[MorbidToaster]

I have a 4 input/2 output line router that Lloyd at Mapletree made for me. Definitely beats cable swapping from a convenience standpoint, though I never quite escaped my audiophile paranoia about having another box in the signal path. I used it for a while with the LF, but that paranoia eventually led me to go back to just swapping interconnects.

Did you ever actually hear a difference? Was it all unbalanced or did it also have balanced in/outs?

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Quote:

Did you ever actually hear a difference? Was it all unbalanced or did it also have balanced in/outs?

 
I know Dr. Peppard makes line routers that are all balanced or all unbalanced, but I don't know if he'd make a router with both balanced and unbalanced ins and outs. Lloyd's great to work with so it wouldn't hurt to ask: http://hollowstate.netfirms.com/index.html
 
Did I ever actually hear a difference? Hmm...

 

[sridhar3]

I can comment on this.  I have both of the line routers from Mapletree.  I don't hear any differences with it in the signal path.  The LR1 is the RCA line router, with six pairs of RCAs.  You can configure them however you want (5 inputs, 1 output; 2 inputs, 4 outputs; etc.).  The LR1 Pro is the XLR line router, and it has five pairs of XLRs.  Same deal with custom configurations.  Prices are fair.  The only thing to keep in mind is that they ship from Canada, so shipping takes about a week and costs about twenty bucks.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I might order one of the RCA ones. They seem reasonable enough price wise and look pretty nice judging from pictures on the site. 
 
DAC...Phono...extra in. 
 
Thanks for pointing them out. Anyone else actually do Line Routers out there? They seem fairly rare as far as I can tell. I can't imagine they're a very popular device.
 
Quote:

I can comment on this.  I have both of the line routers from Mapletree.  I don't hear any differences with it in the signal path.  The LR1 is the RCA line router, with six pairs of RCAs.  You can configure them however you want (5 inputs, 1 output; 2 inputs, 4 outputs; etc.).  The LR1 Pro is the XLR line router, and it has five pairs of XLRs.  Same deal with custom configurations.  Prices are fair.  The only thing to keep in mind is that they ship from Canada, so shipping takes about a week and costs about twenty bucks.

 

[sridhar3]

Quote:

I might order one of the RCA ones. They seem reasonable enough price wise and look pretty nice judging from pictures on the site. 
 
DAC...Phono...extra in. 
 
Thanks for pointing them out. Anyone else actually do Line Routers out there? They seem fairly rare as far as I can tell. I can't imagine they're a very popular device.

 
The Mapletree ones allow for customization of the inputs/outputs, as well as the aesthetic.  I got mine in black with wooden sides, but you can get the box in a different paint color or finish with different sides.
 
Goldpoint makes both RCA and XLR switches, but they're less customizable and don't have as many inputs/outputs as the Mapletree ones.  Manley used to make the Skipjack (RCA), which was supposedly very transparent and had a lot of cool options, such as letting you do a true A/B/X by disabling the LED-lit buttons, so you could press a button and it would change to a random input/output without you knowing which one.  Decware makes a rotary RCA switchbox.  Bryston makes a switch for speaker taps, so you can have multiple speaker setups with one amp.
 
I'm sure there are other options out there that you can get on the cheap.  I use RCA Y-splitters for meets, so I can drive multiple amps off a single set of RCA outputs from my DAC.

 

[Jamiee]

My NOS Telefunken quad has arrived in town, should be delivered today.
 
I was hoping to have spent a little more time with the Gold Lions (currently just shy of 60hrs on them), but I know as soon as I have the TFK's in my hand; I'll want to get them rolled-in ASAP.
 
- Which sadly means another weekend of burning tubes in and less listening to the LF than I'd like

 

[dj nellie]

Nice, let us know your impressions.  I know that the effectiveness of tube burn-in seems pretty widely accepted, but it shouldn't be something preventing you from listening to your setup until you hit the X hour mark.  Why not just listen as they burn in?  

 

[cuonghuutran]

Yelp. Curious about your opinions of Gold Lions.
 

 

[Jamiee]

Quote:

Nice, let us know your impressions.  I know that the effectiveness of tube burn-in seems pretty widely accepted, but it shouldn't be something preventing you from listening to your setup until you hit the X hour mark.  Why not just listen as they burn in?  

 
You know it's funny, The Gold Lion's went from sounding OK at first, to sounding somewhat un-listenable for a good 15-20hr period, then they slowly settled down and started sounding quite open and enjoyable.
 
So I have no doubts that tubes do take a while settle in.
 
Of course I will have the occasional "peak" at the TFK's progression along the way

 

[Jamiee]

Quote:

Yelp. Curious about your opinions of Gold Lions.
 

 
They are nice.
Quite similar to the stock JJ's with perhaps just a little more body to the overall sound.
(a little better defined bass, slightly smoother mids etc...)
 
They are an improvement over the stock tubes, but not exactly a huge leap forward either. 
 
I actually think the GL's sounded more different after I had just instaled them into the LF.
(I think my initial comment after installing them reflected this).
 
 
The Gold Lions are certainly nicer looking tubes than the JJ's if that matters at all to you

 

[TheWuss]

Quote:

They are nice.
Quite similar to the stock JJ's with perhaps just a little more body to the overall sound.
(a little better defined bass, slightly smoother mids etc...)
 
They are an improvement over the stock tubes, but not exactly a huge leap forward either. 
 

mirros my experience with the gold lions to a tee.

 

[SteveM324]

You know it's funny, The Gold Lion's went from sounding OK at first, to sounding somewhat un-listenable for a good 15-20hr period, then they slowly settled down and started sounding quite open and enjoyable.

So I have no doubts that tubes do take a while settle in.

Of course I will have the occasional "peak" at the TFK's progression along the way

My experience with the GLs were that they continued to improve up to about 200 hours.

 

[Jamiee]

Quote:

My experience with the GLs were that they continued to improve up to about 200 hours.

That wouldn't surprise me, as they were still improving (in very subtle ways) up until I (just) removed them.
Like I said, I would have liked to have had some more time with them.
 
I dropped in the Telefunken's about an hour ago and my initial report is that they are clearly going to be a smoother sounding tube
with more 3D like imaging.
How they change over the next few days remains to be heard, but I suspect that they will be very much to my liking.

 

[dj nellie]

Well, the high-pitched noise is back. It's very faint and only audible when music isn't playing.  It stays at the same pitch and fades in and out--sometimes it disappears, and sometimes it gets louder.  I don't think it's tube-related, since I swapped the tubes and still hear it (though it doesn't appear until after a few hours of playing).
 
Someone told me that they had a similar problem, and the solution involves grounding the volume pot.  I've emailed Alex about it.  I feel confident that he'll help me resolve it, but it's still disturbing to have a problem like this on such a high-priced item.  I realize that the LFs are hand-made with a very limited run, but I still don't think problems like this should be occurring (especially since at least one other person may have had a similar problem).  If the cause of the problem is something that can be addressed with different parts, a different installation method, or better QC, then I hope that sharing my experience with Alex helps ensure that the next batch doesn't have similar problems.

 

[LjF]

Quote:

..but it's still disturbing to have a problem like this on such a high-priced item.

 
I understand your concerns, and share them somewhat, but my feeling is that we have purchased an artisanal bleeding edge product, and we should expect some issues. I am prepared to ride out the rough spots, especially given the excellent support of Cavalli Audio.
 
As a former software engineer, I understand that no matter how thorough one's design and testing processes, once out in the field you will find circumstances and situations beyond what can be planned for.