Messaged the seller of the amp. He says that it's been about six years since he's used the amp.
Went to buy Vandersteen 2C speakers and came home with a conrad-johnson Premier 11A.
I found a great deal on a pair of Vandersteen 2C speakers with Sound Anchor stands. I didn’t need them, but they are identical to a pair that I had back in the 90s. While I was there, the seller mentioned that he had an amp that he wanted to sell. It was on a shelf in a basement collecting dust. The price was right, so I bought it. He said there are about 40 hours on the tubes. Hopefully, the caps are ok. I’m thinking I’ll try a Wiim Ultra streamer with volume control just to see if everything works. I have old preamps by NAD and Rotel, but they aren't good ones.
Is there anything special that I should do before firing up the old girl? This is my first tube amplifier.
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It’s easy to call stuff cheap crap, but Amazon makes it easy to try something, decide, return. Inexpensive, good enough is valid IMO. I bet you would successfully use it to safely bring your amp up to speed. It’s not a precise thing, just turn the variac way down, do 20 mins, up a bit for another 20 minutes, say 5 steps to get to 120v. You may never use it again, you might loan it to a friend (I borrowed my friends), this is why an inexpensive one makes sense. That company makes/markets a ton of products, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=vevor+store&i=industrial I’m thinking of buying one of their inexpensive Ultrasonic Cleaners https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DK2WR33X/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A6Y0MPTDX8T1G&psc=1
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I reached out to Lew Johnson. Below is his reply:
Probably not a bad idea to bring it up gradually on a variac. The audio capacitors (polypropylene and polystyrene) don't need forming, but there are a some electrolytics in the supporting circuits (heaters, bias adjustment indicators) that might benefit. I'd do this without tubes installed - maybe start around 50V AC, gradually bring it up to about 100V. Then shut down, install tubes and run it normally. |
Elliot: I prefer not wasting money on crap that does not perform to spec (read the 1-3 star reviews on the variacs noted). Quality NOS variacs by General Radio and General Electric are plentiful in the same price range as the 2 noted Chinese variacs. I do purchase inexpensive Chinese goods like sponges, rechargeable LED lights, disposable batteries, greeting cards et cetera but not items intended for reliability/long term use. We still have USA plastic litter boxes that are in good shape @ 30+ years old (the made in China boxes rarely last longer than a year).
DeKay
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