Senior Member
Location: London
Posts: 2,410
I'm Nat-andthat'swhyIdrink.
For the sake of curiosity, is the problem with Yaquin that although the transformer is of course for 220v, the caps aren't rated much higher than that and fail early? Often you see caps rated at 640v etc for valve amps but perhaps they scrimped and gone for 250v ones?
if that was the case, I'd get the mods done and the caps uprated whilst there..
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I've just won a Variac transformer on eBay - so I should soon be in a position to set the voltage to 210V and use the Yaqin safely.
The eBay seller I bought the Yaqin amp from claimed the 'coupling caps' had been updated to Mundorfs -- although quite what that means is unclear to a complete technical numpty like me.
But yes, Nat, the sound quality I have heard from the Yaqin amp so far is excellent to say the least, so I reckon I'll be looking to spend a few £££ and get it suitably upgraded.
Is Anthony @ Tube Distinctions my man for this?
-- he's not too far away from me, over t'border.
.
Purveyor Of Tunes
Location: Cricklewood
Posts: 9,074
I'm ILOB.
Anthony or Nick (Lurcher) are both ideal for this work
Anthony be a lot closer
Loves anything from Pain of Salvation to Jeff Buckley to Django to Sarasate to Surinder Sandhu to Shawn Lane to Nick Drake to Rush to Beth Hart to Kate Bush to Rodrigo Y Gabriela to The Hellecasters to Dark Sanctury to Ben Harper to Karicus to Dream Theater to Zero Hour to Al DiMeola to Larry Carlton to Derek Trucks to Govt Mule to?
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Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,542
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
Nice one, Jerry.
Simply because Anthony has modified a few of these before, and that he's nearer, I'd recommend him for the job. Best to email him through the contact page on his website, as he's not always on here to read PMs:
http://www.tubedistinctions.co.uk/contact_info.htm
And yes, I'd get him to mod the amp at the same time as him doing the step-down transformer - trust me, you'll LOVE the results!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp, fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Senior Member
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Yep, thanks Marco.
the Variac traffo is a standalone device, so that should be OK.
But I'll get in contact with Anthony in the Noo Year and sort an update out.
.
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Don McCorleone
Location: Galashiels
Posts: 14,031
I'm inthescottishmafia.
Very nice Jerry, how does it sound?
Senior Member
Location: gone
Posts: 11,510
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17wpc -- so the first concern was power .....
a) plenty of power
b) only just plugged it in! - but 1st impressions of sq are very favourable.
Going from the sublime 250wpc Parasound to the differently sublime 17wpc Viva 300 B amp ...
.
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,542
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
How does it compare with the Yaqin, Jerry? That's what I'd like to know...
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp, fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Senior Member
Location: gone
Posts: 11,510
I'm gone.
Me, too.Originally Posted by Marco
How does it compare with the Yaqin, Jerry? That's what I'd like to know...
Marco.
Time will tell.
It's not even early days yet, it's barely early hours! More like early minutes.
Initial impression? -- very enjoyable.
.
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