Flipped the ST-120 UL/triode switches this morning to triode mode and very impressed. Better staging, less midrange grain, and silkier highs. Plenty of clean, punchy bass with KT-120 tubes. UL is no slouch but liking the triode mode for moderate volume listening.
3 posters
ST-120 Triode Operation
arledgsc- Posts : 495
Join date : 2012-11-30
Age : 70
Location : Santa Rosa CA
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
arledgsc wrote:Flipped the ST-120 UL/triode switches this morning to triode mode and very impressed. Better staging, less midrange grain, and silkier highs. Plenty of clean, punchy bass with KT-120 tubes. UL is no slouch but liking the triode mode for moderate volume listening.
Couldn't agree more. The KT-120s in triode, in my experience, are as close as you're going to get to the sound of the New Jersey Tung-Sol 6550s.
sKiZo- Posts : 1530
Join date : 2013-04-01
Location : Michigan USA
... vas dis "moderate volume listening" of which you speak??
I flip into triode every now and then for classical and pure jazz - even then I tend to keep the volume high so I get the full dynamic range. You know ... piccolo breath a mouse fart could cover at one end of the spectrum, crunchy bits where your sternum used to be at the other.
Now that you mention it though, I'll flip over in the next session. Not sure if I've heard what triode can do since fully breaking in the PIO's ... I imagine that could make quite a difference.
I flip into triode every now and then for classical and pure jazz - even then I tend to keep the volume high so I get the full dynamic range. You know ... piccolo breath a mouse fart could cover at one end of the spectrum, crunchy bits where your sternum used to be at the other.
Now that you mention it though, I'll flip over in the next session. Not sure if I've heard what triode can do since fully breaking in the PIO's ... I imagine that could make quite a difference.
arledgsc- Posts : 495
Join date : 2012-11-30
Age : 70
Location : Santa Rosa CA
Generally 10 to 1 o'clock on the input potentiometer whether UL or triode mode. Average listening levels I guess. I do most of my listening in the AM (5 to 7am) so have to keep the volume in check. The triode switch is a subtle difference for the better.sKiZo wrote:... vas dis "moderate volume listening" of which you speak??.
Last edited by arledgsc on Thu May 08, 2014 3:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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arledgsc wrote:Generally 10 to 1 o'clock on the input potentiometer whether UL or triode mode. Average listening levels I guess. I do most of my listening in the AM (5 to 7am) so have to keep to volume in check. The affect of the switch is noticable yet not dramatically obivious.sKiZo wrote:... vas dis "moderate volume listening" of which you speak??.
one of the good things about living out in the boonies is that one can crank it up big time!
Our nearest neighbor is about 2 miles away, its only the wife and dog I have to worry about!
Once I'm back home, I will start building a ST120 in a custom chassis with KT120's, if the wife thinks the ST70 is good....wait until I crank up the 120!!
sKiZo- Posts : 1530
Join date : 2013-04-01
Location : Michigan USA
Aha! Conservative listening? I've heard of that!
Tried it once ... wasn't the real me ...
Not quite as bad as it looks - I drop the input down 3db on the digital server and also knock the through put on the DAC down a couple notches. Still ... I do exceed 100-105 SPLs regularly on the peaks.
Haven't moved those in quite some time. Left channel is down a couple notches to compensate for room acoustics and balance. Still not quite as bad as it sounds ... I also do bass enhancement with a dbx BoomBox that adds another octave below the source material ... that takes a LOT of power to pull off properly. Those low notes wild definitely put the room in hover mode, but won't crack glass like the high stuff would at those levels.
Tried it once ... wasn't the real me ...
Not quite as bad as it looks - I drop the input down 3db on the digital server and also knock the through put on the DAC down a couple notches. Still ... I do exceed 100-105 SPLs regularly on the peaks.
Haven't moved those in quite some time. Left channel is down a couple notches to compensate for room acoustics and balance. Still not quite as bad as it sounds ... I also do bass enhancement with a dbx BoomBox that adds another octave below the source material ... that takes a LOT of power to pull off properly. Those low notes wild definitely put the room in hover mode, but won't crack glass like the high stuff would at those levels.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
sKiZo wrote:... vas dis "moderate volume listening" of which you speak??
Moderate is when your neighbours complain about shattered windows. Loud is when a neighbouring state complains about shattered windows.
Consider yourself now informed, sKiZo.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
MontanaWay wrote:arledgsc wrote:Generally 10 to 1 o'clock on the input potentiometer whether UL or triode mode. Average listening levels I guess. I do most of my listening in the AM (5 to 7am) so have to keep to volume in check. The affect of the switch is noticable yet not dramatically obivious.sKiZo wrote:... vas dis "moderate volume listening" of which you speak??.
one of the good things about living out in the boonies is that one can crank it up big time!
Our nearest neighbor is about 2 miles away, its only the wife and dog I have to worry about!
Once I'm back home, I will start building a ST120 in a custom chassis with KT120's, if the wife thinks the ST70 is good....wait until I crank up the 120!!
I used to have neighbours, too. I think the M-125s nuked their pace-makers. They haven't picked up their newspapers in quite awhile and have quit complaining, and now that it's warming up there are some curious odours emanating from their cribs. A lot of "For Sale" signs, however, have sprouted.
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