Audiophiles only,...

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...that is, if there are any here among us besides me. ;)

Been wanting to try something else lately, since I've owned a few decent speakers in the past, (ADS L990, Apogee Stage, B&W Nautilus 803, Entec LF 20, JBL 4412, KEF C-80, Kinergetics SW-800, Magnepan Tympani IV D & 2.6R, Martin-Logan CLS-IIa, Quad 21L & 11L, REL Stadium III & Stentor III to name some). Well 2 weeks ago I plunked for a pair of PMC MB2's. (http://www.pmcloudspeaker.com/mb2.html) I literally paid cash for these since I hate using credit, and in doing so I got a very good price on a pair of flawless demo units from a friend of mine in the high-end. If any of you are familiar with PMC's, you know they make excellent speakers that hold a candle to no one.

I am totally impressed with the MB2's, and that's saying a lot coming from a jaded 'phile like me. I'll not go into the details here unless anyone is interested in discussion.

As "studio monitors" go, I still like my 4412's, but the MB2's are really in another league altogether - as well they should be considering their cost. :eek: Of course, I'll be dining on Ramen noodles for some time to come. ;)

Power amps are: Bass - Krell MDA-300 monoblocks; Mids/Highs - modified Audio Research Classic 120 monoblocks.

Speaker cables: 3.5ft. Audioquest Kilimanjaro on Krell's; 3.5ft. XLO Unlimited on ARC's.

Any comments are welcome. :)

...that is, if there are any here among us besides me. ;)

Been wanting to try something else lately, since I've owned a few decent speakers in the past, (ADS L990, Apogee Stage, B&W Nautilus 803, Entec LF 20, JBL 4412, KEF C-80, Kinergetics SW-800, Magnepan Tympani IV D & 2.6R, Martin-Logan CLS-IIa, Quad 21L & 11L, REL Stadium III & Stentor III to name some). Well 2 weeks ago I plunked for a pair of PMC MB2's. (http://www.pmcloudspeaker.com/mb2.html) I literally paid cash for these since I hate using credit, and in doing so I got a very good price on a pair of flawless demo units from a friend of mine in the high-end. If any of you are familiar with PMC's, you know they make excellent speakers that hold a candle to no one.

I am totally impressed with the MB2's, and that's saying a lot coming from a jaded 'phile like me. I'll not go into the details here unless anyone is interested in discussion.

As "studio monitors" go, I still like my 4412's, but the MB2's are really in another league altogether - as well they should be considering their cost. :eek: Of course, I'll be dining on Ramen noodles for some time to come. ;)

Any comments are welcome. :)


I am a fan of audio - primarily via radio.

I recently found an old PYE wireless set in my parents house.
People in this part of the world would be familiar with these sets from their childhood.
Essentially these radio operated using valves.
When you plugged in the set - the valves heat up and the volume of the set slowly starts to pickup on whatever wavelength the dial is on.
The front of the set has the list of stations/transmitters.

Looking at the set and the wavelength bands - names like Hilversum, Warsaw, Paris, evoke memories of childhood.
When you move the dial across the bands - medium wave, longwave - different sounds and languages can be heard.

As a kid, I can remember listening to the sea area forecast from the BBC.
The clarity of the sound of the broadcast and the announcers voice were
superb. "Biscay, Dogger, Viking, Forties, German Bight......."

The sound from that set is as good today as it was back then.
I don't use the set as often as I would liek to because I cannot find a supplier for the replacement valaves.

But I'm with ya - audio is superb.

I am a fan of audio - primarily via radio.

I recently found an old PYE wireless set in my parents house.
People in this part of the world would be familiar with these sets from their childhood.
Essentially these radio operated using valves.
When you plugged in the set - the valves heat up and the volume of the set slowly starts to pickup on whatever wavelength the dial is on.
The front of the set has the list of stations/transmitters.

Looking at the set and the wavelength bands - names like Hilversum, Warsaw, Paris, evoke memories of childhood.
When you move the dial across the bands - medium wave, longwave - different sounds and languages can be heard.

As a kid, I can remember listening to the sea area forecast from the BBC.
The clarity of the sound of the broadcast and the announcers voice were
superb. "Biscay, Dogger, Viking, Forties, German Bight......."

The sound from that set is as good today as it was back then.
I don't use the set as often as I would liek to because I cannot find a supplier for the replacement valaves.

But I'm with ya - audio is superb.My shed radio is an old car stereo (Kenwood) wired to a 12volt battery charger,coathanger aerial and speakers found on the side of the road.All the tuning knobs have fallen off...the volume control is a bottle cap and the station tuning is done with a crescent wrench.
The volume fades occasionally.A tap with the crescent wrench usually corrects it.It's been working just fine for 10 years now.

My shed radio is an old car stereo (Kenwood) wired to a 12volt battery charger,coathanger aerial and speakers found on the side of the road.All the tuning knobs have fallen off...the volume control is a bottle cap and the station tuning is done with a crescent wrench.
The volume fades occasionally.A tap with the crescent wrench usually corrects it.It's been working just fine for 10 years now.

The unit I took from my parents house is late 1950's model : the sound from it is still superb.
can't get replacement valves for love nor money, though!

The unit I took from my parents house is late 1950's model : the sound from it is still superb.
can't get replacement valves for love nor money, though!Interesting how valve audio gear vanished then made a comeback,at a much higher price of course.A salesman showed me a very expensive valve amp (way out of my price range) and even I could notice the difference.Lovely "warm" sound.
Old valve radios are highly prized as shed radios too.


Shed Radio Rules
Rule 1. Older is better.
Rule 2. Cheaper is better.Free is best.
Rule 3. A tool is required for all adjustments. :)

Shed Radio Rules
Rule 1. Older is better.
Rule 2. Cheaper is better.Free is best.
Rule 3. A tool is required for all adjustments. :)
my shed radio is a comparative youngster...a 'pioneer' brand from the 80's.

i found it by a rubbish skip when dumping an old fridge in the local council dump site. It was pouring with rain but contaray to popular beilief - electricity and water does mix...quite well actually.

took it home, dried it out with a hair drier and fired it up....came with miss-match goodmans speakers also wet. Okay, it didnt work but a blown capacitor was out in the PSU. now it works beautifully...and it was free. Good for listening to the cel'ic on a saturday afternoon.

as for valves (toobes you you americans), a lot of places stock them, try Maplins electronics hobbyists store.

Cross post: http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=42099 :)

The unit I took from my parents house is late 1950's model : the sound from it is still superb.
can't get replacement valves for love nor money, though!

Lim, there are lots of places to get replacement tubes:

www.tubesandmore.com
www.vacuumtubes.net
www.electrontubes.info
www.tubedepot.com
www.tubeworld.com
www.thetubestore.com

I think some of them will ship to Blighty, so start clicking!

;)

My Classic 120's are tube amps, and in 1990 retailed for $6995./pr. They won't be doing shed duty any time soon...I have a cheep Sony ghetto box for that. (sorry stevey!)

Lim, there are lots of places to get replacement tubes:

www.tubesandmore.com
www.vacuumtubes.net
www.electrontubes.info
www.tubedepot.com
www.tubeworld.com
www.thetubestore.com

I think some of them will ship to Blighty, so start clicking!

;)

My Classic 120's are tube amps, and in 1990 retailed for $6995./pr. They won't be doing shed duty any time soon...I have a cheep Sony ghetto box for that. (sorry stevey!)


Wurm, thanks for those leads for the valves.

The sound from the wireless is a thing of beauty : if you can tune in to the BBC from your side of the world - I thoroughly recommend the BBC World Service.

I don't have SW/LW radio any more, though I'd like to have one again - a decent tube set preferably, not some crappy shed radio that MP or steve bashed with a pint when it wouldn't receive:


http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/images/smilies/bash.gif *"What's the FREQUENCY, Kenneth?!! ARRRGH!"* http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/images/smilies/hate-pc.gif

Laff!


On occasion I do tune in to the BBC World Service relay on a local FM station (WAMC, 90.3 MHz), but it's always on in the wee hours here. GMT is 5 hours ahead of me.

Lemme know if you find those bottles. :)

On your other point, I agree there's nothing like the feel and "personality" of an old radio. Yeah they'd break down or act weird sometimes, but that was all part of the fun with em.


I am a fan of audio - primarily via radio.

When you plugged in the set - the valves heat up and the volume of the set slowly starts to pickup on whatever wavelength the dial is on.
The front of the set has the list of stations/transmitters.

Looking at the set and the wavelength bands - names like Hilversum, Warsaw, Paris, evoke memories of childhood.
When you move the dial across the bands - medium wave, longwave - different sounds and languages can be heard.

I am totally impressed with the MB2's, and that's saying a lot coming from a jaded 'phile like me. I'll not go into the details here unless anyone is interested in discussion.


PMC have made some good speakers, MB2s certainly count, however the speakers that impressed me most were a pair of Red Rose Rosebud IIs. Generally these boxes were driven by Bryston amps of some description, personally I'm not very keen on Bryston amps, they can sound a bit fuzzy (and hummy on a bad day/bad circuit). They also have weird output stages that stink of a designer trying to be too clever by half.

"Generally these boxes were driven by Bryston amps of some description, personally I'm not very keen on Bryston amps, they can sound a bit fuzzy (and hummy on a bad day/bad circuit)."


Well Bryston amps do come with a 20year warranty.

db -

I'd somewhat agree with you on the Bryston's of old, but I'm hearing very good reports on the newer SST series. I'll need to get my ears around a 3B SST or 4B SST before I'll judge.

Red Rose (Levinson) certainly makes some great stuff. I owned a No. 383 integrated and it was OK, though IMHO in the end it was not worth the then $6k MSRP considering the sound of some of its peers. I would get close to its power limits when driving the B&W N803's I had with it.

Anyway, I've not heard the Rosebud II's, (their ribbons remind me of the tweeters in the Pass Labs Rushmore's - a $40k speaker/amp system!). However, I wouldn't mind a side-by-side listen with the Rosebud's against some of my fave 2-way monitors - like the Quad 11L or PMC DB1+.

Tangent: for the price, you really should check out the Quad L-series. Awesome sound as well as cabinet finish. My 11L's were the hard to get yew veneer which was really something to behold, and my 21L's were rosewood. Both models' sound was very e-stat-like. I'm not kidding!

But my "2-way monitor" days are over, since I can't live very long with any speaker or audio system that can't do the lower octaves well, at least down to the mid-20Hz range and reasonably loud & accurate. After you've owned subs like the REL's, Entec's, and Kinergetic's, you kinda get that way. ;)

But with these MB2's, they'll utterly blow you out of the room with their subtlety, accuracy, and when needed - the sheer pristine air pressure they'll throw at you at high dB levels, including in the low bass range. They don't even hint at power compression, image or soundstage congestion, or spectral tilt at any power level I've given them thus far. I'm telling you, with 600W/4 ohms per side of high-current Krell juice from 380Hz down, and 110 WPC of seriously good tube power (415 joules per channel!) above 380Hz - you'll be looking to get as aerodynamic as you can when this thing is cranking. :D :cool:


pedaler -

Even a lifetime warranty is pretty useless if the unit doesn't please you sonically in the first place. Besides, most of the "high-end" mfg's I've dealt with over the years have no problem if/when it comes time for repair.

I'll give you one example: when I had the Martin-Logan CLS IIa e-stat's, I was driving them with these ARC Classic 120's. Well, the CLS IIa was a tough impedance/phase angle to drive, going down to about .5 ohm in the high freqs. That caused a lot of tube oscillation with the KT-88's in the 120's, and consequently I was prematurely blowing tubes.

Since the 120's have 8x KT-88 per amp, that's 16 power tubes to replace, and at the time they were going for $65.-70. each! So I called Leonard at Audio Research, ostensibly just to ask him what I could do with the bias settings, or perhaps some different 6550-type tubes that would better handle the CLS' killer impedance. See, I didn't want to sell the M-L's because when things were going right between them and the 120's, it was one of the best speaker/amp combos I'd ever heard.

I had bought the 120's pre-owned, so by then they were OOW. Didn't matter to Leonard tho' - he sent me 16 brand-new 88's FREE :eek: and said after I go through them, call him back and he'd send more!! Eventually, I did sell the M-L's due to the ongoing tube maintenance. Those speakers really needed an arc-welder like the Krell's, but the Krell's had a very tough act to follow sonically. :(

db -

I'd somewhat agree with you on the Bryston's of old, but I'm hearing very good reports on the newer SST series. I'll need to get my ears around a 3B SST or 4B SST before I'll judge.


Not much diff in my experience. They are still prone to dump 50Hz into the speakers and they have a habit of making your speakers hiss like a box of snakes. That said they don't roast themselves alive like ATCs. :)

It's a very subjective game in the end, but I really do hate amps that are designed to run hot/hiss like snakes/hum like bees. Not strictly true of course because I love listening to Motorhead, Hendrix et al... :)

Well, if I want a box of snakes I'll go buy one! And there's plenty going on here at 50Hz, so I'll not need that "feature". LOL! WTF?

Motorhead...hmm...maybe I'll whip out my vinyl copy of "1916" and see what Lemmy has to say about all of this.

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/images/smilies/boat.gif

It'll be good practice for my aero tuck riding position...:D
(http://img.engadget.com/common/images/3060000000058568.JPG?0.466539582001809)