... is finally over. I bought jrebman's Eastern Electric Minimax, and I couldn't be happier with it. I let sound be the overriding feature and gave up some convenience features in the other preamps that I tried. At one point I was fortunate to have 5 pres here to compare. I only had to pay to audition the Van Alstine T8, and I did so because that was the one with the most convincing reputation for great sound, and the most features that I wanted, so I was sure I would keep it. The particular T8 was on sale so the value for features was unbeatable. I also read about Mike's (Dr Connelly) AR SP9, but I knew it wouldn't fit in my wooden case rack with the 19" rack ears and I'm still shy of modded gear. But thanks for the offer to audition it Mike. I was relieved when it sold for you!
Before I decided on the Minimax, I took a chance and put in some of those Black Sable cryoed tubes from Tube Depot, the RCA clear top 12AU7s. They are not cheap, but they really are as good as they say. The combination with Minimax is great. Without calling attention to any changes these RCA tubes just make everything sound better, it's hard to describe. There is a slight boldness to the tone, a little flesh, but nothing that stands out. There is a huge, beautiful tone, but details are still crystal clear, realistic with a natural tone and realistic soundstage size. It is nice to be able to easily change the tube flavor for different moods and music. The minimax reveals the character of the tube, for better or worse, in the case of RCA clear top 12AU7, that's very good. :D
The Van Alstine T8 was a very close second place and had all the features I wanted for a great price. A three year warrantee, and built of heavy steel ready for Army duty. The inside looked like a sample being sent to the Gugenheim, absolutely perfect, clean, loose wires arranged and ruler straight. Frank has some truly talented people on staff. I was really disappointed that the T8 didn't work out for me. In the end I had to ignore everything and go with the best sound which was clearly the minimax. T8 had a huge soundstage, very detailed sound, more dynamic than Minimax. It had kind of a "better than real" presentation - the highs and lows were both a little exaggerated and timbre was slightly off in upper midrange. If you weren't a tone nut like me listening to oboes and violins all the time you would never notice the tone thing, I am really very picky about that - I want it to sound realistic. On rock and pop and stuff produced with 'tonal relativism' it sounded great. James, who disliked the Altmann at the previous meet because it sounded boring compared to oversampling players, loved the T8's bigger than life interpretation. Carl said he liked the overall sound and said it cured some kind of high freq annoyance in my system. Shane disliked it, said it worsened the high freq annoyance in my system.
:lmc: hahaha (that's me in the middle.)
I tried swapping tubes, but the T8 can only use 6N1P, not cousins like 6922/6DJ8 which Frank said will sound bad in the new T8. I tried 3 different brands new and old, and found a preference (not stock Sovteks) but the swapping did not change the overall character of the preamp nor improve the tone. I would love to hear the previous version of T8 with 12AT7 tubes someday. Thanks to Frank Van Alstine for making the transaction easy and for offering 30 day satisfaction guarantee.
It is great to hear the system come together as it has with this preamp. Thanks WEEZ and others, you were so right about the benefit of a good preamp over just SB direct into the amps. I'm glad I was (finally) able to put aside my stubborn ignorance and take a chance based on your trusted recommendation. It will be fun to compare it to Steve's 11A at some point in the future, but the Minimax beat all the others that I tried within my price range.
Thanks to Jim for letting me audition the preamp too, and for the advice on tubes, etc.
Rich
Rich, congrats on the Minimax! I haven't heard the pre, but I've got the phono pre and I love it.
YAY! Glad you stayed true to what your ears told you rather than getting sucked into the psychology of it. I think I owned that preamp for almost a year, which is up there for me.... ;) I could've lived with it long term but well... I got caught up in the psychology... ;)
Hope you can sit back and enjoy your choice for a long time.... Now... onto speakers, amps, and cables, oh my! hahaha
Glad you found the pre that 'did it' for you. :clap:
WEEZ
Rich,
I'm really glad it worked out for you and that it has a good new home. If I could afford it I would have never sold it, but as with my Signature 70s, it's the price I have to pay for switching to a tube integrated, which just synergizes better with the Adagios. Thanks again for making the whole process easy and fun.
Quote from: mdconnelly on September 01, 2007, 01:23:01 PM
Rich, congrats on the Minimax! I haven't heard the pre, but I've got the phono pre and I love it.
Mike,
That's the next major thing on my wish list. It seems that there is not enough good that can be said about this piece. My wife will appreciate it as well as I'm assuming it will look roughly similar to the preamp, which she was very disappointed that I sold as she liked the improvement in sound, but loved it's appearance. She also loves the sound and looks of the Cayin with it's 9 glowing tubes and stylishly rugged appearance, but the Minimax was "cute". :D
Bill really does have some great gear -- never mind the relative value factor, it looks good, sounds great, and is built like a tank.
-- Jim
My thoughs on the Minimax phono pre....
It is one of the biggest no-brainers I've run into in hifi. I don't think you can find 'better' just different... and since it has tubes, you can tweak the sound if you want. It's incredible with stock tubes and just gets better with your favorite flavor.
-C
Glad you found something you like! I can honestly say what you ended up with doesn't surprise me as most around here are well aware that I'm a big EE fan.
I love the BBA and I'm currently on the list to demo the new tube mono blocks when they come out. Bill and I have been discussing these amps for probably the last 6 months. I have seen some preliminary specs and designs and if I was a betting man I would bet that these amps when launched will give a few of the mega buck tube amps a serious run.
Thanks John. You mean the mythical 160W monoblocks I have been hearing whispers about? Any idea when they will land on these shores? A little birdie told me they might be in Denver this year? Any truth to that?
I took some SAS advice today. We hooked up the TT and played some stones. After one side I noticed that the Bellari phono pre is making its usual -40dB hum. I had it's pot cranked up to max, and minimax at normal volume. So I remembered steve's advice to keep the gain in the preamp. I turned down the Bellari, turned up the minimax all the way, then adjusted Bellari to suit, but it stayed down at a very low level. The RCAs did the gain instead of the cheap chinese 12AX7 with all that hum. Wow what a big difference. I could actually enjoy the sound, not just the tunes. Of course the Bellari tube and volume pot are still in the chain, but not as magnified as when carrying all the gain. Thanks steve!
The EE preamp is a fine piece--congrats! I had one for a couple of years and enjoyed it very much. The only reason it left was to make way for a Transcendent Sound SE OTL monoblock rig I built with the Grounded Grid preamp in front. I still have the MiniMax CDP (which is another, IMHO, "world beater" piece of gear.)
I've never had the chance to hear an EE phono stage, but I'd bet they are very nice. If you get a chance to audition a PS Audio GCPH phono stage, I highly recommend it in the same MSRP range. I also have a Bottlehead Seduction with the CS4 upgrade that sounds wonderful.
Quote from: richidoo on September 02, 2007, 12:23:17 PM
Thanks John. You mean the mythical 160W monoblocks I have been hearing whispers about? Any idea when they will land on these shores? A little birdie told me they might be in Denver this year? Any truth to that?
No myth.....they are coming! Many months ago I had the pleasure of a sneak peek and the last I heard I think the 160w mark has now been surpassed but I'm not positive. I know Bill was gunning for 200w. As for RMAF, news to me but it wouldn't surprise me to see them there.
I will track Bill down and see what he has to say.
I believe Wayne from Bolder Cables ha already said they will be in his room driving some pair of VMPS speakers -- with all the Bolder SB goodies on the front end.
-- Jim
Your welcome Rich. A little tweek here, a little adjustment there sometimes helps.
Glad I could help Rich.
Those 160 watt mono's will be at RMAF in room 1009 so please come visit if you have the chance. Hooked up with Wayne at Bolder and Brian from VMPS so the v60 will be the speakers used and the latest in modification for the Squeezebox and power supply from Wayne should be some great music to be heard.
These mono's have been in the works now for about 10 months now and have taken twice as long as I thought they would . Alex Yeung the designer and his beautiful wife gave birth to their little daughter about 3 months ago so he has been busy with preparation for their upcoming bundle of joy.
I'm anxiously awaiting for them to arrive myself.
Congrats Rich on the preamp and I know Jim probably gave you an abundance of tubes along with the pre so you should be set for your tube rolling frenzy :drool:
Bill
The Bolder room just keeps looking cooler and cooler... Will you be there, Bill? Hope so... I would imagine you'd have a lot of free meals, drinks, or whatever you like coming your way with the incredible service you provide.
TTYL,
Carl
Bill, yup, sent him a couple nice tubes (not all of them though :-) -- saved some for the new amp ;). He does have the cream of the lot though.
As Carl said, I'll sure do my part to keep you fed and hydrated :D.
-- Jim
Glad to hear you'll be there Bill, along with all the new stuff. Congrats to Alex and family. Big changes ahead!
Yep, Jim took good care of me. So good, I couldn't possibly say no! So I'm glad I liked it too... ;) I like the 12AU7s he sent, Telefunken as gain and BugleBoy as buffer. Fat and sexy as all hell but still clean enough to hear everything. Makes any female singers sound loose and horny, even uptight opera singers! ... I can only take so much... hehe With the new RCAs almost broken in now it is just mind blowing how enabling of the music it is. Tonight I listened to all "quiet stuff." Quiet passages of symphony music. Hours of subtle delicate beautiful powerful music. It is a very special audio product, allowing a tube lover to really have at it. Congrats on a fine product Bill, and Alex!
But, as with all major upgrades, something else in the system takes a big hit. The squeezebox just sounds pretty weak now, so looking forward to finally hearing the Bolder mod after everything I have heard.
See you there!
Rich
You guys are making me thirsty :lol:
Look forward to meeting everyone and putting a face to the names.
I always return the buy so who's ready for a couple of cold ones?
You will love the Bolder modifications to the SB or his power supply is very special also. It's the best my digital has ever sounded.
I'm a vinyl guy at heart but my table is seeing less and less time.I love the convenience besides the sound ,as I might just be getting a little lazier in my extended youth. Use to spin vinyl on my Fridays until about 3 am, now I find I only make it till about 1:30am unless I take a nap before hand then I could be good till 4 or 5 am. The wife came down about 2 months ago at 4:30 am and just shook her head and asked if I would please lower the volume. :D After 32 years of marriage she is finally starting to realize that I just love to listen and prefer it over sleep.
My younger brothers were laughing at me asking if I remembered making them some cassette tapes of music that I loved at the time. They were commenting on how much I've grown. :rofl:
I know what I love, wife, music, friends, & family.
Bill
Quote from: Bill O'Connell on September 04, 2007, 03:52:50 PM
I know what I love, wife, music, friends, & family.
Bill, I do love your priorities! Well said. (now, where does the nervosa side of this hobby fall?)
I looked up nervosa in the dictionary and couldn't find a definition.
Carl , Please explain?
if it pertains to craziness in the audio arts, I definitely fit this bill. Does anybody remember the old Norelco(maybe Schick) electric razor ad? He loved the shaver so much he bought the company. I loved the music coming out of my original MiniMax so much, Alex and I started both our company's. If that ain't crazy, what is?
Thank you for reminding me, in a couple of days we will be celebrating our 5th or is it our 6th anniversary in business. :duh Time to run some anniversary specials :drool:
Later guys,
Quote from: Bill O'Connell on September 04, 2007, 04:59:06 PM
I looked up nervosa in the dictionary and couldn't find a definition.
Carl , Please explain?
if it pertains to craziness in the audio arts, I definitely fit this bill.
You got it... just crazy about audio... or the pursuit of the unobtainable... We used to have this nice intro/definition... (http://audionervosa.com/phpbb2/)
The drummer from the Butthole Surfers was Teresa Nervosa... which kind of fits in a weird way too. ;)
However, I think this Stereophile article describes the situation fairly well...
http://stereophile.com/thinkpieces/300audiophilia/
Have fun!
-Carl
Quote from: Carlman on September 04, 2007, 05:22:37 PM
However, I think this Stereophile article describes the situation fairly well...
http://stereophile.com/thinkpieces/300audiophilia/
Great reference Carl! I'm not sure I ever saw that before but it certainly fits.
Nervosa is generally used as a qualifying term trailing a particular medical condition indicating that it is a pyschological disorder (e.g. anorexia nervosa). In the case of AN, the stereophile term 'Audiophilia Nervosa' seems a perfect fit - certainly 'Nervosa' is a valid characteristic of many of us- one we often wear with great pride :lol:
Is there any way to fit that Minimax pre with a remote volume control?
Mike,
Probably not internal to the unit -- it is very compact and tight and my guess is that there isn't a whole lot of extra room in there.
Maybe Mike Galusha will chime in here because, if I recall, he's been working on some remote volume controls, which from the description, sound like they may be very compact. Another alternative would be to set the Minimax to a desiered maximum level and have a remote attenuator hung off the outputs between the pre and amps.
Welborne makes such a device -- the Zephyr -- but I have no idea what the sound quality is like. Seems like this kind of thing could be really nice to have for CD players too.
Someday down the road I may get Wayne to build me a Burson with remote volume (but without all the switching, etc. that his control center has, so I can set the SB to max volume and control it remotely and have the advantage of the burson. He's already told me he can do this -- all it takes is money.
HTH,
Jim
Mike, this thing is TINY! You can't tell from the Morningstar pictures, but it is surprising how small it is. You can easily pick it up and carry it around in one hand. It's smaller than two CD cases end to end. I don't believe you could fit one more thing in there. I asked Bill about adding HT bypass so I could switch sources to my patio speakers without burning tubes, but he said it was very tight and would require some surgery that I might not like the final result. That's when I realized leave it the way it is, let it be. The patio speakers never sounded better! :lol:
It is easy to hang a remote controlled placette, TwistedPear something like that after the preamp, and then turn the preamp all the way up to minimize the contribution of its own pot. Ideally the volume control would come before the output stage though, to minimize output impedance, ala Jim's idea with the Burson.
What is "HTH" :-s
HTH? Uh, dunno, chlorine powder for swimming pools :-)
Actually, "Hope This Helps".
HTH,
Jim
Rather than start a new thread,I thought that I wouls post here. I ended up with this pre,and while it's very good with the Tutay mods and all,I wanted to see how well it responds to tube rolling. After doing quite a bit of reading/research,I have just replaced the rectifier with a Genalex,,after warmup,, the soundstage has changed--WOW-- MUCH MORE DEPTH AND WIDTH-- detail seems to have improved,and it's just damn pleasant to listen to,,not fatiquing at all. Next up is the "middle tube",,a NOS Tungsram E80cc,,, then after that I have a Siemens Silverplate thats going in,,this thing is very responsive to tubes and just keeps getting better an better,,I don't know if I can stand it,,I have not had this much fun rolling tubes EVER,,especially with the discernable difference. Thanks for allowing me to share. :drool:
When I had mine I was running a RCA black plate 12bh7 in the middle and a Brimar 13D5 on the right, Tungsol 6X4. Fantastic! To my taste of course. Good little pre.
Den
Glad to know the old girl is still getting lots of love. Jim's family and mine love that preamp. In my house it is known as "The Big Silver Knob" that controls all the pretty tubes.
A friend sent me a minimax to tinker with and I'm enjoying it very much. I knew it was small but I didn't realize how small until i pulled it out of the box. Little guy. :)
In answer to the question what did I tinker with, I swapped in some Mundorf caps for the output coupling caps and also some Mundorf film caps as bypass for the power supply 'lytics. I am also experimenting with changing the operating point of the gain tube as IMO it should idle a little higher.
Mundorf,, Hmmmmm,, 8) I'm a habitual tinkerer :shock:
Quote from: dangerbird on May 17, 2009, 03:10:00 PM
Mundorf,, Hmmmmm,, 8) I'm a habitual tinkerer :shock:
Yeah but there is so little room in there I had to use the "standard" Mundorf caps. These are 17mm in diameter and even to get those in I had to bend the ground buss a bit. Still, they are already better than the Illinois Capacitor caps there were in there, the main improvements being more natural highs such cymbals and triangle with more decay with a more natural sound. The other area which I noticed right away was better harmonics, more body to a piano, more wood in a violin etc. These are only about $4.00 or so each.
mike
This one was modded by Bill's guy Tutay. But I don't remember what's inside. But not Mundorfs. Circuit tweeked a little too.
Quote from: richidoo on May 17, 2009, 07:08:20 PM
This one was modded by Bill's guy Tutay. But I don't remember what's inside. But not Mundorfs. Circuit tweeked a little too.
Very cool, I'm sure it sounds great. Very nice little preamp.
It sounded great when I got it from Rich,, and now even more so since I put in some NOS tubes,,a Genelax rectifier,tungsram e80cc and a siemens 12au7 silverplate. :D
Aw c'mon George! The STOCK tubes are the GREATEST 12au7s IN THE WORLD! :lol: If you ever wanna sell those you know who to call..... ;) Then if I can find two more I can build the GREATEST AIKIDO IN THE WORLD!