Valve life ?

Hi Kt66

Icon Audio LA4.2 pre amp - Wad Kat 6550 power amp (heavily upgraded) Using EHkt88's Running Monitor Audio RS6 Speakers (92db i think) Cable is Chord Concert 2

 

Have to say though i do fancy anew pair of speakers. Thinking some kind of horn arrangement any ideas sling them my way

 

This sounds familiar. I used to run MA GR10 but I could never push them hard enough with the WAD6550. Regularly past the 2pm mark on the pre and even then, just not enough welly. Now I have Tannoys. Two words: Massive Displacement.

Excellent sounding amp though. I change output valves about every 18months. Svet Winged C although only one has ever actually died. I also get the odd rustling noise from the right channel but it's not valve related, it's intermittent and I've never tracked the fault.

 

I was thinking maybe tannoys or klipsch as it goes cheers JF

 

b'jesus, that must be LOUD

I assume you have no neighbours!
Have you ever measured the DBs?

Musician by any chance

I've never heard a Horn that done bass and treble well,
Quad Electrostatics with active Sub might suit you, or ever heard
Harbeth ? they'd love your power amp.

 

It is loud. Family are neighbours so no issue with them detached one side.

Na not a musician i just love dancing about with loud music on or getting lost in it with the lights off and the wine glass full.

Dont know re DB,s though. I will investigate the speakers you mention google ahoy.

 

Looking at the RS6 I see parallel bass drivers, so very likely a 4 ohm load at LF. True sensitivity will be in the upper 80s if we compare like with like against an 8 ohm speaker.

 

I searched high and low for some real specs for the GR10s. They are also nominally fairly sensitive but I'm guessing this hides an impedance drop at LF. When the Tannoys were being serviced I swapped them back in and couldn't believe how weedy they sounded. Even a 20 yr old pair of Cyrus 780s sounded more liveable. OTOH with Cyrus amps (lots of juice, biamped) they were pretty rockin'. Too toppy for my tastes but definitely benefiting from some muscle. I'm pretty sure the 6550 will pair very well with any high sensitivity old-skool speaker (Klipcsh, Tannoy, Harbeth) I'd definitely recommend trying before you buy.

 

My 6550 quite happily drove 10" Tannoy Chesters and 12" LGMs.
Walk in the park for a 6550.

 

maybe it's a mis match with the pre amp then?

anyone else run their pre amp at 7 or over for hours on end?
sounds like Chris should get a Krell or Bryston to me

 

Na no mismatch i just like it loud not all the time but alot of.

The pre amp has adjustable gain plus low and high gain outputs.

I dont like the high output through the power amp so use the high out to the headphone amp (little dot mk111)

 

just wish i could get the poxy TT setup right

 

Where are you based Chris?

 

Hi Rob

Down near Clacton On Sea - Little place called shit hole Erm sorry i meant Walton on the Naze

 

If you have problems sorting the TT let me know.
I can hop down to you on the train from Stratford easily enough assuming you are close to the station.
Only an hour away IIRC.

 

Hi Rob
That's very kind of you I was hoping the ebay kit would turn up today but as we have snow again that's out of the window. I have downloaded a couple of free protractors see how they do.

If no go then that would be great as it happens im about 200 yards from the station. and about 50 from the pub

Cheers rob

Chris

 

Hi Chris,

You can download Conrad Hoffman's Custom Arc Template Generator here:

http://www.conradhoffman.com/chsw.htm

Introduce arm mounting distance and voilà . A great set-up tool! It prints you a strobe disc too, so you would be able to check for correct speed as well.

Hope it helps. And don't give up! There's nothing that sounds as good as a well set-up deck but ... a better deck :MILD:!

Do enjoy it.

Regards,

Vincula

 

Using the guides i downloaded today i think i have it. Only skipping on one record now at 1.7 (A new Holly Cole Trio 200G record) may need to return that.

Sounds better high pitch distortion has gone soundstage is more central if that makes sense. Looks like i'm on the right path anyway. thanks All !

Thank you Vincula for that i will run that tomorrow evening.

Chris