My EL34 Monoblocks are on the way to being broken in and I can attest that they really make the Radials sound GREAT.  It's funny, I was expecting a weightier and perhaps "slower" sound and yet what I have been getting is a very "Select" sound especially the tonal balance, with more loudness available at the touch of the gain knob.  I have discovered that there is a bigger image of larger ensemble works though, that the soundstage seems taller when the ensemble is bigger.  Not displeasing at all!  I'm listening to my Ellington and Basie and Goodman and Gil Evans and other orchestral pieces with delight.

Overall a great combination, that will be more suitable for medium sized rooms than the Select and Radial combo, which I can imagine only really works ideally in small rooms such as mine.

I'm glad to hear the fine report of your happiness with the system, Lon. Those Svetlana EL34s do sound better than anything I've ever heard with the exception of Mullard.

You described the speed and tonal balance as being very much like the Select, which is very neutral. I'm sure that's the signature Steve was shooting for. Do they also have that classic EL34 midrange warmth, or are they like when you triode wire them in an ultralinear push pull amp (Dynaco ST-70), and gain air and space but lose some of the thick warmth?

Eddie

Hey Lon,
Glad to here your enjoying the new monoblocks. Even enough to get ride of your beloved Select? I love my Zen "C" and will be doing some mods soon! Still I like the more "forward" high bias position on the "C" and the select has that bias switch as well so the niggling question is are the el34 mono's more like the select on high bias (forward), low bias (laid back), or somewhere in between? I may move to the el34 mono's especially if I can alter the bias (after market) to give a more forward presentation. Also is the sound stage still there like the "Select"?
I'd really love to get your comparative opinion on this!
"Can't make up mind" -Chris-

And yes, yes indeed, the soundstaging is there in full.

I DID part with my Select.  It has a good home.  I'm bonding to the Monoblocks well.

Lon,

Are the upgrades you mentioned now standard on the EL-34s, or are they extras?  And if they are extras, how much were they?

Thanks.

Well, listened a lot this weekend to a finally warmed up set of upgraded EL34 Monoblocks.

I'm getting used to the new cathode bypass resistor position on the switch. . . . It's very nice for low level listening, fleshes out the sound.  There is a point just above my normal listening level where this position becomes just a bit too forward, and as mab has pointed out in a private message "feels not quite as accurate"---I agree with that, for some of my normal listening and my louder than normal listening I am using the back position, the former "stock" sound. . . .

It's like having two amps in one, how can that be bad?

[quote author=Lon  link=1073500136&amp/0#11 date=1081172160]
They have nearly everything the Select brought to my system, and more power to boot.
[/quote]

Lon, just think of it, you say they have nearly everything that your Select brought to your system and they still aren't as broken in as your Select is.  I bet those monos are going to be golden in a year or two.

Oh no!!
I stumbled onto the wrong site.
Talk of 34 Monos, when I agonized for months over the new format.
My Select is barely warming up, and I'm tempted to look at the monos.
Again

Hmmmm. . . well however it is, it is the new sonic signature, not the original, that I am using 95% of the time.

Everything is sounding great these days!

Lon, Would have been nice to have the DC685 for this long weekend, Soon enough though.
                Bob Z.

Just wanted to update this thread to say that the Monoblocks seem to have reached a new area of "breakedinness" after nearly ten months now. . . They are really breathing and blowing easily, they seem to have gotten very close to that state of ease that I enjoyed with my Select, and with the Dec 685 in the system pretty broken in I am really enjoying my system!

That is about the same size as my room.  Mine is a few feet wider, about 15'. . . . BUT I have a few feet of shelves that cover two of the walls effectively narrowing it by about 3'. . . .

I don't know anything about the HDT, but they it is more forward than the Radials (and I have heard they are) they MAY be a bit much for your room. . . . The great thing about the Radials is you can fine tune them so; I am using a lot of resistance on the tweeters, more than anyone else I know, to mellow them a bit and make them just right for my room.

Well that's great!  I'm not sure they would work for me IF they are more forward sounding than the Radials.  I'm very sensitive to treble and like a mellower, laid back sound.

You've quite an adventure ahead of you with the new amp!

Great thread Lon glad your enjoying your system  :) .  Are you in the line up to try out the Taboo?. Maybe you should see if you can have it for abit to give your impressions from comparing it to your monoblocks, I think you would make a great reviewer for the Taboo as you probably spend more time than most listening to your system ( which is really great ) rather than flicking channels on the tube. I'd like to make more time for music but I hardly get any alone time without many distractions etc.. one day a den for Dad or even the garage would be great     Dave....

So without a pre I take it you are adjusting the volume (and keeping balance of your 'blocks) with the Dec685, right?

Only asking as I have been fiddling with my new Njoe Tjoeb 4000 for a week now and trying to figure out the best way to use its volume control.

Currently have it set as follows:

Turned Njoe wide open (2.55v) and turn up amp until just before it clips on a loud CD (About 30% of the CS's knob).  Then adjust volume on the Njoe to taste while listening.

The other option is to turn the amp wide open and fully adjust the Njoe volume from the remote.  But this way I can only use the first 4-5 stages of the Njoe it is SO loud.

I guess I could reduce the internal jumper to lower the voltage to 1.25v??

The DEC 685 does not allow for adjustment of volume / output unless you use a Sony receiver. . . which I am NOT using.  ;)

I use the input gain controls on the EL34 monoblocks currently, which means that I am not running this pot at the top positions.  If I use a 12AU7 tube, I can run it at a medium position, if I use a 12Ax7 it is at a lower point.  

Probably NOT ideal BUT I do find that with the monoblocks I can really dial in accurately exact matched volumes and get a very solid centered mono sound or center image in stereo; I'm able to compensate for room or tube channel imbalances.  One good thing about Monoblocks with input gain control.

All this talk of Preamps (and how come the newest preamp isn't even on the catalog page?) and Zboxes adding "weight and fullness" makes me wonder. . . . But until I can find the dollars all I'll do is wonder.

When I do have the dollars to play with I need to wonder about:

adding the Zbox
adding the new Pre
having the Monoblocks upgraded to the new output transformer choke power supply

Which would be the one thing that would be the most marked improvement.

   It's funny because I check the Radial forum everyday for any news. Anything is good to hear!
   I saw the Radials when they first came out somewhere....SB mag, or on this website. From the readings it sounded like I would like them, and now I know I do. Hey, here's the proof to me: I am sooo pleased with the veerrryy low key sweet spot , and panoramic soundstage that  I was willing to give up my Zen C (because it couldn't quite drive them to where I needed them to go) ! The C was  the best amp I ever had soundwise, could live with it forever.
   But I think speakers have the toughest job (turn electricity into physical soundwaves) and the way Radials place the music in the room works best for me. I really enjoy walking around the room and the music's "thickness/weight/presence just doesn't shift in intensity that much, and I don't  feel any urgency to get back to the sweetspot (sweatspot). Hangin by the fridge or front door is still in the 75% zone.
   Don

Yes, I'll be sure to add my impressions!  Just try and stop me!

It appears that Eric likes his so much he may never post again!

Don, so glad you are enjoying yours.  I gave up my Select for the Radials as well, basically I chose them as the centerpiece... .. .. The Monoblocks have more than enough power to drive them and are a good match.  I think these speakers are in some ways the jewel of the line.

Hope you don't have to wait too long for the 3s to come back Matt!

Yes, always something special about the presentation. . . I like and agree with that.

Alright Bob!  I'm happy for you and hoping I have the same experience waiting for me in a week or so!

Let us know what the sound is LIKE!

Thanks for the description Bob, does give me an impression of what it will sound like.  I'm eager to hear my own impressions!

I'm probably going to love the sound, AND get a preamp as well.

Hi Lon, Joining this thread kinda late ???  Which el 34 mono blocks have you been talking about?  Also I have a Dodson 217 MK II D DAC that has been upgraded to the 218 version.  A very nice DAC, do  you think the Zbox would improve this some?  Thanks, Guy

Lon, how many watts are your mono blocks?

Finally found the link to the pages on the site:

https://www.decware.com/se34m/zmono.htm

Been enjoying them since December 2003!

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!  

Guy, whatcha wanna know?  Four pages of me being so happy with my RL-2s is not enough?  

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.

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

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". . . .

Lon,

Though it is brief time, welcome home.  :)

Gary

Thanks!  I'm managing a full day at the office and then. . . back to Houston in the morning.

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!

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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Why do women have smaller feet than men?
It's one of those "evolutionary things" that allows them to stand closer to the kitchen sink.
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How do you know when a woman is about to say something smart?
When she starts a sentence with "A man once told me..."
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Why do men fart more than women?
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 married a Miss Right.
I just didn't know her first name was Always.
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Scientists have discovered a food that diminishes a woman's sex drive by 90%.
It's called a Wedding Cake.
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Women will never be equal to men
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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In the beginning, God created the earth and rested.
Then God created Man and rested.
Then God created Woman.
Since then, neither God nor Man has rested.
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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!