Best Hardware acquisition of 2020

Acoustic Solid Classic Wood with Benz Wood SL. Couldn’t be happier. First audio component my wife said didn’t need to be in a cabinet

 

Does hardware repair count as an accuisition? Hope so.

Heathkit UA2 mono amps-el84, 12wpc.
Put together from kit in 1959 by a Boeing engineer. I bought them in 1990 and used them off and and on for years. About 3 years ago something went bad and they've been sitting in a drawer. Finally took to a tech last week. 6 new capacitors and rectifier tube replaced and they are singing beautifully. Feels great to finally get them fixed.

I am on my last quad of old Mullard el84/6bq5. Amps are sounding so good I'm tempted to pay $$$ for some more.

 

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Nice, have you posted a picture of your setup anywhere around here? Love to see it.

 

Come on man..we love good audio pics around here.

 

Keen to know how you got on

 

Ok, here goes... I own a Linn LP12, a Cambridge Audio CXA60 amp and a pair of Klipsch Forte IIIs- the guy at Deco Audio used a Nottingham Analogue Spacedeck and a pair of Heco Direkt speakers to get as close to my set up as possible along with the aforementioned Croft Acoustics Series 7R Power Amp, the Micro 25R Line Pre Amp and the RIAA R Valve Phono Stage- I also took along my CA CXA60 for comparison.

The sound was great- big, bassy, all-encompassing and with plenty of separation between instruments and vocals- we tried it out with a variety of music (Metallica, Stevie Wonder, Van Halen and Elbow)- it was a very warm sound, much as I’d been lead to believe about tube amplification, and my friend and I both felt we could’ve listened for hours- my only caveat, which my friend didn’t fully agree with, was that I found the warmth, the ‘bassiness’ meant that some of the crispness and attack was lost, especially on the rock/metal tracks which lost their hard edge and became a little fluffy.

When we put the CA CXA60 back in, the harder edge returned, as I know it to have, and the sound became grittier, in a good way but the bass became colder, tauter with less bounce. So it was swings and roundabouts really. I’d say the Croft Acoustics was the obviously ‘better’ sound but, for my purposes, didn’t deliver the Edge that I like for the kind of music I generally listen to. Also, the £3000 price difference couldn’t be fully justified by me!

Having said all that, the only test that you can accept fully is that of demoing in your own home, which I may well do at some point and which you are experiencing right now!

 

I’ve always had issues uploading pics. It’s a beauty

 

How to I get rid of the photobucket banner??

 

You have to use a picture hosting site like imgur.com. Once you register you upload file from your hdd from the hosting site and then copy and paste the file to Hoffman and hit enter and it loads.

 

Try imgur.com its free. I think as long as you use free service from photo bucket you get that banner.

 

Nice ASW table! Now just get that banner out the way...try imgur.com

 

Will do. Thanks. It’s a fantastic table and the cartridge is a perfect match imho

 

DIYaudio.com F4 board + JFETs + 4U case, and all the other parts to make a Pass-approved First Watt F4 clone. I used to own a Pass-built FW F6 and I like the F4 oh-so-much more.

Edit: I forgot to add the Audiolab CDT6000, which makes CD listening very enjoyable.

 

Thanks for the report

It is true that valves has a warmer sound which I personally like but as you say not your bag. I have found that the sound can be tailored to your preferences by choice of cables (or different valves), which is a revelation to me as on my other kit cables never made much of a difference but with this Croft kit it is more than a subtle difference. I am now using Cable Talk Copper speaker wire and Mark Grant HDX1 Pure Copper interconnects from the pre to the power amps and Van Damme interconnects to my CD player which has brightened things up nicely compared with the QED interconnects I changed them from. A home demo would be advisable as it will give you time to experiment.

Still thrilled with my set up

 

Schiit Freya Plus combined with $200 of NOS tubes -- incredible value.

 

I have made two purchases in 2020. Vahalla 2 speaker cable and ASC tube traps. Both additions have made significant improvements.

 

So here I thought 2020 was going to be a "cooling off" period to enjoy what I already had, sell off some of the things I purposely overbought to compare.......... and within the last few weeks starting buying again. LOL.

Can anyone relate?

Give me some time on "best" of 2020 I am trying some pretty cool things right now.....

 

Is that a JET guitar back there?

 

Yes! Good catch! It's around #80.

 

I have my own music room...but no way i could put my power amp out front with the cables ect ....your wife is a good sport...congrats bud

 

Nice! Was thinking about getting one several years ago (went with an Alembic instead, but still ponder).

 

Does a new sofa count? My new sofa's sitting position is about 2 -3 inches higher than my old one. My ears are now directly at tweeter level, pleasantly surprised at how it accidentally sounds better. Never thought to take seriously the recommendations to keep tweeter at ear level but it does make a difference.