Albert Porter's System

Double bottom getters I assume ? Let us know what you think. I want validation my recommendation was good. :-)

rockitman December 15, 2015 19:29

The best tube in my humble opinion after the WE422A are the RCA JRC CRC 5R4GY from WW2...No later than 1945. They have dark brown bases and most importantly have Double bottom getters. The same tubes after 1945, such as the early 50's variants have single bottom getters. These 1945 tubes get you 90% of the WE's and would be my tube of choice if I didn't have the WE's. They are a lot less expensive too with a 2 amp filament current, although somewhat rare and hard to find.

rockitman December 13, 2015 16:42

Yes I know. I have a full suitcase of rectifiers for the H5000.

rockitman December 09, 2015 21:04

Once I started using the tak 300b's for voltage regulation, the gain stage tubes became quieter and performed better. The stock tube was not so good and caused periodic white noise on the Marconi hl2k's. I have the Valvo GZ34. They don't hold a candle to the WE 422A. In fact I preferred 1950's RCA 5U4G's better than any GZ series tube.

rockitman December 09, 2015 04:44

I will keep my ear out with regard to interest in the ARC amps. Are you still running the small bottle Phillips with the blue printing in the h5000 ?

So those m3000 provide enough juice for your speakers ?

140 watts is plenty I suppose. I take it you really like them. They seem very reasonably priced msrp.

rockitman December 07, 2015 06:48

Did you pick that matched pair of WE422A's up on eBay today Albert ? I had them on my watch list and they sold. :-)

rockitman December 07, 2015 05:16

Hi Albert,

I am at peace with the H5000. I may try another reference tube stage down the road....but in general I am very content.

rockitman July 25, 2015 20:00

I now prefer NOS RCA JAN spec 5U4G early 50's era and the recent addition of a pair of 1945 NOS RCA JAN CRC 5R4GY Brown Base. I like the Mullard GZ 37 3rd favorite and the blue print on the base Phillips 5y3... Tube at number 4. In my system those rank above all GZ32 and GZ34 tubes. I spent way too much on various valvo, mullard GZ34 Nos tubes that I will never use.

rockitman July 25, 2015 01:28

Larry Marcus at Paragon is a Koetsu dealer. He uses the coralstone with boron. When I broke mine, I asked him about the diamond cantilever and was it worth considering the upgrade....he felt it had too much zing up top...of course everyone's system is voiced differently. I had my cart rebuilt with boron.

rockitman July 17, 2015 15:22

No doubt about the gain diff between RCA and XLR. I have not tried any exotic fuses in the H5000. There is only one for the PS chassis, correct ?

I agree...I love this phono stage...the TAK's for voltage control regulation were a significant upgrade.

rockitman June 15, 2015 20:22

I should have mentioned my noise check was hardly scientific...I only noticed the small difference with my ear 5" from the midrange driver

rockitman June 15, 2015 18:20

Hi Albert,

You are correct, I have not been posting much...just listening to the rig. I am finally satisfied. I asked the question on the H5000 outputs as I had been using XLR since the beginning and recently tried rca...flicking the xlr switch off. Are the xlr outs transformer coupled ? Probably a good question for Mr Park. If so, wouldn't the xlr impart some transformer hum on the signal ? I haven't a/b xlr and rca for a while now, but my noise floor seemed a bit lower with rca over xlr...less low level hum. Maybe I'm hearing things...

rockitman June 15, 2015 18:13

Albert,

Which outputs are you using in your Allnic H5000 phono...XLR or RCA ? TIA

rockitman June 10, 2015 16:45

Hi Albert,

I have had the Tak's in for a week now. I find rolling rectifiers makes a more dramatic difference in the overall sound balance. The improvement with the Tak's seems more subtle. It seems that the sound is more liquid with them compared to stock. As you know passive lcr networks have about a 10% signal output loss. The best way I can describe the sound is comparing them to the HA3000 head amp approach that David Beetles and KS seem to prefer. I am now getting that liquidity in the sound w/0 the added 5dB noise floor increase the head amp provides. It is definitely a worthwhile improvement.

rockitman February 11, 2015 20:30

Thanks for the clarification. My Tak's are ordered....can't wait !

rockitman January 24, 2015 21:55

Hi Albert...sorry I was confused. I thought you were talking about the D5000 DAC, not the H5000 phono stage.

rockitman January 24, 2015 02:21

No need Albert. I ordered a pair through Amazon for 1580 shipped a pair. Can you describe the improvement you hear ?

rockitman January 23, 2015 22:27

Looks like you do have them. I Got lost in the thread. I will give the Tak's a try.

rockitman January 23, 2015 21:13

Albert,

I think I will buy mine through amazon. Do you have your Takatsuki's installed yet and hear similar improvements that Arnie is hearing in The H5000 DHT ?

rockitman January 23, 2015 20:27

Do you have a link for the tak's direct ? Any other 300b worth trying like nos western electric ? The price is painful. I am amazed that not only the rectifier choice matters for the power supply.

rockitman January 23, 2015 04:10

Arnie and Albert...are you hearing improvements with rolling the H5000 DHT 300B's. Those Takatsuki's are awful expensive for a test....to see if they work better than stock.

rockitman January 22, 2015 19:57

I still use the stock 300B's in the power supply and use all the chimneys there except for the rectifiers. The 5U4G's I use don't quite fit in the chimneys from what I recall. On the gain stage I use the chimneys on the VT50's to reduce microphony but they don't have the tops on so I can remove them easily in the event I need to tap or reseat the tube. Please keep me informed if they make a Kron substitute for the Marconi's. Have you found any sound benefit rolling the 300B's in the power supply ? Those tubes are expensive for the best one's.

rockitman December 21, 2014 22:45

The VT50's cost $50.00. KS has the virtually the entire worldwide supply. The krons are $300.0/per tube. If the noisy VT50 can't take domestic abuse if misbehaving then pull it out and plug in a new one. I have 8 freshes ready to go. It is just a fact of life with a NOS 1932 Marconi radio battery powered tube.

rockitman December 21, 2014 03:59

The VT50's do have a tendency to be noisy. I find most if the time, a little thwack to the tube and or a re-seat in the socket helps. I always put my ear up to the speaker before a listening session with the volume up to listening level to check for a noise. It happens quite often.

rockitman December 20, 2014 19:22

Albert,

I forgot to mention...when I demo'd 1 Tellus, 2 Apollo and 2 Atlantis cables in my main pre and phono pre, the results were pretty immediate. I didn't have enough cables or another silver Tellus to do the amps during my 6 hour demo. That was enough time to convince me to take the plunge.

rockitman November 21, 2014 03:07

Albert,

For me grounding was my last frontier for tweaking the system. I don't plan on any significant component changes for years. I will upgrade my Pass XP-30 Pre to the XS, but that will be it. I would recommend 1 Silver Tellus ($2700.00) and 4 Apollo ($850.00 ea.) or better yet atlantis grounding cables ($1,640.00 ea.). The biggest impact is with the main pre amp. Digital plugged into the main pre also benefits. The phono stage is another one to consider grounding. The jury is still out on the amps. The idle noise floor is lower when the amps are warmed up so I feel the box contributes to the absolute black background this stuff delivers. I plan to pull the Tellus plug on the amps soon to see if I hear a noticeable drop in fidelity. If i don't I may double up my grounding capacity using the amps Tellus and cables elsewhere in the source chain. The effects are cumulative, IMO.

rockitman November 21, 2014 02:55

Good blog on the subject

http://www.lotus340r.net/blogs/entreq_blog.html

rockitman November 20, 2014 22:18

The boxes are heavy...50+ lbs and are no bigger foot print wise than a traditional component.

rockitman November 20, 2014 21:37

I won't comment on which one is better. Tripoint focuses on the safety/chassis ground plane. Entreq focuses on the signal plane. Which one is better ? I don't know as I have no experience with Tripoint. I will say that Tripoint is considerably more expensive. I went the Entreq route...for $13k I purchased two Silver Tellus ground boxes and 6 Atlantis rca to spade 1.6 meter cables (their best cables, they do matter) If your preamp is dual mono you want 2 cables. You plug them into a spare pair of preamp inputs. For the phono stage...Allnic H5000, which is also dual mono, I run two rca to spade Atlantis cables in the spare MM inputs on the phono stage. I would start there first...one Silver Tellus box for preamp and phono. I am still evaluating the merits of a dedicated silver Tellus on my monoblock power amps. My Pass amps have rca inputs in addition to xlr which I use to connect to the main preamp. I was skeptical at first....no longer.

rockitman November 20, 2014 21:35

Roxy54

Albert,
I have respect for your opinions, as well as your amazing system. Therefore, I am curious about your thoughts concerning the expensive, but apparently very effective Entreq and Tripoint grounding systems. Is it a path that you have considered, and have you ever had a chance to audition either of these?

I've been curious about these but have absolutely no experience with either. I don't think a person could pass judgement without listening and I have not heard either.

Albert,

you should consider putting signal grounding on your audio bucket list. You have probably checked out my system thread on the Entreq gear. I was skeptical, now I can't imagine living w/o it. It is not a subtle effect for a fine tuned stereo like yours.

rockitman November 20, 2014 19:13

" Jailer, bring me a fresh pressing of St. James Infirmary, I'm feeling mighty blue and miserable."

I am putting that track in my will to be played at my funeral. I want everyone to feel miserable when I pass...lol :-)

rockitman July 12, 2014 02:33

Lol whart... Not in person, but over the phone. We are separated by at least 1500 miles....:-)

rockitman July 10, 2014 00:59

Are you talking about the allnic A 10000 DHT mono's ? They are $90k ? yikes !

rockitman July 09, 2014 23:42

Hi Albert...what are you replacing your VTL's with ? I must be late to the party...

rockitman July 09, 2014 19:54

You guys are on to something with the new DHT tube. All the depth and extension of the Mullard GZ37 with apparently better dynamic control throughout the entire frequency range. I will be checking these out for a while and then try the GZ37, but in the end this tube is probably it. I bought two more sets...lol

rockitman April 11, 2014 19:55

Thanks Arnie. I should have mine in a few days.

rockitman April 09, 2014 17:47

Albert, do your Philips look like these with the blue print on the base ?

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTk2WDcwMA==/$(KGrHqV,!i0E8ZckZgIQBPWouEvZPQ~~60_57.JPG

rockitman April 09, 2014 15:48

I just bought a NOS set of JAN Philips 5Y3WGTA rectifiers. I will see how they compare with my current favorite..Mullard GZ37. I thought I was done with rectifiers. At least the Philips are a cheap date compared to the more exotic GZ34's out there.

rockitman April 08, 2014 21:45

If you solder the diodes yourself, be careful...as I found out. The key when disassembling the unit is to take one side off at a time, slide out the bottom and solder in the new diode on that side. Re assemble it and remove the other side. I got into trouble by dissembling both sides and the unit becomes a house of cards, difficult to line up and reassemble. Make sure not to touch the caps. They will shock the hell out of you as I found out.

rockitman April 02, 2014 19:47

I would be shocked if you didn't prefer the GZ 34 Valvo's. That said, if you have the heavy duty diode, I recommend the 1967 Mullard GZ37 tube. 2.8 amp plate current versus 1.9 for the GZ34. I am not sure if more current is better or not. In any event, the GZ37 to me, sounds even more open at the frequency extremes and provide more depth into the soundstage. The bass is more extended with a more natural, unrestricted decay. The GZ37 Mullards are relatively cheap at $100.00 per tube NOS on average. Far less than the Phillips or Mullard GZ34 series.

rockitman April 01, 2014 05:11

Hi Albert,

I use stillpoints Ultra SS under my H5000 chassis' and all other rack components for that matter. Far more economical and probably 90% of the benefit of ultra 5's.

rockitman March 20, 2014 15:03

Albert,

I know you have been dabbling with stillpoints as of late. My latest success with them has been LP1's placed on top of each of the H5000's dual power transformers. The bass gets tighter and more focused.

rockitman March 19, 2014 15:12

I suppose if enough people are buying on word of mouth and faith, they would have no desire to get demo unit in circulation. At this price level though, I cannot take that leap of faith w/o the option of returning for a full refund should it not deliver the goods in my system to my satisfaction.

rockitman March 13, 2014 16:33

Poor marketing on Tripoint. Seems like many people in the audio business are poor businessmen. They assume we will dump big dollars on more obscure componentry w/o even hearing it first. Speakers, I can understand. Componentry other than turntables I can't. If they had a clue about good marketing, providing a demo unit or two for dealers to provide to potential customers will sell many more units as long as their product lived up to the hype.

rockitman March 11, 2014 03:45

Albert,

If you ever try a Tripoint, I will be most interested in your impressions. For the money, if I can't get a demo, I have little interest dumping 15-20K with cables just to see how it impacts my system.

rockitman March 11, 2014 02:30

I believe they are similar grounding units. The issue I have is the ridiculous cost for their grounding cables (tripoint) and said cables obviously carry no musical signal. I understand power cords can sound different, but grounding wires ?

rockitman March 07, 2014 19:30

I use ultra 5's under my amps too Albert. They were a very good upgrade although I wasn't using any isolation on them prior than what was offered via the amp stands. I use ultra SS under lighter rack style components. While the ultra 5's may be better under them, I think the ultra SS get very close when we talk about lighter componentry. I will be interested in your impressions going from SS to 5's with the amps.

rockitman February 22, 2014 03:36

I knew the Ultra 5's would give you ultra satisfaction with the Focal's !!! Amazing devices aren't they ?

rockitman February 09, 2014 04:35

I know it's not fun wrestling large speakers like ours. It's just more honey to look forward to down the road when your ready. Cheers !

rockitman January 17, 2014 05:44

Albert,

Do you have stillpoints ultra 5's under your Focals ? if you don't and they can work for your speaker, get them. I just had my Wilson x-2's up on casters for the past week, tweaking/re-voicing via seat and speaker position. The addition of the Ultra 5's have brought things to a new level.

rockitman January 16, 2014 23:17

Hi Albert,

5R4 ? Are they close to the same spec as 5Y3 ?

from wiki:

The 5Y3 is a medium-power directly heated full-wave rectifier vacuum tube introduced by RCA in 1935. It has found wide use in tube radios and early guitar amplifiers (of the Fender Champ type). It is virtually identical, electrically, to the older four-pin type 80 tube, but with an octal base. 5Y3G, 5Y3GT, and 5Y3WGTA are variants with essentially the same specification;[1] the 6087 is similar and a plug-in replacement, but with indirectly heated cathode.

The JAN Phillips in the unit is 5Y3WGTA which are direct heated. I will be interested on what you try. I wonder if the rca Black Plates are an option ? In any event, it is quite possible the current tube is as good as it gets. It's 1930's NOS.

rockitman November 07, 2013 01:10

Hi Albert,

I was talking with David Beetles regarding H5000 tube rolling. He seems to think that switching out the 300B's will provide little benefit as these tubes carry no audio signal and are for splitting the voltages. That said, he did say that a rectifier (5Y3) upgrade may produce some benefits. When selecting an alternative, he mentioned to be careful of rectifiers that are indirect heated like the bendix (fuse blowing). The current tubes are 1930's Phillips from what I understand and they are direct heated. It is also important that the filament voltage does not exceed 2 amps. Let me know what rectifiers you may try. I am holding off on the 300B replacement...at lest for now.

rockitman November 05, 2013 16:54

Here's a tid bit from the past...I bought your coralstone. Still my favorite cart. I am also running a Tiger Eys..60 hours so far and I will soon have the Urushi Bamboo Dynavector XV-1t. I keep saying I'm almost done spending money....

rockitman September 05, 2013 06:07

yah...I feel the same I way. I need this component and I haven't even heard it yet. I'm a smart/careful gambler. I realize that one can't always demo a reference component. Take my new TT, the TechDAS. I bought it w/o hearing it. The engineering case and execution was too compelling for me to resist.

rockitman September 05, 2013 04:52

It sounds like source components make a real difference :-) Your speakers are windows to the source. It sounds to me, no pun, that the H5000 is a winner.

rockitman September 05, 2013 00:19

Thanks for your impressions Albert. How is the noise performance compared to the H3000...is it just as good ?
Are the loading options the same ? Currently I load Koetsu at 500 ohms with my active Pass XP-25 phono stage. Can you get near that loading value with the on board gain and step up transformer options ? TIA.

rockitman September 04, 2013 13:40

Big night tonight ! The H5000 put through the central scrutinizer test. I can't wait for the results.

rockitman September 03, 2013 21:25

Peter,

I won't be selling it. With 2 tables and 4 arms, I need two phono stages...

rockitman September 02, 2013 06:53

"You have a good eye to have caught that :-)".

This unit has my attention...Over anything else out there.

rockitman September 02, 2013 01:49

Albert,

Is there a reason you don't have the tube/ gel cages over the 300B tubes n the power supply ?

rockitman September 01, 2013 23:33

Serious eye candy. Considering my equipment is silver, that is the color choice I would go with. I can't wait to hear more detailed impressions after you get some time in listening.

rockitman August 31, 2013 23:44

Albert,

Looking forward to your impressions of the 5000. Thanks.

rockitman August 29, 2013 21:29

Well that makes a Allnic a sonic bargain compared to the Yip. I do wonder how much better the 5000 sounds. At the same level price wise to the Yip and the 3000 is close to the yip, then I would expect the 5000 to be phenomenal

rockitman August 29, 2013 01:23

How good is the H3000 in your opinion ?

rockitman August 28, 2013 16:17

Allnic H5000 DHT phono ?

Albert,

Will you be trying out their new reference ? There isn't much info on it including on the hammertone website. What do you know about it you can share and how much better will it be over the H3000 ? TIA

rockitman August 28, 2013 02:07

Hi Albert,

The unitractor will be fine. I was just pointing out the need to remove the bearing cap and position the nail right in the center of the well in order to get the most accurate pivot to spindle reading/distance.

I enjoy the Coralstone for jazz...it does very well with rock too.

rockitman September 19, 2012 14:06

Hi Albert,

How are you planning to do the pivot to spindle adjustment ? Keep in mind with the Graham and Yip's protractor, the distance wil be slightly different than using the graham spindle cup method. You need a Feikert type with a nail at the end so you can place it in the pivot point bearing cup with the bearing cap removed. Azimuth with the Graham can't be done by eye or spirit level as the unipivot will actually appear to tilt inward by a degree or two. I use a foz meter to set it.

On another note, the Coralstone is still champ. Love it !

rockitman September 18, 2012 23:25

Albert,

If you are trying out a Graham Supreme 12", make sure the alignment jig is tailored for the 12". When I bought my 10", they included the jig for the standard 9" arm. I ended up getting a Mint LP custom for my table spindle arm. Supposedly, Graham is addressing this jig issue for the longer arms.

rockitman July 17, 2012 18:47

Hi Albert,

I will try some higher resistive loads on the Coralstone. I have not tried any other arms. Once I heard the Graham Supreme with it's superb VTA on the fly adjustability I decided to look no further. The reason, soley, the bubble level. It get's me where I need to be in a few seconds once the disk is spinning. With all the other tonearms that have VTA on the fly, you are never sure if you get to level...always a bit of guess work. I suppose the Reed 3Q with laser sighting would fit my need for accurate VTA, but it hasn't been up on my priority list. If there are two major things I am going to change now in the system, it will be the digital frontend (Likely MSB Diamond DAC 4) and the Pass Labs XS-150 mono's. I just need to come up with a cool $110K or so to finish the system...lol

rockitman July 15, 2012 21:53

Hi Albert,

What load did you find best with the Coralstone ?

I mounted it on the Phantom Supreme so that I can be sure of precise VTA for each and every record I play. I rarely play the Universal arm. Seems to me, once you find your favorite arm, any others get very little play. I have a second 10" arm wand where I have an Ortofon A90 ready to go. Since getting a Graham, I have little interst or desire to consider other arms. I cannot detect any inner grove distortion with this arm.

rockitman July 15, 2012 16:52

Hi Albert,

Using my Pass Labs XP-25, I seem to be going back and forth with 100 & 160 ohms. Now that you mention it, the cantilever does appear to stay dust free noticeably better than my other carts. If you ever get the Blue Lace with diamond cantilever and grow tired of it, drop me a line. :wink:

rockitman July 14, 2012 21:45

RE: Koetsu Coralstone

Hey Albert,

Thank you very much for the Coralstone. I am in love.
Best,

Chris

rockitman July 14, 2012 18:57

Description

Room Details

Components Toggle details

My Photography http://www.albertporterphoto.com

Focal Grande Utopia EM

RPG Acoustics QRD 734 (variation)

Studer Studer A820

Technics SP10 MK3 Rosewood with Stillpoints Ultra 5

Technics SP10 MK3 Panzerholz + Ebony

TTM Stainless Mat and Oil Damp Weight

TTM record stabilizer TTM three piece set

Air Tight Opus

Mutech Hayabusa

Koetsu Blue Lace Platinum

Soulution 725 preamp

Soulution 755 phono

Soulution Soulution 760 LEEDH

Soulution 701 Mono Block Amplifiers

ORB-DF03 USA version DF03

Aurender W20 Special Edition

Vibraplane 2212-01

Degritter MK2 Ultrasonic LP cleaning machine

Degritter and ORB LP flattner Degritter and ORB LP flattner

Milbank Transocket three phase 750 amp

Porter Port Cryo outlets 20 Amp

Furutech NCF Booster

Purist Audio Design Focal EM Supply cable

Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary XLR (4 total)

Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary Bi-Wire

Purist Audio Design 35th Anniversary AC Cables

Leica Disto D2

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