Please help - Impotence problem

Albert, Dekay...Marakanetz...

Dekay, first. I feel really stupid but you are right. all my cables are new and already i'm noticing a difference as they're breaking in. i might start becoming a believer in cables. the smearing is going away, instruments are balancing out and low level detail is coming into focus. still, the lush tube midrange bloom i crave so much isn't there but i'm hoping.

Albert...thanks so much for detailing possible issues. i removed the buffered outs myself and yes, you're right, the direct outs sounded much better. however, mike recently installed XLR outs i needed to connect my crossover so i'm using those now. maybe they have to breakin also?

regarding tubes, i was told a while back that with the sa-11 first level mod (the mu circuit) the only audio critical tubes were the 4 outputs tubes that dont need to be biased anymore with the mod. i better check that i did in fact replace all of those. I know i have at least two RCA 5692 brown base nos tubes there. but regardless, the old system sounded better with the sa-11 as it is currently than the system sounds now so i'm thinking the problem is the amps, speakers or the cable breakin.

i'll check the regulator. as far as isolation the sa-11 is in a rack mount.

what do you think of marakanetz comments especially regarding biamping with these amps?

thanks guys...the sound is getting better every day and is sounding much better at around 3am. a power conditioner is on its way to help me extend the system to connect with my dedicated lines so that should help too. for now i'm just playing REALLY loud coltrane over and over late at night and it's actually very nice.

we;ll see. i'll keep you posted.

sorry sorry sorry - i'm bush league, i'm a novice at best...

... i spoke too soon. my entire system had all new cables and speaker wires and they just weren't broken in yet. at this point, this is by far the best system i've ever owned. it's too good because i'm hearing how badly so many of my recordings are. a friend (a hardcore audiophile for about 20 years now) came over with his reference cds and said he never realized how crappy they were until listening on my new setup. when we put in some primo stuff we sat listening with our mouths open like morons. (i turned him into a coltrane fanatic in one session.) every day things are getting better; smearing has gone, the treble has eased up (although not fully) the bass is unlike anytihng i've ever had, solo instruments like coltrane's sax (on the right recording) sound like they're in the room when turned up at live levels and i never thought a home system could play so loudly w/o distortion.

i might finally be happy. not satisfied, but happy.

i never had a full replacement of cables before so i never really understood burn-in but i gotta say, new cables sound like shit and can scare the living hell out of you when you first hear them. i thought at first i had connected my crossover incorrectly the system sounded so poorly. and the cleaner power in LA at 3am makes all the difference in the world.

i'm glad i didn't call the guy who sold me these waveforms and tell him what i was all geared up for...phew. a guy could get shot for much less in los angeles.

thanks to all for the help.

Dekay, dont be convinced too quickly. i keep speaking too soon. i guess the break-in is still happening because every day one thing gets better but another aspect gets worse. so far, overall the system is doing more things right than other systems i've owned but it's not doing everything better. it's a total trip getting up each day and listening to the changes.

the big issue i have right now is that the system is laid back and i think that's not going to prove a funtion of the cables. i'm not crazy about laid back systems. i like the music more upfront and i guess that's why i was an acoustat junkie for so long. time to start playing with tube rolling. this is about preference now, not a problem in the system. i had a friend over who flipped out and said this was the best my gear ever sounded and another one who said he MUCH preferred my old Acoustat 4 setup. what can you do?

i also have figured out that coincidentally most of the recordings i listened to first with this new setup were recorded out of phase and since i had the sa-11 modified there's no way to switch the phase back. this, combined with the fresh cabling, is what really had me panicking originally.

my tt should arrive soon, then i'll get down to business.

happy listening!

david, you're too generous. before you bring them to amatron i should make sure that i can get away with two 6sn7's and not 4. the circut has changed in my sa-11 and i can't remember if it's two or four in the output.

and nobody needs to f* with my mind about my system, i've proved an expert at doing it all by myself!

i hope this is my last post here and i have to apologize once again for my ...dumbassness and thank those who took the time to offer all the good advice.

kr4 seems to have hit the nail into my head: the crossover was not connected properly and so only certain recordings were sounding right: live jazz only. most singing sounded constrained and out of phase. add that to the fact that things were getting better with the cable breakin and i was lost as to the problem.

now that i fixed the connection all i have to say is ...holy crap! YEEEHA! (still need to tame the high frequency but ...WHOOOHOOOO!)

when my table arrives i don't know what i'm going to do with myself.

any day i'm probably moving back to nyc. i'm going to do whatever i can to stuff these waveforms into whatever hole i can afford over there...even if i have to do without a bed...and a kitchen...and a bathroom. it's just too good and after soooo long i'm not letting go.

happy listening.