[bcowen]

Was your account hacked? This sounds like @bcowen tube hoarding

That's not hoarding. That's just collecting. A certified hoarder would have ordered all those before they finished their first cup of coffee in the morning.

 

[R3DFIV3]

I've had mixed results from vintage or even NOS tubes, so buyer beware. My favorite ECC88's are Genelec Gold Lions, which can be purchased new.

+1 for Genelec Gold Lion

My favorite may be 396A / 2C51 Western Electric with adapter for my Freya N / Valhalla 2.

 

[sixergixer]

I lived in Japan for 3 years in the early 80s.
It was quite common back then for bars in Tokyo to offer ‘free’ whisky after paying a small entrance fee.

The whisky was so awful, I preferred to pay for a beer!

The Japanese are real masters at taking good ideas/products and improving them.

They certainly inflicted some (deserved) damage on the British car and motorbike industries.

I believe they have done the same with whisky and that some Japanese whisky now rivals the best from Scotland.

I haven’t tried enough to comment and I tend to stick to Islay malts.

However, I did buy a bottle of Hibiki blended whisky a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it.

Edit: I think it was Hibiki ‘Harmony’

Nikka Whisky From the Barrel is a good release if you can find it. It's classified as a World Whisky under new (voluntary) Japanese regulations as it is a blend of various whiskies from different countries. Rich and tasty at a slightly higher proof, it's yummy.

 

[JohnnyCanuck]

Blasphemy

JC

 

[dstrimbu]

I love my Loki Max and its presets. It isn’t always in use but I am never afraid to use it. Plus it will keep me from feeling the need to chase Yggdrasil boards for my GS2 for a while, methinks. I have certainly learned a little goes a long way!

I wish Loki Max had 2 or 3 more presets... other than that, it's perfect. I have a digital preset, an analog (LP) preset, and a "Nick" preset - as tuned by my young friend (U of M jazz major) Nick Oclassen. The "Nick" preset never changes, unless he comes home, stops by, and changes it. The Digital and Analog presets change a bit, occasionally, but are generally stable - short of a couple of clicks, here and there, once in a while.

Regarding Nick... his ears... I wish I had his ears...

 

[PBraith]

My wife hates Led. Zeppelin, she says the vocals are like a dying cat. Sooo imagine my surprise when I find her jamming out to the Beth Hart Zeppelin tribute album.! She said she found it playing when she put my headphones on and fell in love..

Fulla E to Piety into my Grado 325e headphones.... And her mind was blown.




Edit she just announced she needs a Piety at her work station.

Yeah, Beth's lot's of listening fun.
Found this gem cruising You Tube the other day too...

 

[jonathan c]

That's not hoarding. That's just collecting. A certified hoarder would have ordered all those before they finished their first cup of coffee in the morning.

.... a hoarder buys the tubes so that no one else can! ..... ..........

 

[bcowen]

.... a @Paladin79 buys all the Melz 1578's so that no one else can! ..... ..........

FTFY.

 

[Kristofa]

I wish Loki Max had 2 or 3 more presets... other than that, it's perfect. I have a digital preset, an analog (LP) preset, and a "Nick" preset - as tuned by my young friend (U of M jazz major) Nick Oclassen. The "Nick" preset never changes, unless he comes home, stops by, and changes it. The Digital and Analog presets change a bit, occasionally, but are generally stable - short of a couple of clicks, here and there, once in a while.

Regarding Nick... his ears... I wish I had his ears...

Super cool.
My three presets are flat, 6kHz trim, and “LP mode.”

LP mode was set after I took an LP of mine that I loved the sound of (OG US The Cars Shake It Up) and EQ’d my MFSL CD of the same title to where is came close. The MFSL CD sounds great too, but I thought this title was a good representation of these two formats and could be a good baseline for a preset. It ended up being approx this:
-1 16kHz
-4 6kHz
-4 2kHz
-1 400Hz
+1 120Hz
+4 20Hz

I usually keep it at flat and slightly adjust from there, but the presets are fun nonetheless. Since I listen to a lot of modern indie electro pop, keeping it flat and reducing 20hHz a couple ticks is helpful to tame the room.

 

[mks100]

I don't think I have the qualifications to start a separate Schiit Skoll thread, but I wanted to share my recent experience so I am posting it here. Previously I owned a Mani 2 and ordered the Skoll as soon as it was available. It was a significant upgrade over the Mani 2 and my Rega Planar 6 w/ Ania cartridge sounded noticeably better through the Skoll. As the phono preamp was the most neglected part of my system (costing less than my speaker cables), I thought I would see if I could do even better. I ordered a Rega Fono MC MK4 thinking it would be a perfect match for my cartridge and sold the Skoll. After installing the Rega, I immediately regretted it. The Skoll is truly special and, regardless of features, simply sounds significantly better than the Rega. I returned the Rega and I am now the proud owner of my second Skoll. It is one of the more significant upgrades I have experienced in my audio enthusiast lifetime. Highly recommended.

 

[mystaiced]

I don't think I have the qualifications to start a separate Schiit Skoll thread, but I wanted to share my recent experience so I am posting it here. Previously I owned a Mani 2 and ordered the Skoll as soon as it was available. It was a significant upgrade over the Mani 2 and my Rega Planar 6 w/ Ania cartridge sounded noticeably better through the Skoll. As the phono preamp was the most neglected part of my system (costing less than my speaker cables), I thought I would see if I could do even better. I ordered a Rega Fono MC MK4 thinking it would be a perfect match for my cartridge and sold the Skoll. After installing the Rega, I immediately regretted it. The Skoll is truly special and, regardless of features, simply sounds significantly better than the Rega. I returned the Rega and I am now the proud owner of my second Skoll. It is one of the more significant upgrades I have experienced in my audio enthusiast lifetime. Highly recommended.

I have @emorrison33 to thank for my Skoll purchase. He said it was great and it definitely is! A worthwhile upgrade over Mani 1 and 2. And these are his words, not mine, but I'll paraphrase that it was like upgrading from a delta-sigma DAC to a Multibit DAC. It's the truth

 

[DavidSerig]

I am amazed again at how powerful one watt of tube power is. I haven't tried the speaker with Rekkr yet but my hope is to set up a mimby->vali->rekkr with my nice floorstanders just to freak people out.

I just thought I'd put my few cents in for a $1k - 1.5k ish 10 - 20 watt tube power amplifier? You could do it if we buy our own tubes! Yeah, never happen, just a thought.

 

[mks100]

I have @emorrison33 to thank for my Skoll purchase. He said it was great and it definitely is! A worthwhile upgrade over Mani 1 and 2. And these are his words, not mine, but I'll paraphrase that it was like upgrading from a delta-sigma DAC to a Multibit DAC. It's the truth

A perfect analogy. Thanks for articulating my thoughts.

 

[adias]

Question to those who changed from
Mani 2 to Skoll and found major tonal changes - easy to observe by using the Skoll remote control to change cartridge loading (R/C):

If you still had a Mani 2 around… if you were to manually change the Mani 2 dip switches to match the settings you tweaked in Skoll? How would it sound?

 

[ScubaMan2017]

You might want to try digital timers for the lights first. I don't get any interference from the digital one but the mechanical ones were notorious for adding clicks and buzzing to my music if anywhere near my gear.

Being off-grid and on solar, timers are a necessity for the days I can't be here all day to monitor and manually shut down the refrigerator and such.

Mechanical timers. Got 2 of 'em in the same room. Right across from my Schiit-kit. Good call @Sinister Whisperz ... I suspected as much.

By 2025, I should have a pretty damn good idea what it's like running Schiit Audio in the bush. I've also been hanging around with some interesting dudes (Men's Shed) and they are suggesting I set up an all-DC woodworking shop. Buy used table top power tools (drill press, table saw,...) Swap out all the AC motors for DC. Oy. Could be interesting!