Mika K's system

[RochaCullen]

Great idea having the lamp behind the system. Creates a nice effect.

[SLS]

Thanks for the info on the panels. They looked familiar. I was after some. I saw them elsewhere, searched and found them and then lost my search.

Nice little camera. Recently replaced a Canon S90 f/2 with the f/1.4 DMC-LX7 (in the Leica DLUX6 version), probably the best pocket low light camera around and great value.

[Mika K]

Psvane T-series

Have used already Genalex Gold Lion KT-88 tubes with my McIntosh amp but with the stock preamp tubes. Upgraditus maximus has lurkes behind the corner last week saw few hundred used 12AT7-T ja 12AX7-T tubes for sale here in Finland from other McIntosh owner. Most of the user reviews for Psvane tubes are positive as well as other ones like this Tone Audio one mm. http://www.tonepublications.com/blog...ntastic-tubes/, so decided to give these a try.



So far have been really satisfied and below are the three main differences that I feel have the biggest impact in my system when comparing these to the stock ones:

1) Better PRAT - Despite talking about american made tubeamp still feel that this can be covered as every kit has these in one for or the other. So it's not only on/off thingie as some seem to think it is. McIntosh house sound and its bass is something different from the norm of powerful tube or solid-state amps. They define the leading edge of bass transients in sharp and especially lifelike way. The transients of bass instruments are seemingly slower but no less precise than those of upper-midrange and treble instruments, and this gives some listeners feeling of lagging behind. Psvane tubes improved this very clearly. Nice bass melodies there on Belle & Sebastianin album Write About Love albumilla or modern progressive masterpiece The Mountain by Haken.

2) Clarity of mids and highs - Smoother and more detailed presentation without the slight harshness that was present with stock tubes. Quieter background and better focus is also there.

3) Transparency - The overall performance is much more transparent and the music flows as a whole, despite you can still easily focus to individual elements if you desire.

I think for the price these Psvanes are really good and balanced tubes. Based on my earlier experiences there might be some NOS variants that do some things better but then again they're much more expensive and might lack that sweet balance that is fairly important imho. So, if you need some mid-priced tubes I can highly recommend Psvane as one potential option

[AlfaGTV]

Tuberolling huh? And some people claim the world was simpler in the old days...
Bet it sounds lovely though! Whats your estimate on lifetime for a set of tubes there? And are they used as output power tubes or low power staging/buffering tubes?

ATB /Mike

[Mika K]

True!

Lifetime for tubes is supposed to be very high with McIntosh biasing and ventilation solutions, something like several thousand hours for the output powertubes. For the preamp side and the stage/buffer I think it's closer to ten thousand hours etc. Have some friends that have been using MC275 poweramps for years and years without any issues despite naturally at some point the performance of the tubes is not optimal anymore. Now I have the originals as spares and the costs for full set is not that bad, so..

[Mika K]

New speaker stands for the JBLs arrived few days ago from the local carpenter.

They're everything as they're supposed be - clean, simple and sturdy design with good looks, so no complaints from my side. Have to still do some minor tunedemming for the speaker placement as the 3" change in speaker stand height compared to old wooden furniture feet seems to have small impact to balance of the sound. Perhaps some other minor changes also there..



Perhaps few words later of the update when get things properly sorted out

[agk]

Lovely setup, great pics.

[Mika K]

Thanks!

[Mika K]

Now new stands for the JBLs have been in use for over a week and the speakers have found their position, which I seem to prefer the most. At the moment my setup is sounding better than ever and overall the improvement during the last minor adjustments have been remarkable. Me so happy

[Jimbo]

Hi Mika,

what is you Garrard deck standing on?

cheers

Jimbo