Dick Dastardly

I paid $5 for it at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore

The myth is tube amp watts are "more". actaully watts are watts, the difference is tube amps clip softly and for a while it's not consciously audible, and as it becomes audible it's a warm smooth sound. The sound from a low watt tube amp is pretty sweet, but it's not heavy on bass or accurate. It's an addictive sound. you can build and buy (as I'm sure you've seen) 100-200 watt tube amps using 4-8 of the 6L6gc, 6550 or the "mighty kt88" tubes. they have headroom like SS amps do.. This is a 15w per channel el84 tube amp with a tube tuner and a working turntable.. (Needs a stylus, and the tuner needs calibrated) it works great otherwise. I was considering fitting my Alphas inside behind the cloth to see how it would sound. Once I get it all tuned up I'm going to try it and see..

He went all out on the "adjustable feet"..

Yeah I'd like to build something like that sometime. Been a while since I've done any tube stuff.

That's gotta be an el84/bq6 though based on wattage maybe el34 but that's an odd tube for HiFi audio (Jolida uses them.. But it's typically lauded for its distortion characteristics in guitar amps) anyway any of those would make it push-pull instead of SET.. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.. you have a pic? 300b tubes are in the $100s these days.

I want to get into SET tube amps.. 3-4 using watt 300B tubes. Build it myself.

I can solder.. I've built and repaired tube amps (guitar, pa and audio) effects pedals, guitar repairs, I'm no stranger to soldering

Matt everything I was complaining about was in reference to audio reviewers and the bullshit they spew about $ amounts. The capacitance argument had nothing to do with you it was another reference to audio guys arguing about it.. Not just capacitance but values, styles and brands of capacitors. You look way too much into this and take it personally. Also, as far as low watt high sensitivity is concerned: 95db is a good cutoff point. the fostex driver can be used to build a higher sensitivity speaker. I don't need high volume nor do I desire accuracy (whatever that really is since people perceive sound differently) I like the sound of a tube amp and a single driver. Do I like it for metal? No of course not. But it's fun to listen to and play around with. Is it accurate? No. Is it colored? yep and I'm okay with that. There are speakers for many purposes no one will ever be perfect.. I have JBL "L" series old school monitors for loud rock/ metal but I never use them. They sit in boxes in the attic. Small Monitors have their place but I get tired of them after a while. i have some old PSB Alphas I paid $9 for that sound surprisingly good in my garage with an old Scott amp.

Your last post is so full of you questioning things I never said. Did I ever say capacitance and capacitors are not important? No Did I ever say that cheap speakers are just as good as more expensive ones? No. You then go on and on about dollar amounts. Matt I honestly don't give 2 pokes about $105k speakers. I don't give 2 pokes about $75k speakers. That culture doesn't interest me at all. I have heard systems in that realm before. Sure, sound is great. but not worth it even if I had lottery money. It wouldn't make me a happier person in life knowing I had 100k speakers that could almost reproduce a piano accurately You are obviously very excited about the concept of stratospheric home audio. That's fine. You don't need to get so upset about it when I am not. I am perfectly happy with the ok sound I can get from my second hand junk that I fix and make sound good for less than the price of one driver. Scientific measurements and numbers are great when you're standing in a hotel room impressing other speaker guys.. but scientific accuracy isn't necessarily what sounds good or what people want. A lot of people want euphonious sound more than accuracy (Hence why people like Martin Logan and Apogee etc..) I was not speaking of Horn loaded subs. Boomy bass for arena rock concerts.. I was talking about the single driver high sensitivity transmission line and horn loaded DIY stuff the S.E.T. guys are into. For me, when it comes to high end audio, I am much more interested in low watt high sensitivity stuff than mega watt amps and 500 pound speakers. But for my everyday use i want something that sounds good to me in my house with all of the different odd music I like. I am foremost a music guy/record collector. I really am about the music..not the toys Too many people use music as a way to listen to their systems instead of using their systems to enjoy music. That's fine but let's be honest about it instead of constantly talking about specs "accuracy" and dollar amounts. Summary of my original statement.. I HATE THAT THE MAIN WAY OF DESCRIBING THE SOUND QUALITY OF AUDIO COMPONENTS IS USING DOLLAR AMOUNTS.. COMPARING ARBITRARY PRICE POINTS AS IF A CERTAIN LEVEL CREATES A CERTAIN SOUND. That's all. Very simple.

The thing about it with audio is it's essentially the only way.. like $5k speakers all sound "this way" and $10k speakers all sound "that way" and better. so things like "for a $5k speaker to sound like a $10k speaker is almost unheard of at this price point so we put them up against some solid $15k speakers to see how they'd stack up.." even the famous Art Dudley used to criticize that being the way audio is judged.. and his reviews were (still are) like gospel to a lot of HiFi people.

again, my whole point that started this is: HiFi is the only hobby that uses dollar amounts as a descriptor. and it's silly. Pricing is, at a point, arbitrary at best. you keep bringing up "diminishing returns". I understand that, but at a certain point that is silly too, because ultra high end are so expensive that, like Alden pointed out a lot of it is art for your room that recreates sound.. You are paying for cabinet cosmetics not just sound and technology. DIY Horn guys build amazing sounding speakers for mere 100s of dollars that look like crap but...sound incredible. Isn't that what it's all about? matt, you are a "speaker guy" so of course you go one about them. And rattle off numbers and x-over slopes.. But if you were an amp guy you'd do the same thing.. Just like the wire guys do as well. of course highend speakers sound great, and of course $200 Best Buy speakers mostly sound Pretty bad.. But to just arbitrarily use price as a dictator of sound is dumb. My issue with reproducing electric sound "faithfully" comes from, again equipment used. If you want to reproduce the sound of 1000s of rock albums "faithfully the way the artist intended" use JBL L300's or 4313's etc.. Because those are the speakers the artist mastered the album with. Anyone using $50k speakers is eccentric anyway but using them to reproduce any electric (i.e. Not Classical) is just showing off their wealth. I think it's funny that tens thousands of dollars should be spent to recreate the sound of a $800 Marshall JCM800 played through a $650 beat up cabinet with 4 Celestion greenbacks in it.. The reproduction of live rock music is a joke. Live rock is just loud, mid scooped and thundering bass. The accurate reproduction of live orchestral music.. Good luck. It won't happen. Not only will 2 speakers not achieve this but room acoustics at home will not either. I've seen multiple orchestras in multiple venues.. I've seen the Cleveland orchestra, one of the best in the world dozens of times in one of the best venues, Severance Hall.. No reproduction will sound like that. Nor would I want it to. i don't really care what people spend Matt, you say I hate things because they cost a lot. No, I hate it when things cost a lot for no real quantifiable reason. Do you buy $5k bed sheets? Because they feel better than those lowly $900 ones? Or would $10k ones be worth it because they're twice as good as the $5k? and you'll read that and think I'm being an asshole and say "but speakers this and speakers that.." But in the end it's just appealing to a different human sense. Touch instead of sound. "But speakers accurately produce sound.." Well, sheets accurately reproduce a certain comfort that someone may be looking for and that, more often than not, is the pride in owning something that is the "best". oh and about discussing Capacitance.. I wasn't referring to wires.. I was referring to the primary ingredient in crossovers. Capacitors. Do you not build your own crossovers from scratch?

This is worse than the absolute sound or stereophile. Can we argue about capacitance next? For f$cks sake.. Sound is subjective. Plain and simple. There's no science to what is good and what isn't, there's no dollar amount that gives you good or bad sound.. Like art, if it moves you and you're happy and enjoy it, than its good. And and all arguments about "accuracy" are moot because it all starts with the room and the mics used to record it as well as the equipment and eq settings etc during the process. gets even more pointless if it's music that wasn't acoustic to begin with..

I think you mean "could have" And it never did.

But none of that mattered when you didn't put oil in your car...

I know I posted this years ago. But it's worth a double post

Lol blind tests.. That's a whole other topic.. That is serious entertainment.. hifi guys HATE them and make all kinds of excuses why they don't work. You'd be amazed how much other factors influence the sound. Sound is 100% subjective.. People will like what they like and it won't always be for the reasons they say they like it

Again you miss the point. Just forget it. You keep going in circles and then tell me my perception of sound is based on price because I don't like high prices... that has nothing to do with my point. and high price vs realistic or fair price are not the same. Also, I am not necessarily saying "you" think all of these things.. Stop being so vain to assume this is about you. I am speaking of the hi end audio reviewing community as a whole where price is always a comparing factor. Period.

I stand by what I said. It's the Only hobby that uses that comparison. You don't hear "this $400 turbocharger makes boost like an $800 turbocharger.." you don't hear "these $130 shoes feel like $220 shoes" "I don't know why this $100 paintbrush paints like a $50 paintbrush but I wouldn't buy it.." Its just a way to quantify a subjective quality.. Since sound is 100% opinion, reviewers need some way to justify. You seriously believe that the only reason a $5k Conrad Johnson amp sounds how it sounds is because it was $5k? If they made it slightly cosmetically different and sold it for $1k it would sound different and be in a different league? Hifi is an esoteric hobby filled with morons who have too much money Right.. Or, "this $25k Amp sounds harsh and glaring, but it's not the amp, it's the speakers, cables, pre-amp, tone arm and cartridge that all need to be changed to make the system sound good.." You know, because the amp is so good it shows the faults of everything else..

Good old highend audio.. Where sound is is directly related to price. "these speakers sound like $20k speakers but only cost $15k.." all a bunch of crap.

Honda too, I think.

Hydrogen. That is all.

High NOx levels on the 98 would most likely be a Catalytic issue right? my son failed tailpipe test 2x with a really high NOx result. The car has a 4 year old Magnaflow high flow cat on it and I'm assuming that 3 or 4 years is probably max on those. He just ordered a new one today. Erik.. Didn't you have high NOx levels and fix it with a new Cat?

All the old McIntosh guys drive SAABS back in the 70s and 80s. I can see liking the amp and not being warm to the headphones

did you buy a SAAB 900 to go with all that?

I'm partial to the sign that says balls.