Think we're gonna need a bigger boat...

[walpurgis]

Nice system. I like that table/stand thingie. The whole lot looks very smart.

[archiesdad]

Lovely lit up pics as requested, now to do some toast in front of them.

[brian2957]

Nah , full English Martin

[Gazjam]

Thanks for posting your thoughts Brian, great wee afternoon even though I didn't have any biscuits for our tea.
Yeah..this big box of copper glass and wood is something special.

300B Set doesn't do rock music?
Sounds like a massive solid state amp in the bass, tight deep and punchy as hell.
Spun Porcupine Tree yesterday at a neighbour worrying volume, bass and kickdrum pinned you to the back wall.
Amazing!

Cant get the volume past 10 o'clock before the windows start rattling...
All of this from 8 watts per channel

What was interesting was that we finally heard how good Brians Klotz MC5000/MS Audio cables actually were?
I was using my "best cable" between Power amp and Pre, a far more expensive...uhm...controversial commercial cable to connect them.

In comparison the Klotz is a more neutral transparent cable and doesn't add anything to whats being played.
When swapping between the two it was like the expensive cable added a "loudness control" and was less of an enjoyable listen. More digital and processed sounding we thought.
All about synergy of course, I had always preferred it in my previous setup to the Klotz,(using the wee Mini-1 as a poweramp) but with the new "open window" valve amp in place it let us hear just how the cables actually were.

Poweramp comparison: surprisingly the sound changed quite a bit...



Cant wait to hear this beast with a few hundred hours under its belt.
Aside from (maybe) a tonearm upgrade later in the year...
I'm done with the kit.

Just enjoying the music now.

[Spectral Morn]

Looking very nice Garry




Regards Neil

[Firebottle]

Wouldn't mind an internals shot Gaz, but maybe you don't want to go that far.

Looks the biz anyway, nice big output traffos

[Gazjam]

It's AE amorphous trannies Alan.
Zero problems with with huge dynamic swings at any volume..some massive heft!

not a valve amp tinkerer so staying well clear!!!

[Marco]

Brilliant stuff, Gaz. With the right speakers, 8W of valve lurveliness [especially in a properly designed amp like that], is as they say, perfectly 'adequate'!

I'm not surprised in the slightest at what you've described you're hearing, as I've heard that effect many times with valves (beguiling grace and control), not least also in terms of what I get at home with my own 'glowy' set-up. Apart from achieving window-rattling levels of unflappable loudness, you should also be able to listen at whisper levels late at night, and still hear that every nuance in the music is intact and sounds 'out of the box'.

I've never heard any SS amp do the same trick that valves can, in that respect, in terms of achieving such levels of clarity/expressiveness and musical 'presence'. Therefore, although you can crank it up and put a big grin on yer chops, you won't need to do so, in order to make the music (or your speakers) come alive - and that's what I love about valves, when done properly!

For me, the high-efficiency speakers, coupled with low/lowish tube power route, is the way to go. Not cheap to do properly, granted, but when you get it right, music has an expansiveness and sheer communicativeness/fun-factor than no low-efficiency speakers, driven by a huge behemoth SS amp set-up I've heard, can do. The latter approach, for me, is simply too compromised and 'arse about face'.

So, spill the beans, which "controversial commercial cable" are we talking about that the MC5000s ousted - Slic??

Vastly overpriced/viral-marketed pish, IMO That fact becomes obvious when you use it in a system that doesn't need its 'sound tailoring effect', which is why the 'open window' you've got going on now responds far better to cables that just allow the music to flow freely, rather than being impeded by the effect of a glorified filter.

Anyway, enjoy! If you're around mid-October (as I'll be up in Scotland then), I'll pop by and have a wee listen-ette

Marco.

P.S I must've missed it, but what are you using as a preamp?

[Firebottle]

Densen DM20, come on Marco keep up

OK I'll let you off this time, with all the posts you have to read

[Marco]

Indeed, lol! How could I forget those big knobs....

Gary's set-up I suspect might be crying out now for a nice passive... Depends on whether he wants to go there or not

Ma