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thetubeguy1954
08-03-2011, 22:06
Hello everyone, I'm new here so I thought I'd start by posting photos of my system for anyone who chooses to see it.

This first photo is what my audio room looks like from the kitchen, however this photo was taken before later upgrades were made to the system. You can see the Mastersound amp, Goldenote CDP and Sachikos with the cheap Fostex FE206E drivers installed:

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/9424/audioroom3.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/i/audioroom3.jpg/)

This second photo shows the drivers that are in my Sachikos now. These are the very rare ---{only 250prs worldwide}--- Fostex FE208ES-R drivers! These are arguably Fostex's greatest widerange driver ever and are essentially the FE208 sigma taken to it's extreme. The FE208ES-R has large, 6.3Kg alnico magnets, Bio-cellulose based hybrid cone, Pure magnesium center cap, Pure iron pole piece, Zinc alloy die-cast frame, Silver-Copper alloy voice coil wire and the UDR tangential surround & spider it shares with the FE208 Sigma. These I'll probably never part with.


http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2571/fe208esrtop.jpg (http://img832.imageshack.us/i/fe208esrtop.jpg/)

The next photo shows the Pioneer HW-7 supertweeters that come in around 8Khz to augement the FE208ES-R's wonderful performance from 80Hz to 10Khz by giving the treble that last bit of shimmer and sheen it's missing. I haven't measured them yet so I don't know just how extended the Pioneer HW-7's really are. What I can tell you is once I removed the large Heils and replaced them with the Pioneers, I knew I was onto something very special indeed. In fact, I received an email after I purchased the HW-7 from a man who also owned a pair of them. In a nutshell he told me of all the tweeters he's ever heard or owned, the Pioneer HW-7 tweeters were his 2nd favorite tweeter after the Jensen RP-302. Even then they are so similar sonically that he felt few could or would hear the differences between those two! Perhaps it's due to their alnico magents? These HW-7s must be very rare as I cannot find anything about them on the internet!

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/375/pioneerhw7a.jpg (http://img855.imageshack.us/i/pioneerhw7a.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

This next photo is my pride and joy. I've owned this amp for almost 10 years and I couldn't imagine my system without it, it's the Mastersound Reference 845, integrated, SET amp from Italy. It weighs in at 135lbs and produces 40W/ch of the sweetest, most realistic sounding music I've ever heard! The only changes I've made is to replace the stock 845 tubes with Shuguang 845B tubes, the Tung-Sol 5687 tubes with Bendix 6900 tubes and finally 12AU7 tubes with Mazda "silver-plate" 6189 tubes. I cannot tell you what a difference that made. IMHO it turned an excellent amp into a world-class performer.

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9124/mastersoundreference845.jpg (http://img853.imageshack.us/i/mastersoundreference845.jpg/)

Next is my source which also happens to be Italian. It's a tubed Goldenote CD player ---{the photo of the audio room on top shows my previous Bluenote solidstate CDP)--- I've made a few very significany changes to this. When I first purchased it in 12/10 I was very disappointed with the sound of the 6922 tubes that it came stock with. Will because it was Christmas & my birthday was next month a couple a friends got together an loaned my at least 80 different types of NOS tubes ---{some were very costly $150 - $500pr}--- in the 6DJ8/6922/7308/Cca family. After listening to more tubes than you can imagine, I choose inexpensive, $35/pr NOS Voskhod "rocket logo" 6H23 tubes, because they were almost sonically indistinquishable from NOS Telefunken Cca tubes. Other changes consist of replacing the stock springs, caps, columns, feet & footers with Sound Fusion anti-vibration replacements. WOW, what a difference that made.

http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/3874/goldenotestibbertnow.jpg (http://img852.imageshack.us/i/goldenotestibbertnow.jpg/)

I'm not sure how interested you'd be in seeing the wires so I'll just say they're all by Stealth Audio the IC's are Sakra's, the speakerwires are Dreams and the two power cords are M-21 Supers. You can get a glimpse of them all on the left side of the Mastersound photo up above, you'll also see same junk wires on the right side. However you can see them all and read about why they're different by going to Stealth's website here: http://www.stealthaudiocables.com/ I hope you liked what you saw. Any questions, comments, criticisims?
Reid Malenfant
08-03-2011, 22:13
Hi Tom, i think i know you chap but not personally, ;) Well the name rings a bell :eyebrows:

Are you a DIY audio member going under the same name? If so i might have looked for some Fostex drivers for you this side of the pond :)

Whatever, welcome to the forum & i hope you enjoy your stay :wave:

E2A:- I just realised that you are one & the same person :) I hope your health is holding up Tom, it's a genuine pleasure to see you on here. As i say i was one of the (i don't know how many people) looking out for those Fostex drivers after one had a slight self inflicted accident :eek: A different model though if my memory isn't failing :scratch:
Beechwoods
08-03-2011, 22:24
Your speakers are gorgeous, and what a nice room! Great pictures, thank you Tom.
Alex_UK
08-03-2011, 22:52
Well, we often try and persuade first time posters to pop into the Gallery and share a few pictures of their kit, but you've beaten us to it - and how! Wow! I didn't notice they were the speakers at first, I though they were part of the building, some sort of pillar! All looks stunning, and as Nick says, a great room - looks very relaxing.

So, what sort of music do you like?

Enjoy AoS. :)
Spectral Morn
09-03-2011, 13:30
welcome to AOS Tom, very nice system :)


Regards D S D L
Jonboy
09-03-2011, 19:16
Hello Tom and welcome, a very nice system you have there, those tweeters look interesting, i have a Lafeyette El84 amp that we can't find any info about, it sounds very good though
John
09-03-2011, 19:45
Wowww the dynamics of your system must be awesome
thetubeguy1954
10-03-2011, 19:29
Hi Tom, i think i know you chap but not personally, ;) Well the name rings a bell :eyebrows:

Are you a DIY audio member going under the same name? If so i might have looked for some Fostex drivers for you this side of the pond :)

Whatever, welcome to the forum & i hope you enjoy your stay :wave:

E2A:- I just realised that you are one & the same person :) I hope your health is holding up Tom, it's a genuine pleasure to see you on here. As i say i was one of the (i don't know how many people) looking out for those Fostex drivers after one had a slight self inflicted accident :eek: A different model though if my memory isn't failing :scratch:

Hello Reid,

Yes it's the same guy from diy.com and thanks for asking about my health, it's fine now. I use thetubeguy1954 in every forum I visit so people will know it's me. I remember you were looking for a pair of the FE208ES-R drivers I'm presently using after I mucked up a pair of FE206ES-R drivers I had installed. Actually my messing up the FE206ES-R drivers was the best thing that could have ever happened ---{although it didn't seem like that at the time}--- because it forced me to look for a pair of the FE208ES-R drivers!

Everywhere I go I read someone's post about how single full-range/wide-range drivers "shout" & cannot play rock or any other music loud without breaking up. Well after installing the FE208ES-R drivers and breaking them in, I can play rock or any other music extremly loud without breaking up! This was verified while playing some Led Zepplin at 110dB measured peaks and it wasn't distortion, break-up or shout that made one want to leave the room. No, it wasn't any of those reasons, it was simply the volume which also enabled us to listen from 2 rooms away! Now, please understand i don't listen that loud, but it was fun as a test. See you around...
thetubeguy1954
10-03-2011, 19:35
Your speakers are gorgeous, and what a nice room! Great pictures, thank you Tom.

Thanks for your kind words Beech!
Reid Malenfant
10-03-2011, 19:43
Great to have you on board Tom :) I think you'll find this forum a good bit different from most :eyebrows: There are lots of people on here with open baffles, horns very similar to your own & loads of members with vacuum tube amplification. It's very much a mishmash that fits together generally very well indeed due to the site ethos.

That's some great kit you have there, i like the impression given of the valve amplifier :) As for the speakers, well we know they sound awesome with pretty reasonable drivers, but my guess is the Fostex you own will take them to another level entirely :eyebrows:

Glad to hear you are good chap, how about gracing us with an introduction on the welcome thread? Then get stuck in :cool:
thetubeguy1954
10-03-2011, 19:46
Well, we often try and persuade first time posters to pop into the Gallery and share a few pictures of their kit, but you've beaten us to it - and how! Wow! I didn't notice they were the speakers at first, I though they were part of the building, some sort of pillar! All looks stunning, and as Nick says, a great room - looks very relaxing.

So, what sort of music do you like?

Enjoy AoS. :)

Hello Alex,

Thanks for your kind words too! As far as the music I listen to, I like Smooth Jazz (75%) Jazzy New Age (15%) & of course the Prog-Rock (5%) I grew-up with!
thetubeguy1954
10-03-2011, 20:27
welcome to AOS Tom, very nice system :)


Regards D S D L

Dalek, Jonboy & John thanks!

John I can easily & cleanly hit 110dB peaks. The system as outstanding dynamics, transients & inner detail. I've recently obtained a pair of AH-160 Azurahorns from Martin Seddon in Australia as seen here:
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/6156/160010.jpg (http://img535.imageshack.us/i/160010.jpg/)


I've heard from many people that front-loading full-range/wide-range drivers sounds even clearer, more transparent with better detail than back-loading does, so I'll probably try the FE208ES-Rs in the Azurahorns, on top of Les Huson's double 15" push-pull subwoofers, with the Pioneer HW-7 tweeters just below the Azurahorns in a speaker that looks like this:
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3403/leshudson.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/leshudson.jpg/)

I fiqure I should listen and see if this sounds better than I have now. If they sound better I'll install another pair of full-range/wide-range drivers in the Sachiko cabinets and sell them. If not I'll sell the AH-160 Azurahorns ---{which are about 3ft across}--- and use the Les Huson's double 15" push-pull subwoofers in place of the OB Hawthorne Audio 15" Augies I'm now using.