The Trouble with Preamps.
What’s wrong with the following conversation:
“Hello, Pacific Valve?”
“Yes”
“Which one of your CD players has a volume control?”
“Currently its our modified Sheng Ya”
“That’s it?”
“Yes, Can I ask why?”
“Well, I want to go straight into my amp and I do not want any lousy preamp mucking up my sound”
“But sir, not that I am trying to sell you a preamp, but going straight into your amp without a buffer can seriously affect the sound”
“You heard me, no preamp”
--Click—
What’s wrong with people? They got this idea in their heads of a straight wire with gain, going directly into an amp. Sarah Vaughn’s voice, on some mythical path to the speakers, is going to bypass the evil preamp and make its way to mother amplifier who is waiting for the electronic reception. I can see it now, its Mrs. Field herself - chocolate chip cookies and milk on hand waiting for the signal like a kindergartners first day of school. So happy to see it, mother amp is going to amplify, ever so delicately and yet forcefully that the san preamp guy will have the best sound on the blog. He has out smarted every one else – what a genius. This, for some reason, is their idea of audio nirvana. I can hear him now, “…a straight wire with gain, you see and since there is a volume control on my CD player, why, no other volume control is necessary, you see… “
Like all things in audio, sometimes true, mostly not true.
If it were true, then why have preamps at all, right? Are preamps just over done, glorified switchers? So, it cannot be always true.
You can do the math and look for the impedance mismatches and see how the CD player is going to effect the sound or you can do as I do, perform the ear test. First you will need a preamp of some sort – either your own or borrow a friends.
Here is what an impedance mismatch generally sounds like, and I mean generally:
The midrange congests. It sounds like someone is placing their hand over the midrange. Then all of a sudden, without any warning, the congestion goes away and comes back. I cannot explain this electronically, but it seems to happen every time.
The bass thins out. Listen for the lower registers not being there. This could be deceptive, since it will have juice and punch, but nothing to punch through.
Try to find an Instrument in space. How easily can you isolate it? What does it sound like? On a mismatch, it will be hard to locate the instrument and then once you do, it will smear back and forth and eventually, get on your nerves.
Now, plug your preamp in. Does this go away? Is the image stable? Has the bass returned? Be sure that the volume is set for the same level, and you should easily tell if a preamp purchase is in the offing.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Maytag Repairman
You know this guy? He is the loneliest guy out there, so they say. The deal is that Maytags are supposed to be lonely due to the reliability of the Maytag products. Which is a good thing if you are a consumer and a bad thing, well, if you repair Maytags for a living. But this guy has a some new company: the high end audio shop retailer. He is lonely not because he repairs audio components, but because it looks like no one give a rat’s ass anymore.
But its not the consumer I am talking about, it’s the high-end retailer. I tell you, I go into their shops and it looks like the raid on Entebbe; cables strewn about, equipment scatter (cannot tell whether its used or new, and if its used, put the prices on there, for gosh sakes), speakers that are so helter-skelter that it looks like they have minds of their own and have started a hejira out the door. The store merchandising looks like a rogue designer had a grotesque Feng Shui session with the owner. It is not only some Chicago stores (where I live), I have been to Arizona, New York, Florida et.al. and have seen the same.
Now they have to economy to blame. And just like cabin pressure suck-out, folks that do not want to spend (or have them $$ to spend) and arm and a leg on equipment are even more disenfranchised – keeping them away from the high end retailer and spurring the retailer’s depression. This mess, of course, was started by none other that the Darth Sideous triorca of audiophile magazines, high end manufacturers and the retailers themselves who, on a grand mall brain fart, thought that it was a good idea to charge 50K for speakers, 18K for a preamp (well, you get the drill). Such a dumb move was this, that if they think that the audiophile market is shrinking, then the ultra high end of the market is shrinking even faster. Consumers that were willing to pay 50K for speakers and 18K for a preamp have now been 201K’d from their 401K and are holding back.
Since Pacific Valve does not compete at this high, high end, these frees me up to help the high end retailer, whose new market is the cornucopia of income disposable mucho.
High end audio salon, do not despair. I have put together some simple guidelines:
Ironically, a recent article in the Absolute Sound was of interest. Called, Audiophile 101 this article spoke of the importance of the high end retailer. If the high end retailer wishes to have a value proposition to folks not willing to spend 6K for a CD player, then the retailer must encourage the industry to start producing great equipment at great prices. So in all, I do not think that the high end retailer is going away, just re-directed. But criminy, don’t make look like, or don’t sound like, your going away ‘cause with that attitude, you will.
You know this guy? He is the loneliest guy out there, so they say. The deal is that Maytags are supposed to be lonely due to the reliability of the Maytag products. Which is a good thing if you are a consumer and a bad thing, well, if you repair Maytags for a living. But this guy has a some new company: the high end audio shop retailer. He is lonely not because he repairs audio components, but because it looks like no one give a rat’s ass anymore.
But its not the consumer I am talking about, it’s the high-end retailer. I tell you, I go into their shops and it looks like the raid on Entebbe; cables strewn about, equipment scatter (cannot tell whether its used or new, and if its used, put the prices on there, for gosh sakes), speakers that are so helter-skelter that it looks like they have minds of their own and have started a hejira out the door. The store merchandising looks like a rogue designer had a grotesque Feng Shui session with the owner. It is not only some Chicago stores (where I live), I have been to Arizona, New York, Florida et.al. and have seen the same.
Now they have to economy to blame. And just like cabin pressure suck-out, folks that do not want to spend (or have them $$ to spend) and arm and a leg on equipment are even more disenfranchised – keeping them away from the high end retailer and spurring the retailer’s depression. This mess, of course, was started by none other that the Darth Sideous triorca of audiophile magazines, high end manufacturers and the retailers themselves who, on a grand mall brain fart, thought that it was a good idea to charge 50K for speakers, 18K for a preamp (well, you get the drill). Such a dumb move was this, that if they think that the audiophile market is shrinking, then the ultra high end of the market is shrinking even faster. Consumers that were willing to pay 50K for speakers and 18K for a preamp have now been 201K’d from their 401K and are holding back.
Since Pacific Valve does not compete at this high, high end, these frees me up to help the high end retailer, whose new market is the cornucopia of income disposable mucho.
High end audio salon, do not despair. I have put together some simple guidelines:
- Stop Whining. That’s right, you heard me. Look, you and the rest of the folks who run this industry got yourselves into this mess. Embrace it. And face it, that due to these things called China and the internet, you are forced to sell your ridiculously priced components to the few who are willing to pay for it. And they soon will come back, cash in hand and permission from their spouses who, on an act of exemplary mercy, freely gave up a room in the house for speakers the size of UPS trucks.
- Instead of having your shop look like it a designer come in for a grotesque Feng Shui experiment, clean up your act. Put those cables away, move speakers that do not belong in the listening room out of there. Get a rack for cables and let me choose which ones I would like when I listen. Turn the components on for warm up. And, for the love of mite, you all have good music in your shop – why not turn it on and have it playing softly when I get in there to spur my interest? Dust off the equipment – what is this, the Adam’s Family attic make over?
- Re-negotiate your real estate. Practical folks like me who come into your shop to browse will never spend the money for this stuff. Find a cheaper location off the beaten path. Most of your serious customers will be by appointment anyway, with no place to dump their cash, they will easily find you.
Ironically, a recent article in the Absolute Sound was of interest. Called, Audiophile 101 this article spoke of the importance of the high end retailer. If the high end retailer wishes to have a value proposition to folks not willing to spend 6K for a CD player, then the retailer must encourage the industry to start producing great equipment at great prices. So in all, I do not think that the high end retailer is going away, just re-directed. But criminy, don’t make look like, or don’t sound like, your going away ‘cause with that attitude, you will.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Those Shuguang Tubes
There are some great things to be had in Chinese tubes these days since we are, ah, all cutting corners. Some of them, knock the ball out of the park. Some of them, violate the infield fly rule. Here is my guide to help you.
Shuguang 12AX7, 12AT7, 12AU7, 7025, 6922(derivatives)
Fa-gyet-a-bout-it. Really. I have tried. They are either very bad or average. Use the 7025 for 12AX7 replacements for listening to background music. Theses tubes are in the realm of extremes: either very dull or very bright. No matter what I try them in, the Classic Preamp, the Ming DA 7R preamp or the excellent Doge 6130, they are remarkable by their sheer lack of remark-ability.
Shuguang 6SN7GT
The Shoo 6SN7GT are worth looking into, and for the price, cannot be beat. Now pay close attention, brothers and sisters of the halo getter, as I am referring to the 6SN7GT models with the white lettering and the brown base. I am not referring to the Shoo 6SN7s the have the silver base and I am not referring to the tubes that have 6N8P labeled on them. So hey, be careful out there.
The Shoo 6SN7GTs are a delight and are far from the listless bland sound coming out of EH these days. After listening to some EHs in the ever critical Bada PH-12 head amp, I was actually getting fatigued by the Bada trying to pull detail out of these tubes and the tubes fighting it every step out of the way. When I placed the Shoos back in, the window opened up and I was hearing things with detail and a sense of firm instrument placement that I have never heard before. This is a consensus view of the Shoos, as most folks that I respect (Response Audio, for example) is fond of them as well.
Shuguang 2A3C
Please have a spare of these, you RCA lovers, ‘cause you are in for a treat. These are the white label and (current) white base that have “Shuguang 2A3C” in white letters (hence white label) stamped on them. I am not referring to the 2A3Bs that you should remove the insides of, fill with wax and use them as Yuletide candles for the holidays.
The 2A3s are just going to be tough to beat for the price as nothing comes close, sans for the EH 2A3s. The JJ Teslas are just two, well JJ Tesla-ish. Viz., the bass goes mush and the dynamics are missing. The sound is a kin to the JJ KT88s – they just need some guts behind them to get them to sound right. Alas, the confusion is, the Teslas sound correct tonally, at first install, after a while, you will know what I am talking about.
The Shoo 2A3s bring a SET listening to a whole new level and those 300B folks, so endeared to a lucid detailed, vocalist lip-smacking midrange may want to give these a try. The EHs are correct tonally, but are missing the last bit of detailed that the Shoo 2A3s reproduce.
I use the Shoo 2A3 tubes in the famous MC2A3 preamp and they are just dynamite.
Shuguang 300B
Again, these are the 300BC white label and white base (sometimes they have a brown base) 300B tubes.
The Shuguang 300BC is probably one of the most reliable, industrial 300BC these paws have ever handled. I use them in a variety of ways: to bias the 3008 Mono blocks and for general purpose listening. I do not like them as much as the Shuguang mesh plate varities (or any other mesh plate variety for that matter). I also do not like them as much as the bargain-of –the century Sovtek 300BC (which you can no longer obtain, and I have not heard the EH 300Bs). I am currently comparing them to the JJ Teslas. Compared to other 300B tubes, the Shoo white label sounds a little too dark for me and in doing so, tends to suck out the midrange ever so slightly. This tube also needs a war-and-peace level break in time as it could take as much as 100 hours before the tube open up. And then, if that were not enough, it needs another 2 hours of turn on time before it even begins to show you what it is capable of. It is as quiet as a mounse and sans its “dark” attributes, is one heck of a tube. Use it if your amp has a hot high end and upper mid as you may find this tube endearing.
The Shuguang KT88-98
These are the KT88-98s and not the KT88 and not the KT100. The KT88-98 comes in two varieties: the white label and the hand picked red label that you can only get when you purchase the Shuguang Blue S8 amplifier.
The Shoo KT88-98 is one of the punchier KT88 tubes. I like it a lot and prefer it over all new tubes, sans the Cadillac Genlex, which surpasses a KT88 tube in just about every category. The Genelex has it over the KT88-98 in the mids to highs, where it parts a 300B sound to the highs and a 2A3 sound to the mids. Punch for punch, bass for bass, dynamic for dynamic, it is on par the with the Shoo KT88-98, which is why it is worth having a pair on hand.
The Shuguang 6550
These are supposed to be replicas of the GE 6550. Well, they are not. And for that matter, none of the replica tubes are “replicas”, IMO. Take the Mullard New Sensor re-issues. Nice tube, no replica. Same thing for the Shoo 6550, nice tube, no replica. My favorite 6550 tube remains the EH and SED, where I place the EH, SED and Shoo 6550 in that order. The Shoo 6550 needs a tremendous break in time and sounds like the 300BC tube, a little dark and withdrawn – but it has the punch bass of its kinkless trioide. cousin. I like in amps that sound a little bright and forceful, where it paints a scene of delicate subtleness with these amps. The 6550 shoos are standard in the Ming Da MC 368B90 amp.
Shuguang tubes have come a long way since there inception in the early 1990s. They seem to get better year by year. Even as the dollar rises against the Chinese Yuan, the Shuguang tubes represent a great bargain. Enjoy these tubes and enjoy their price point.
There are some great things to be had in Chinese tubes these days since we are, ah, all cutting corners. Some of them, knock the ball out of the park. Some of them, violate the infield fly rule. Here is my guide to help you.
Shuguang 12AX7, 12AT7, 12AU7, 7025, 6922(derivatives)
Fa-gyet-a-bout-it. Really. I have tried. They are either very bad or average. Use the 7025 for 12AX7 replacements for listening to background music. Theses tubes are in the realm of extremes: either very dull or very bright. No matter what I try them in, the Classic Preamp, the Ming DA 7R preamp or the excellent Doge 6130, they are remarkable by their sheer lack of remark-ability.
Shuguang 6SN7GT
The Shoo 6SN7GT are worth looking into, and for the price, cannot be beat. Now pay close attention, brothers and sisters of the halo getter, as I am referring to the 6SN7GT models with the white lettering and the brown base. I am not referring to the Shoo 6SN7s the have the silver base and I am not referring to the tubes that have 6N8P labeled on them. So hey, be careful out there.
The Shoo 6SN7GTs are a delight and are far from the listless bland sound coming out of EH these days. After listening to some EHs in the ever critical Bada PH-12 head amp, I was actually getting fatigued by the Bada trying to pull detail out of these tubes and the tubes fighting it every step out of the way. When I placed the Shoos back in, the window opened up and I was hearing things with detail and a sense of firm instrument placement that I have never heard before. This is a consensus view of the Shoos, as most folks that I respect (Response Audio, for example) is fond of them as well.
Shuguang 2A3C
Please have a spare of these, you RCA lovers, ‘cause you are in for a treat. These are the white label and (current) white base that have “Shuguang 2A3C” in white letters (hence white label) stamped on them. I am not referring to the 2A3Bs that you should remove the insides of, fill with wax and use them as Yuletide candles for the holidays.
The 2A3s are just going to be tough to beat for the price as nothing comes close, sans for the EH 2A3s. The JJ Teslas are just two, well JJ Tesla-ish. Viz., the bass goes mush and the dynamics are missing. The sound is a kin to the JJ KT88s – they just need some guts behind them to get them to sound right. Alas, the confusion is, the Teslas sound correct tonally, at first install, after a while, you will know what I am talking about.
The Shoo 2A3s bring a SET listening to a whole new level and those 300B folks, so endeared to a lucid detailed, vocalist lip-smacking midrange may want to give these a try. The EHs are correct tonally, but are missing the last bit of detailed that the Shoo 2A3s reproduce.
I use the Shoo 2A3 tubes in the famous MC2A3 preamp and they are just dynamite.
Shuguang 300B
Again, these are the 300BC white label and white base (sometimes they have a brown base) 300B tubes.
The Shuguang 300BC is probably one of the most reliable, industrial 300BC these paws have ever handled. I use them in a variety of ways: to bias the 3008 Mono blocks and for general purpose listening. I do not like them as much as the Shuguang mesh plate varities (or any other mesh plate variety for that matter). I also do not like them as much as the bargain-of –the century Sovtek 300BC (which you can no longer obtain, and I have not heard the EH 300Bs). I am currently comparing them to the JJ Teslas. Compared to other 300B tubes, the Shoo white label sounds a little too dark for me and in doing so, tends to suck out the midrange ever so slightly. This tube also needs a war-and-peace level break in time as it could take as much as 100 hours before the tube open up. And then, if that were not enough, it needs another 2 hours of turn on time before it even begins to show you what it is capable of. It is as quiet as a mounse and sans its “dark” attributes, is one heck of a tube. Use it if your amp has a hot high end and upper mid as you may find this tube endearing.
The Shuguang KT88-98
These are the KT88-98s and not the KT88 and not the KT100. The KT88-98 comes in two varieties: the white label and the hand picked red label that you can only get when you purchase the Shuguang Blue S8 amplifier.
The Shoo KT88-98 is one of the punchier KT88 tubes. I like it a lot and prefer it over all new tubes, sans the Cadillac Genlex, which surpasses a KT88 tube in just about every category. The Genelex has it over the KT88-98 in the mids to highs, where it parts a 300B sound to the highs and a 2A3 sound to the mids. Punch for punch, bass for bass, dynamic for dynamic, it is on par the with the Shoo KT88-98, which is why it is worth having a pair on hand.
The Shuguang 6550
These are supposed to be replicas of the GE 6550. Well, they are not. And for that matter, none of the replica tubes are “replicas”, IMO. Take the Mullard New Sensor re-issues. Nice tube, no replica. Same thing for the Shoo 6550, nice tube, no replica. My favorite 6550 tube remains the EH and SED, where I place the EH, SED and Shoo 6550 in that order. The Shoo 6550 needs a tremendous break in time and sounds like the 300BC tube, a little dark and withdrawn – but it has the punch bass of its kinkless trioide. cousin. I like in amps that sound a little bright and forceful, where it paints a scene of delicate subtleness with these amps. The 6550 shoos are standard in the Ming Da MC 368B90 amp.
Shuguang tubes have come a long way since there inception in the early 1990s. They seem to get better year by year. Even as the dollar rises against the Chinese Yuan, the Shuguang tubes represent a great bargain. Enjoy these tubes and enjoy their price point.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
