I've had the 140 in my rig for 2 months. I had done allot of careful auditioning before buying a used one here . The listening at local stores was very veried to say the least, even though each had been driven by CJ pre. 16 preamps. The first listen was through a set up with Wilson Sophia's , copper cabling, and Audio Aero cdp.The bass was boomy from about 160 hz on down but, the mids and treble were simply glorious.After an hour and a half, even with
the bass problems,I could'nt help grinning.Next,I heard the 140 with the same prem.16 pre.but this time with Tetra speakers(stand mount) and a.zen silver cabling. No boomy bass and the mids and highs,..fantastic. To quote S Tellag,if this isn't reallity, it should be. So,.. now to my system. Cat Ultimate preamp,Jaden Sig. cables,analog front end,and(here's the clincher) Magnepan 1.6qr speakers running full range with no xover mods yet. Probably the most challanging bass wise, there is. I have tried several driver tubes in the 140 and settled on an Amperex white lable 7308 1960 pq( my ref. tube) and full round Asc tube trap in each corner behind the speakers.It's taken a few hundred hours of break-in alott of moving speakers around and hundreds opf dollars in tube rolling, but, I think I'm about 60% there,there. Does this sound like alot of trouble,.. you bet it is.Do I think that the 140 is worth it?I sure hope so. Is this what makes the difference between the plug and play folks that don't realize that the point of this hobby is the learning experience? If it isn't than I've been waisting my time and money for the last 29 years.
the bass problems,I could'nt help grinning.Next,I heard the 140 with the same prem.16 pre.but this time with Tetra speakers(stand mount) and a.zen silver cabling. No boomy bass and the mids and highs,..fantastic. To quote S Tellag,if this isn't reallity, it should be. So,.. now to my system. Cat Ultimate preamp,Jaden Sig. cables,analog front end,and(here's the clincher) Magnepan 1.6qr speakers running full range with no xover mods yet. Probably the most challanging bass wise, there is. I have tried several driver tubes in the 140 and settled on an Amperex white lable 7308 1960 pq( my ref. tube) and full round Asc tube trap in each corner behind the speakers.It's taken a few hundred hours of break-in alott of moving speakers around and hundreds opf dollars in tube rolling, but, I think I'm about 60% there,there. Does this sound like alot of trouble,.. you bet it is.Do I think that the 140 is worth it?I sure hope so. Is this what makes the difference between the plug and play folks that don't realize that the point of this hobby is the learning experience? If it isn't than I've been waisting my time and money for the last 29 years.