My objective is to duplicate the sound of a good jazz venue as best I can. I'll never match it but getting close is fine. I've had various audio components through the years and tubes particularly DHT tubes/ASSET have gotten me the closest. So this is where I will settle down and appreciate.
Balanced AC power is fantastic !! 1800va balanced isolation transformer/conditioner. All aspects of music reproduction are improved for every single component.
Tripoint Tripoint Troy.
A wonderful grounding box component. When added to my system it increased the sense of natural sound quality and emotional engagement. The Troy has a humanistic and “soulful “ quality to it.
Coincident Speaker Tech Total eclipse 2
This wonderful speaker is transparent,open and involving. It`s large yet completely disappears as the source of sound within the room. Very easy to drive,94db and 14 0hm impedance (Minimum 10 ohm). I replaced the stock Solens capacitor with the Duelund CAST in the crossover.
Coincident Statement linestage
Superb performance. In my opinion , a masterpiece by Israel Blume. As would be expected, a wonderful match with its sibling the Frankenstein MK II.
Coincident Speaker Tech Frankenstein mark 2
A terrific 300b SET amplifier that is the foundation of my system. The EML XLS 300b tubes are a superb match with this amplifier.
Acquiring these 300b SET mono blocks changed the course of my music listening experience. They elevated the emotional engagement, tactility and “breath of life “ realism.
Yamamoto YDA-01
Wonderful music lover's DAC that has a very natural/organic sound quality. Duelund CAST addition(output coupling capacitors) makes it sound even better. It has a very minimalist circuit/design that was implemented well.
Ocellia Silver Reference IC
Very natural and pure sounding with excellent tone and timbre preservation.
Ocellia Silver Reference Speaker Cable
Same qualities/ comments as the IC.
Star Sound Technologies Sistrum Apprentice component platforms..
These Star Sound platforms are mandatory in my system. Effectively managing resonance and vibration leads to a very noticeable sound improvement with every component and especially the speakers. Excellent product.
High Fidelity CT1 Ultimate Digital cable
A highly impressive digital cable that mates beautifully into my system. Contributes to the natural sound presentation.
Pro-Ject Audio Systems CD Box RS2T
This is a superb Redbook CD playback transport. It’s both high resolution and impressively natural.
. I’m using the excellent Fidelizer Nikola II LPS. Splendid pairing.
Lavricables Grand and Master series Power Cables.
Pure silver wire and unshielded power cables. These are used with all of my audio components. They are very open, transparent, high resolution with beautiful natural tone and timbre presentation.
Abbas Esoteric Audio 3.2SE
Built by renown Ukrainian Abbas Zulfugarov. NOS DAC utilizing the classic Phillips TDA 1541 multi bit chip. Two 6080 tubes in the analog stage. 5 various rectifier tubes in the power supplies.
3 separate toroidal transformers (And 2 chokes ) for the power supplies.A very serious and successful upper tier DAC implementation. Using with the Abbas SPDIF and power cable.
If you ever get the chance, definitely check out the Joules. You would highly appreciate the way the OTL digs deep into the music and just puts you under its spell.
Maybe when my kids are all in college, I can get reacquainted with the Joule magic...
I totally understand why you still have the Joule. Which model do you have? When I heard the Joule VZN-100 for the first time, it was one of those moments that tattooed me for life. It has the most presence, effortlessness, and weight of any amplifier I have ever heard, SS or tube. That system was absolutely amazing and had crazy synergy. We tried many different highly regarded tube amps and SS amps in that system, but they all left badly bruised. It's only shortcoming is the sheer amount of heat that they generate which makes them very dangerous, especially for small children. However, if I were single, I would own a pair for sure.
The Atmasphere OTL's are pretty darn transparent and open sounding, but they are not in the same class as the Joules. The Graaf gets closer, but is a bit too warm and has less realism compared to the Joule.
The Franks are terrific and I respect them a lot, but if you can mate the Joule with the right speakers I'm not too sure there's an amp out there that's better, at least to my ears. To me, the Joules are "horn-like", there's just an ease to the music that is undeniable and nothing feels forced. You are a lucky man!
Thaluza, The only OTL amplifier I have heard numerous times are the Atmasphere models(transparent,resolute, yields towards a lean interpretation). I've been told that the Joule OTL has a different sonic character. Based on reviews It seems the Joule has a presentation I'd be very drawn to, (transparent yet also full bodied and harmonically rich and complete).As always it's a matter of taste and system synergy. I can imagine your system is exceptionally enjoyable to listen to. Have you compared the Joule to an Atmasphere amplifier (if so are they really different)? With your amp having 8 6C33C tubes I can understand the heat generation. The Frankenstein is certainly in a different direction in the design sense. As I said before, it's easy to believe that both of these could be deeply satisfying for you in their own way. Many roads lead to Rome. Charles,
Thaluza, The EH 300b is a solid quality tube. As you suspect, there are definitely better sounding 300b versions to choose. I understand your reservations regarding higher cost if there's uncertainty about keeping the amplifier. Of course it may just be that you like what the Joule presents sonically over the Canary amp. The Joule and Frankenstein comparison would be interesting and much fun, two different approaches for sure. It seems either amplifier with the CSL will leave you very happy.You'll have no heat issues with the single output tubed Frankenstein, each chassis has only 3 tubes total. Charles,
Funny thing you asked about the Joule OTL. I had been in discussions with a gentleman about selling the Joule amp to him. Out of the blue, he offered to send his Coincident Statement phono stage to me because he wanted to hear my opinion on how the Statement would sound through the CSL and the Joule OTL. Alas, I told him two days ago that I decided to keep the Joule because I could not bear to let it go, so the Statement will not be coming into my music room.
The CSL pairs really well with the Joule OTL. There is a kind of magic to the combination that leads to hours of addictive listening sessions, which I do despite the heat. You use the words natural and organic a lot to describe your system, and that is what I think I am getting, too. Sometime soon, I am going to get a pair of Franks and will be able to compare them with the Joule OTL. That should be an interesting comparison.
As for the Canary amp, it pairs really well with my Joule LA-150, but when the Canary is used with the CSL, I am finding that I do not stay in my music room as long as I do with the Joule OTL. I currently have EH Gold tubes, and I suspect if I changed 300b tubes, I could change the character of the sound to something more to my liking. However, I am not inclined to fork out the big bucks for four 300b tubes at this time. Why, you might ask? Well, $2k to $4k for premium tubes could go a long way towards the purchase of a new pair of Frankensteins ;-)
Thaluza, How has the CSL mated with both your Canary 300b and the Joule OTL and which pairing is working out better for you? I'd bet they both sound really fine. Charles,
Thaluza, I'm not sure that Israel recommends the GZ34, only the GZ37/CV 378. I hope the CSL has met your expectations, better tubes are readily apparent when used in it. As I'm sure you've gathered from previous posts, the W.E. Replica is the choice tube to obtain the very best sound in this line stage. Charles,
Regarding the Mullard GZ34's, Salvatore has the black based ones for sale. It seems he would have tried them with the Franks, and that he would have kept them if he liked them.
BTW, my Line Stage is really starting to shine after I swapped the Shuguang 101D's for the Psvane Hi-Fi series.
Charles, I don't have the Leipziger's recording, but I do have a large number of the Leipzig Quartets recordings on MSG. They could be the core group for the recording you mention, with additional members of the Gewandhaus added. They now record for the M&DG label, which is another small german label with generally superb sonics.
Bill, This morning I listened to the Beethoven Opus #20 in E flat Major for septet. It was performed by members of the Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig. This was a Phillips vinyl recording played on you tube. I enjoyed it and this would be music I could listen to often. I don't know if this is the version that you have, none the less it was good. Charles,
Charles, sonata 32 is Op. 111. I have two recordings of the septet. The Scharoun ensemble recording on the Tudor label is a fine sounding recording and a good performance. The Op 71 sextet is also on that recording.
As for the Op. 111 Sonata, I probably have a dozen recordings. I'd probably recommend Andreas Schiff on ECM. He is one of my favorite active pianists, and as usual, the ECM recording is superb. Beethoven's development of the 2nd movement is sublime. You will notice the music that begins to emerge as ragtime like, to my ears, at about 4:40 or so in the second movement, and really takes off at about 6:20. Various performers will interpret this music in wildly divergent ways.
Hi Bill, The mixture of those instruments for the Beethoven opus 20 has tempted me, that music has to sound good, what a mix of tones/harmonics it must be. I'll search amazon music later today, the opus 32 piano has me curious based on your description. Charles,
Hello Joe, I did post my impression of the Jupiter copper foil capacitor earlier. To summarize, it is a clear improvement over the Solens capacitor but not a profound improvement.The Franks sound very well with the Solens but better yet with the Jupiters. There's no give and take tradeoff, everything improves in this case. Joe I am glad you brought this Frankenstein capacitor upgrade to my attention. They are unquestionably worthwhile and high value given the reasonable cost and performance improvement. With the recent addition of the Mullard CV 378 and Jupiter capacitor the amplifier is just sounding sublime. Thanks, Charles,
Charles, the Op 20 septet was scored for clarinet, french horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. It was one of the few pieces he wrote that was wildly popular in his lifetime. It is a well crafted piece of music, and the interplay of colors and textures is just wonderful. It is a treasure from his youth. Between the telefunken 6922s sweetening the violin, and the Cv378s rendering the horns so well, this was just a joy to hear tonight.
BTW, check out Beethoven's last (no 32) piano sonata. It was a "radical" piece for its time, written in two movements, shortly before his death. As the work develops, one can sense that a launching pad for ragtime piano has been built, in my estimation.
The character of this work is quite different from those written in his youth, like the septet. It has been observed that Jazz arose from Baroque music, although I think that is an oversimplification. Beethoven's music derived as much or more from Bach than from Haydn and Mozart. It would not be a surprise, had he lived a few more years, if his music has moved even more strongly in that direction.
Brett, I believe you're going to enjoy "Jazz In The Key Of Blue" a lot. Roy Hargrove and Russell Malone sound beautiful on this recording. I play this one often. Charles,
Shawbros, interesting comments. I've not tried the Millard gz34s in the Frank's, but I have not been overly impressed with the black bases in other applications. For the most part,I actually prefer cryoed new production gold lions. I'd love to try the metal base, but they are pretty hard to come by. I think the greater sag on the cv387s is good with the Frank's. Just listened to the Beethoven Op. 20 Septet. Every thing was right. I am eager for your thoughts on the fat bottles.
Thanks Charles, I'll definitely have to check out your other jazz recommendations.
In my preamp, the Mullard GZ34 sounded thinner, had a narrower stage and imparted a more solid state character than the Mullard GZ37. And I agree with Jet, the GZ34 sounds faster and more dynamic with great punch, but the sound could get a bit strident. The Mullard GZ34 metal base version improved upon the shortcomings of the black base. It still retained the cool minty sound, but did it with a tube flavor that was very involving and never harsh. In the right equipment I put the metal base version right up there with the the best rectifiers I have tried. I'm not sure how the Franks would respond though. We shall see...
Jet, I don't know what the technical explanation would be but this tube passes the listening approval test with flying colors. It's an excellent rectifier choice for my amplifier and I'm glad they are still available given their 50 year old vintage. Charles,
Charles, Sounds like your amp likes the voltage drop of the GZ37's like mine does. I am not sure if it is purely the voltage drop that makes our amps sound more relaxed or it is the sound of the tube. It depends on what music I am listening to. For Jazz I much prefer the relaxed groovy GZ37's. For Rock I can go either way and for classical I prefer the GZ34.
Jet, which rectifier's characteristics do you prefer between these two? Your description of the G37 is what I'm hearing with my amplifier and I like it. Charles,
