July Rave

[Barry (NJ)]

Thanks Rich, figured it out and fixed it

[rollo]

 Thanks Barry. A great day, it was a pleasure meeting you. BTW guys the Classic 60 is OK. It was just the fuses that blew.    Audiophiles are dangerous.





charles

[BobM]

Thanks Barry. A great day, it was a pleasure meeting you. BTW guys the Classic 60 is OK. It was just the fuses that blew.    Audiophiles are dangerous.

charles

As are untested preamp designs  

[Deton Nation]

They should be tested on man nipples before going to actual amps...

[rollo]

They should be tested on man nipples before going to actual amps...

  Agreed!!!! Just not mine.


charles

[topround]

Superkock 2 is now ready for prime time, sorry for this hiccup.

Perhaps I will do a little listen session at my house with the new 26 tube pre so others can hear what DHT tubes can do. And we can hear what I/V transformers can do to DACs! Now that the Sowters are in place.
It can be a game changer. These DIY guys are onto something other than just changin caps.

MIke

[rollo]

So whats a superkock ? Is that like an Italian sausage ? Are ya ready for a throwdown ? I'm willing to drive out to NJ.



charles

[richidoo]

And we can hear what I/V transformers can do to DACs! Now that the Sowters are in place.
It can be a game changer. These DIY guys are onto something other than just changin caps.

[topround]

Superkock is our name for Karl's preamp designs. The first Superkock is owned by Joe in Katonah, a WE 417 tube chole loaded preamp. Superkock 2 is the 2nd version which is a Tango choke loaded 26 tube preamp. Unfortunatley the power supply had a problem, he has removed the tube rectified power supply and installed a solid state power supply, which eliminated the hum. He has a 26 tube preamp that is Black Art transformer coupled with a huge power supply of 4 oil filled chokes in copper chassis's. The very large tube rectified power supply has enough filtration to eliminate the hum but the smaller tube version did not. Working with a 26 tube is not easy, many give up, I would too, but I heard what a 26 tube can do, and brother there ain't anything like it in the preamp world.
As far as I am concerned.
I am picking up the supercock 2 and his own superdac with the Sowter I/V's in place, tonite, to install in my system. Let's just say that a normally reserved man was very, very, emotional and excited over the phone regarding the I/V's. They may change the game. He actually took out the tube section of his dac. The trans have enough juice to drive the dac chips withou the tubes. I never heard him so excited, So naturally I am excited and gotta hear it as well. I have a pair of the I/V's for my Lector, which may be next in line for another mod.

Regarding throwdown?  No throwdowns, I like having little listening sessions where we get to hear, experience and learn what these things do. Sometimes when you are mining for copper you hit gold!
Many times it is the opposite, it makes it worse, but what the hell it is fun trying. And you really do learn. It is so much better than just reading about this stuff.

BTW I am building a cryogenic chamber for us. So if we need anything cryo'd, it will be easily and readily available soon.


Mike

Next up is a transformer coupled DHT tubed hybrid solid state amp, just for fun!!

I love this hobby!

[evan1]

Mike

Just take the hotdogs out of the freezer first before cryoing.

Sounds like you are having a blast on your little journey. Can't wait to hear it.

[richidoo]

Mike, can you tell me what DAC chip is in your DAC? I want to compare its specs to my ESS DAC chip. Mine requires very low load impedance to stay in current mode, hard to do with a tranny. But I suspect an easier load in voltage mode will sound good too, maybe 120dB s/n instead of 135... blablabla

You are running DAC chip > Sowters> output jacks, right?

[topround]

Rich,
The dac is my friends that he built in an old copper chassis from audio note.
It uses 4 philips "crown" chips tda 1541a. No caps in the signal path. It had  tube rectification and ran WE 417 tubes, but he pulled them out and replaced them with the sowters. Plenty o gain for this chipset.
My initial impression:
Extremely clean and refined, female voices are beautiful.
Great tone
Lots of air, great focus and soundstage

I think I would like a litlle more midrange weight, we may put tubes back in.
The sowters have maybe 20 to 30 minutes on them so they need time to burn in, I will run it for a few days on repeat to see what happens. I have not played with power cords yet, that could change lots of things...unfortunatley
will keep you updated

Mike

Mike

[richidoo]

1541, I think that is what was in my Altmann DAC... nice NOS sound. But I imagine it sounds even better without Altmann's 2 stage opamp output.   With 4 chips you should have plenty of current for the tranny and ICs. Did ya get the pre too? Maybe it will plump the singers boobs a little.

[topround]

Rich,
I have the 26 tube in my system. One of the 26 tubes went bad and both of them are very microphonic. He used a cheap teflon tube socket which may have been cheap as its virtue. We are looking at a better teflon solution as well as using larger electrolytics for the power supply.
His large 26 tube pre is a 2 chhassis behemoth, and adresses mostly all the hum issues simply by being overdesigned. This smaller single chassis pre is an attempt to do a scaled down trimmed down version at a much more affordable price. There is a learning curve with this 26 tube. But once done right the 26 tube is glorious.

Mike

[BobM]

Oh a "26" tube. I thought you said there were 26 tubes in the preamp. I was picturing you sweating profusely in your listening puddle.