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Quote:
Originally Posted by nightflier
Just FYI, PS Audio will still repair it. I purchased a non-working one about a year ago for $25 at a garage sale (I don't think the guy knew what it was), and had it repaired and brought back up to speck in less than a month. They are very good about this.
On the sound, I'm not a tube guy, really. I have an Odyssey Candela preamp, and that's it. But I've been told more than once that the PS Audio class-d amps sound surprisingly similar to tube amps, but I have no way of testing that (right now).
I've also been intrigued with the tube gear coming out of China from companies like Shanling, Bada, MHZ, etc., but I've never taken that plunge. I'm a bit swamped with gear & projects now, so I'm not quite ready to buy another amp, but it's always interesting to read about the experiences of others.
Thanks, yes I knew it could be repaired. One channel is still good, so I have it doing duty driving my Magnepan CC3 center. I was going to actually buy another one off of Audiogon and saw this MingDa amp listed for about the same price. Curiosity got the better of me so I wound up with a different eggroll this time!
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I thought you amp could accept KT90 for added umph, but I think Electro Harmonix is the only company that produces them. I think you are very very safe with Genelax power tubes.:thumbsup:
I had about a year of experience with HCA-2 with a pair of 1.6QR. I thought the unit sounded a little mushy around the edges. Perhaps that what people mean by "Tube like Sound"... Enjoy your new amp.
JRA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jrhymeammo
I thought you amp could accept KT90 for added umph, but I think Electro Harmonix is the only company that produces them. I think you are very very safe with Genelax power tubes.:thumbsup:
I had about a year of experience with HCA-2 with a pair of 1.6QR. I thought the unit sounded a little mushy around the edges. Perhaps that what people mean by "Tube like Sound"... Enjoy your new amp.
JRA
It actually doesn't work that way. The original 6550's the amp came with would put out the same power as the KT88's with the same plate voltage. That would also apply for the KT90 (whether EH or Chinese branded), and the KT94/KT100. I'm not really into modding the amp enough to try to crank the B+ voltage higher.
I never thought of the PS Audio HCA-2 as mushy. Certainly there was and is an unrestrained "loose grip" quality about it with the maggies. Definitely NOT Krell like. They changed that with the next model, raising the damping factor to over 1000, and squashed the life out of it. I much prefer the cheaper PS Audio Trio. I heard some maggie 1.6's running two of those amps stacked, and it was really nice!!
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OK, I think I now know why the song "Low" caused such an upset. When played on my HT rig the bass line is not only felt, but easily SEEN when looking at the sub cone! It appears that the bass line is a modulated sine wave that sweeps the bass from 20-40Hz at full output. At 95dB the Velodynes were close to hitting v-max, something I've not often seen from them. The track looks like it was designed specifically to max out car bass for guys who like to ride around with 4X12" bass boxes hooked to kW power amps.
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What song is that?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffcin
OK, I think I now know why the song "Low" caused such an upset. When played on my HT rig the bass line is not only felt, but easily SEEN when looking at the sub cone! It appears that the bass line is a modulated sine wave that sweeps the bass from 20-40Hz at full output. At 95dB the Velodynes were close to hitting v-max, something I've not often seen from them. The track looks like it was designed specifically to max out car bass for guys who like to ride around with 4X12" bass boxes hooked to kW power amps.
I've heard this described as "a hippo serial-farting in a tunnel" and I thought that was pretty funny.
Anyhoo, who's the song by? That sounds like the kind of track I'd like to demo on my HT system as well.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nightflier
I've heard this described as "a hippo serial-farting in a tunnel" and I thought that was pretty funny.
Anyhoo, who's the song by? That sounds like the kind of track I'd like to demo on my HT system as well.
It's the song at the end of the movie "Tropic Thunder" in the scene where Tom Cruise does his solo idiot dance.
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From a lot of experimenting, I found that tube amps sound their best when pushing high efficient speakers with horns. I tried a lot of high end speakers, but to my ears, the combination i liked best was tubes and bigg altecs with horns. Its the closest thing to being there, that i have heard yet.
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Hey Geoff,
I imagine your initial excitement has worn off by now. Could you please let us know what you currently think of it?
Thanks and have a great year.
JRA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jrhymeammo
Hey Geoff,
I imagine your initial excitement has worn off by now. Could you please let us know what you currently think of it?
Thanks and have a great year.
JRA
Your right, the initial phase has worn off, and I'm happy to say my enjoyment of the amp hasn't.
Right now I'm working on a review to post on AR about it. Need a bit more time with it to make a quality review though, and preferably some additional time with another tube amp as this is the first one in my system.
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Thanks, Geoff.
It's rare to see follow up reviews around here.
Please do post us a link once you are done.
Peace,
JRA
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I would love to hear that baby in triode driving a pair of Ed Shilling's Hornshoppe Horns. I'm fortunate to live only 30 minutes from the Hornshoppe and Hornfest is only a few months away.
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