On a Don Sachs SP14. Now the hard part…waiting!
4 posters
Pulled the Trigger
WntrMute2- Posts : 116
Join date : 2010-11-21
Tube Nube- Posts : 707
Join date : 2008-12-06
Age : 60
Location : Calgary, AB
As my very first audiophile friend used to say, "when you buy good stuff, you only cry once!"
So have a good cry, cause once you get it, you're gonna be laughing. Serously, though, Don's rates don't really induce tears.
Please give us some pictures when you get it, and share your impressions. The love affair with my sp14 still continues to deepen.
So have a good cry, cause once you get it, you're gonna be laughing. Serously, though, Don's rates don't really induce tears.
Please give us some pictures when you get it, and share your impressions. The love affair with my sp14 still continues to deepen.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
... saith Tom Petty, or some guys in the Olde Testament.WntrMute2 wrote:On a Don Sachs SP14. Now the hard part…waiting!
Welcome to the cue. I have passed through Security and was served amply in First Class aboard the Don Sachs SP-14 flight. So, pttthhhh!
Having landed with said device, may I offer some humble advice?
Cancel your order and demand a refund. It's not too late: Don's a reasonable guy.
You will be awe-struck by its cosmetics. You will be spoilt rotten by that alone.
Then, with the volume and left- and right-handed pots cranked fully clockwise, bring your ears right up to the mids and tweeters. No sound will come out. This is proof that the Sachs SP-14 mustn't be a tube preamplifier. It is a sleight of hand.
Then, sensibly backing off a bit on aforementioned pots, apply a source. You will discover instruments and overtones that simply did not exist in your previous human iteration.
When you find the right tubes for this device you will want more of them, and you will need to cancel your spouse's Christmas.
Or pursue this wanton Sachs SP-14 course. Don answers his phone and emails. Call and repent. CANCEL, I say, CANCEL.
Because once you get the Don Sachs preamplifier, there's nothing else to look forward to.
As always, I am pleased to be of assistance.
-d-
Kentley- Posts : 496
Join date : 2015-03-06
Age : 71
Location : Worcester, MA
deepee99 wrote:... saith Tom Petty, or some guys in the Olde Testament.WntrMute2 wrote:On a Don Sachs SP14. Now the hard part…waiting!
Welcome to the cue. I have passed through Security and was served amply in First Class aboard the Don Sachs SP-14 flight. So, pttthhhh!
Having landed with said device, may I offer some humble advice?
Cancel your order and demand a refund. It's not too late: Don's a reasonable guy.
You will be awe-struck by its cosmetics. You will be spoilt rotten by that alone.
Then, with the volume and left- and right-handed pots cranked fully clockwise, bring your ears right up to the mids and tweeters. No sound will come out. This is proof that the Sachs SP-14 mustn't be a tube preamplifier. It is a sleight of hand.
Then, sensibly backing off a bit on aforementioned pots, apply a source. You will discover instruments and overtones that simply did not exist in your previous human iteration.
When you find the right tubes for this device you will want more of them, and you will need to cancel your spouse's Christmas.
Or pursue this wanton Sachs SP-14 course. Don answers his phone and emails. Call and repent. CANCEL, I say, CANCEL.
Because once you get the Don Sachs preamplifier, there's nothing else to look forward to.
As always, I am pleased to be of assistance.
-d-
The Creature from the Black Lagoon hath spoken. You would do well to heed his every word.
Tube Nube- Posts : 707
Join date : 2008-12-06
Age : 60
Location : Calgary, AB
Dear Dave,
Take heart, as I rescue you from the aforementioned despair of nothing to which you may now look forward. To wit, Don can build or modify other components in the audio stream. Much as it is done in the Montana Way, Don has his own approach, which I suppose we could call the "Nelson Way."
Upon reflection, though, this happy fact may give the OP all the more reason to follow your advice and cancel before he starts down a path he can't leave before reaching the end.
Take heart, as I rescue you from the aforementioned despair of nothing to which you may now look forward. To wit, Don can build or modify other components in the audio stream. Much as it is done in the Montana Way, Don has his own approach, which I suppose we could call the "Nelson Way."
Upon reflection, though, this happy fact may give the OP all the more reason to follow your advice and cancel before he starts down a path he can't leave before reaching the end.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
Actually, Dave, now that patient is on the Chosen Path, he still has things to look forward to:
1. Balanced XLR inputs to accommodate the upper-end DAC he will find himself craving in the not-too-distant future;
2. The motorized Khozmo 48-step remote-control volume selector;
3. The propane tanker truck-sized Mundorf coupling caps containing oil, silver, gold and unobtanium which can even make an EH tube sound European.
The journey of a thousand watts begins with a single ribbon resistor.
1. Balanced XLR inputs to accommodate the upper-end DAC he will find himself craving in the not-too-distant future;
2. The motorized Khozmo 48-step remote-control volume selector;
3. The propane tanker truck-sized Mundorf coupling caps containing oil, silver, gold and unobtanium which can even make an EH tube sound European.
The journey of a thousand watts begins with a single ribbon resistor.
WntrMute2- Posts : 116
Join date : 2010-11-21
Actually, I am opting for the wood case exposed tube look, the motorized 64 step remote and the silver/oil caps Don recommends.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
What is this? You're not getting the XLR balanced inputs? Be banished from this Bored, sayith I.WntrMute2 wrote:Actually, I am opting for the wood case exposed tube look, the motorized 64 step remote and the silver/oil caps Don recommends.
And a motorized volume control? How will you get your exercises?
WntrMute2- Posts : 116
Join date : 2010-11-21
I will get my exercise how everyone should. By getting up every 20 min. to flip the record over!deepee99 wrote:What is this? You're not getting the XLR balanced inputs? Be banished from this Bored, sayith I.WntrMute2 wrote:Actually, I am opting for the wood case exposed tube look, the motorized 64 step remote and the silver/oil caps Don recommends.
And a motorized volume control? How will you get your exercises?
WntrMute2- Posts : 116
Join date : 2010-11-21
Don sent me an email the other day telling me that he was listening to my new pre-amp! He is still waiting on the motorized volume control but had something else he placed in its place to begin burning it in.
Claimed it was great! I am drooling at this. Said maybe as much as 10 days though.
Claimed it was great! I am drooling at this. Said maybe as much as 10 days though.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
All I can say is, the sound will make your socks roll up and down! Snag a Bendix rectifier for it, if you can find one. I think Tube Despot has a few.
Don's preamp is proof that there is an audio God. If the sound isn't perfect, sumpin' else is broken.
Cheerio,
d
Don's preamp is proof that there is an audio God. If the sound isn't perfect, sumpin' else is broken.
Cheerio,
d
WntrMute2- Posts : 116
Join date : 2010-11-21
What 6sn7 tubes are you using? I have some Russian metal bases 6h8cs on the way and I think Don is sending a couple of nationals.
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
The metal base 6H8Cs are a real crap-shoot. If you get a good one, they're very, very sweet, but in most of the ones I've bought the solder has dried out in the pins and you won't even get a signal through them and they spit like cats in heat. Don has a cure for them but I don't know what he charges. The National Unions are superb tubes but can also be finicky. Problem is with these esoteric NOS tubes is their foibles won't show up on the Hickock because they are so intermittent.WntrMute2 wrote:What 6sn7 tubes are you using? I have some Russian metal bases 6h8cs on the way and I think Don is sending a couple of nationals.
I run Sylvania chrome-domes in the front holes and RCAs in the back slots. Paired-up, they make a very nice sound. Again, find a Bendix 6x5 rectifier. Takes it about 2 minutes to bring the juice up to the main tubes, smooth as warm butter.
Kentley- Posts : 496
Join date : 2015-03-06
Age : 71
Location : Worcester, MA
I second the choice of Sylvania chrome-domes circa 1953 in the all-important volt amp slots - the pair on the outside left of the board. deepee and I split a batch of 8 about three months ago, and both us have found them 100% satisfactory. The second pair (in the middle) seems to be far less critical - I'm using, of all things, two new TungSols there - a combo endorsed by Sir Jim McShane. I haven't tried the Bendix rectifier yet, but the old RCA supplied, again, by McShane has been solid for almost a year.
WntrMute2- Posts : 116
Join date : 2010-11-21
^ & ^^. You guys are saying two different things about which tubes are the important ones. One says front pair and one says outside pair. Humm...
deepee99- Posts : 2244
Join date : 2012-05-23
Location : Wallace, Idaho
WntrMute2 wrote:^ & ^^. You guys are saying two different things about which tubes are the important ones. One says front pair and one says outside pair. Humm...
Sorry for the confusion. The layout beneath runs side-to-side, so the "front" tubes are the two leftmost tubes and the "back" tubes are the two that are in-board. The two tubes on the LH side are the voltage amplifiers -- one for each channel -- and seem to have the most influence on how the preamp is going to sound. The ones behind them (or to their right), I'm not sure exactly sure what they do but they sound good with RCAs in them and the preamp won't run without 6SN7s in there so they must do something important.
Of course, that lonely one way over on the right side is the rectifier. I am a huge fan of the JAN-era Bendix because of its slow heat-up time, but have used an RCA 6x5 in that hole as well with good results and you can pick them up for about 10 bucks.
WntrMute2- Posts : 116
Join date : 2010-11-21
Thanks for the clarification DeepPee99.
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