"All your bass (base) are belong to us"
Seawolf,
Yet another quote/signature that got my attention. I have seen something like this on another web site, LightReading. Are you also a networking geek? Very strange. Perhaps this was an Internet favorite?
Its a reference to computer game that was very badly translated into English ... see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_you...e_belong_to_us
Originally Posted by KJ Hall
2ch: WiiM Pro; Topping E30 II DAC; Oppo, Acurus RL-11, Acurus A200, JBL Dynamics Project - Offline: L212-TwinStack, VonSchweikert VR-4
7: TIVO, Oppo BDP103D, B&K, 2pr UREI 809A, TF600, JBL B460
Geez, I hope they dinna grab the stripers....
sorry for the delayed reply...I was on an audio shopping safari..can not divulge results or prices as I wud be accused of lying.
>>Are you also a networking geek?
I retired after time at Intel and a backbone provider 4 years ago...
of course I modded for bass.
the OFFICIAL video is here...
http://allyourbase.planettribes.game...eo1_view.shtml
Some kind of happiness is measured out in miles
Well Storm, I sort of agree with what Nightbrace said but with some variation. Speakers as efficient as the Altecs don't demand a lot of power or current and there aren't wild impedance swings like some speakers that can dip to 2 ohms sucking the life out of most tube and SS amps. The electronics are important but not as important as with some speakers. Even a nice old Scott 299 tube integrated amp at 12 watts per channel would be fine with the Valencias if you weren't looking for lots of boosted bass or disco sound levels. I normally don't like SS electronics so I was amazed to find that my 19's sounded good with tubes and transistors so that choice is probably more personal. Seeing that your Valencias are the newer 8 ohm versions there's no real good reason for tubes unless you feel better with them. Maybe "garbage in, garbage out" is the best advice here but I suppose we all have a different definition of garbage. Nightbrace is correct that once the caps are replaced there most likely will be a change in the sound of the higher frequencies but I wouldn't really call what is heard now, with the old caps, a "signature sound" soley due to the caps. Do the caps sound the same now as they did when they were new? I don't think anyone can honestly answer that. Maybe close but the same? Then how about the old well used woofer cones and old 806A diaphrams? Is the magnetic flux in the drivers the same as when new? Bet those drivers don't test exactly like they did when new. I really doubt that Altec back then chose caps just for their sonic quality. That was before "boutique caps" and high end audio. A cap was cap more or less. Even the Model 19 xover is dubious in design and parts and those were expensive speakers but that's what most other companies were doing so it was normal back then. Callins was a US (TN) cap company and their prices were reasonable so I tend to think the choice had more to do with, size, price and availability. If Altec wanted a tamer sound they probably would have gone to the more expensive metal cased paper in oil caps to capture a certain "signature sound." Besides, horns were always on the bold side and those caps didn't take away from that. Unlike today where people want tame horns! All speakers are "colored" so pick the coloration you like best. You can leave well enough alone but how long will it be before the original caps die? Maybe a day or maybe 20 years but at what distortion level will they run at in the meantime? If your prepared for the possibility of trying maybe 2 or 3 different caps to get the sound you now like, then go for it. Most likely the Daytons or Bennics will be close and maybe the Clarity Cap, but not the expensive version, will be very close or even better sounding than the original caps. I'd say leave the pots and inductors alone or your going to open two more cans of worms. You can leave the original caps in place by cutting one lead of each close to the terminal it's soldered to. If you get disgusted with new caps the old ones can always be soldered back into the circuit. I once made all new xovers for my Flamencos with "better" parts and I didn't like the sound so I ended up just replacing the caps and that worked out very well. I have a suspicion that the original inductors aren't always per the schematic values but I have yet to verify that. I played with the inductors in my 19's and I have mixed feelings about the differenencs between the "better" ones and the originals. That's going to take some breadboard type xovers ouside of the cabinets to figure out. There's no question that the new caps were an improvement. The originals didn't age well because there was a considerable amount of muddy distortion along with the music. I ended up with metalized polyprops (MPP-1) from F-Dyne (southern electronics) in CA but they aren't easy to get because of a $50 min order and small quantity involved. Those were the caps that worked so well in my Flamencos too. I know that Solens screamed in my 19's, ouch, and that NOS Mallory paper in oils tamed my added EV tweeters way too much for my sonic taste. I'd also say not to play with new caps until you settle on what electronics you will be using. What I try to keep in mind is that what I hear and like may not be acceptable to everyone but I'm the one that needs to be happy with my stereo. And that parts prices don't mean all that much in actual listening. Most of the time I prefer cheaper caps over the crazy expensive ones and so did a bunch of "golden ear" types when I once covered the names on 5 caps and told them to pick the ones they liked the best in the tweeter circuits in a pair of $55,000 speakers. They choose the $3 and $5 caps over the more expensive ones up to $55 each. Oppps! LOL
Last but not least. All distortion doesn't sound bad and all aren't sensitive to the same distortions so specs are rough guides, not a sonic absolute.
Dave
Someone didn't get the paragraph memo...lol
Great information but, man, that was a hard read!
I still find it funny that from talking with Bill at GPA about his preference of amps for Altecs....his preference isn't tube. It's SS. He doesn't buy into all the foo-foo stuff that's out there. I really don't either. Lifting wires off the floor so the carpet doesn't "interfere", etc. OMG...gimme a break. Oh well, if someone will build it, someone will buy it.
Yeah I know. After I submitted the darn post and saw it I though of Tom Brennans wrath and I wanted to hide. Oh well. That's one post he'll probably skip right over anyway.
Sorry Tom. I'm probably too old to teach but my mind is more in gear with this post. LOL
Because Bill doesn't care for tube amps it doesn't mean that they are wrong for Altecs. Where did the the theaters get SS amps back when VOT were young?
Didn't I also read here and maybe a post from you that he also liked soft dome tweeters? Well that ain't no horn.
The tube versus the SS thing will go on forever and get nowhere because it's a personal thing but I still think the Altecs are less critical to the amp then lots of other speakers.
I hate to get into the "factory voicing" of speakers for tube and SS so I'll leave that to the people that dwell on that subject over and over.
In my opinion the higher power SS stuff may add more bass slam but if it's boosted bass, is it real bass or just pumped up bass?
Or if you bi-map with SS on the woofer with little to no boost you may get a tighter bass but is it more natural sounding than a more relaxed bass?
That might be another topic.
I cringe when people say that tubes are more mellow because if they are there's probably something wrong with the equipment.
More mellow than a lousy, screechy SS amp yes, but more mellow than a good SS amp is the clue something may be wrong.
In some cases like SET stuff, there might be a "triode" sound that has a warmer kind of sound but it shouldn't sound like it's rolled off in the top end and just mellow.
If your a meter reader then almost all of the SS stuff will look better on paper than "vintage" tube stuff but how do they sound? Ever hear a Dyna Stereo 120?
I bought a factroy wired new one many years ago based on specs and my kit tubed Stereo 70 sounded light years better.
I called Dynaco in PA and an engineer referred to the 120 as having "rabbit fur highs." Still not sure what that means but I knew it meant that the tube Stereo 70 was better sounding in the mids and highs and they knew it.
Dave
Well, there's "coloration,"
... and then, there's "adulteration."
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