Rejigged Rig

[pgarrish]

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160221/ea1f661754a0393ba5617d8c7a3c7f60.jpg

My motley collection of bits now in a more usable arrangement

Speakers are tannoy Cheviots, odd grey boxes are the mullard 5-20 mono valve powers, wharfdale sub outside the right speaker

On the rack are

Top: rega planar 2, standard arm, bias 2 cart. HH S500D power amp just back from minor surgery

Middle: SBT, wdtv live for films, boring youview box and equally boring bd player with now tv on top

Bottom:
Teac dt1 dac, rotel rc850 on phono duties and pre for the HH. Grey box is DACT passive pre fed by tape loop from the rotel and controlling the valves. On the right is the matching teac t1 transport.

Cables are mainly home assembled furutech and a mix of linn and vandamme speaker cables

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160221/c50541bc00e88e2ae0724fe0bdc48314.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160221/84f4fb21cad0284f5f5aa8b3e9bc529f.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160221/f39ba1d5c9707556a5e1a15fe1362ce7.jpg

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160221/cc636ef2763269712da33021054b3023.jpg

For scale, room is 25'x35' open plan with kitchen and a bit of vaulted ceiling, and central pillar - makes for some acoustic challenges :)

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160221/555985a5674f78aa10c40b7da468acae.jpg

[walpurgis]

Looks like a fun system. :)

[Macca]

Looks like a real enthusiast's system. I love those Teac CD players, orange display mmmmm.

Is your house some sort of converted workshop/factory?

[pgarrish]

Looks like a real enthusiast's system. I love those Teac CD players, orange display mmmmm.

Is your house some sort of converted workshop/factory?

Nope, the house is the result of a 3 bed semi and too many episodes of grand designs :) On that photo, I would have been stood in the old kitchen window - everything you can see was added as an extension.

The system is a mixed bag. The Mullards were built by my father-in-law in about 1958-60 and used to be integrateds, first one then the other when stereo appeared. I took them to a Wam bake-off and was told to get them fixed properly, so they went to Haden Boardman. At the time I had Richer Sounds-era Gale speakers, they didn't work well at all. Hence the Cheviots. They had the x-overs and drivers re-built (Stewart Wennan did the x-overs, Dave Smith the drivers with pleated surrounds) and they work VERY well with the valves. Since I didn't want to use vintage Mullard tubes all the time, I also had a Rotel integrated, but it made more sense to get a 2nd, SS power amp and the HH came up at a good price on eBay. I then cobbled together an Alps based pre, but was given the DACT attenuator which was a big improvement. The TEAC kit replaced an old Rotel 965BX Discrete (now in the loft with a squeaky drawer) as the DAC meant I could use the SBT and feed the TV and transport through the one box. The Rotel pre came the other month when the passive played up (more accurately, my crappy soldering failed) and it replaced a NAD PP1 on phono duties.

The Rotel works well with the HH as it puts some oomph up it, but the passive is far better in terms of clarity and separation. I'll be putting a second pair of outputs on the passive and hooking it to both the HH and Valves soon, which means the NAD will be back in and the Rotel will be up for sale...

A lucky combo of bits that works very very well for me. The sub fills in the bottom end nicely without being too obtrusive and the Chevvies play everything I throw at them - and anyone who's been to my place knows they get a right mix played through them :)

[Reffc]

Nice set up Paul, and coincidentally, almost exactly the same design for the extension as we have :eyebrows:

Did you get round to doing the fettling work on the Chevvies that I suggested a while back or are they still as standard apart from the surrounds?

[pgarrish]

Hi Paul, since I didn't know you when we did it in 2007 id guess it was a coincidence. ;)

Speakers are pretty stock - x-over was a rebuild of the factory units, one extra brace front to back under the driver, replaced wadding inside and dual, switchable inputs on the back.

Haven't cut the port tube down or anything else as they work so I don't want to go fiddling :)

[danilo]

Interesting and a clearly loved setup. rather than some Decorator assembly.
If I might suggest though:-) Borrow a decent Current capable (20+ A) Amplifier.
Invariably SS though, as Tubes output Txs' cannot do that.
The increase/improvement of Bass /Dynamics through the Cheviots could be startling.
Was for me.. going from a 45 se type.
Just my 2 cents is all.

[Reffc]

Hi Paul, since I didn't know you when we did it in 2007 id guess it was a coincidence. ;)

Speakers are pretty stock - x-over was a rebuild of the factory units, one extra brace front to back under the driver, replaced wadding inside and dual, switchable inputs on the back.

Haven't cut the port tube down or anything else as they work so I don't want to go fiddling :)

Great minds think alike as ours was done about the same time ;)
Dual inputs I'm guessing were for bi-amping?

[pgarrish]

Dual inputs I'm guessing were for bi-amping?

Nope, switchable inputs so I can have both power amps permanently connected and switch between them. Dual connections (speakon and banana) for each input as Stewart likes pro connectors but bananas are more common. It also happens to be very useful for hooking up a sub

[pgarrish]

Interesting and a clearly loved setup. rather than some Decorator assembly.
If I might suggest though:-) Borrow a decent Current capable (20+ A) Amplifier.
Invariably SS though, as Tubes output Txs' cannot do that.
The increase/improvement of Bass /Dynamics through the Cheviots could be startling.
Was for me.. going from a 45 se type.
Just my 2 cents is all.

The HH is 180wpc into 8ohm, 320 in 4 and 500 into 2 so I guess it puts out a fair bit of current and controls the bass pretty well. A Crown DC300a was an improvement, but not night and day (since the HH is about 2/3 of the Crown that's not too surprising). I've never tried a bigger amp on the Chevvies but I don't find that much difference between the HH and the valves (which are 18W EL34s being quite conservatively set up). The valves are a bit smoother and there is more bass (which might be lack of control or just more...) but the room sucks out the bass so I have the sub to help. The listening sofa seems to be the leanest place in the room and I have found that a little cushion against the pillar next to that sofa helps stop odd reflections.

I do like the system as a whole. It plays any sort of music from Electronica to girl & guitar, goes plenty loud enough and doesn't get tiring - at previous bake-offs it's been on from 9am to 11 pm, at louder than usual volumes, and its still a disappointment to have to turn it off. I'm lucky that SWMBO doesn't mind the big brown boxes :) I really don't know what I'd change. I know I can improve on the passive pre (a MF A1FBP was better, although I've rebuilt the pre since then so the better soldering might help! The Rotel isn't a patch on the passive) but otherwise I've heard much more expensive kit that wasn't as enjoyable. I do fancy a DAX DAC though....

[400v on the anode]

Why are you standing the Tannoys on those boxes? My Cheviots will shake the concrete floor without a sub just by standing them straight on the floor.

[pgarrish]

The Cheviots sound far better when off the ground. The bass didn't change with the stands (they are 15mm MDF screwed and glued so pretty solid) but the treble and clarity improved significantly. They put out plenty of bass, but my room is large and the listening position seems particularly bass-light, the sub helps with weight there, and with extension as the Chevvies don't go that low in the standard cabinets (Paul RFC can probably tell you exactly how they behave!).

[400v on the anode]

The Cheviots sound far better when off the ground. The bass didn't change with the stands (they are 15mm MDF screwed and glued so pretty solid) but the treble and clarity improved significantly. They put out plenty of bass, but my room is large and the listening position seems particularly bass-light, the sub helps with weight there, and with extension as the Chevvies don't go that low in the standard cabinets (Paul RFC can probably tell you exactly how they behave!).
Interesting, in my room they go very low (audiable on my hearing down to 15hz) but then a room will make a lot of difference. Mine are considered by many listeners as being very clear perhaps a a little clinical in the mid to top end.