[kevin gilmore]

I wasn't going to say much about the difference in sound, but it is very significant.
Since all i have seen is dead ones (or at least spitting up blood) its hard to know
what they sounded like before, but skylabs unit before the transformer vs my
unit, big difference. Way more balls in general.

 

[Skylab]

Quote:

Originally Posted by guzziguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif It kills the looks, but it's a lot better to have dead looks than a dead amp.

I guess I'm a real geek, but I like the look with the bigger transformer. Not sure about the blue transformers, but mine is a nice black one. I won't see it in person until tomorrow, but from the pics, I will have no issue with the looks. And that is totally secondary for me anyway - not only is the amp now going to work safely, it's going to sound BETTER than before. That just rocks.

 

[n_maher]

I'm with you Rob, I'd take that exposed trafo (blue or black) over the little perforated box any day. Although I suppose that's always been obvious given the boat anchors I tend to build. My current build is a forest of exposed iron and huge film caps and I couldn't be happier.

 

[diego]

@nurxhunter

Most likely the transformer was not able to provide enough voltage for the plate and filaments before. If the plate voltage had a significant change the operating point of the tubes is now different.

SP advertised it's amplifiers as great for tube rolling but I don't see how this could really work. In my opinion the amps probably ran at good operating points only with a few tubes and the rest ran at suboptimal points. Since the plate voltage was probably different from one amp to the other, that could be one of the reasons why each owner liked different tubes. I'm talking different type of tubes not brands and mostly in the input position.

 

[Skylab]

No doubt about that - Mikhail once told me in an email, where I asked specifically, that I could use an ECC32 as the driver tube. It draws .9a, versus .6 for a 6SN7. Clearly, my Extreme was getting cooked, and I am sure that my use of a ECC32 didn't help, since the amp couldn't even deliver enough current for the two 6AS7G's and a 6SN7...

 

[diego]

I read your review comparing your extreme to a B22 and I agreed with most things but there were some differences. That was probably because my extreme was different because B22s aren't

. I never opened mine though and I sold it a year ago so I'll never know how it was on the inside.

 

[Skylab]

Right - sadly, almost everything I said about the Extreme really isn't valid for any one else's Extreme - and mine wasn't safely built!

 

[Happy Camper]

Tube rolling all over again. Now stop cooking amps and back to the music.

 

[nurxhunter]

Pro Digital Inc
Welcome to Pro Digital Inc. - DAT Recorder Service Specialists
700 Park Way # B
Broomall, PA 19008-4211
(610) 353-2400
Paul is the man. See the wiring work in the pic I posted on previous page again below.



I have had Paul put sockets into Cal Alpha DACS for op amp rolling
(which I never did--sold all my Cal Audio). His soldering work is amazing. He is a mentch to boot.

>>>>Is this the place to post techs who can work on an Extreme? If not, can you refer me to the link.

It was only a few weeks ago I found out all the SP issues, shocking--to the mind that is. The Extreme is worth a little hassle, I feel. Super sounding headamp.

What, stop rolling and enjoy music itself--whadaya nuts?

 

[mourip]

We got music, good music...

Held my breath and fired it up with tubes in. Got 6.19v on filaments and 119v on HV. I was a little surprised by how low the HV was but I guess that is what it was spec'd at. I put in a sacrificial Philips 6SN7 just to see if I had bricked it but all is well. I next put in my favorite Bendix 12Au7 to see how it compared to my memory of it. It had not see too much use this last year since I got the Tektron. Now I remember why I got this amp. Boy that tube makes a difference.

Sweet, detailed music... it was worth the effort.

Best,

Paul

 

[guzziguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif I guess I'm a real geek, but I like the look with the bigger transformer. Not sure about the blue transformers, but mine is a nice black one. I won't see it in person until tomorrow, but from the pics, I will have no issue with the looks. And that is totally secondary for me anyway - not only is the amp now going to work safely, it's going to sound BETTER than before. That just rocks.

I don't mind the looks of an exposed transformer, it's just that the size balance among the things on top of the amp is gone and the new, unbalanced look doesn't work for me. I'm not mad about the look of my Platinum Extreme for the same reason, though I think that the covered Plitron works a little better than the exposed transformer.

I agree wholeheartedly that have a well-built, properly spec'ed, safe amp with better SQ is much more important than looks. But I pretty much said that in my post.

BTW, if you or anyone else don't like the color of the transformer, there's no reason you can't paint it. Just be sure to protect the wires from the paint. Look at the Bottlehead site for paint ideas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm with you Rob, I'd take that exposed trafo (blue or black) over the little perforated box any day. Although I suppose that's always been obvious given the boat anchors I tend to build. My current build is a forest of exposed iron and huge film caps and I couldn't be happier.

Exposed can be very good. I've always loved the looks of your amps. But then you work hard to get a balanced, clean look.

 

[nurxhunter]

I felt the same, which is why I went the route to source a torroid transformer to fit inside the box. Despite the issues with SP, I look and the black box as a classic design that has had an indelible impact on this space, for variety of reasons. My next choice would have been the Electraprint, but at 4X $$. Had I not gotten a good deal on the Hammond torroid, I might have gone with EP.

I'm surprised that after the torroid, I highly prefer 6SN7 family (for now), including 6f8G and 5692, which before sounded way to soft. now, the 396A sound glassy. I have a BL63 drawing 1.2A, which sounded awful before, I wonder what it will sound like now.

 

[n_maher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nurxhunter /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm surprised that after the torroid, I highly prefer 6SN7 family (for now), including 6f8G and 5692, which before sounded way to soft. now, the 396A sound glassy. I have a BL63 drawing 1.2A, which sounded awful before, I wonder what it will sound like now.

It's not surprising really at all. The B+ and possibly even the filaments were probably sagging badly which not only affected the input but also the output tubes. That poor little filament trafo was just getting smoked by the B+ current I'm sure.

 

[Skylab]

I picked up my resurrected Extreme this morning from Dr. Gilmore. It sounds TERRIFIC - no question that it sounds better than the original - MUCH quieter background, and an overall richer sound. VERY NICE.

For those of you on the fence - having it repaired with the right transformer is worth the effort, IMO. I saw the original transformer in person, and it looks BAD - no way anyone should be using a stock Extreme any more. But with the right transformer and a couple of $2 resisters - it's actually an upgrade

I'm very grateful to Dr. Gilmore for helping me out.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skylab /img/forum/go_quote.gif I picked up my resurrected Extreme this morning from Dr. Gilmore. It sounds TERRIFIC - no question that it sounds better than the original - MUCH quieter background, and an overall richer sound. VERY NICE. For those of you on the fence - having it repaired with the right transformer is worth the effort, IMO. I saw the original transformer in person, and it looks BAD - no way anyone should be using a stock Extreme any more. But with the right transformer and a couple of $2 resisters - it's actually an upgrade I'm very grateful to Dr. Gilmore for helping me out.

That's great news.