Decware Appreciation Thread (MT review up on first page 2-10-12) - Page 18

 

 

 

Grats! You're so gonna love it.  

 

Try this:  Turn the input all the way down, turn the volume to 12. Put on your headphones and start up some music.  Step by step increase the inputs until you reach your normal listening level.  That should give you the control you're looking for. 

 

 

Lord Soth, thanks for the wonderful detailed tube rolling impressions. 

Yeah, I'm still looking for Lorenz tubes (not much luck at this time...) I do have some Bugle Boys, Telefunken PCC88's, and Mullard CV2492/CV2493 available to roll through so we will see what I like the best. As far as rectifier rolling, I actually have a Tung Sol 5Y3GT and just tried rolling it into the CSP2+. The bass is clearly superior on it than the stock Ruby Red tube, but the Tung Sol also sounds incredibly muffled/dark/suppressed/veiled in the mids and highs. I'm surprised but so far I prefer the Ruby Red for the rectifier... :S

I'm not sure if this will make any difference?

My bunch of Tung Sol 5Y3GTs were all made in the 1950s with black plates and D-Getters.

They work very well in my audio system.

I am experiencing sonic clarity without any veil.

 

As another alternative, the Bendix 6106 is also a 5Y3GT tube.

This also works very well based on my experience.

 

Skylab did a fantastic review on the CSP2+ before and he also concluded that the 5Y3 family of rectifiers work best in this amp.

 

The Lorenz PCC88s have been hunted to extinction.

I'm believe that there are pockets of stock still available in the inventory of some obscure tube seller out there.

 

I have tried rolling the Telefunken PCC88 before but found the bass to be lacking.

For listening to pure vocals, it does have quite a bit of the midrange magic though.

Edited by Lord Soth - 5/19/12 at 8:36pm

Well, I think my judgement of the Tungsol 5Y3GT was preemptive. I'm not sure if it just didn't get along with the 6N1P's or the Bugle Boy in the front driver, but I tossed a Mullard CV2493 in front and the Telefunken PCC88's in the channel positions and it sounds fantastic. Creamy smooth, great clarity, and it still carries a lot of (but not nearly all of) that clean, tight bass from the Tungsol. I think I may just not like the Amperex sound signature as I found the sound too warm and artificial.I'll try bugle boys in all positions another time and reevaluate. 

 

Hi.

 

I have played with 6N1Ps before.

My take is that the Russian tubes sound better when the voltage applied is higher as compared with other tubes in the European ECC88 family.

 

According to the design notes of the earlier models of the CSP amp,

http://www.decware.com/paper56.htm

 

If you scroll all the way to the bottom, 5Y3 rectifiers would run your input tubes at 80v.

5U4s would run it highest at 80+ 30 = 110v.

 

So the 6N1Ps are more likely to sound better with the stock Chinese 5U4 rectifier tube which was supplied.

Edited by Lord Soth - 5/20/12 at 1:47am

I prefer the Sylvania 5U4G over the small bottle 5Y3G sylvania it is more transparent and has better bass extension. Its my rectifier of choice and the driver tube will give you the most sound change and I like using either amperex or really special are the phillips minwatt tubes but my favorite are still the golden Lion 6922 and have over two years on them of heavy use and still musical and dead quiet.

Edited by Frank I - 5/22/12 at 4:27am

Hi,  My name is Tom.  I have a CPS2+ on order with two RCA outputs and a headphone jack.  I also have a Taboo on order.  I ordered the Taboo after deciding to purchase the Audeze LCD2 Rev.2's rather than the 850D's.   I have been on the net for months and have changed my mind numerous times.  Since I am putting together a stereo for my 11' x 12' office I have also purchased a BITFROST DAC,  a Bob Latino ST120 Dynaco style amplifier, which has not arrived, and the Heresy III's.  I will be running iTunes out of an iMac.   I like all styles of music and this will be a huge upgrade from the Bose rig that I place my iPod into.  I am very happy to have found the DECWARE web-site, I was all over the board with components before that and now I feel confident that they have the dedication and solutions for my needs.  I have found this Thread to be informative and I thank you all for taking the time to post.  One thing I did order is a wire with a capacitor because the Taboo has to be hooked up to it or to speakers.   

Hi Tom, welcome to the club!

Anyone tried Torii with LCD-2 or HE-6?

Skylab uses LCD-2's with a Mini TORII. Question for you all, I recall reading that the original CSP2 had a problem of getting too loud, too fast. Steve did something and created the CSP2+. I have the + model and mine has this issue. Was it a knob or something on my model that I just haven't figured out how to use yet? :-P

TIA!

Yes, I enjoy the MiniTORII plus the Audeze quite a lot.

From what I understand, it seems that the + model includes additional input control that specifically controls the output of the headphone jack? The original CSP2 can do that too but it controls both headphone and rca output. If you look at the manual it should show you where the knobs are to control the input for the headphone.

 

Thanks Robs.  Actually, I'm more interest in the regular Torii so I can use it to power the B&W bookshelf and using a GP selector to power either LCD-2 or HE-6 via speaker tap.

My amp didn't come with a user manual. I knew I had read about the input volume control somewhere but couldn't figure out how to get mine to work. (You just have to turn with some force.) Thanks for the tips guys! I really appreciate it! (As of now, I have a early 1960's Tungsol 5Y3GT rectifier with 2 Siemens 1961 E88CC's and a Telefunken PCC88 in the driver position and it sounds awesome! I love this amp! :D)

 

Quick question: I'm not sure if I'm just imagining things but I have two volume input controls (4 really, two on each side) and I can clearly hear the volume change when I change either on the RCA side and I think I hear that each may control the two channels? Is this the way it works or am I just imagining things? Thanks!

Edited by netbususer - 5/23/12 at 8:30pm