It's very interesting imo to play with voltage regulation tubes on this amp.

I spent most of the past few weeks doing so and have returned to my favorite complement: three English 75C1 for the input and driver tubes. This gives me the best bass and sweetest highs and a warm midrange--just how I like it. An Amperex 90C1 gives a very open midrange in the input tube position, but there's just a bit of sterility, the warmth is gone. Of course another room, another source, other cabling, room treatments etc. will all influence how any tube will cause the amp to sound.

What a fascinating way to listen to music! This amp is the best I've ever owned.

There are a bunch of threads on this site about what other people like, but at the end of the day you’ve got to experiment for yourself. You can stick with the Decware tubes, or you pays your money and you takes your chances. At least that’s my experience.

MM, if you are looking for a "lively" sound from a voltage regulation tube I think that Raytheon 0B2 that are not in the shielded flash on type variety could be a good contender:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/233498027857?_skw=Raytheon+0B2&itmmeta=01K3XV7BXFX9PRVC...

At a lower regulation point the Tesla 0A2 variant has a very interesting influence on the sound--in my amps they have been far from "dull":

https://www.ebay.com/itm/325443469519?_skw=Tesla+11TA31&itmmeta=01K3XVJHX4CXRVH2...

Gotcha, yes the English made ones that Steve sells are excellent. I've had a few other type 75C1 that were not immediately as wonderful, though with a lot of hours on them they can improve.

I know it’s been a while and there have been significant changes to the rig. As I was thinking about when/how to share my progress, a personal tragedy occurred. Exactly a month ago, my father passed away.  Took a hiatus from HiFi for almost two weeks and even when I started, my heart wasn’t in it.  That said, it has become comparatively easier to cope as of late and yet another change has pulled me back in, helping with the healing process.

One of the things we have been doing as a family is digging up old family videos and pictures.  Perusing through those, I spotted a vintage HiFi setup that I didn’t recognize. My mom explained that this was our first system in the early 1980’s and we had it for a year or two before selling it.

Therefore, I dedicate this post to my dad and to show off his rig.  My updates can wait.

Behold the Weltron Model 2005 (on the right), a complete system with both vinyl and 8-track deck and speakers.  Not sure about the specifics of the amplifier.  Ours was in Yellow though.



Love the space-age/Jetson’s vibe.  Picture cropped from a Facebook ad where the OP had both models (2005 and 2007) for sale.  The 2007, introduced later, had a cassette deck instead of the 8-track.

Here is what the Yellow one looked like (although, this is the 2007 model):



I envy the lucky family who bought this—-would’ve been a cool vintage piece to own now.

I guess the bug was planted early!

Rest in peace Dad…

My condolences Kamran.

I'm glad you have fond memories of your father to look back on and cherish. They say time heals all wounds, but I imagine that's easier said than done and I doubt can ever fully heal, especially for someone as close as a parent. I wish you the best in your journey onward from this point. You will smile again when you eventually reminisce.

My parents are 89 and 87 and it's hard not to think of the inevitable outcome of life. I've been spending as much time with them as I can and I'm looking forward to the Christmas/Holiday season. Thanks for bringing this up and reminding me that it's all about family.

Looking forward to your updates whenever they may come.

My condolences to you and your family, Kamran.

Mike

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to whoever is celebrating!

Same to you Kamran, and to all the fine folks on this site.

Randy

Well put, Kamran. Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating!

Thx Dom.

Happy New Year everyone!

Nice photos Kam!

Thx Lon and Hereafter.

Stradi 300B’s—my current favorite 300B (currently 300 + hrs in). In a way, a good combo of the Western Electric and Cryotone sound signatures.

Stradi 5U4G—-Believe it not—-I’m on my fourth replacement! John has worked with me.  The last one lasted the longest (six months) and one day decided not to glow (did not arc like the first two).  It’s currently racking up break-in hours in the other gear. According to John, he made this 4th one custom to slow start.  Let’s see.

Apart from these two new production tubes, I’ve been experimenting with vintage tubes.

Reflektor—-I just started using this yesterday, so the jury is still out.  So far it’s doing nothing wrong, but it’s’ not necessarily speaking to me like the two pairs of Amperex’s before.

Telefunkun: Also relatively new in the rig (less than 50 hrs) and getting accustomed to the sound compared to the vintage Siemens 12AU7 I had before.

I might as well talk about the the gear..it’s an Atlantic 3 TRP with engine 11P currently running a literally mint pair of late 1950’s GEC KT66.  This was the seller’s best testing (as well as cosmetically best) in over two decades. About 80 hrs in. Literally still had the matched pair tape on the boxes intact.  To steal a quote from the seller—looks like it was sitting in Grandma’s attic over the past 70 years!

I now get what the fuss is all about…

Speaker Maintenance

I don’t quite recall what led me to pursue tightening the bolts on my Duet 15s, but after a quick instructional convo with a company rep, I decided to go for it, confident that it was well within the reach of my technical abilities.  I’m not sure if this also applies to the MDF variety, but it sure as heck does to the wood frames.  The logic is that depending on the climate, humidity will expand and contract the wood. Low humidity—they will need a bit of tightening and in the summer, the high humidity will keep them tight.

It takes at least three different sizes of Alan keys to work on the bolts of the frame (4mm), the Voxativ (3mm) and the woofer (5mm).

Pro Tip #1: Tighten till it stops. Don’t over-tighten to the point of the Alan key popping out of the hole, especially the Voxativ.

Pro Tip #2: Wear gloves—as you need to hold the washer on the back still and that is easier said than done—even with gloves.

Pro Tip # 3: Come back the next day or two and re-tighten. The wood will need time to come up to room humidity.

In my case (having never done this before), there were only 2 or 4 bolts per speaker that were genuinely loose, the others were snug but I made them snugger.

I was hoping for a modest improvement, if that.

I was not prepared for the result.

The soundstage exploded in size (more height, more width, more depth) with wraparound immersion, an increase in resolution, percussive energy, and sonic mass. The Voxativ PiFe drivers are known for their 3D sonic mass impact and I didn’t realize that it had drifted over the past 14 months.  

As I provided feedback to the company rep, he asked if I also tightened the bolts on the face and I had to sheepishly admit that I totally overlooked that.  So next day, I did that and heard similar improvements, albeit on a smaller scale.

I intend to check this every quarter, just to err on the side of caution and I recommend other owners to build this in to their regular cycle of speaker maintenance.  Hope this is helpful.

Thx Randy- I love walnut as well! Last year, I had a friend install a row of floating walnut record holders on my left wall—will post pics when the second row is done.

100% James.

As promised, here’s a picture of the walnut floating record shelves. I’m pleased with how they turned out. Of course, all of the shelves ended up full so now I’m going to need more as I add to my collection.

Nice look and utility Kamran! When my collection is whittled down to must keep and an inevitable senior living quarters is on the horizon, I'll remember what you did here