John Wood Amp now in its new home

[Audio Al]

Thanks are due to

Anthony TD for checking out this beast of a amp

And to Dave ( Jollyfix ) for VERY KINDLY collecting this from Wales for me and bringing it via Glastonbury back to Brixton where I met up with Dave and collected it I was MORE than willing to pay some beer / fuel money but Dave declined my offer twice , What a TRUE gent doing this for a fellow forum user , these are the gestures that make a forum special , If ever I can help you in any way please ask , Once again a big thanks

I was told it was heavy and boy it is ---king heavy I only needed to move it a small distance from my car in the front garden into the front room The 3 transformers weigh a ton , I have to plan how I'm going to lift it and will avoid moving it around for my health sake
It is at the moment in a temporary position ( God I need to move it again soon , wish me luck )

It was moved with the valves removed for safety reasons and Anthony kindly PM'd me the instructions on what goes where and numbered them for ease of installation

Next I moved onto connecting the speaker cables 2 black posts and 4 red posts What ohms are the 4 red posts ? anyone know ?
I chose the 2 red posts nearest the 2 black posts as I was told by Tel on WW that no harm will be done by connecting either of these

OK mains connected
Speakers connected
input from sut into line one switch on and see the glorious glow of those lovely tubes
TT switched on , lower the arm and off we go , err it sounds pants Thin lifeless and no volume , Arrr what have I done

Time for a cup of coffee and a recap , think

OK switch everything off , swap speakers from my Braun LS130 2 my JBL L1 switch everting on and now I have a loud hum on the left speaker :roll eyes: , try swapping speaker cables from side to side same result :roll eyes: now what do I do ? move the interconnect and hum now gone but still sounds thin with no volume

Time for the Croft pre amp to go into the system

And its on song but as its now 3.00am I don't think my next door occupants will like some volume

I know I am going to love this amp as it sounds lovely at low volume so mid and higher volume should sound great , Then its time for some speaker swapping

At the moment I AM ONE HAPPY PERSON

Before I get a


Here is a quick photo

[Eagle owl]

Hi Al, buying and owning this amplifier brought me nothing but extreme stress which was not good for my health, I do hope it brings you complete happiness and satisfaction and I sincerely mean that.

Best wishes

Geoff.

[jandl100]

Quite a saga. So the wee beastie likes the Croft pre? What were you using to start with?

With a new bit of kit, plunk & play sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. -- many's the time I've plunked&played and thought "wtf? ".
Good that is is starting to show its true potential.

[PaulStewart]

Al were you going SUT direct into line level with no RIAA phono stage? Sounds like it from your description and your description of the resulting sound. The Croft or any other pre or phono stage etc., will sort this out as it appears to have done. Let us know what it's like when you ramp it up.

[Lodgesound]

How does it sound with your reel to reel machines Al?

[Audio Al]

Al were you going SUT direct into line level with no RIAA phono stage? Sounds like it from your description and your description of the resulting sound. The Croft or any other pre or phono stage etc., will sort this out as it appears to have done. Let us know what it's like when you ramp it up.

Yes Paul I was at first going straight from the SUT into the line , thats when I realised it needed the Croft pre through the phono stage

[Audio Al]

How does it sound with your reel to reel machines Al?

Stewart , Only had it fired up for about 4 hours then fell into bad at 4 am , will use it with the MX55 today and report back later

[Audio Al]

Hi Al, buying and owning this amplifier brought me nothing but extreme stress which was not good for my health, I do hope it brings you complete happiness and satisfaction and I sincerely mean that.

Best wishes

Geoff.

Hi Geoff , I am sorry this had caused both yourself and John Wood so much stress , Did you read Anthony's report on what he found wrong with the amp ? and his opinion on the build of the amp

I am only 4 hours into listening using this amp and the clarity / separation / detail / tone is very good . Better than anything else I own or have owned

If ever you are up Dagenham way you are more than welcome to pop in for a listen

Thanks for the best wishes with the amp and your very generous request for the money to go too Cancer UK , This has already been done by Marco with the extra Government 25% on top as I am a uk tax payer
Hope your current system is giving you music pleasure , What are you using currently ?

Regards

Allen

[jollyfix]

My pleasure Al.
Must have felt a bit strange driving into some dodgy looking estate ( its far from that) in Brixton. Meeting by some garages, in the dark with a 6'+ bloke with white van, semi full of audio equipment.
"I have a nice Amp for you, its heavy".

[RichB]

+1

Nice one Dave. Forum kudos to you mate.