B-Man 3,503 Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 Holy thread resurrection BatMan !!!! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Daddyjt 6,311 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 I think this thread is due for an update @SteveFord...! Link to post Share on other sites
B-Man 3,503 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Mark - do you REALLY want to see Steve's junk ?? Link to post Share on other sites
Daddyjt 6,311 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Ummm - I suppose I didn’t think that through... 1 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 (edited) You asked for it, here's Mr. Happy! On second thought, the big system has undergone a few upgrades recently. It's still based around Magnepan 3.7s and I picked up a pair of passive SVS cylindrical subs which are driven by a Crown Class D amp (everything's good for something) with a Rolls stereo sub crossover unit. That works really well. Turntable is Well Tempered Square motor with an Ortofon 2M Black cartridge, Jolida JD9 phono preamp with JJ ECC83 tubes and the venerable VTL 300 Deluxe monoblocks with SED Winged C 6550s . I hadn't checked the bias in a long time, spot on! I love these old amps. Great old Sherwood tube tuner but my antenna took a lightning strike so it's currently unplugged, dad gum it. Recent news is a Rega Saturn CD player with a new drive and laser and this thing is EXCELLENT. I won't be looking for a better CD player, that's for sure. I don't even know if there is such a thing. And today a conrad-johnson Premium 17LS showed up. I don't know why people insist on Deluxe and Premium but whatever. Some of my cruddy pics which always look like the house is sinking and then I'll give my impressions on the c-j piece, it replaced a deHavilland UltraVerve 3. Edited July 24 by SteveFord 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 (edited) As for the preamp itself, it's exactly what I was looking for. It has the dynamics, detail resolution in spades and it doesn't emphasize one portion of the spectrum over another. Soundstage depth and width are really good, it's a top tier piece for sure. The original owner sent it back to c-j for a check up and thought that it sounded too solid state, maybe it just needed some time on it? I had never heard one before so took a gamble after reading everything I could about it and asking if there were any reliability issues. I asked the owner if Keith Richard's guitar came slamming out on Tom Wait's Hell Broke Luce and he replied, "I would think not"! Turns out he's a classical music buff. I put on Hell Broke Luce and I should say so! Not only that but there were a couple of vocal tracks on that song that I had never heard before, the other preamps I've used wouldn't pick them out of the mix. I've heard a lot of fuss about conrad-johnson products over the years and I'm glad I finally got around to buying some. This is worth doing. Edited July 24 by SteveFord 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 While I think of it, I have plans for that deHavilland UltraVerve 3. Covid has got manufacturing screwed up world-wide so I'm waiting for Magnepan to get the LRS line rolling again. I ordered them in February and got antsy and picked up a set of used Magnepan 1.7s which I just love. Once the LRS show up I'm going to take those 1.7s, stick them in a spare bedroom and use the deHavilland with them. I have the CD player picked out from a buddy's stash uh junk and I have the amplifier I want in the back of my mind along with the sub. Only takes money so this will be a bit. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 I just went to the first page of this, it was StereoDog who was afraid of Bridget the Midget! Smart man, last I heard she stabbed her boyfriend with a steak knife, probably in the ankle. Looking back, I still have that Sonic Frontiers preamp, the hHB BurnIt 830+, that cheapie Oppo 981 that the late TNRabbit turned me onto, the Stax headphones and that SVS sub but with an external amp. I wish I had held onto that tuner, paired with a tube buffer it sounded pretty good. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
BarryG 2,466 Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 (edited) Long live the TNrabbit! Miss you Gary! My very first welcome to the carver site was from Gary! Edited July 26 by BarryG 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted July 27 Author Share Posted July 27 Yes, he was a good guy. RadioEngr (I believe he went by) picked up an Otari reel to reel for me and brought it to a CarverFest and Gary was good enough to bring it home for me to pick up at his house. Speed camera got me on that trip in the old pick up truck. What the hell, it's 6AM on a Sunday, nobody's working in the work zone, who cares how fast I'm going? He also helped me buy a TX-11 for $100 long ago. Lots of good people, both past and present, on this site. 3 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted August 17 Author Share Posted August 17 We need an intervention... 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Brian_at_HHH 2,115 Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 20 hours ago, SteveFord said: We need an intervention... I agree - you don't have nearly enough planar's there! Get with it, dammit! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Community Admin Sk1Bum 9,006 Posted August 18 Community Admin Share Posted August 18 22 hours ago, SteveFord said: We need an intervention... Uhm, I don't think you'll find that here. It's like looking for a drink at an AA meeting. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted August 18 Author Share Posted August 18 You're right - if I got enough of those little adaptors I could get them all playing at the same time! Probably should keep a fire extinguisher handy (just in case). 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Brian_at_HHH 2,115 Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 47 minutes ago, SteveFord said: enough of those little adaptors You mean "more Carver power amps...?" Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted August 18 Author Share Posted August 18 It's possible, I stuck the spare 1.7s in a spare bedroom and I do have a spare preamp I really like. Those little LRS are breaking in and they are not junky little things like I thought they would be. They're real speakers, just pint sized. For $700 a pair new you won't do any better. They sound much larger than they are and for once, a small Maggie was bass output. For a small-ish room, stick a small sub in the corner and you won't be looking to upgrade, they're that kind of good. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Scrappy 79 Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 On 8/18/2021 at 6:54 PM, SteveFord said: It's possible, I stuck the spare 1.7s in a spare bedroom and I do have a spare preamp I really like. Those little LRS are breaking in and they are not junky little things like I thought they would be. They're real speakers, just pint sized. For $700 a pair new you won't do any better. They sound much larger than they are and for once, a small Maggie was bass output. For a small-ish room, stick a small sub in the corner and you won't be looking to upgrade, they're that kind of good. I was just starting to look at the LRS’s on Wednesday … thinking to myself “ you should go take a peek at these “ 2 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted August 21 Author Share Posted August 21 I think you might like them. With a sub and the CC5 they really do a good job of filling the room with Tom Waits screaming away and banging on pots and pans. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 The other night I was listening to The White Album (the white cd?) and the guitar intro to Revolution came blasting out at me. I like blasting guitars and have fallen in with a bad lot who put ideas in my empty head. Maybe I need to empty my wallet as well? OKAY! Should be here next week, conrad-johnson CT-5 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Brian_at_HHH 2,115 Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Cool - a new guitar amp[ 😇 Might make a decent snake room heater, too! Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted September 5 Author Share Posted September 5 I don't know if you could run a guitar through it but I could certainly plug in a turntable. https://www.stereophile.com/tubepreamps/706cj/index.html I think the 17LS is going to make its way upstairs. The only thing it's missing is a tape loop but it does have a home theater bypass which I'll never use. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
SteveFord 708 Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 That CT-5 is here and this is my review: WOW! My search for a preamp for the 3.7s is over. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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