The Steve Hoffman forum. I actually posted your review there as it was the first comprehensive one and went far beyond the video ones. It made no difference to the grumblers there. They just can't accept that Decware components can have great value and produce amazing playback.

I'll definitely post comparisons with the Sophia Electric. These are giving great sound and I think (especially as they were demo tubes) they are fully seasoned and dishing it out.

I have both of those Roy Haynes on cd. Interesting sessions. Man, Roy is still with us, and drumming all the way!

Just finished
Chick Corea + Origin "A Week at the Blue Note" disc 2



I really love this box set. Great music in sound that makes you feel you are there if you use your imagination. If only Chick didn't love those bright Yamaha pianos!

From the shelves

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Dang! Yeah this must be it! I thought and measured that the pot works both ways but stupidly haven’t considered that the log slope only works one way… thanks for clearing that up for me.

Seems like resoldering it is… which I’m dreading because putting the pot in there was quite the puzzle work and I don’t want to destroy it all…

The last of the Roy Haynes in this stack.

A stereo re-issue from '85 on Prestige, Japanese pressing.


Roy Haynes, Cymbalism

Diaphragmatic absorbers done right are definitely a cure for bloated(pressurized) bass. Those are like a paper towel wicking up a puddle of water.
The corner DAs that are in the charoit soaked up the 50/60 hz standing waves well. Before placement of the absorbers the room had overhang of bass in theater mode. After, the volume could be turned up more without any overhang. Also, in stereo mode the room can handle larger drivers as compared to the single 6" full rangers that were previously used.

My UFO2 will arrive any day now and I've got a chance to grab a Lab12 Pre1 at a good price. This got me thinking. My understanding so far was that my current DAC can output 2V and that technically I don't need a pre-amp.

However, it would seem according to this thread, that a preamp would add flexibility in terms of changing the sound signature with the gain riding.

So essentially, if my understanding is correct, with the high gain of lab12 pre1 and ufo2 in the chain you could get a similar signature as to say what Tori can do, and obviously you could reduce the preamp gain and bring back the smoother UFO2 signature.

Thomas and stereo did a review of Tori mk5 and ended up saying that UFO2 is the sweeter and his preferred amp, but that it's not either/or situation and that unfortunately for our wallets he'd like to have both at disposal. So my thinking is that with a pre-amp I could achieve a similarish thing as having both amps at disposal, but at a far lower cost.

Also, prior to reading this I had an idea to eventually get a 2nd amp in the system, a Line Magnetic with a 845 power tube - to quote Herb Reichert "To my ears, a properly designed amplifier using directly heated thoriated-tungsten tubes always sounds more vivid, elegant, direct, and brilliant". Same thing applies here, if the preamp gain helps with the "body, vividness" etc. then depending on the results, there's no point in going for the secondary amp for the different sound signature.

I might've oversimplified a bit, but hopefully it does make some sense?

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Excellent! You're in a great place!

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I'm in agreement with what you have said. I wasn't as clear as I could be.

That's all before it "leaves" the speaker or instrument. I'll try an analogy.

An observer is sitting in a room. A tennis ball flys through the window bounces around knocks a few things over and comes to rest. It doesn't matter if it was thrown, hit with a tennis racket or shot from a tennis ball launcher. The room and observer saw what they saw. Once the ball entered the room the ball took the path it took. The method of getting the ball into the room doesn't matter. From the observed data, there is no way to know which method was used to get the ball into the room.

Same thing with speakers once the energy leaves the speaker the room takes over and the energy must go somewhere. The room processes energy, how the room process the energy has more of an impact of how sound sounds than the source.

The two audio clips show how two different rooms process energy and how it sounds different.

I've heard people say the room is 50-70% of the final sound. On the low side if 50% of the final sound is controlled by the room, Correcting room issues is going to give a better value per dollar than swapping out components. My experience is diaphragmatic absorbers are hands down the best from a performance perspective for the lower frequencies which are also the hardest to manage.

If diaphragmatic absorbers are not an option, I found the GR-Research OB subs to sound better than the SVS sealed box sub. As JBZen and DD mentioned the way the OB subs load the room is different than a box.

This isn't true, but this is how I wrap my head around how OB bass is different. Let's say the subs are square to the room. They are moving the air in one plane (forward and backward) while a box speaker is moving air in 3 dimensions.

Another analogy, take a bath tub filled half way with water. Put you hand in and move it back and forth quickly in the tub. That's OB bass. Once the water settles smack the water with your palm that's box bass. This is not accurate however, this is what the differences feel like to me.

I think you'll be happy with them Lon. The 300Bs aren't as initially sharp as some of the other Cryotone tube types. I found them denser than the WE300Bs. I haven't heard the Sofia Electrics, so I'll be interested in your comparison thoughts.

Which other forum is the Sarah being ignorantly dismissed on? I may just have to copy my review there....

I use a Cryotone Bundle in my Sarah. They sound amazing. The benefits are many, the two best are a) the tubes are individually selected and tested, and b) these tube combinations are chosen to work synergistically, where the sum has an even greater benefit than the parts.

The difficulty in outfitting a Decware amp comes when attempting to maximize the sound quality - you begin to tube roll. Availability of good quality NOS tubes is dwindling. The tubes we often receive have been "tested", which these days can mean virtually nothing. One poor tube could hold back the entirety of the sound quality improvement of the others. It can be frustrating, and ultimately costly.

So, I decided to pay more upfront for a high-quality base-level set of tubes. There may be tubes out there that I could discover that improve what I'm hearing right now...but I have no interest in attempting to seek them out. I am taking that money and simply purchasing a second Cryotone bundle to ensure I retain this sound for years to come.