Melody Tour - Princeton NJ - December 15th, 2012 - Part III

[shadowlight]

DAC: CIAudio Transient MKII
   

Dusty @ CIAudio has agreed to lend us a Transient MKII for the GTG provided he has stock  .

[shadowlight]

Cables: M&G Audiodesign

[lonewolfny42]

WoW D!

Some really nice equipment for your Rave....NICE !!! 

[woofersus]

Unfortunately, I am officially out for this one.  I have some commitments that are going to overlap.  Oh well, maybe next time.  Have fun guys!

[shadowlight]

WoW D!

Some really nice equipment for your Rave....NICE !!! 

Yep, now we just need to have the date arrive quickly 

[shadowlight]

Unfortunately, I am officially out for this one.  I have some commitments that are going to overlap.  Oh well, maybe next time.  Have fun guys!

Sorry to hear that Tim.  Hopefully next time.

[shadowlight]

Ok, here is the picture of the actual Soul Superfly which will arrive sometime next week.  Also, picture of the Omen Def that are already in the basement.

   

[Barry (NJ)]

Hey Deepak,

Nice Rack!


 

[shadowlight]

Thanks for the idea  Barry

[topround]

looking foward to hearing the new preamp!
what happened to the SHW1688II model?

Mike

[woofersus]

looking foward to hearing the new preamp!
what happened to the SHW1688II model?

Mike

The SHW1688II evolved to the P1688 signature and then the Pure Black 101, which we still sell.

[topround]

What changed between these models

[woofersus]

The change from SHW1688ii to P1688 Signature involved a significant chassis redesign, and some different tubes.  The SHW1688ii had 2 6SN7's and 2 6SL7's as signal tubes (in addition to a 5AR4 rectifier and 101D's for voltage regulation which were unchanged) while the P1688 Signature had 4 6SN7's.  Also, the P1688 Signature dropped a pair of single ended outputs and added balanced inputs and outputs.

The Pure Black 101 was a smaller revision, with the addition of remote volume control and a few miscellaneous internal parts upgrades, including Jensen capacitors and transformers made in-house.  It's still a very good preamp at it's price.

The new one drops all four 6SN7's and goes with a single pair of NOS Western Electric 403 tubes.  Melody collects (hoards) tubes by the warehouse-full, so I'm guessing they stashed a ton of those and then designed the circuit around them.  In any case, it still uses a pair of 101D's for voltage regulation and a 5AR4 rectifier.  Also, the internal parts are further upgraded in line with the rest of the "AN" flagship series, which includes Mundorf Silver/Oil and Jensen Copper Foil capacitors, heavy gauge solid core wiring, larger transformers with c-cores imported from Japan, and upgraded connectors, terminals, and tube sockets.  Of course it also has the upgraded chassis of the other AN series components as well.  Finally, for reasons I don't really know, Melody has ditched the balanced inputs and outputs on the P2688.  I don't know if that's really better or worse, but it's a difference.

[topround]

Since Ilike transformer coupling, I would love to hear this preamp. Looking forward to the Melody rave
Getting good NOS 403 is difficult and expensive

[woofersus]

Getting good NOS 403 is difficult and expensive

Probably because Melody bought them all over the last few years. 

This is a practice they have been using more heavily of late.  The new AN845 integrated came with NOS Raytheon 6EM7's in it. (although it's possible they use a couple of different brands since if you look closely at the picture of it you'll see a GE logo on the 6EM7's in that one)  Also, my AN300b uses a 12AT7 and while they did go to the trouble of putting the Melody logo on the front of it, the side says "Made in USA," which suggests it's NOS as well.  Don't know what brand.

Anyway, I hope you like the new pre.  I was sold on it within about 20 seconds.  It's one of the best I've heard.