Here are some more.
Taboo MKIII
BHSE and Taboo MKIII
Shaguang Treasure EL34
Surprisingly well. Theyāre fully enclosed, so thereās no ports directing sound into the corners. The cabinets are about 25mm MDF, internally braced and on spikes into little cups, so they donāt reverberate much. The bass is active with 300 w plate amps hanging off the back, so I can tune gain and cutoff manually. I also convolve a Room EQ Filter developed with a microphone through REW that straightens out the bass response. The room in front is about 10m long with a rug, bookshelves, lots of soft furnishings and a blind over glass doors.
The result is enough to persuade myself that having the speakers where they are is OK. If I pulled them forward then Iād block some doorways.
Ideally Iād prefer a renovated old church in the country, but I donāt have one of those (yet ).
Yeah. I live in a small space. My speakers are not that big at all. KEF LS50s. Mine but not too bad. Sound good.
I canāt imagine why anyone would look down on Miniwatt amps. They are incredible. Having that tiny little thing driving my huge imposing Klipschorns makes me laugh every time I use them together.
Just a Sonic Frontiers Line 1SE pre (with JJ E88CCās) driving an old Adcom MOSFET amp on a pair of KEF R300ās.
In active use, I have a Woo WA22 and a Bottlehead Crack headphone amps. I also still have my Audible Illusion Modulus 3 preamp and Dynaco ST70 amp, FM2 tuner, PAS3 preamp that I havenāt used in awhile.
The late author, Charlie Kittleson who published the famous āVacuum Tube Valleyā magazines in the 90ās and early 2000. It is most read tube magazines at that timeā¦it contains so much information about vacuum tube amplifiers you ever read on other books. Download for free!
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/0414/vacuum_tube_valley.htm
Nice resource. Thanks for sharing!
I use a Woo Audio WA22 in my bedroom setup, sometimes with a Wavelength Brick DAC. Heavily tubed there.
My main rig tube gear is in storage at moment, waiting for itās liberation (long story!). That consists of a pair of Rogue Audio M180 monoblocks and a Rogue Athena preamp. Itās a gorgeous match for my speaks (Focal 1027be). In the meantime Iām using a Pass INT30A in the main rig, and loving it (sounds great, very simple and clean).
Hi I use a pair of LD91 MK2 300B mono blocks (Kits from DIYHK) and Quiksilver Mid-Monos (EL34). I also have a pair of Quicksilver KT88s monoblocks.
Im using a passive preamp for now ( Dave Slagle autoformers) but will assemble a Akido preamp kit in the coming months, using 4x6CG7s.
For headphones I use an Elekit TU-8200 amp mostly with various 807 tubes and Valvo E80CC driver tubes.
I also have a Schiit Saga preamp which use 6SN7 tubes, but itās in front of my speaker amp for now.
Iāve rotated between tubes and solid state in my audio journey. My current setup is as follows:
Headphones listening
Woo Audio WA5LE
Near field listening / Headphone listening (I drive my HE-6s right off the taps)
Firstwatt J2 & Schiit Freya
Iāve owned a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum in the past. Iām now looking at a PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium.
Hi Jeff
Is the shiit tube preamp really that good?
Not only considering price?
I read it sounds really very goodā¦
The verdict is still out on the Schiit. I just installed it into my audio chain this last week so I need a bit more time to listen and compare to my current / previous gear. Here are a few impressions / caveats about the Freya that Iāve foundā¦
Plus
Minus
Hi Jeff
Thank you very much for your initial assessment of the Freya
I hope you can get rid of the annoying tube noise.
All of my big lot of tube gear is dead silent
As the thread starter I should contribute as well
Tube amps:
KR Audio Kronzilla SX poweramp
KR Audio 350i poweramp
KR Audio 350i integrated
Ayon Crossfire III integrated
Hybrid amps:
Lamm M1.1 monos
Sphinx Project 14mk2
Sphinx Project 14mk3
Preamps:
Silvaweld SWC 1000 R Line Pre
Silvaweld SWH 450 Phono Pre
SymphonicLine Die Erleuchtung
DACs:
Lampizator Golden Gate
Lampizator Golden Atlantic
Christoph, we demand selected photos. Preferably with mountains.
I was look into a Freya, but that kills it for me. I have none of these issues with my Woo, although I have experienced bad tubes (usually microphonic effects and if I tap the glass it goes away).
One thing that I didnāt mention is all of these issues go away (except the clicking on volume change) when you switch to passive and JFET mode.
The Freya is not perfect, but it sounds amazing with the right tubes and the right surroundings. The relay-stepped attenuator does make that clicking when changing volume though and that will always be there. The big plus is Iāve been able to rectify all of the issues that Iāve mentioned, except the clicking.
Anyway, I didnāt want to steer anyone away from the Freya. In the end the sound is amazing and that is I what Iām looking for.
@Christoph you are very welcome. Iām starting to warm up to the Freya after my listening session last night. With all of the troubleshooting over and issues resolved, the Freya has turned into a very adept preamp. It just needed some extra TLC. It will stay in my chain for a little while. Iām sure Iāll move on to another preamp in the not to distant future, I always do.