[G0rt]

Love that plasma-like patina! Sweet.

Yup, I'm still up before the sun as well. No rest for the wicked. And, I do have help.

Your pic reminds me, I should see if my TV-7 still works. I think I've got a Hickock around here somewhere, too.

I was thinking a TV-7 is a Hickok, [/QUOTE]

Mebbeso. Mine is an old military unit, originally battleship gray. The other I was thinking of was a sort of tweed.

 

[Paladin79]

I was thinking a TV-7 is a Hickok,

Mebbeso. Mine is an old military unit, originally battleship gray. The other I was thinking of was a sort of tweed.[/QUOTE]

Different makers for same model

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/military_tv_7_u.html

I am used to folks seeking the Hickok made version I suppose.

 

[G0rt]

Mebbeso. Mine is an old military unit, originally battleship gray. The other I was thinking of was a sort of tweed.

Different makers for same model

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/military_tv_7_u.html

I am used to folks seeking the Hickok made version I suppose.[/QUOTE]

That's the one. Mine's the 7/U, from Supreme. Manual's from 1962, with revisions. Some yoyo repainted it kelly green, and replaced the leather handle with woven rope.

The other I have may be a Jackson, but I'll have to find it to be sure.

 

[Paladin79]

Different makers for same model

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/military_tv_7_u.html

I am used to folks seeking the Hickok made version I suppose.

That's the one. Mine's the 7/U, from Supreme. Manual's from 1962, with revisions. Some yoyo repainted it kelly green, and replaced the leather handle with woven rope.

The other I have may be a Jackson, but I'll have to find it to be sure.[/QUOTE]

A good tube tester is a necessity if you buy many used tubes. I have been known to buy loktals by the pound to search for 7N7's, 7A4's etc.

The person here who knows testers is @bcowen , of course he may have been the person who painted the one kelly green and added the rope handle but I imagine he will have plausible deniability.

 

[G0rt]

That's the one. Mine's the 7/U, from Supreme. Manual's from 1962, with revisions. Some yoyo repainted it kelly green, and replaced the leather handle with woven rope.

The other I have may be a Jackson, but I'll have to find it to be sure.

A good tube tester is a necessity if you buy many used tubes. I have been known to buy loktals by the pound to search for 7N7's, 7A4's etc.

The person here who knows testers is @bcowen , of course he may have been the person who painted the one kelly green and added the rope handle but I imagine he will have plausible deniability.[/QUOTE]

I used to collect and restore shortwave radios, ham gear of various kinds, that sort of thing, and tube testers were handy, but I haven't used one in years.

What's old is new again.

 

[Charente]

Mjolnir 2 is an amazing device, brilliantly executed and very musical, paired with almost anything. The circuit design clearly dominates the tubes, as it should, but there are subtleties.

Stock tubes are fine, and all the usual variants, but I really like the whole 2c51 family best, using garage17 adaptors.

GE 5670 get a bad rap, but do have an engaging upper midrange sparkle, to my ears. I also like some old Philips JAN 2c51s, which to me seem slightly more clinical, but still very smooth.

I keep a late 50's pair of WE396A for special occasions, but they're very sweet, almost too much so for my taste. Very close to vinyl, from my digital source.

I usually use Mjolnir with my HiFiMan cans, Sundara and Ananda, balanced, and the synergy is superb, both to dynamics and soundstage. My favorite stuff.

I've been using 5670 tubes (via adapters) for a couple of years now, in particular the 5 star variety, in the MJ2. For the money they are IMO very good. They suit my headphones well ... (AFO & HD-650). I do struggle to find them this side of the pond tho'. The regular 5670 are even greater value for money (about €20 a pair) albeit some may argue they are a bit trebly ... but they are not harsh by any means to my ears. The 5* are the ones to go for .. they have a more balanced character.

 

[bcowen]

I have all the Schiit that I need.

Since when do need and audio gear have anything even remotely in common?

 

[bcowen]

Love that plasma-like patina! Sweet.

Yup, I'm still up before the sun as well. No rest for the wicked. And, I do have help.

Your pic reminds me, I should see if my TV-7 still works. I think I've got a Hickock around here somewhere, too.

I was thinking a TV-7 is a Hickok, [/QUOTE]

TV-7's were made by several different companies. If I were going to keep one though, it would be a Hickok-made unit.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

Hey, if the Gungnir MB fits your rack or desires better, it also has SE outputs

...Meh... XLR cables & balanced-connections are serious overkill for me. My cable runs are short (~1m). No weird ground loops exist. At least in this suite, the power supply has no recorded history of spikes or variable V or I (based on my Uninterrupted Power Supply's monitoring software). When I end up in a house with off-grid power, I'll be running off batteries -- so no constant generator interference.
...double meh...
I picked up Chesky Record's 30th Anniversary 1986-2016 box set (as a 96KHz/24-bit set of FLAC files). Now, THAT is giving me enhanced SQ.

 

[bcowen]

That's the one. Mine's the 7/U, from Supreme. Manual's from 1962, with revisions. Some yoyo repainted it kelly green, and replaced the leather handle with woven rope.

The other I have may be a Jackson, but I'll have to find it to be sure.

A good tube tester is a necessity if you buy many used tubes. I have been known to buy loktals by the pound to search for 7N7's, 7A4's etc.

The person here who knows testers is @bcowen , of course he may have been the person who painted the one kelly green and added the rope handle but I imagine he will have plausible deniability.[/QUOTE]

@Ripper2860 wasn't supposed to sell that! Took me a long time to find that paint that he requested and it really ticks me off he used a piece of rope to replace the barbed wire handle I put on there. Some people.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

QUOTE="G0rt, post: 15119677, member: 511345"]Outstanding, thank you! Maintaining twists-per-inch couldn't hurt.

I've used Canare (L4E5C) in my 2-channel system for a long time, bi-wiring, but Mogami in my racks for line level. L4E6S is what I have for DIY.

I found a Black Dragon for my LCD-3f, and a balanced Focal for Ananda, and a Dyson for Sundara. All pretty good-ish.

My Schiit is all plumbed with Mogami starquad (2534), by WBC, SE or bal. I've used Mogami and Canare in studios, and trust both. I made some SE interconnects a few years ago using Belden 1800f, and those were great, too.

Different strokes.

You obviously know what you are doing There are times I cannot buy 1800F fast enough, one of my favorite cables. Belden's main office is in northern Indiana and that is where I learned about maintaining twists in twisted pair. Some of the things I mess around with at home are just for fun, and for looks but they tend to sound pretty good as well, at least to my ears..[/QUOTE]
That wood housing... damn! I'm a sucker for such iridescent media.

 

[Ableza]

That wood housing... damn! I'm a sucker for such iridescent media.

Looks like sapele veneer...

 

[bcowen]

The person here who knows testers is @bcowen , of course he may have been the person who painted the one kelly green and added the rope handle but I imagine he will have plausible deniability.

The latest project: a Hickok 800A with a beautiful faceplate and a case that was, well, not exactly. The outer Tolex covering was just too trashed to make it look decent. So rip it all off, polish up the hardware to get the rust off, and then fill in the dovetail joints (yeah, all these Hickoks had nicely dovetailed corners that usually need re-glued) and then a coat of primer, more filling, more sanding, and two coats of topcoat. It'll be pretty if I ever get done with it, and it will be the same (or close) dark red color of the original covering. Every time I get one of these case basket-cases I swear I'm never doing another....until the next one, of course. Not hard to do, just time consuming and about as much fun as having a root canal. I can usually replace all the caps, clean and lubricate the switches, calibrate it and troubleshoot / replace any other needed parts in about 1/4 the time it takes to make the stupid case look good.

 

[Paladin79]

The latest project: a Hickok 800A with a beautiful faceplate and a case that was, well, not exactly. The outer Tolex covering was just too trashed to make it look decent. So rip it all off, polish up the hardware to get the rust off, and then fill in the dovetail joints (yeah, all these Hickoks had nicely dovetailed corners that usually need re-glued) and then a coat of primer, more filling, more sanding, and two coats of topcoat. It'll be pretty if I ever get done with it, and it will be the same (or close) dark red color of the original covering. Every time I get one of these case basket-cases I swear I'm never doing another....until the next one, of course. Not hard to do, just time consuming and about as much fun as having a root canal. I can usually replace all the caps, clean and lubricate the switches, calibrate it and troubleshoot / replace any other needed parts in about 1/4 the time it takes to make the stupid case look good.

In the above BH Crack in quartered oak, I spent more time on the cabinet and the top and bottom plates than anything else. Some things are hard to put a value on but you know you have to spend the time to achieve a certain effect. The hardware looks like it is riveted in place otherwise it would be so much easier to work with without the handle and clasps lol.

 

[bcowen]

In the above BH Crack in quartered oak, I spent more time on the cabinet and the top and bottom plates than anything else. Some things are hard to put a value on but you know you have to spend the time to achieve a certain effect. The hardware looks like it is riveted in place otherwise it would be so much easier to work with without the handle and clasps lol.

You are quite right abut the hardware. They used some kind of spreading rivet and trying to drill them out usually ends up destroying the case. So it's a Dremel and a scotchbrite wheel with the hardware left in place. I hate the 800's and 600's because they have some kind of gold finish on the metal, and once you start buffing them to get the rust off you end up taking that gold plating with it. I'm much happier with 539's and such because they had nickel plated hardware that cleans up a lot easier.