Stuart Himelfarb Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 Does anyone have experience with the amp going back into standby mode and then the far left light indicator goes white to red. Not sure what problem that color defines. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Vandersteen Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 1 hour ago, Stuart Himelfarb said: Does anyone have experience with the amp going back into standby mode and then the far left light indicator goes white to red. Not sure what problem that color defines. thanks Call me 559-816-2411 RV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 You aren’t from CT are you? I went to temple with some Himelfarb’s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Himelfarb Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 No, a DC native living in the VA Countryside. I do have relatives in a lot of places including NY. My amp problem resolved itself. Sometimes I think there are gremlins in my basement music room! Richard was good enough to call me immediately after my post. He is so good to his customers. Not many like him out there! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 So, what was the problem? Or, was there no problem. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Himelfarb Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 Sorry about getting back to you late. Was out of town. Not sure what was wrong. Have had numerous listening sessions since then and all is fine. So I guess no problem. I’m beginning to wonder if I have unstable current or something. I’m running my system off a dedicated 20 amp breaker to two separate Shunyata Everests. ARC REF 10 Preamp. I have had the ARC fail 3 times with tubes blowing. they just sent me a new one and the right channel just failed. Just brought my 22 year old BAT VK 5i out of mothballs. Doesn’t sound bad! I’m starting to thing about BAT REX in lieu of the ARC. Any opinions? Thanks, S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Stuart Himelfarb said: Sorry about getting back to you late. Was out of town. Not sure what was wrong. Have had numerous listening sessions since then and all is fine. So I guess no problem. I’m beginning to wonder if I have unstable current or something. I’m running my system off a dedicated 20 amp breaker to two separate Shunyata Everests. ARC REF 10 Preamp. I have had the ARC fail 3 times with tubes blowing. they just sent me a new one and the right channel just failed. Just brought my 22 year old BAT VK 5i out of mothballs. Doesn’t sound bad! I’m starting to thing about BAT REX in lieu of the ARC. Any opinions? Thanks, S It is hard to make a cogent argument that something that doesn’t work can sound better. I listened to an ARC powered set of Kentos in Santa Monica, and 2-1/2 of the people there said that the sound was balanced. Afterwards they said that the ARC had an intermittent channel. That happens sometimes. My old ARC PH2 never missed a beat, but was a SS phono amp. Is it possible that all those power conditioners could be causing a problem? I have gone through a few amps… PSE and VTL. The PrimaLuna seems to be working fine, and the old NAD 3220PE never hiccups… but I would take a working amp/preamp, over the sweetest sounding one that mostly racks up frequent flyer miles. Of course my opinion is biased. Edited July 24, 2022 by Holmz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Vandersteen Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 4 hours ago, Stuart Himelfarb said: Sorry about getting back to you late. Was out of town. Not sure what was wrong. Have had numerous listening sessions since then and all is fine. So I guess no problem. I’m beginning to wonder if I have unstable current or something. I’m running my system off a dedicated 20 amp breaker to two separate Shunyata Everests. ARC REF 10 Preamp. I have had the ARC fail 3 times with tubes blowing. they just sent me a new one and the right channel just failed. Just brought my 22 year old BAT VK 5i out of mothballs. Doesn’t sound bad! I’m starting to thing about BAT REX in lieu of the ARC. Any opinions? Thanks, S Any product with tubes is going to need service every now and then. Having owned and driven a super modified for 25 years I know it is not possible to finish every race! Want to run mid pack your supporters disappear but you do have much less failures. RV 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregon Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Richard Vandersteen said: Any product with tubes is going to need service every now and then. RV A few weeks past I loaded my VTL preamp with vintage Telefunken 12AX7's, one of the little devils went funky/scratchy/AFU, replaced 'em all with vintage Amperex . All is fine, for now... Cheers, Cody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregon Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Oregon said: A few weeks past I loaded my VTL preamp with vintage Telefunken 12AX7's, one of the little devils went funky/scratchy/AFU, replaced 'em all with vintage Amperex . All is fine, for now... Cheers, Cody Additional "tube experience" within this post; NOS tubes can be particularly prone to reliability/maintenance issues even if matched. New-made "matched" Russian-sourced items should also be monitored (though perhaps less assiduously than the NOS stuff). Edited July 24, 2022 by Oregon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 I'm personally holding off on purchasing a new preamp (I NEED ONE BADLY). I'm sure that a Vandersteen preamp that's been discussed on this forum would be a GREAT buy for the cost if it's anything like their amps. Talk about plug and play and made to play together! I wouldn't spend more on a pre until I audition all of them 😉. JMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stringreen Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 In My opinion its more than listening to a preferred component. I remember taking this and that piece in the A list of The Absolute Sound....which made my system sound less good. Two excellent singers singing together, because of the timber of their voices, a less than desirable outcome is presented. I have run with my hypothesis and so all my electronics are Ayre. The result is that the best sound is brought from the whole system. I have heard electronics in other systems that were great, but am confident that my stuff sing and dance the same tune with no trip ups. In truth I would have bought Richard's stuff if they had existed in them their days.....but when I listen now I smile. On another point....RV has been so good to me in supporting this stuff. When something went awry, I got an unsolicited personal call with great solutions. I drive a Porsche ...not for its 0-60 growl, but because all the parts work as a unit. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Great post String. It just makes teh most sense to me. IF you like the sound, max it out. Getting everything you can that was designed to work together just makes so much sense. It still comes down to auditioning, but I fell in love with the larger amp on 7's the moment I heard them. They just sounded a bit different than they did with the Ayre ref mono's and the AR mono's (their larger ones). I've heard the 7's with D'agastino's largest mono's and they aren't even close to Richard's amp for the 7's. Again, JMHO, but it makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Vandersteen service and support AFTER the sale is stellar as is advice and consultation w dealer ahead. So glad to hear the gremlin was banished ! Might be time to have breaker box checked, tighten and clean everything up. We live in salt fog, so it’s a near endless job on certain infrastructure bits… I am pretty biased…. i think i am on year 6 of no faults… probably jinx myself… ha. My Ref 5 has also been trouble free at 5626 hours… about 500 a year. I do stick to the 6550 ARC change interval…as failure is warned to be …somewhat….spectacular….. Like Pete, i also am anticipating a Vandy preamp in good time…. having worked in high tech for more than 3 decades, some things…. should not be rushed…. Have fun, enjoy tge music. Best Jim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 (edited) Funny the discussion about tubes….no disagreement…it’s a bit of a dice roll…always…. I did just scavenge a few very used Telefunken 12AU and AX7 out of a 1965 Mac Preamp/ Tuner…. so far they are glorious….in my DAC…. Fun Edited July 24, 2022 by TomicTime 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Yet, another great thread. My only tube experience is with Atmasphere. Though I am probably missing out by not upgrading, I using the original Russian tubes and they haven't had an issue (-probably, a 'just you wait'). B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 18 hours ago, Oregon said: A few weeks past I loaded my VTL preamp with vintage Telefunken 12AX7's, one of the little devils went funky/scratchy/AFU, replaced 'em all with vintage Amperex . All is fine, for now... Cheers, Cody Cody, Where do I get the Amprex from? I think I may need some tubes in the preamp. So, as they say… I need “a pair”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Brent Jesse at Brent Jesse and Andy at Vintage Tube Services are my go to people for NOS. RAM for Russian stuff . Audio Research for ARC. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 you know you are really living when the dining table is covered in tubes and misc stereo gear / projects…. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 36 minutes ago, TomicTime said: you know you are really living when the dining table is covered in tubes and misc stereo gear / projects…. As the surfers down at the point say… “Totally tubular dude.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregon Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 (edited) 5 hours ago, Holmz said: Cody, Where do I get the Amprex from? I think I may need some tubes in the preamp. So, as they say… I need “a pair”. First, I love the sound of tubes, I have been searching the Interwebs for years looking for matched quads of basic line-level tubes. Finally found the magic combination for my particular stereo; vintage matched Amperex 6922's for the Manley Chinook phono preamp, vintage matched Telefunken 12AT7's for the vintage VTL TL-5 preamp, finally, NS matched Mullard 12AT7's plus EL-34's for the VTL ST-80 power amp. The stereo sounds pretty darned good these days. ;^) Edited July 25, 2022 by Oregon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 @HolmzTotally Tubular Tonearm ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 I owned that table in college. When I went into the shop and knew more than the owner, we both laughed. That said I did buy it, so maybe I didn’t learn much until shopping at Bruces in SD and where I met Richard in late 82 or so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Is a B and O? Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomicTime Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 yes it’s a B&O TX… belt drive w spring suspension and the tangential arm… $100 project, will make a young vinyl enthusiasts day… Needed a bit of this and that before i gift it…. Tubular ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now