Recent content by mulveling

I (sort of) got to see this for myself. Got stuck with a pair of Tannoy Kensington GR "Black Ash" limited edition that looked cool but sounded BAD. They were absolutely made in Scotland / Coatbridge; got the usual stickers and timestamps all over every part (cabinets surely made in Poland, as...

They can get a headline right once in a while, even if by accident. Doesn't mean they're not crap. They were spamming the Ken Fritz rehash everywhere on social media. ASR is bad too, in a completely different way. Thanks for following me so closely!

Headphonesty has been posting the worst audiophile clickbait trash lately. Why don't they re-post the Ken Fritz story AGAIN while they're on a roll.

Sadly, I 100% agree. Seems like he's trying to stretch out the very THIN supply of what's left out there. Transconductance can be very weak, clearly below "NOS" standards.

I've used the following in my Master preamp. It sounds good (well, gorgeous) with all. It's a matter of taste and system matching. What's NOT a matter of taste is how many of these tubes are hard to track down in "reliable" examples that won't go noisy, etc :( In random order: Siemens E88CC...

Ah yes, great subjective listening tests on ASR. I remember one "review" with the usual (useless) SINAD measurements spew, which had this on the listening side: "we had company arrive, so no listening tests were performed". That perfectly encapsulates how listening tests register with...

Sure. Gold Lion KT88 are indeed very well balanced and refined in modern VACs. Kevin is a master of voicing his amps. KT120 will give you more bass power - too much on some amps (Master 300) and systems; just right on others (Stereo 200iQ, Statement 450S). KT150 will give a LOT more bass power -...

VAC 200iQ tube monos were a PITA. Just over 100 lbs each, NO handles or grips, and front-heavy with their transformers. Awkward little high-gravity 16" cubes you have to crouch ALL the way down for, to get hands underneath. An then...my horrible death stairs. TWICE. As I get older, I don't want...

So there will be no more Russian tube imports until AT LEAST end of year, and possibly much longer. KT88/120/150 tube listings have already evaporated from big reseller sites like Upscale and Tube Depot. Reportedly, the Chinese and JJ are having massive issues supplying much of anything. My...

Couldn't resist a used A90 that showed a pristine clean stylus via the seller's pro-quality studio photos. Got it mounted on my Phantom Supreme, partly because it should be a good match, and partly because that arm is the easiest to setup a new cartridge on (with the aid of extra arm wands). I'm...

I have one on order since Friday! I'm borrowing my dealer's unit in the meantime (for a 2nd time actually). For some reason the supplied 8416 tubes don't gel with me. They look like they should be great tubes, Amperex Made in USA frame grids with gold pins and orange "PQ" branding/logo. They...

Their presence seems to be disappearing, or at the least receding. MusicDirect shows the flagship Harmony model "No longer available". Needledoctor is no more but they showed it "out of stock". Shelter Japan's website has axed much of the lineup in the past year, including the 9000/7000/5000...

Originally I ordered this cartridge for my SOTA/Stax headphone setup, as an upgrade to my Ortofon Cadenza Bronze. There's nothing wrong with my Cadenza, and it's still like new - but in the past year I've become so enamored with the Shelter Harmony on my main 2ch rig (ClearAudio/Tannoy), that I...

Swapping between high quality linestages is frustrating. In an absolute sense the sonic differences are small, but once your brain starts locking on to the varied nuances in the context of your personal system, they can feel huge, and often the "wins" don't pile up mostly in one unit or the...