Sovereign's system

[Sovereign]

This is where I spend most nights in the pitch black.
Sorry it all looks so yellow, only had an iPhone to hand.
http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/IMG_7757.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/IMG_7757.jpg.html)
<a href="http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/IMG_7758.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/IMG_7758.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_7758.jpg"/></a>
http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/IMG_7759.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/IMG_7759.jpg.html)
<a href="http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/IMG_7758.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/IMG_7758.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_7758.jpg"/></a>

[Sovereign]

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/IMG_7758.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/IMG_7758.jpg.html)

[John]

Nice looking system
Tell us more about the speakers

[Sovereign]

Hi John
Below is a snippet from another site;
They are Lampizator P-17 speakers
What they do well is provide a huge 3D image, a quite tangible 'being there' sound. The highs are very sweet (I was sceptical of the tweeter, but it sounds lovely), the mids are very coherent as the wide band driver has room to breathe, and there is ample defined and coherent bass from the 15" Eminence Alpha. It all works very nicely.
They have huge inductors in the crossover, and lovely ex-Soviet military paper-in-oil capacitors, which sound stunning.

[Ali Tait]

Saba cones? Good drivers those.

[Sovereign]

I'm really happy with them, I can se me keeping these for a fair while. It must have been nearly a year already which is good for me.

[Ali Tait]

Aye, once you get used to the OB sound, not much else will do!

[Sovereign]

It would be interesting to put a good pair of box speakers into my system to see how they compare

[Ali Tait]

I find box speakers mostly sound coloured in the bass by comparison, compared to the OB's

[John]

Yes agree its the way they do bass; its very different but a lot more natural to most box speakers

[Ali Tait]

Aye, that's my impression.

[Sovereign]

Here are some decent pictures, I found me camera.
http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/P1010669.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/P1010669.jpg.html)
http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/P1010670.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/P1010670.jpg.html)

[r100]

BIG, that's mine

[Sovereign]

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/P1010671.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/P1010671.jpg.html)
http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/P1010672.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/P1010672.jpg.html)

[Sovereign]

BIG, that's mine

Eh?

[r100]

my impression looking at the pics, is that your system is big :stalks:

[Sovereign]

Thats what she said!

[r100]

Thats what she said!

:nocomment:

[stupinder]

Heard these, or the same design anyway and thought they sounded very nice indeed. Were my DIY skills somewhere higher than they are I'd definitely build a pair...

[jason]

Nice looking set up James.

[Sovereign]

Thanks Jason

[Sovereign]

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n533/SovereignKing/P1010697.jpg (http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/SovereignKing/media/P1010697.jpg.html)
A majorly upgraded Yaqin 100B, latest addition to the system.

[Marco]

How's it sounding, James? I used to have one of those, and very nice it was, too! :)

Marco.

[Sovereign]

Hi Marco, it is very very good. Everything sounds very real, full and communicative.
The bass in particular is very open and accurate. The only thing I'm not so sure about is it is very polite and there is a lack of excitement, but there is often a trade off somewhere.
I consider myself still trying out valves. I have had this amp for a week or so and I plan to listen to it non stop for another week then put my NVA monoblocs back in to see what I think.
I have had a valve it h for a very long time and its been great to finally have the chance to experiment.
The A80's will take some beating though, watch this space!

[jandl100]

The 6SN7 valves can make a big difference when it comes to 'excitement', ime.
Which ones have you tried, James?

I can recommend these if you want the pizzaz of a recording to come thru. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-or-more-6N8S-russian-6SN7-GT-Silvered-Grid-NOS-NIB-/130842321051?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item1e76cf609b

[Sovereign]

Hi Jerry
The Yaqin I have now is one that Anthony TD has modified somewhat. If my understanding is correct the 6SN7 valves are for the pre amp section, the pre in this amp has been stripped out and it is a power amp only. The 6SN7 valves you see are only for show.

[jandl100]

Ah right - I didn't realise that!

They aren't drivers for the power tubes, then? -- ha! - that makes it sound like I know anything about such things. :eyebrows:

[Sovereign]

As I said I may be wrong, we really need Anthony to advise here.

[Marco]

Lol.... No, the 6SN7s do not belong to the preamp section of the old integrated circuit. They are the driver valves, which are part of the amp's gain stage, and thus critical to sound quality.

The NOS Russian ones Jerry has recommended are excellent, as are the currently available Tung Sol-branded 6SN7s, if you don't want to go with the expense of NOS types. Experimenting with using different types of 12AX7s, shown at the front of the amp, also pays dividends :)

Marco.

[Sovereign]

Thanks Marco
I have one NOS valves Jerry is referring to in my other Yaqin. Ill lot them in the moded one and see what happens

[jandl100]

:eek:

Bloody hell - you mean my techie-geek guess about the 6SN7 being driver valves for the power amp section
was correct?
:lol:

[Marco]

Aye, yer not as big a DAFTEE as you look!! :D

Let us know how you get on, James. You should hear quite a big difference.

Marco.

[Sovereign]

I'm on the tools today, ill report back tonight.

[Sovereign]

Changed out the 6SN7 for the NOS one's Jerry was referring to, the politeness is still there. Don't get me wrong the amp is a cracker but there is a certain amount of control, or politeness to it. It is one of the most convincing amps I've heard though, everything else is so incredibly right.

[Marco]

That's weird, James. I know that amp, and the last thing I'd call it was 'polite'. There could be many reasons for that, however, which are very difficult to diagnose at a distance. Anyway, no doubt you'll get to the bottom of it! :)

Marco.

[Sovereign]

When I bought my open baffle speakers a year ago or so, I kind of plonked them down, played around with position a little and left them. As we all know speaker positioning can make some of the most dramatic differences to the sound of your hifi.
My bass has always been very transparent and deep, but I was wanting even more wallop and dynamic punch then I have now so I pushed them back about 5 inches, well bloody hell I should have done that about a year ago, not only is the bass more solid but deeper and darker as well yet just as transparent, the treble has calmed down a little and the mids seem to have more texture and intimacy.
I wonder how many of us have been through different bits of kit looking for a sound that could have been achieved from positioning our speakers correctly

[John]

Getting the distance right with open baffles is important to close and they lose insignt to far away and they are too wolly in the bass get it right and they sound bloody awesome
Glad you getting even better from your baffles James