Tubes are less than 18 months old.
Tubes are less than 18 months old.
Technics SP10 mk2
Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
Miyajima Shilabe cart
Hashimoto HM-X SUT
Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
The Truth linestage
Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
Cary 805c SET amps
Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
Townshend Isolda speaker cables
Cardas Golden Presence interconnects
Location: Shenfield
Posts: 574
I'm Slav.
Tubes should be fine then , have amps serviced , if of any help here is a service manual ,(should help to trace parts) :
http://www.ainamoi.com/805c.htm
The Hiraga's probably just a better amp than the Cary
Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)
Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco
Technics SP10 mk2
Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
Miyajima Shilabe cart
Hashimoto HM-X SUT
Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
The Truth linestage
Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
Cary 805c SET amps
Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
Townshend Isolda speaker cables
Cardas Golden Presence interconnects
I am not a fan whatsoever of AN speakers. I didn't realise that you were intending to replace them but the advice posted is sound: get the speakers right first, especially their interaction with your room. Invite guests who are willing to bring a range of speakers for you to try. If they all sound better with the Hiraga then you have a much clearer path.
Main system: Sony TTS8000; AT1010; Audio Technica Art1; The Lentek; Cambridge 851n, Yamaha NS1000.
System 2 - SBT; Technics SH-X1000 DAC; Denon PMA-850
Location: Shenfield
Posts: 574
I'm Slav.
The Cary's operate at stupidly high temperatures not only because of the 845 tubes but because of a resistor which uses the top plate to cool off - this makes it impossible to touch the top plate. I can imagine that any components close by are slowly cooked.
Technics SP10 mk2
Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
Miyajima Shilabe cart
Hashimoto HM-X SUT
Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
The Truth linestage
Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
Cary 805c SET amps
Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
Townshend Isolda speaker cables
Cardas Golden Presence interconnects
After a marathon 8 hours of listening to the Hiraga I can say it loses out to the Carys in overall sound quality, particularly depth and truth of timbre (if valves can do that). Where the Hiraga wins is width of soundstage and bass depth, articulation and slam, it also reveals a little finer detail but very little. The biggest difference is the way it energises the audio notes in a way the Carys don't. But of course the Carys haven't been serviced or upgraded in maybe 15 years so in September I'll ship them to Valencia and have them sorted.
Technics SP10 mk2
Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
Miyajima Shilabe cart
Hashimoto HM-X SUT
Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
The Truth linestage
Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
Cary 805c SET amps
Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
Townshend Isolda speaker cables
Cardas Golden Presence interconnects
Over-engineering is often just a fancy-sounding term for using unnecessarily large and heavy components without any particular design rationale other that it will impress the customer and justify a high price tag.
Yes, that would appear to be the obvious answer. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck....
Yes, having spent a lot of money on something it can be hard to accept that it isn't quite what you thought it was.