[jonathan c]

I have dibs on the avatar since I have it in the forum since 2004 and own the real thing framed…

I still have an Advent 201 cassette player with Maxell chromium cassette tape (both in hibernation…)

 

[magicman2020]

I have dibs on the avatar since I have it in the forum since 2004 and own the real thing framed…

Its unreal at how close the accounts are , even the names are so similar. I chose it as Maxell tapes were my cassette tape of choice back in the day and I was on this site to find a sound that blew me away. Happy to report that this community did not let me down. So where do I send the royalty fees for usage ?

 

[musicman59]

Am I looking in a mirror ? LOL

Its unreal at how close the accounts are , even the names are so similar. I chose it as Maxell tapes were my cassette tape of choice back in the day and I was on this site to find a sound that blew me away. Happy to report that this community did not let me down. So where do I send the royalty fees for usage ?

Ha ha ha! A beer at one of the CanJam events will do!

My first cassette deck was back in 1980. It was the top of the line Yamaha. It was the most expensive part of my equipment. I did that because I loved to record my own mixed tapes.
Then I upgraded to a Nakamichi CR-5A. I used Maxell and TDK Chrome. The best one I tried was the TDK that had the frame of aluminum and plastic covers.

Then I upgraded to DAT and got a Denon deck and a Sony DAT car deck.

 

[magicman2020]

Ha ha ha! A beer at one of the CanJam events will do!

My first cassette deck was back in 1980. It was the top of the line Yamaha. It was the most expensive part of my equipment. I did that because I loved to record my own mixed tapes.
Then I upgraded to a Nakamichi CR-5A. I used Maxell and TDK Chrome. The best one I tried was the TDK that had the frame of aluminum and plastic covers.

Then I upgraded to DAT and got a Denon deck and a Sony DAT car deck.

Very Nice, and done on the beer at Cam Jam! I love your equip. I wanted a Nakamichi , in the end I had to settle for an SAE C4.

 

[paradoxper]

A couple of people have asked me about what some of the components are, like what transformers, etc. I thought I might as well post them here:

Sowter Output custom transformers * 2
Lundahl LL1650 Transformer
Khozmo Ladder attenuator
Kiwame Resistors
Miflex 0.47uF KPCU pair (Coupling Cap)
High voltage polypropylene oil capacitors (2 x 15uF)
2 - 68000uF Capacitors
+ lots of other resistors, diodes, caps ,etc

Do you know if Mischa is limited to these component choices?

The Sowter transformer are ok but far better performance through superior custom options from Trafomatic or Audio Note transformers as well as using far better attenuator choices would allow these amps to shine with the best. I understand sourcing is a long-leading pain but thought I'd ask if the game was open to elevation or only streamline.

 

[chrisdrop]

Do you know if Mischa is limited to these component choices?

The Sowter transformer are ok but far better performance through superior custom options from Trafomatic or Audio Note transformers as well as using far better attenuator choices would allow these amps to shine with the best. I understand sourcing is a long-leading pain but thought I'd ask if the game was open to elevation or only streamline.

In my experience Mischa is basically open to engage on your preferences. He will, of course , also have informed opinions. I bet you would land wherever you wanted. Basically he is pretty great to work with.

 

[A2029]

Do you know if Mischa is limited to these component choices?

The Sowter transformer are ok but far better performance through superior custom options from Trafomatic or Audio Note transformers as well as using far better attenuator choices would allow these amps to shine with the best. I understand sourcing is a long-leading pain but thought I'd ask if the game was open to elevation or only streamline.

Nope, not limited; World's your oyster when it comes to my amps. I hold the Sowter and Khozmo attenuators in higher regard though (which is okay to disagree on ).

Sowter is able to produce customized transformers with multiple secondaries, such that amps using those transformers can be impedance matched to the chosen headphones. They also work with your specifications to optimize bandwidth and power requirements. That said, I do agree that there are companies on the market that are able to make custom transformers with amorphous/nanocrystalline/etc. cores with higher performance, but those also generally come with a big jump in their price tag. It's all a matter of performance per dollar for a given spec/customization level, of which I see Sowter as being a very good choice IMO, YMMV.

Khozmo attenuators had a rocky start in the past, and some were known to have quality control issues, but those issues have long been solved (as of the release of their MK2 line of attenuators) and generally Khozmo has great price to performance ratio IMO. The ladder attenuator in Leftside's amp is at the top of the Khozmo range but is no longer produced. It uses gold plated contacts and SMD thin film resistors as most attenuators under a certain price point do (including Goldpoint and Acoustic Dimension), and is also a ladder attenuator instead of the more common series attenuator.

 

[leftside]

Canadian amp with Spanish, Italian and Dutch tubes.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Getting super excited to see mine for the first time!

 

[leftside]

Been playing around with brown base tubes this afternoon. I can highly recommend the Fivre 6C5G that Langrex has. They also have the black base, but the brown base are earlier versions with foil getters. The amp totally rocks.

 

[jonathan c]

Been playing around with brown base tubes this afternoon. I can highly recommend the Fivre 6C5G that Langrex has. They also have the black base, but the brown base are earlier versions with foil getters. The amp totally rocks.

It seems that the ‘foil getter’ variety of a tube is the best of that tube. Q for experts: is this because of the larger surface area that a ‘foil’ getter presents (than a ‘D’, ‘halo’, or ‘square’ getter) to capture gaseous impurities inside the tube?

 

[leftside]

It seems that the ‘foil getter’ variety of a tube is the best of that tube. Q for experts: is this because of the larger surface area that a ‘foil’ getter presents (than a ‘D’, ‘halo’, or ‘square’ getter) to capture gaseous impurities inside the tube?

Personally, I don't think the getter really makes a difference, but I do find "earlier the better" tube is often quite true. And as foil getter tubes tend to be quite early...

 

[kamui]

It seems that the ‘foil getter’ variety of a tube is the best of that tube. Q for experts: is this because of the larger surface area that a ‘foil’ getter presents (than a ‘D’, ‘halo’, or ‘square’ getter) to capture gaseous impurities inside the tube?

The getter has zero impact on how a tube sounds. It is purely an indication of production year, as getter styles changed over production years.

 

[maxpudding]

I think the placement of the getters has some effect on how a tube sounds, rather than the shape of the getters.

 

[kamui]

I think the placement of the getters has some effect on how a tube sounds, rather than the shape of the getters.

It doesn't. It's purely an indication of manufacturing style. Typically, top vs. bottom getters were just a year change, as in older tubes were bottom getter, and they later changed to top getter, likely due to a change in manufacturing process. Getters have zero impact on how a tube sounds.