Good on'ya man! The 302B was my first tubed integrated. I enjoyed the heck out of it too. I'll second the recommendation to roll tubes in it, especially the EL34's. I really don't believe you have to spend a ton of money to have a very engaging system. Congrats and enjoy!
Marco |
Jax2, what would recommend for EL34's Just the swtich from the mediocre Chinese tubes to some decent Russian tubes like Svetlana or JJ Teslas would be an improvement. If you want to spend some serious money go for NOS Mullards, but buy from a reputible tube dealer (The Tube Store, Vintage Tube, VTV...or?). For a more modest price the 1990's JJ Teslas in the blue and yellow boxes are damn fine for the money. Marco |
As an addendum to the tube recommendations: I should note that New Sensor has reissued a Mullard EL34 (they bought the rights to use the name and have tried to reproduce that famous tube). I have no idea how well it does that though, but it's a whole lot cheaper than NOS.
As far as Bombaywalla's experiences, my perceptions of the stock 502 Jolida I've listened to fairly extensively and in comparison to other two other amps does not resemble the description above (but Bomb's was highly modified). I found the stock amp neither "dark and brooding" nor to have a "2D soundstage" (though I wouldn't say they were champions of depth). It does give more emphasis to the lower end than the 302 and tends to have perhaps a 'fuller' sound for that reason. The 302 posesses more midrange magic and is a bit more light and airy in comparison. I thought both to be fine amps for the money (in stock form). No experience with the AES six packs (nor modified Jolidas), but yes, I'm sure there are many amps that can do things differently/better, and it takes pretty basic experience and or informed speculation to start listing them. But I say, if you're happy and you know it....clap your hands! If your enjoying the music that's saying a whole lot. Don't let others, or your own wee grey matter start spoiling that for you. If you go driving down the road in your new Honda Accord thinking about how much better the experience may be in a Mercedes, well, you'll never enjoy all the good things you could about driving the Accord. Heck you may even cause an accident thinking about that damn Mercedes...whoa, HEY, WATCH OUT! RED LIGHT!
Carpe diem!
Marco |
Bomb - You may have misunderstood my point; What I was suggesting is that there is a arguably a "better" version of virtually anything you choose to buy (or any direction you choose to take in this life for that matter). I used the example I did because it was an obvious extreme. My point was that you can sit around looking at all the "faults" of what you have in life, or what you have chosen, OR you can accept and enjoy what you have, realizing it's pretty damn amazing, and stop wasting your time thinking about what you had, could have, should have, etc. IMO the latter is a tremendous waste of time and energy. Yes, if you want to put it on the level of a specific Toyota, that cost the same as your Honda being an arguably "better" choice, it is STILL a tremendous waste of time and energy IMO. What's the point? Why would you want to point out what is 'half-empty' in someone elses glass, rather than help them celebrate the stuff that fills their glass?!? I did read your original post quite thoroughly, thank you.
Like Gretsch perhaps, I don't really care what the mechanism(s) in the background is that actually causes the music to sound good. My ideal (probably like most of us here) is to have the mechanisms disappear entirely, and I find that dwelling on such details just take me further away from being in the moment (enjoying the music). I do know enough about such things as you speak of to be a menace to myself and society in general. Not sure what good it does to dwell upon the why's and wherefors, I'd rather enjoy the music as well in this case. I know there will always be some product out there that does certain things "better" than the one I have. Yes, I have heard the difference between an amp with adjustable global feedback. I owned one (a Mesa Baron). Though I agree with the observations regarding Global Feedback in general, I'm not sure that it would occur to me to share them here, no more than it would sharing any particular knowledge of details of other products unrelated to the one the poster is enjoying. Nor would it occur to me to share the opinion that he made a mistake (given his celebration of his decision I can hardly understand that position nor the inclination to share it).
Marco |
Bombaywalla - thanks for the clarification, and indeed we do agree to
disagree still. I take exception with the idea that there is any need
whatsoever to be able to distinguish such nuances by analyzing their
technical origin in detail, as you seem to be doing. I do believe a person who
enjoys music can make the call what works best for their ears and their
budget without such an education as you suggest. Just as one can enjoy a
fine wine without knowing what exactly it is that makes one taste better than
another. You do not need the vocabulary, nor the knowledge, IMO to make
such things enjoyable, and, in my experience, such knowledge more often
takes me away from the enjoyment itself. As far as "reveling in 2nd rate
sound" and "dumbing" our fellow enthusiasts, that's about
as far from my intentions as you could stretch. Again, I don't think the
knowledge you offer as a direct response to what was originally posted, nor
what followed, though it may be sound information (pun intended), goes
towards responding in the spirit the original post as it was made. I don't
think "Ignorance" as you've defined it, is necessarily a bad thing. I
no more need to understand the differences in the suspension systems in the
Honda and Mercedes in order to determine for myself which ride I prefer
under specific conditions, as I do to understand global feedback, harmonic
distortion, or how to read and understand bench testing of components in
order to appreciate the differences between one component and another.
To me it still ultimately strikes of someone saying publicly, "Hey, I
traded down my Mercedes for an Accord and I was really surprised that I get a
big kick out of this car and I'm enjoying driving in a whole new
way"....and to this your response would equate to me to be "Well,
you should understand that the Accord you chose is bested by several other
choices in the same price bracket! You could have bought any of the
others." In other words, I just don't get it. In that very same spirit, one
could go through all of the posts here on Audiogon where folks are actually
happy with what they have, and explain that there are better versions of what
they have for the same, or not much more, money. Then go on to explain in
great detail just why they are better. What's the point? Yes, you can say it's
in the guise of educating others, but really, what IS the point?! If someone is
actually asking that kind of question, yes I understand completely then, but
no such question was asked here.
Marco |
I think ultimately, in this case Howard, although Bombaywalla and I might buy
the same amp for the very same reasons, he/she may be able to put more
technical words and labels to qualify the choice, whereas I may leave the
reason to be; "I liked the way it sounded better than the other
ones." I could further go on to describe why I liked it, and I could even
get kind of technical if I wanted to (not likely). I'm not questioning why he/
she would choose one amp over the Jolida for instance, I simply do not
understand his/her motiviation for interjecting the information they chose to,
into this thread given the spirit of the original post. It seemed odd to me,
needless to say (per my previous post)..kind of like bursting someone elses
bubble.
Marco |
Big smile here, yes indeed. Currently listening to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messangers - "Like Someone in Love". Cool! Right now I'm listening to some second order harmonic distortion through my SET amps! Sounds GREAT for some strange reason! Big, blissful smile on my face too! When I get done working I'm going to go upstairs and enjoy some global feedback on the SS rig and think about all the poor choices I've made in this life. Boogy on! Marco |
I did feel that Bomb was doing a bit of bubble bursting. Consider yourself 'educated'. If it doesn't hurt just a little, it ain't worth a damn. Now make it burn! Keep smiling man, you're getting smarter! Repeat after me: "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane". That's it, soon you'll be able to pick out components with the big boys! Bend over deeper man, pay attention to what we're telling you; we know better! Boy, you're going to be sore tomorrow! Marco |
This is getting a little silly . . .
Welcome to Marcoville, one of the few enclaves of 24-hour audio fun. ....I gotta be me, I GOTTA BE ME! Marco |
