Chops' Current System Pics ....

Gotta love tube rolling! One of the reasons I purchased the Freya + preamp. And I re-purchased a mint NOS pair of Raytheon/Baldwin 6SN7GTB tubes as my first choice of tubes. I had a pair of these many many moons ago for an old (then new) Opera Consonance M100SE integrated amp. I loved the sound those tubes provided, so it only made sense to get a pair of them again to see how they perform in the new system. They don't disappoint!

And I still have two more pairs of tubes in the mail right now, on their way here!

Just installed more NOS tubes... Sylvania JAN VT-231 tubes.

Decided to go ahead and throw the Raytheon/Baldwin tubes on the "output" side of the preamp, so now NOS tubes coming and going... One word...


WOW!!!


Talk about a holographic sound! It's so three dimensional, so sultry, so emotional. It even seems to be more dynamic. It's certainly even quieter at the tweeter with nothing playing and just the ever so slightest "hiss" barely coming through at full volume. It's quite incredible what adding these tubes to the mix did.

Sounds like you are having fun Charles. That is awesome .

You could say that Randy. This preamp definitely plays well with rolling tubes. The sound differences in tubes in the Freya + is not as subtle as in other tube gear I've had in the past. With that other gear, it was sometimes difficult to notice any changes in sound when rolling tubes. With the Freya +, it's quite noticeable.

So when are you going to come over for a listen?

Hmmmm... if you recall Charles, I invited you to come out here first ....

Yea, I liked the Freya. It was a very solid pre-amp, and did very nicely with rolling, but when I had an opportunity to get a Stage 2, well.... ... The Stage 2 is true world class. I know Joe has put it against some of the absolute best in the world and it holds its own, besting many of them!

You got to get yourself a Yaggi DAC and their new table.... and then you will be completely full of Schiit !

Very true. You did invite me out there first. Maybe one of these days. With the new job and all, an no more 370Z car payment, I can start saving some money. And that's not including Teresa with her promotion and pay raise. So hopefully within a year or so we'll be doing pretty good finally.

I was contemplating going with the W4S STP-SE as there was one available, lightly used for not much more than the Freya + brand new, but... I wanted to get back into tubes, and since Schiit finally decided to have the tubes shut all the way down when in the other two modes, I knew it was a perfect time for me to buy one. Honestly, that's the only reason I went with PS Audio, because the old Freya's like yours kept the tubes on no matter what mode you were in. No good for me since I leave my system on 24/7.

The Yaggi? Nooo... Way too much scratch for me. I'll be going with the new Bifrost 2 with its balanced outputs. Plus I would like to possibly upgrade from my Bluesound Node 2 to something else that possibly utilizes a USB output, but not a laptop. Maybe something like one of those little Raspberry things or something. Nothing super pricey either.

And I have been thinking about that new Sol turntable of theirs. I just wish they provided some kind of nice acrylic cover to go along with it. But it's not like I can't buy one of those separately somewhere.

Finally got the adapters in to run these NOS RCA 6C8G's. They've only been running for about an hour, but man... They sound GOOD! And look great too! A bit of a tight squeeze in the rack, but they fit just perfectly!

I did the same thing with mine, they are very good & take the pre to another level where you can almost see the vegetation growing.

sharkmouth said:

I did the same thing with mine, they are very good & take the pre to another level where you can almost see the vegetation growing.

Click to expand...

That's kind of an odd analogy, but it makes sense

I just got home from work and fired up the tubes (turned the volume down a bit beforehand obviously), and am going to let them cook for a bit with some Joe Pass, an album named "Chops" no less! LOL

From what I hear so far, these are probably going to end up being my favorites. And something else I noticed... Almost zero microphonics with these tubes and adapters installed when tapping my finger on the chassis. With the other tubes, especially the JJ's, you could breath on them and nearly hear it come through the speakers.

Just for the heck of it, I'm thinking about getting a pair of NOS 6C8G round plates and see how they perform. Maybe RCA, or Sylvania, or...

Currently listening to Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation album. I was 14 when this album came out.


I remember my brother blasting this album on his system consisting of a Pioneer's VSX-4400 receiver back from 1988 (which I still have and use) along with a Realistic 10-band LED EQ with "IMX" Expander and a pair of Realistic Mach II's. It sounded really good considering. Very loud (for a tiny 10x12 bedroom) with loads of thumping bass with those Mach II's crammed into the corners on top of a couple of dressers.


Then one time when no one was home... That's a lie. It was actually several times. LOL! I snuck this CD into the living room where my father's system was, consisting of the TOTL Technics SU-8099 integrated amp (which I still have and need to recap), Azden GX-50 10-band EQ, and Klipsch Cornwall's. I blasted the heck out of that system and it sounded extremely good! Loud, crisp, clear and powerful. The bass was a little leaner but was more impactful. It had more of that tight "thwack" kind of bass and of course, mountains of dynamics.


Both systems clearly blew away my little 25 watt Technics SA-5170 receiver (which I still have), Kenwood GE-770 EQ (also have) and Realistic Nova 16 speakers. My system was better than anything my friends had, mainly because they didn't have systems. LOL


Now, 30 years later and listening to this album on my system... It brings back great memories of my childhood, those systems and the differences between them and how they stack up against current gear like what I have now. Those were the good ole days. No worries, no real responsibilities other than the typical chores around the house, no bills, no job (for another 3 years anyway), and dabbling in my new found love of audio gear, building horrible speakers and music.


Obviously attempting to do any kind of sound comparisons on 30 year old memories from a 14 year old, easily impressed boy isn't going to hold any merit, so I won't bother. All I can say is that my system surely trumps those systems by a long shot. Never fatiguing, never tiring, never boring, never turned off.

I hope you don't get me wrong.
But I think some other speaker stands would certainly be an up grade.

Cheers! :audiophile:

Spock said:

I hope you don't get me wrong.
But I think some other speaker stands would certainly be an up grade.

Cheers! :audiophile:

Click to expand...

Not at all. I plan on having some custom built by one of my friends who's a master wood craftsman.

Well, as much as I hated to, I had to put my NOS RCA 6C8G's into early retirement...

About a week ago when I fired them up, the one in the right channel was emitting random static that lasted 5 to 6 minutes, then went away. It operated fine the rest of the day without issue. The next day however, when I fired up the tubes, that same tube immediately started that static again, with the occasional crackle or pop. This time though, it just kept going and going. After about 30 minutes of this, I just said the heck with it, powered down the tubes, let them cool for about 15 minutes, yanked them out and reinstated the Sylvania JAN tubes. This time though, I put the Sylvania's on the output stage and moved the sweet Baldwin/Raytheon tubes over to the input stage.

Those 6C8G's are money down the drain. Oh well. One of the quirks of buying 80+ year old tubes. That doesn't mean I won't try some more though.

Yup, the NOS tube rabbit hole ; been there done that. I picked up new tubes for my pre-amp section... Gold Lions... made a very nice difference.

And I'm perfectly fine with that. I used some Gold Lion KT66's in a Cary SLI 80 a while back. Didn't care for them at all. Just a glorified, higher priced Russian tube. I had much better results with NOS German RFT 6CA7's.

I'll stick with my NOS tubes. These are the very first NOS tubes that I've ever had an issue with, so a pretty good track record I'd say. I just need to find a more trusted source since the guy I ordered these from is a schmuck. Won't even return them or trade them even when he said he would previously.

Added a nice rug to the mix. Two benefits... You can still see the natural oak floors and helps with reflections with the speakers.

Got more new Schiit today... Bifrost 2 Multibit

Have been spending a lot of time lately tweaking subwoofer and loudspeaker placement, as well as tweaking the settings one the subs at the same time. I think this current arrangement might just be the ticket. A lot more even and defined bass, cohesively blended with the Heresy's. And the Heresy's being pulled slightly further apart, pulled out about an inch more into the room as well as toed out quite a bit more than I originally had them. All in all, a much wider and deeper sound stage with better imaging, more open and spacious, and a locked in center image.

If I can those darn cork/rubber isolation pads of mine (who knows where they are after the move), I'll try putting them under the Klipsch and see how that sounds, or possibly just try them in the front to tilt the speakers back a touch, again to see how it sounds. I still have to get some proper stands built for the Heresy's as well.

I'm still quite surprised how "audiophile" these little Klipsch Heresy III's sound. Very refined and articulate, not harsh and honky like Klipsch of old.

And this Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC... Such a wise investment. It truly does have a more organic, analog sound to it. Larger stage width and depth, not to mention the ability to pull more information out of the signal.

Glad you are enjoying the Schitt ....