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Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions (Read 5993 times)
Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #50 - 12/09/05 at 13:43:33
 
Keep going back and forth between a resistor in the lower radiator and no resistor in the lower radiator.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages!

Spent a few weeks with it IN.  Makes the Radials behave a bit more conventionally. . . imaging is more SPECIFIC and the sound and stage are tightened.  The treble and upper mids are really sweet.  They are a bit less focused without the resistor, but in that situation there is more bass and a wider deeper stage.

Ah, options!   Cheesy
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playntheblues
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #51 - 12/09/05 at 20:52:45
 
LOn, great to hear from you.  More info please.  Guy
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #52 - 12/09/05 at 21:38:32
 
Guy, whatcha wanna know?  Four pages of me being so happy with my RL-2s is not enough?   Wink Wink
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DaveCan
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #53 - 12/10/05 at 02:40:21
 
Do you still have the Z-box in the mix Lon or are you mostly running strait off the 685?.  Dave Smiley
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #54 - 12/10/05 at 11:21:14
 
I've taken the ZBox out.  It's a great machine, but. . . well I find that without a preamp between it and the Monoblocks, with the high output of the DEC685 and having to keep the gain on the Monoblocks so low, there is some compression of dynamics that I just can't ignore.  The sweetening is there but it feels like shaving off some detail and squashing some of the flow.  IT's not bad, but I prefer the straight into the amps from the DEC685 sound.  Partly also because of interconnects perhaps; I bought Decware Reference interconnects for use coming out of the ZBox and I don't prefer their sound to the PS Audio XStream Statement interconnects I have.  Those are so full bodied and clear, they make the Decwares seem pinched.  So. . . for whatever reason, the ZBox is vacationing in the living room where listening is less critical and it is doing a nice little job between my Sony vcr/dvdr and my B&O receiver.
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DaveCan
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #55 - 12/10/05 at 17:44:25
 
Thanks Lon, I like the idea of source to amp with nothing in between and I guess with your 685 there's probabley no real need for the Z-box in the mix. After posting what people would recommend in the under $1000.00 Decware amp category I'm hoping sometime in 2006 to get the Taboo. I'll just run it direct from my source and then go from there. I don't listen that loud so hopefully that will work out ok, besides the only tube amp I've ever owned was a Marshall JCM 900 lead series head so I'm sure this will be a huge step forward to what I have now.  Dave Smiley
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DaveCan
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #56 - 12/10/05 at 17:49:42
 
Ps, the way you've described your RL2's and latley Match with the 1.5's sure makes a guy wish he could check all this out, and deeper pockets would be nice too.  Dave Smiley
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #57 - 12/10/05 at 17:55:05
 
I know what you mean Dave.

I really think unless you have a big room and a leadfoot on the volume the Taboo would be loud enough. . . . I never use half the volume I could muster with my Monoblocks. . . probably never use MORE than half.
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #58 - 12/13/05 at 13:33:42
 
Okay, fiddling about with room placement etc. I've decided to leave the resistors IN the bottom (using 100 ohm resistors).  

Yes, I could use a touch more bass.  But no, I can't do without the dynamic focused magic these speakers have with the bottom driver "active". . . .
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #59 - 04/30/06 at 21:53:30
 
I've been away from home for a while except for two quick Friday night/Saturday morning periods, and I'm home with my wife finally for three days.  

I miss the Radials when I'm gone and when I come back it's really something to spend a few hours in their spell. . . . Nothing like it in my new "second life" in Houston.
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Gary_H.
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #60 - 05/01/06 at 14:46:38
 
Lon,

Though it is brief time, welcome home.  :)

Gary
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playntheblues
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #61 - 05/01/06 at 16:17:20
 
Welcome home Lon
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #62 - 05/01/06 at 20:46:02
 
Thanks!  I'm managing a full day at the office and then. . . back to Houston in the morning.
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Corey
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #63 - 05/01/06 at 20:51:09
 
Great to hear from you Lon!   Smiley
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #64 - 08/06/06 at 17:34:45
 
Well, I've been at home now for two weeks, leave for Houston again on Wednesday morning.

It has been so wonderful to be here with my Radials and Monoblocks and DEC685.  Yes, the laptop/powered speakers I have in Houston sound better than I expected they would and are doing a job of keeping me from collapsing from sonic deprivation. . . but this system here is just mesmerizing sometimes.  Listening to Jacques Morelenbaum's cello right now, the system has been on and spinning since Friday night. . . man oh man!
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #65 - 12/25/06 at 12:55:31
 
Well, I'm reporting a changed system.  We're home til the second half of February.  My wife allowed me to move the Decware/Mapleshade/PS Audio rig into the living room/dining room, and I set it up yesterday.

Wow.  I haven't quite got the tonality the way I want it yet, but man, the dynamics!  I know I had enjoyed dynamics in my listening room, near field, but. . . it's just so much better in this larger room.  

I'll be tweaking for weeks but I'm enjoying the sound a lot and the freedom from the near field situation.  It's a bit bass shy and  bright, but again. . . the dynamics are excellent, and you can hear straight through the midrange, no clutter at all.

These RL2s are just da schitte!
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60ndown
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #66 - 12/25/06 at 13:23:55
 
changeing rooms is going to change everything, it will take time to adjust properly and fully appreciate what the difference in sq feet is actually doing.  

nice of your wife to 'allow' it ? ???

i love cello music.

How many men does it take to open a beer?
None. It should be opened when she brings it
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It's one of those "evolutionary things" that allows them to stand closer to the kitchen sink.
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When she starts a sentence with "A man once told me..."
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Because women can't shut up long enough to build up the required pressure.
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If your dog is barking at the back door and your wife is yelling at the front door, who do you let in first?
The dog, of course. He'll shut up once you let him in.
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I just didn't know her first name was Always.
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It's called a Wedding Cake.
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until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #67 - 12/25/06 at 16:32:20
 
Wow, I haven't seen that much miscogynism in one place for a while! Not since Match was around.

Angry Sad ??? Tongue

Yes, my wife "allowed" it. I asked her permission because it's a shared space.  We have a three bedroom house, a master bedroom, and we each have a room for ourselves.  My system had been in my room which I made into a listening room, but I got tired of the near field set up.

There are some things better in the other room, some things better in this room.  I'm finetuning and moving the speakers around.

Merry solstice festival!
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Lon
Ex Member



Re: Radials and EL34 Monoblocks, some impressions
Reply #68 - 12/25/06 at 16:35:15
 
PS:  I put my 15 year old 20" Sony Trinitron on top of Mapleshade Triple Points on the top shelf of my Mapleshade Samson rack and it never ever looked better!
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