Stefan Wood

I'm not gonna touch it. Just look at it from afar, longingly.

Received it today. But darn it, I can't enjoy it just yet as I am recovering from surgery. Will be a few days or so.

Dynacos and McIntoshes are good amps but I have found they run hot as well. I once had an HH Scott.integrated that was only warm.

It is made by an independent builder who sells his amps on Ebay. I actually bought it second hand from a guy in California who seems to buy and sell expensive hifi pieces like candy. Got it for way less than what he bought it for, with high quality tubes and power cable. I did my homework and checked people's reviews of his amps and he is highly regarded. The guy I bought it from said it sounded like the famed Yashimoto 45 amp. With some rare and highly regarded Peacock transformers and Triad chokes. western Electric tubes as well. I was going to go the Decware or Elekit route until I saw this. Free shipping too. I even contacted the maker and told him I was getting the amp and he said if there are any issues I could ship it to him to fix. His amps have been favorably compared to some of the best. I know the guy who does the Glow in the Dark audio blog and when I told him about it he had seen the ad and thought I did well, as he knew the builder as well. For what it's worth, the solid state amp I had ran hot, but it had some serious heat sinks that just made it warm to the touch. Sold that during the furlough. The Musical Paradise 301 tube amp I have is fantastic, and doesn't feel hot at all. Takes all sorts of power tubes, as it is auto bias capabilities.

Not yet. Fed Ex is moving at a snail's pace.

No problems turn a tube amp on and playing here.

I guess what it all boils down to is that you try to get equipment that work well together. It's all mix and match, and the trick is getting the right match.

They match really well in terms of clarity and sound stage. Like they are meant for each other.

I find that interesting. Hassle? I haven't had tube amps that doubled as room heaters. Were tubes making noise or expiring too soon? I'm never going to say that tubes are better or worse than solid state, or vice versa. I think the key here are the speakers one has. Open baffles have synergy with tubes and high sensitive speakers. Solid state can drive lower efficient speakers as well as high. If the hassle is cost that is another issue.

Both the tube amp and the passive preamp have volume controls. I can max the volume on the passive and just use the amp volume control with no distortion. https://www.tisburyaudio.co.uk/mini-passive-preamplifier https://www.schiit.com/products/sys https://www.tortugaaudio.com/what-is-a-passive-preamplifier/

No. Active preamps have on off switches and power cords. Passive has neither. It just passed the signal through with nothing added to it.

I use a passive preamp. Tisbury Audio makes an excellent and affordable one. It has four inputs and two line outputs. One line out goes to the tube amp, the other to the plate amp.

No, those were Dahlquist 20i speakers that I sold during the furlough in January. I found myself preferring the open baffle speakers more. Which is a little weird since the Dahlquists are partially open baffle, at least on the tweeter and mids. Not the woofer. And they have a big crossover. The OBs have a more open sound, and no crossover on the Betsys, but an active on on the plate amp that drives the woofer. Still have the Emotiva cd player! Actually, the cd transport up and died on me over a year ago. I did some heavy searching and discovered an exact drop in replacement driver from China for $50 shipped. Carefully replaced it and it is good as new!

No crossover on the full range. Plate amp which has an adjustable crossover connected to the woofer . Works just fine. At this point I'm long past critical listening; I want to have fun listening, and I've been told the Type 45 amp is a hell of a lot of fun.

Nothing wrong with solid state. I just find my listening with tubes to be more enjoyable, especially for jazz and classical. It is different.

Unless it is something on the realm of the Resonance reissues, I am done with hunting for cds. Too much music to enjoy already.

Wild Burro Betsys on custom made baffles. A lone 15" Eminence Alpha providing the low end, connected to a plate amp. The tube amp powers the full range.

Awaiting the arrival of a type 45 tube amp. Will be hooked up to a pair of open baffle speakers. I've been told the clarity and sound of this kind of tube is amazing. Will find out....

Thanks!

Does anyone have info on this?

Prices reduced.

No idea. Still looking......

Raydio is a worthwhile app to download. On it there's Shoutcast and Onrad.io. I use Onrad.io to search for and bookmark stations. You also have the option, through the My Stations tab on the bottom, to lock in on certain streaming site by typing in the URL address.

If you have an iPhone Raydio may not be available for it. I can get it on my Android phone thru Google Play.

Whoops? Can't you manually add it? Raydio is an excellent app that I have been using to get the stations all of you have mentioned. I can bookmark the stations and flip through them. Sound quality through ChromeCast Audio is very good to outstanding, depending on the station. Been listening to Chicago and San Francisco's jazz stations a lot.