[Tjj226 Angel]

Will be interesting to see how that works out, I have seen other Audio Note AN-J and AN-E mimics out there, the Audio Note markup is serious. They are beautiful speakers though, love those blue hemp woofers.

I'll look into the cap replacements, need to ask the original owner if anything was done with the crossovers when the surrounds were replaced. I recall reading somewhere that you should avoid messing with them unless absolutely necessary as components were very specifically chosen by Snell, could just be one of those weird purist audiophile legends though. Will probably kick that can down the road, but I'll look into it.

The DAC in question is made by SW1X, a new kid on the block and also of the Audio Note school. The DAC End looks interesting, I have a small deposit down on the SW1X DAC, had planned for something in his middle performance tier, but if I backed off and put my deposit toward his most entry-level model, I could probably also build the DAC End for the difference in cost...

Something to consider, I do love a good DIY.

That is true up to a point. I went through the same anguish over swapping out the caps. What I did was I measured the capacitance with my meter and then bought the exact value parts. It worked great. Imaging was improved greatly.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

That is true up to a point. I went through the same anguish over swapping out the caps. What I did was I measured the capacitance with my meter and then bought the exact value parts. It worked great. Imaging was improved greatly.

Nice, I'll do some homework and consider it. The imaging on these is already pretty mind-blowing in my room. With the room reinforcement, I can't imagine ever feeling these need a sub, the subjective impression is that they reach lower than 50Hz. I'll probably take some measurements with a mic at some point.

The grills are also in perfect condition, I am so happy! Wish I didn't have to work tonight, breaking my heart, could sit here and listen for hours.

 

[Xcalibur255]

I love seeing vintage items find a new home and purpose again. Happy new speaker day!

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Thanks, @Xcalibur255 , can't wait for the weekend so I can really enjoy them, have three days of 12-hour night shifts ahead of me, yikes. Saturday afternoon will be an extravaganza of driver tube rolling and re-experiencing my music library.

If anyone is interested in some Peter Snell info, here is a nice article of Stereophile that includes discussion of these speakers and their Audio Note contemporaries:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-115

And a nice video where Andy Singer and Steve Guttenberg sit down and reminisce about their talented friend before his early passing.

 

[2359glenn]

Yeup.

I do have a crazy idea to get around the issue, but it's borderline suicide.

If you use a very high current low voltage tube and match it with a high current high DCR transformer, then you could use that transformer in a parafeed configuration without the parafeed capacitor.

If you load the parafeed output with a CCS, then you can draw current across the DCR of the transformer to elevate the plate of the tube at some given plate voltage.

But this is obviously a balancing act.

I am nuts and suppos you are to
You can make a power supply with chokes shunt regulators and powerful tubes like SV572-10
Rectifier to choke shunt regulator another choke then shunt regulator again.
The shunt regulators will chop off the peaks and energy stored in the chokes will fill in between peks.
This will work but waist allot of power and create plenty of heat.
But if we worried about waisting power we wouldn’t be using tubes in the first place.

 

[2359glenn]

Will be interesting to see how that works out, I have seen other Audio Note AN-J and AN-E mimics out there, the Audio Note markup is serious. They are beautiful speakers though, love those blue hemp woofers.

I'll look into the cap replacements, need to ask the original owner if anything was done with the crossovers when the surrounds were replaced. I recall reading somewhere that you should avoid messing with them unless absolutely necessary as components were very specifically chosen by Snell, could just be one of those weird purist audiophile legends though. Will probably kick that can down the road, but I'll look into it.

The DAC in question is made by SW1X, a new kid on the block and also of the Audio Note school. The DAC End looks interesting, I have a small deposit down on the SW1X DAC, had planned for something in his middle performance tier, but if I backed off and put my deposit toward his most entry-level model, I could probably also build the DAC End for the difference in cost...

Something to consider, I do love a good DIY.

 

[2359glenn]

The Snell’s look great have you listened to them much yet ?
How do they sound?

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

Nice, I'll do some homework and consider it. The imaging on these is already pretty mind-blowing in my room. With the room reinforcement, I can't imagine ever feeling these need a sub, the subjective impression is that they reach lower than 50Hz. I'll probably take some measurements with a mic at some point.

The grills are also in perfect condition, I am so happy! Wish I didn't have to work tonight, breaking my heart, could sit here and listen for hours.

Im done messing around with projects today so now I have a moment to sit down lol.

Im glad to hear that you like these speakers. Many people ask me for recommendations but very few ever take my advice. These are a great value.

I have searched high and low for something as good if not better for a reasonable price (the snells would have been ~1500 in todays money). It usually takes ~4K to sound better than the snells and the speakers are usually twice the size or the efficiency is down to like 83db.

If the omegas sound better, it will be VERY interesting. I will have to buy myself some cones and alnico magnets if that happens lolololol : P

 

[Xcalibur255]

I'm also greatly looking forward to a comparison between the Snell and Omega. Though it won't be a comparison to an Alnico driver Omega since Keenan opted for their high output ferrite magnet based model.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

The Snell’s look great have you listened to them much yet ?
How do they sound?

I only got about 1.5-2 hours with them today, but I came away really impressed, very nice large soundstage, detail and clarity is excellent, was most surprised by the bass, very full and satisfying, and I put it through the wringer with some of the weird electronic music I enjoy. They are undoubtedly a big step up from the NHT C3 three-way bookshelves I was using before, and much better for my amp at 92dB/W sensitive.

Im done messing around with projects today so now I have a moment to sit down lol.

Im glad to hear that you like these speakers. Many people ask me for recommendations but very few ever take my advice. These are a great value.

I have searched high and low for something as good if not better for a reasonable price (the snells would have been ~1500 in todays money). It usually takes ~4K to sound better than the snells and the speakers are usually twice the size or the efficiency is down to like 83db.

They are great, first impressions were fantastic. I have read the same elsewhere too, most who have heard them/owned them say they are as good as speakers multiple times the price, and I see why. They are also a great lifestyle fit for me - big sound without the footprint of a tower. They are still pretty chunky lol but fit well in my space. Glad my other near-purchases of these fell through, this pair was my ideal find.

If the omegas sound better, it will be VERY interesting. I will have to buy myself some cones and alnico magnets if that happens lolololol : P

I'm also greatly looking forward to a comparison between the Snell and Omega. Though it won't be a comparison to an Alnico driver Omega since Keenan opted for their high output ferrite magnet based model.

Yes I'm very curious myself, like @Xcalibur255 said, the set I bought are the ferrite-magnet-based drivers, 8 inches with a second driver cut off at 200Hz, the "high output" model. I wanted something with a beefy low end, in the ideal world I would have gotten the high-output model with the alnico driver, the High Output Super Alnico, but they are one of the most expensive Omega offers at $3.2K and they are pretty darn big, bigger than I could fit I decided. The dual 8-inch ferrite driver model I bought was Louis' recommendation for me, I might be surprised, but I would expect that it will fall more into the "fun and punchy" category rather than having razor-sharp imaging and enormous staging, just based on what I have read of that particular driver and the cabinet. I'm hoping the two speakers will complement each other well, and I can swap them out every so often to keep things fresh. Fortunately, the stands I bought for the Omegas work great for both speakers! A more apples-to-apples comparison between the Omegas and the J/II's would probably be the regular Super Alnico, but we will see. It wasn't the plan, but two pairs of nice speakers that can be run on a flea-watt SET is a good problem to have.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Going over some old correspondence with a French tube seller I know, I came across an interesting tube he had recommended to me...the R120.

Much like the 6A5G, this is a ~3.5W class A indirectly heated power triode. In fact, it is almost a drop-in replacement (!!!), the pinout is the same and the operating point is nearly identical, with the exception of -35V on the grid rather than -45V (250V / 60mA), same plate load, slightly higer mu of 5.4.

To use this tube in the 6A5 amp, I would simply need to drop my B+ 10-15V (easy-peasy, just use the 5Z3 instead of the U18/20), change the cathode resistor to ~580ohms, and center tap the heaters.

Here is the datasheet: https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/084/r/R120.pdf

And curves:



They are pretty uncommon, but I am going to get a pair and give them a try, my French tube seller might be able to help me out. Depending on how they sound, its possible the 6A5 amp might become the R120 amp, certainly would fit my esoteric European tube theme we will see.

In other news, I took a gamble on some physically pristine but untested globe 45s from eBay, they will arrive today, we'll see if lady luck is on my side!

Edit: my seller has R120 in stock, so this operation is a go

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Check this out @Xcalibur255 .

So like I said, I took a gamble on a pair of globe 45, engraved base Philco branded. The eBayer who had them was not a tube seller, and as such, they were untested. He told me he found them very carefully stored in a leather bag. In terms of physical condition, they are as good as it gets for tubes this old: clean, rust-free tube pins, full intact getter flash, clear glass, clean bases without cracks. I figured the odds of one of the two tubes working was pretty high, so if I got them at half market value for a pair (which for a pair is anywhere from $250-350), it would be worth the gamble even if only one worked. I won the auction for $130 and asked the seller to pack them carefully, he took that took an extreme LOL I have never gotten tubes packed this well - a box full of packing material, then another box, more packing material, then bubble mailers, then each tube wrapped in bubble wrap. Well done sir.

So I popped them in my Jackson 648-R AND...on one tube, only half the filament lit up and it was sort of pulsing. Turned it off right away - I didn't need to use the function on the tester to know this was a short, and given the structure of these tubes, likely filament to grid, confirmed with a DMM. That's okay! We can work with that, I was more worried the filaments would be broken.

I have fixed shorts in valuable tubes in the past, it is a very scientific and calculated process...you WHACK the tube until the short is broken ever so lovingly, of course. What is there to lose? Its already non-functional.

So I proceded to WHACK this tube against my hand, checking the short every 4-5 whacks. First in one direction without change, then the other. AND ITS FIXED!!! Eff that short, it is gone.

Threw the tubes back in my Jackson tester, and they both test over 100% emission 105-110% more specifically, well matched too.

So lady luck was on my side after all, with the assistance of brute force.



Listening now, big time upgrade in terms of airiness, soundstage, holography, and realism. These tubes live up to their reputation.

 

[Xcalibur255]

I had a feeling this would work out for you. Congrats! These tubes are "it" in my opinion in the NOS 45 world.

You were meant to get these tubes. How many buyers would have junked that one tube as bad I wonder? I bet most would. Instead they are now a usable pair and making beautiful music.

You will not want to go back to the ST Sylvanias once you get used to these. After another 24 hours to wake up they'll sound even better. It's the palpable realism that's so amazing. When you go back to the ST tubes the timbres don't seem as authentic, as though there is a bit of a plastic sheen to everything. I think the lack of a mica making any contact with the glass is part of it, it is one less route for vibration to transfer.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

@Xcalibur255 they are incredible! Immediately on first listen, I had a "woah" moment, going back to the ST 45s would be hard, not that they sound bad, but its all relative.

I have had a pretty good success rate with the ol' whack-a-tube method. If you can visualize the internal short, its even easier as you can deduce which direction to shift the internals and if it is improving, just need a fraction of a millimeter to get the tube working again. I was able to fix a Tung-Sol 5998 this way recently.

Realism is the word, they give a very satisfying body and "thickness" to the sound. I'm actually just listening to the HD650 right now rather than the Auteur, they sound like a TOTL headphone with this amp, really enjoying it

 

[Tjj226 Angel]

@Xcalibur255 they are incredible! Immediately on first listen, I had a "woah" moment, going back to the ST 45s would be hard, not that they sound bad, but its all relative.

I have had a pretty good success rate with the ol' whack-a-tube method. If you can visualize the internal short, its even easier as you can deduce which direction to shift the internals and if it is improving, just need a fraction of a millimeter to get the tube working again. I was able to fix a Tung-Sol 5998 this way recently.

Realism is the word, they give a very satisfying body and "thickness" to the sound. I'm actually just listening to the HD650 right now rather than the Auteur, they sound like a TOTL headphone with this amp, really enjoying it

The old HD600 headphones work REALLY well for tube amps like this. The bass comes out a bit more, and they aren't as veiled as the HD650s.

I haven't tried the massdrop 580X, but from what I am told they are a carbon copy of the HD600s