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Audible illusions Modulus

olds1959special
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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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17 minutes ago, Boom Boom said:

It's one of the earlier models. So long as it's in good working order, I suspect you will be pleased. The Modulus is one of my fave preamps. If I wasn't such a valvephobe, I probably would have owned one. 

Enjoy! 🍻

Thank you, I did some sleuthing and noticed that a lot of these are just labelled Audible Illusions Modulus on the outside, but could say Modulus II, or IIa or IIb on the circuit board. I guess the later ones are improved.

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Holmz Mentor

Holmz

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3 hours ago, Boom Boom said:

... If I wasn't such a valvephobe, I probably would have owned one. 

Enjoy! 🍻

I am getting some new valves (tubes) for mine.
Every 25 years, rain or shine… 😉 It still sounds stunning, but it should probably be done.


@olds1959special I am pretty sure that the thing is inverting.
So that means that out of the amp’s cable… you then need to put the red wire on the speakers black input, and black to red.
 

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Holmz Mentor

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10 minutes ago, olds1959special said:

I'm not sure the topology of this unit but I understand most of these use four 6922's. I have had pretty good experience with Electro-Harmonix for 6922's. Better than Genalex I think.

I saw your other post elsewhere… personally I would not worry about the ICs…
When I moved the rack to the side, I then had ~20’ long ICs to the amps, but it sounded better with the rack to the side.

This preamp is not “tuby” sounding at all.
Mine is just clean.

I’ll likely use the standard tubes as I do not really want it to sound like a tube pre… and good tube pre generally just sounds good, and not like a (bad) SS pre…
And good SS pre doesn’t sound a whole lot different.
Both any good SS pre, and the AI Modulus, just have low distortion and really do not have much of “a sound”.

So I’ll just put in the vanilla tubes if it seems like it needs em… which it doesn’t seem like is the case…
But maybe 25 years is time to refresh them. Probably would be well past the time for people that have their lit up for more hours/day.

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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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17 hours ago, Boom Boom said:

It's one of the earlier models. So long as it's in good working order, I suspect you will be pleased. The Modulus is one of my fave preamps. If I wasn't such a valvephobe, I probably would have owned one. 

Enjoy! 🍻

It’s a Modulus 2 but not sure what revision. I will see when it arrives.

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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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I'm trying to figure out if I got a revision A, B, C, or D (still waiting to receive the unit.) I've noticed the later D ones tend to have a serial starting with M2 and seem to have lettering on the top cover. The serial of mine is M7121667 and I found a 2C online that is M7121687, so only 20 units apart. Yet I found an M7021271 that is a 2B. So I'm guessing the one I'm getting is a 2B or 2C!

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Richard Vandersteen Experienced

Richard Vandersteen

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2 hours ago, olds1959special said:

I'm trying to figure out if I got a revision A, B, C, or D (still waiting to receive the unit.) I've noticed the later D ones tend to have a serial starting with M2 and seem to have lettering on the top cover. The serial of mine is M7121667 and I found a 2C online that is M7121687, so only 20 units apart. Yet I found an M7021271 that is a 2B. So I'm guessing the one I'm getting is a 2B or 2C!

Could be the same as we do when a product is updated the serial number stays the same.  RV

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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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Some have said to turn it off with a power strip to save the tubes, since they are always powered on. Others have said this is part of the design and is intended that way to save tube life. Which is the correct answer? Turn off with a power strip, or not, to save tube life?

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Holmz Mentor

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10 hours ago, olds1959special said:

Some have said to turn it off with a power strip to save the tubes, since they are always powered on. Others have said this is part of the design and is intended that way to save tube life. Which is the correct answer? Turn off with a power strip, or not, to save tube life?

As Anton Segur says to  Carla Jean Moss, “I would not worry about it”

I got the pre in ‘98, and have not opened it up.
(I am not sure what we would be saving the tubes from…)

 

1 hour ago, olds1959special said:

I read this inverts polarity, so I flipped the red and black wires on my amps to prepare my system, and I was curious if I’d hear any difference. Actually I hear zero difference!

(I am not sure I can tell some of the time either.)

It would not be easily heard with more steady state music.
If you could hear it,  then it would be heard on impulse taps of symbols drums etc.

But it also begs the question if it is not heard, then why get a Vandy…  

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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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I read this and it scared me.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/i-blew-my-speaker-please-help?highlight=chiro

Should I be worried about using a tube pre-amp reputed to be hard on tubes causing maintenance issues (and poor customer support) with my four high power solid state amps and expensive Vandersteen speakers?

Of course, I would always follow the correct order for turning on and off, giving the tubes a few minutes to warm up, but it's still scary to think about what could happen if I or someone else doesn't do it right.

I'm running four 100 watts amps into my speakers.

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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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I got it working, but it seems only the tape input works. It add tons of gain and my DAC is high output so I have to turn the volumes down to 2 notches or it's super loud. With nothing playing, I hear hissing and popping, rushing, and some buzzing. It also sounds a bit distorted. I'm probably going to change the tubes today to see if that's helps any.

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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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The sound is pretty good, I think. I do sense a bit of tube distortion, harmonics, etc. Overall it's on the warm side. It's a Modulus 2C, btw.

As I enjoy listening to music from this thing, I am beginning to calm down a bit about the light hissing/rushing sounds. I also don't want to spend money on tubes, or take it into my tech until I absolutely need to (then I'll have to live without it for a week while they work on it.)

I'll have to try this for a few days and see how it goes...

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I am getting less distortion, I think, by turning down the DAC (5V max output) and turning up the pre-amp. It sounds good overall now, but still wondering if changing tubes will reduce the hiss/rushing sound, but it's really not bad. I would like to take pics of inside the case to post online, also that way I can figure out what kind of tubes it came with. I have been shining a flashlight in there trying to read the labels but it just big white letters saying 6DJ8 that I can see with maybe a small code underneath. Just a hunch, maybe these are Amperex.

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mwgreene Newbie

mwgreene

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Congratulations on your newly acquired pre-amp! I had that same model for for about 25 years. It finally blew a part that was critical to the design that is not made any longer...it was something made by Panasonic. I currently have a new Model 3B ( manufactured about five years ago). Needless to say, I stopped shopping for pre-amp brands a long time ago. When  I first had the 2C, I was using a PSE Studio 2  power amp with it, made by Dean, which I still have. But today, I'm running an Ayre VX-5 20. They both sound fantastic! Oh, through Treo CT's, of course.

You should know that Art designed these pre-amps to use Soviet military spec tubes. I can tell tell you that Chinese tubes do not work with this design. As far as other more commonly available tubes, I think they will "work", but without the tubes they were designed to use....it won't sound as good as it can. Needless to say....you're going to need to really turn over some rocks to find them in today's current climate vis-vis Russia.

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olds1959special Proficient

olds1959special

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I put in 3 Seimens 6922 gold pin (and 1 Valvo in the unused phono stage). The hiss went away. Now there’s just a slight hum/buzz, mostly in the left speaker. It’s faint so not sure if I want to try to have it fixed or just enjoy it as is for a while. The place where I bought tubes put me in touch with Precision Sound Service in Santa Monica. Sam fixes these amps. When I spoke to him the first thing he said to do is change the tubes.

 

Overall the sound is pretty tube glorious and it has made a positive difference for me.

Edited by olds1959special
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