Newbie from the west country

[Terry]

I would just like to say hi from Honiton Devon.
No doubt i will be along with a few annoying questions soon enough.
So i thank you in advance .

[Mike]

Hi Terry,

Welcome to AoS. Ask away!

[Beechwoods]

Hi there Terry! Us folk with annoying questions should stick together!

Welcome from Bristol

[Filterlab]

Hi Terry and welcome, any questions - annoying or not - please fire away.

[Mike Reed]

Greetings, Terry.

Lovely neck of the woods, Honiton, with access to some beautiful countryside and coastline.

What kind of system do you have?

[Terry]

Thanks for the welcomes everyone.

Yes i am lucky to live here and doing the job i do keeps me outside most of the time to enjoy my surroundings, i am a photographer for the local newspapers here.

Now then as to my kit - well i am a complete beginner when it comes to decent amps and speakers etc. I do have a setup for the TV that gives me the sound i want for films and TV programs and that is (don't laugh) a Onkyo TX-SR606 AV Receiver and a pair of Bose Acoustimass - 3 Series for the fronts (To keep the wife happy - As they are 'NICE AND LITTLE' ) Kenwood CM-7ES rear speakers and a kenwood powered sub SW501,center speaker is a B&W LCR60 S3. For me this is fine for general TV watching and the odd film watched on my Sony SACD player. But when it comes to just wanting to play some music well it leaves a lot to be desired.
So i have a blank canvass to start with, regarding building up a system just for music. I know that i want to try a valve amp and was thinking of the Yaqin MC 100B and changing the Chinese valves for some better ones (will ask for your thoughts on this as to which ones to go for), as to speakers i am also open to suggestions to compliment this amp ?
Your experience on this will be greatly appreciated.

[Steve Toy]

You need to do quite a bit more to the Yaqin than just change some valves as Marco and AnthonyTD will no doubt explain.

Marco and Ian Walker's amp of choice is a modified Yaqin MC 100B. Mine is a modified Puresound A30 valve amp which in turn is a modified Bewitch.

Note the modified theme running through all of these amps.

[Terry]

You need to do quite a bit more to the Yaqin than just change some valves as Marco and AnthonyTD will no doubt explain.

Marco and Ian Walker's amp of choice is a modified Yaqin MC 100B. Mine is a modified Puresound A30 valve amp which in turn is a modified Bewitch.

Note the modified theme running through all of these amps.

Thanks Steve !

I would be very interested to know what other mods need doing to the Yaqin i wait with bated breath. Just hope i understand what is needed to be done as i said i am a complete beginner. Anyone on the forum offer a service to do the mods ?

[Marco]

Hi Terry,

Welcome to the forum, btw

How did you hear about the Yaqin?

The best procedure, since the Yaqin is now available in a much nicer chrome version with upgraded mains transformers, is to order one direct from here in France:

http://www.tubophile.com/

Scroll down to the bottom and click on 'Yaqin'.

Then send it directly to Anthony Matthews of Tube Distinctions (who's on the forum) here:

http://www.tubedistinctions.co.uk/main.htm

for him to test and check everything is ok. It should be because you're not getting the 'raw' version direct from China, but it's best just to make sure. Anthony can then modify it further if you wish in terms of valves, capacitors, output transformers, etc.

It's a bit more expensive (I think about £600 inc shipping) compared to ordering it direct from China, which costs roughly £300 including shipping, but you get a much nicer looking amp that's also 'sorted' for UK voltage, and the performance is superb!

If you need any more info just ask. Anthony may perhaps wish to add some advice of his own.

Marco.

[Ali Tait]

Another option is to look for a Mr Liang 845.This needs no mods to work on UK voltage and sounds excellent straight out of the box.Sounds even better with some NOS front-end valves,and can be taken to another level with just a couple of simple mods,changing 4 caps and two resistors.