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.
@wspohn I'm currently using a Wiim Ultra streamer as my preamp/volume control. Connected directly to the amp. I bought it because it was an easy way to figure out if the amp worked. The amp has been sitting in a basement for six years and was covered in dust. No way to test it, but the seller was super. He said it was working when he put it on the shelf and the tubes had about 40 hours on them. It cleaned up nice and sounds great. The little Wiim is actually pretty impressive for the money. I have an old Rotel preamp and NAD preamp, but I would bet that they wouldn't sound better than the Wiim. Not sure what I'll get, if anything. Not long ago, I sold a conrad-johnson PV-14L preamp not thinking I'd ever need it... I switched to Von Schweikert in 1995 and now I'm on my second pair of them. I always regretted selling the Vandersteen, but couldn't afford to keep two pairs at the time.
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@wspohn i should point out that this system is likely to end up upstairs where there will be no critical listening and lots of noise. I realize that the amp deserves a better preamp. |
My preanps and amps are DIY. I use metalized polypropylene filter caps for all tube plate voltages because they have better ESR than electrolytic and they do not age and deteriorate over the years (even if they are not used) the way electrolytics do. They are usually larger than electrolytics, but if you can fit them into a chassis of a factory-made unit, they are a better replacement. |
Yes, the KT88's are interchangeable with the 6550's. I went thru the tube rolling phase many moons ago. Yes, the amp will sound different, not necessarily better. I tried a quad of the Tung Sols.....bad experience. One shorted out after only a few months of use. Out of warranty of course. Back to Electro Harmonix. Now, if you can, find some Svetlana 6550's. The factory closed, but those tubes sounded the best in my particular Premier 11A, and the Plasma Glow and Swirl at night time was a pleasant light show!! |
