Pundit
Post by Gryffles on May 20, 2017 20:05:50 GMT 12
After moving into a new place and reassembling my system in the garage I was less then impressed with the sound. Adding to the problem was I had a few bits of gear that I had recently purchased to complete things which added to my confusion. So after changing rooms ,phono stages, ditching the preamp and changing speaker cables all is well  I moved everything from downstairs into my spare bedroom and the difference is huge. Also sold the Walker phono stage and now have an Aesthetix Rhea connected directly with my amp (which has a volume pot). Was using Western Electric tinned copper wire for speaker cables but have now changed back to 0.7mm transformer wire. As most others have commented the Rhea is susceptible to valve noise (rushing) unless you use carefully selected 12AX7's. I have this problem at the moment but replacements are on the way. Cartridge - Benz Wood SL Turntable - VPI Scout Phono - Aesthetix Rhea Amp - Custom 2A3 SET Speakers - Bastanis Wildhorn Rack & Cables are DIY  
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Pundit
Post by Mike A on May 21, 2017 8:19:26 GMT 12
Very nice
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Pundit
Post by beeman on May 21, 2017 11:13:59 GMT 12
nice clean looking rig
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Post by Owen Y on May 21, 2017 17:35:49 GMT 12
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Post by Owen Y on May 21, 2017 17:47:50 GMT 12
75dB is v high gain for an all-tube phono, without some sort of compromise, eg. noise, dynamics. I would use lower gain (which may lower noise) & wind up the amp, see if that works.
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on May 21, 2017 18:14:15 GMT 12
Thanks Gents. Owen Y I have it set at 62dB but could also get away with 56dB (the next setting down). Jim McShane in the US is going to hand select me some Sovtek 12AX7LPS when he receives his next shipment. Reckons he only gets a few each time that are suitable for use in the Rhea. The first gain stage uses two 12AX7 for each channel and these are critical. The Bastanis are lovely. These have the upgraded tweeter too.
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Post by michaelw on May 21, 2017 18:26:42 GMT 12
lovely unit the rhea, with all the main functions selectable from the remote.
but also very demanding on the tubes.
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Post by Graham on May 21, 2017 20:19:08 GMT 12
Love all those tooobs Ben.
Looks like a very nice set up and a much better use of a bedroom.
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on May 21, 2017 20:30:17 GMT 12
Graham it's nice to have a dedicated room for the first time. 17 valves to look after now so I'll just chip away at it rather than waiting until I need a heap all at once $$$
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Post by Owen Y on May 22, 2017 14:55:31 GMT 12
Owen Y I have it set at 62dB but could also get away with 56dB (the next setting down). Does lower gain lower the tube noise? It's a tall ask (some say impossible) to do an all-tube phono preamp with MC-capable gain + acceptable noise floor, low distortion & uncompromised dynamics. Audio Research couldn't do it. (Not without FETs.) Nor Conrad Johnson. CAT tried, eventually they built in a SUT.
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on May 22, 2017 19:34:35 GMT 12
Owen Y I have it set at 62dB but could also get away with 56dB (the next setting down). Does lower gain lower the tube noise? It's a tall ask (some say impossible) to do an all-tube phono preamp with MC-capable gain + acceptable noise floor, low distortion & uncompromised dynamics. Audio Research couldn't do it. (Not without FETs.) Nor Conrad Johnson. CAT tried, eventually they built in a SUT. It does lower the noise floor and the tube noise. I put in a pair of Sovtek 12AX7LPS that I had left over from the Air Tight phono. These went in the V1 and V2 (first gain stage) of the right hand channel and the noise is now lower than the small hum from the 2A3 amp. There is a process that Aesthetix provide for checking valve noise and there are some borderline valves in other positions too. Looking forward to getting it as quite as can be achieved which is not a big deal with the right valves. Well I guess Aesthetix have done what ARC, CJ and CAT could not. The IO is proof of that.
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Post by Owen Y on May 22, 2017 21:26:56 GMT 12
Ah good. (62dB is a much more usual level of gain for a tube phono stage & your amp-spkr system seems to operate fine with that signal level source.)
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Post by deano1974 on May 28, 2017 14:27:54 GMT 12
Looking fantastic brother
Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI
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Member
Post by simon on May 28, 2017 17:03:17 GMT 12
Looks really good , bet sounds it too
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Post by Citroen on May 31, 2017 21:00:43 GMT 12
Used to own a VPI Scout. Sorry I sold it. Gryffles Let us know how the Lenco compares!
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on May 31, 2017 21:21:09 GMT 12
Citroen You don;t miss much Cliff! Have been missing my 401 but with the current prices of them and the 301 I thought a Lenco might be the ticket. Plenty of scope to improve it too.
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Post by Citroen on Jun 1, 2017 14:27:58 GMT 12
I was after that Lenco too, especially for the plinth but dipped out way before you!
Pete's Top Plate? And definitely change the arm.
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Post by colinf on Jun 1, 2017 18:09:32 GMT 12
Owen Y I have it set at 62dB but could also get away with 56dB (the next setting down). Does lower gain lower the tube noise? It's a tall ask (some say impossible) to do an all-tube phono preamp with MC-capable gain + acceptable noise floor, low distortion & uncompromised dynamics. Audio Research couldn't do it. (Not without FETs.) Nor Conrad Johnson. CAT tried, eventually they built in a SUT. I have extensive experience with tube MC setups having helped build Trevor Lees' tube pre preamps in the 80s and 90s. The 4-tube used 2 12ax7s for each channel, the 8-tube used four each channel. The 2-tube used an ecc88 each channel. They sounded great but all of them suffered from potentially microphonic tubes and were very susceptible to tube noise. Most likely the reason the commercial makers you mention didn't use tubes for MC levels. It would be a commercial nightmare to maintain them all to quiet levels. But for sound quality they are great, that's why I have persisted with them in my own phono stages.
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on Jun 1, 2017 18:40:40 GMT 12
Interesting colinf - ARC went to FET hybrid to get S/N down with higher gain. Other tube phono manufs I see, nostly insert a SUT in front of 40-ish dB of MM gain stage. I remember a pal's Ecofan phono which used a few paralleled ECC88s in the front end - a headache selecting & matching them. [Another digression, sorry, Gryffles.]
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Post by colinf on Jun 1, 2017 20:01:46 GMT 12
Those Bastanis speakers look very interesting, Gryffles. Could you tell us about them?
AMR-iFi R&D
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Jun 1, 2017 21:03:12 GMT 12
I was after that Lenco too, especially for the plinth but dipped out way before you! Pete's Top Plate? And definitely change the arm. Yes, in time a PTP, new plinth, bearing and idler wheel. And yes a 12" arm would be lovely. I quite like having something I can work on these days so will happen slowly rather than quickly! Will let you know if the plinth becomes surplus.
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Jun 1, 2017 21:16:18 GMT 12
Those Bastanis speakers look very interesting, Gryffles. Could you tell us about them? Hi colinfI'm no expert but I'll tell you what I know. They have a very live and open sound and are rather picky about where they are situated. They rely on room reinforcement to augment the bass. These ones have the top notch dipole Gemini tweeter. I haven't heard them with the standard tweet. . Will work with any basically any amp as they can handle 300w from memory. Power isn't needed though as they are 100dB sensitive and an easy load. Tweeter has one cap in series and the there is one resistor parallel with the input to help smooth the frequency response. Both the cap and the resistor are made by Robert Bastanis. The Driver and tweeter are both made by Emminence specifically for Bastanis too. He treats each driver by hand with a lacquer of some description.
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Post by colinf on Jun 1, 2017 21:34:50 GMT 12
Very interesting.
AMR-iFi R&D
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Jun 3, 2017 18:55:26 GMT 12
After waiting for replacement valves for the Rhea and then a bit of messing round with trying different combos the current sound is very, very good indeed.
Best combo so far:
V1 Telefunken ECC83
V2 Mullard M8137
V3 & V4 Philips/Valvo ECC83
V5 Russian ECC88
Still waiting for some E88CC Siemens grey shield to arrive but these will replace the Russian ones as left channel is noisy.
The M8137 are only on loan from a mate so will return them soon. I have a pair of Mullard ECC83 long plate on the way though.
V3, V4 and V5 have far less influence over the sound than V1 & V2.
I can see why there has been a bit of chatter online about the Rhea. You can of course buy factory sets from Aesthetix. Where's the fun in that though!
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Post by colinf on Jun 12, 2017 21:27:16 GMT 12
I have a few M8137s here and they have been my go-to 12ax7 in the past. Long plate Mullards also sound nice. My experience is that the first valve the signal encounters is usually the most influential on the sound. Same for solid state devices. The input transistor seems to affect the sound the most.
AMR-iFi R&D
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Jun 12, 2017 22:20:46 GMT 12
colinfThey seem to be popular and getting rare now unfortunately. Sound pretty good to me. My long plate Mullards mysteriously vanished in transit. Got a refund but still annoying as they were a bargain. Well if any of those M8137's you have are just getting in the way feel free to let me know.
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Post by colinf on Jun 13, 2017 11:48:08 GMT 12
The space they are taking up here has been especially created for them. They are rare now so they're staying here! If you can find some Tesla E83CCs they were my next best sounding ones that were from another manufacturer. They look like 6dj8s inside.  fb upload image
AMR-iFi R&D
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Post by Owen Y on Jun 13, 2017 16:44:46 GMT 12
What I've always liked about Mullard M8137s is the plastic pin-protectors they come shipped with.... 
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Jun 13, 2017 17:51:00 GMT 12
Ok, now you guys are just rubbing it in!
All jokes aside. Looks like I may have a pair of M8137 lined up. Pleased about that.
There are a lot of fake Tesla E83cc around. Even from established valve dealers.
Will keep a look out for some though.
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Pundit
Post by Gryffles on Jul 3, 2017 20:15:06 GMT 12
So after a bit of mucking round and indecision the Rhea has been re-homed with a forum member here in Tga. Arriving in the next day or so is another all valve design that us supposed to be dead quite   up load photos
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