That's very interesting. Back in the 80s, when I was first getting into "high end" audio, the C-9 was new and Bob Carver was doing everything he could to piss off Stereophile, my audio buddy had a C-9. My recollection is that on 3 records it was amazing. On everything else it (at best) made recordings sound different, but mostly just made stuff sound funny. And for those 3 records you had to have your ears within a millimeter of the exact sweet spot or the magic disappeared.

Of course back then our systems were pretty pedestrian compared to my/our current Decware rigs, and what passed for stereo imaging was not much more than being able to hear the different between the left and right channel. The idea of a detailed, layered and transparent sound stage would have been crazy talk. I wonder if the Sonic Hologram was just way ahead of its time, or actually needed something like a low(er) power Decware system rather than the mega-amps with huge speakers Carver sold?

Looking forward to future installments.

Hey Paul,

Lots of great information and insight for the DIY folks! Very informative and descriptive. Wish I could take advantage of it, but I rely on smart people to do this type of work for me, lol. Anyway, it's interesting to see how your many projects come together.

I've listened to the discs you sent me and certainly found some great music on them. Some of the better recorded/mixed/mastered really shine. My main listening though has been through my streamer/DAC. I don't know how it does it but the streams sound incredible compared to my CD transport (which is connected through digital in, to my streamer/DAC) so it uses the DAC as well. Obviously, some of the discs you sent sound incredible as well but somehow the streamer outperforms the CDT. Granted, the streamer/DAC has been modified by MWI so I understand that it performs much better than stock, but I guess I wasn't expecting the synergy of the streamer and DAC in one unit to really kick some butt compared to the CDT. Don't get me wrong, the transport can sound awesome but the continuous great sound, track to track to track from the streamer keeps me so satisfied. I just like selecting a genre or playlist and letting it surprise me with randomly picked tracks. In this respect, I really get a feel for the tracks that have been expertly mastered, kind of like some of the tracks on your discs. (not to mention the recording format of some of those incredible discs).

You mentioned the difference between wav and flac created files. I guess I didn't realize there would be a discernable difference, but I do have a USB input to the streamer. Maybe in the future there might be a chance to hear the difference.

Have fun with all the projects you have planned.

JB,
Sorry to hear about the broken clavicle. I hope you're well along with the healing process. Good luck to you.

 I’ve had the pleasure of owning Decware equipment for almost two years now. The previous few years were spent reading and researching what it was I thought I wanted as I transitioned from my solid-state system. I had decided that I wanted to finally explore tube amps and go the way of low power and high speaker efficiency. As you can imagine, there were quite a few options but none as compelling as Decware for me. Being a small family business, made in the USA, reasonably priced, and lifetime warranty/support were among the things that really appealed to me. I knew the wait would be long, but in late 2021 I got on the waiting list and watched my name rise to the top as I know many before me have done. I was able to bide my time by reading the forum, design logs, product manuals, and comments.  It was quite a revelation when in late 2023 I finally heard what many had described throughout this forum. The rich tube goodness, great soundstage, neutrality, and transparency with absolutely no feedback. I very much enjoyed what I heard when I first turned my system on and continue to absolutely love it now that it has been seasoning for some time.

The purpose of this thread is not to go on about the Decware gear since everyone who owns some knows exactly what I’m talking about and how great it is, but it’s to discuss a little bit about how the Carver C-9 sonic hologram generator seems to enhance and complete an already fantastic Decware system(or any relatively high end system for that matter). I was a little apprehensive to add yet another component to the mix as I already had a Zbit, Zrock2, and CSP3 to complement my source(streamer/DAC) and the SE84UFO25. I like to keep things simple but when the right piece is added for the right reasons, it enhances the system as a whole with no loss of transparency or added coloration and so it is with the Carver C-9.

I must give credit to ‘red pill sanctuary’ (aka Paul) for bringing this component to our attention quite a while ago in one of his threads. His very positive and enthusiastic comments about the device really piqued my interest and I wondered if my setup could benefit from the C-9. I figured what the heck, if it made things worse, I could remove it and be back to where I was before. The potential gain seemed truly worth the small risk. RPS (Paul) alerted me to an older model for sale online and I ended up buying it. When it arrived, I immediately unboxed it and the C-9 looked great in appearance. It wasn’t until I removed the cover to take a look that I was shocked. Someone had completely eliminated/bypassed the fuse protection and the soldering job as a result was shabby/inferior to say the least. However, everything else was intact, and all the other parts seemed to be original. I had done some research previously and knew I could get the unit updated/refreshed if need be and I figured I’d go that route eventually, so I wasn’t all that concerned. I wanted to know if the unit actually worked but not before putting it through some tests before hooking it up. With the cover off I plugged it in to see what would happen. The red power light came on, and a good sign was that there was no smoke, no buzz, no weird happenings. I left it like that for quite a while and eventually unplugged it for the night. I did the same thing the following day, just plugged it in while I worked and kept an eye on it. I finally got the confidence to insert the C-9 into an older backup stereo system and there was no issue. The time came to insert it into the Decware setup between the CSP3 and the UFO25. I slowly powered things up all the while keeping a close eye on everything. There were no issues, so I just let the equipment sit powered on for a while. The C-9 was cool to the touch (which I would expect) and all other components were doing just fine. Now came the moment of truth, would it sound good? (I mean how could it, the way the soldering and wires looked, not to mention how old the rest of it was) but I wasn’t prepared for the new sound coming out of my speakers. I was speechless for a minute and couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The C-9 was enhancing an already great Decware sound and definitely bringing something more to the table.

I’d like to continue in the near future by showing some pics of my setup/room and describe in more detail how the C-9 is being used in my situation, how the sound was enhanced and what I’ve had done to it.

These  little guys play incredibly well in th office, but they have a back wall within two feet of them in the office setup. I was only privy to a brief showing of them in the big room( in the same position as the ZROBs) and it was also very nice. I had wondered if they would transfer well to the larger environment, and they seemed to do at least fairly well, if not very well... but, I would need a serious second and/or third listen to really zero in on my thoughts of their use in a more open environment... for what its worth.

That is sweet! I bet it picks up stations from the moon!

What bands does it pick up?

A cold morning -- 40!

Starting off with



The second half. Wow.

On to
Stan Kenton"Contemporary Concepts" Capitol cd