Gallic Dweller
Head-Fier
Someone should have pointed out long ago that there are some serious voltages in valve/tube gear. If your making measurements with a live valve amp then (a) always wear rubber soled shoes (b) keep one hand in a pocket so that should you touch something live the current will not arc across your heart or (c) you can buy a cheap strap to wear round a wrist connected with a crocodile clip to the metal shell of the amp to ground you (d) you can buy some special rubber gloves to protect yourself. There are some real @#~'~ who use 1kW Russian transmitter tubes to build amps with - one wrong touch in one of those amps and it's 'good night & good bye'.
First time for me on this thread, I only got my D/V 3 days ago. The old thread referred to has gone
. Should I start a new thread about mods and ideas or continue on this thread?
I had 3 reasons to buy the D/V - (a) it uses a driver valve/s that I really like, creating numerous possibilities for different sounds to suit everyone: (b) it's point-to-point, making mods a doddle (most of the time) compared to PCBs and track lifting: (c) it can be used as a pre-amp.
So, it's well made and looks good, this is very important for many. I don't see anyone using a vinyl front end, I do - Kenwood KD990 with it's excellent gimbal arm designed specifically for the deck, fitted with an Audio Technica 33EV MC, i/connect (my own) 4 x 26AWG high purity solid core silver conductors (for both signal and return) using air cored (oversized) FEP tubing kept straight, not twisted inside non microphonic sheathing. This into a Talk Electronic fully discrete MC 3 phono stage and another set of my own i/cs to connect to the D/V.
I fired it up using the supplied Chinese valves and they certainly aren't a rubbish sound and if nothing else keep them to be used as guinea pigs after a mod. Powered down and changed both for my all time favourite pre-amp valve - the 6F8G Tung Sol Round Plate - I hear you Jim Spec
. and the Svet 6AS7 o/put valve - underwhelmed, nice but lacked detail or real bass. I was using my old trusty 650s and I was appalled at just how bad they sounded - the bass was bloated rubbish, there was no detail - this was not how it was supposed to be, it was a truly awful sound. So many have raved about the D/V&650. I had received the day before the s/hand Beyer DT990 Premium cans I had bought on ebay.de they were about 9 months old so burned in.
Fitted the Beyers and changed the o/put valve to a GE 6AS7 GA. I often use Joni Mitchell's superb 1976 Herija LP to check on bass/treble. I have never heard Jaco Pastorius sound like this. His bass moves in and around nearly all the tracks, deep, so deep and layered, the soundstage was so, so deep, width was average but it didn't matter. Joni was more Joni than I had heard before. Remember this amp had only had maybe 30 mins from new. Details I had never heard. Valves and cans cannot create anything, they can only convey what is presented to them - this little h/amp is a total blinder - there are a few well tried and tested mods and I have a few ideas as well but this is so good that they can only be icing on a very,very good cake.
The only bummer for me is the bright top edge to the Beyer cans. In every other respect they trash the Senn 650s - there is no such place as paradise.
First time for me on this thread, I only got my D/V 3 days ago. The old thread referred to has gone
. Should I start a new thread about mods and ideas or continue on this thread? I had 3 reasons to buy the D/V - (a) it uses a driver valve/s that I really like, creating numerous possibilities for different sounds to suit everyone: (b) it's point-to-point, making mods a doddle (most of the time) compared to PCBs and track lifting: (c) it can be used as a pre-amp.
So, it's well made and looks good, this is very important for many. I don't see anyone using a vinyl front end, I do - Kenwood KD990 with it's excellent gimbal arm designed specifically for the deck, fitted with an Audio Technica 33EV MC, i/connect (my own) 4 x 26AWG high purity solid core silver conductors (for both signal and return) using air cored (oversized) FEP tubing kept straight, not twisted inside non microphonic sheathing. This into a Talk Electronic fully discrete MC 3 phono stage and another set of my own i/cs to connect to the D/V.
I fired it up using the supplied Chinese valves and they certainly aren't a rubbish sound and if nothing else keep them to be used as guinea pigs after a mod. Powered down and changed both for my all time favourite pre-amp valve - the 6F8G Tung Sol Round Plate - I hear you Jim Spec
. and the Svet 6AS7 o/put valve - underwhelmed, nice but lacked detail or real bass. I was using my old trusty 650s and I was appalled at just how bad they sounded - the bass was bloated rubbish, there was no detail - this was not how it was supposed to be, it was a truly awful sound. So many have raved about the D/V&650. I had received the day before the s/hand Beyer DT990 Premium cans I had bought on ebay.de they were about 9 months old so burned in.Fitted the Beyers and changed the o/put valve to a GE 6AS7 GA. I often use Joni Mitchell's superb 1976 Herija LP to check on bass/treble. I have never heard Jaco Pastorius sound like this. His bass moves in and around nearly all the tracks, deep, so deep and layered, the soundstage was so, so deep, width was average but it didn't matter. Joni was more Joni than I had heard before. Remember this amp had only had maybe 30 mins from new. Details I had never heard. Valves and cans cannot create anything, they can only convey what is presented to them - this little h/amp is a total blinder - there are a few well tried and tested mods and I have a few ideas as well but this is so good that they can only be icing on a very,very good cake.
The only bummer for me is the bright top edge to the Beyer cans. In every other respect they trash the Senn 650s - there is no such place as paradise.
