xpat Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Hi David,I've been using an Adcom's GFA 555II (power amp) and GFP 565 preamp for a couple decades with my AR9s which are 4 ohms. Lots of power and no stability problems with the amp.I recently made a change and are using an Outlaw Audio Pre-amp and power amp with the AR9s. I am very impressed with the Outlaw Amp and Pre-amp. The Adcom's are now used to drive my AR5s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted July 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Hi David,I've been using an Adcom's GFA 555II (power amp) and GFP 565 preamp for a couple decades with my AR9s which are 4 ohms. Lots of power and no stability problems with the amp.I recently made a change and are using an Outlaw Audio Pre-amp and power amp with the AR9s. I am very impressed with the Outlaw Amp and Pre-amp. The Adcom's are now used to drive my AR5s.Nice! I have heard good things about the Outlaw's. There was one of Outlaws 5.1 ch receivers at the local thrift store recently that I was contemplating but passed on. It was a heavy son of a gun. I am sure both of your set-ups are sounding great. My 565 pre was a little scratchy when I got it as the seller told me it was. Deoxit took care of it. Good looking unit inside. I think I was fortunate to get it for the price I did. Hooked up my latest set of speakers last night to the Adcoms. Infinity RSii's. I did not crank them up too much but the 5500 was cruising along nice and cool as always. And oh, they sounded fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbon Posted July 13, 2015 Report Share Posted July 13, 2015 Hi. Anyone used Carver's for your AR's? Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageMan Posted July 14, 2015 Report Share Posted July 14, 2015 Any experience with a Accuphase P-102 and a set of AR3a?The P-102 has 80W at 4Ohm in full class A.More info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted July 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hi.Anyone used Carver's for your AR's?RegardsHeard some Large Advents hooked up to a carver and it sounded very good. I am sure it would be great with the AR's. Just check to see how the amp does with 4ohm loads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owlsplace Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 Any experience with a Accuphase P-102 and a set of AR3a?The P-102 has 80W at 4Ohm in full class A.More infoPretty amp ... I'd hook it up to a pair of 3a's http://www.accuphase.com/cat/p-102en.pdfRoger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenz66 Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 I do not know why I had such a hard time on this quest for inline fusing. Lots of information that goes off on tangents gets confusing. For the AR-2ax and AR-6 speakers the following items are what I finally settled on from eBay. I had a horrible time looking for these: (BUSSMANN FNM-6/10 FUSETRON DUAL ELEMENT 6/10A AMP 250V-AC FUSE) And this one was extremely difficult to track down at a reasonable price: The 4515 open fuse block. I could not find the 4512 (for solder connection)Just leaving another trail for those who come after...Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageMan Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 Pretty amp ... I'd hook it up to a pair of 3a's http://www.accuphase.com/cat/p-102en.pdfRogerAnd so I did!I played for 2 hrs (or more), starting with Josefine Cronholm - In your wild garden, as a reference.Look at what they have to compete with I first had them on the original stands, after 2 songs I put them on 40cm stands and later on 60cm stands.The 60cm stands made them sound the best.Here's the amp, pre-amp and source (Sonos Connect, heavily modified).They sound the best with jazz, Big Band etc, modern music like trance they don't like Man! They sound fantastic, even better then in the room I had them all the time.My wife and I really enjoy them and will keep them playing in the living room for the coming week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbon Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 Very nice setup Vintageman! So a Sonos - hardly vintage . I use as one input Squeezeserver -> WiFi -> Raspberry Pi -> HifiBerry DAC -> Buffer -> 2*Quad 303's -> Linn Kan's (until the Ar3's are refurbished.). Sounds very good. No hi-rez over wifi though. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owlsplace Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 I do not know why I had such a hard time on this quest for inline fusing. Lots of information that goes off on tangents gets confusing. For the AR-2ax and AR-6 speakers the following items are what I finally settled on from eBay. I had a horrible time looking for these: (BUSSMANN FNM-6/10 FUSETRON DUAL ELEMENT 6/10A AMP 250V-AC FUSE) FNM- FUSETRON DUAL ELEMENT.JPGAnd this one was extremely difficult to track down at a reasonable price: The 4515 open fuse block. I could not find the 4512 (for solder connection)Open Fuse Block 4515.JPGJust leaving another trail for those who come after...GregI never did find the open blocks and ended up with the huge 600V model. I think Kent mentioned he has some extras though.I think I will make up some pigtails and do away with the blocks entirely by soldering leads directly to the fuses and adding banana plugs. It is not likely I will be blowing fuses on a regular basis so the hard-wire seems like a good choice.Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owlsplace Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 A pretty picture ... looks like you have the bases covered They sound the best with jazz, Big Band etc, modern music like trance they don't like Man! They sound fantastic, even better then in the room I had them all the time.My wife and I really enjoy them and will keep them playing in the living room for the coming week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidR Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 Hi.Anyone used Carver's for your AR's?RegardsYes. A modified M-1.0t that has 515 watts into 4 ohms. No problem driving my AR90s but was missing so much music compared to a modern day Class A or AB amp design. I would have very little in the bass department at low to moderate volume.I also have a modified M500t and it does not do well into a 4 ohm load. Very bass shy and a bit muddy with volume. The M-1.0t is good for 'pounding' speakers like Bose 901s; the M500t is not very good for 'pounding' speakers, even 8 ohm speakers. I gave my son my Carver MRX150 reciever and it is freshly recapped and does well on the TSW610s and AR91's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 VintageManTruly nice set up... but how your 3a´s are compared to those nice looking HPD385 equipped Berkeley´s on custom stands?Best RegardsKimmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted July 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 Man, there is a Pioneer Spec 2 amp available on local CList for $650 OBO. I will keep an eye on that and see how long it lasts and maybe that OBO can go a bit lower.Anybody using the Spec? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageMan Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 VintageManTruly nice set up... but how your 3a´s are compared to those nice looking HPD385 equipped Berkeley´s on custom stands?Best RegardsKimmoHello Kimmo,They do not sound much apart to be honest.I like the AR3a's when listen to Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte and all kind of other music as long it is not Trance.The Berkeley's sound more brighter then the AR3a's but I like them both a lot I'm afraid The Berkeley's have modified filters and the cabinets are transformed into Lancaster look-a-like cabinets as the original cabinets where to damaged.They are indeed on stands, you can lift the cabinets of of them and then you have: Lancaster look-a-like.Some photo's:Original when I bought them:The Lancaster look I was after:The cabinets dressed to become Lancasters:Stands:More images: http://forum.audiofreaks.nl/index.php?topic=36091.msg1667312#msg1667312Modified/Custom filters:It took me about 5 months to (re)-build them.As the stands have wheels it is possible to move them around or reposition them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted July 21, 2015 Report Share Posted July 21, 2015 So you simply recovered old Berkeley´s with layer MDF... Looks really nice, doing these Lancaster style joints is probably easier than original Berkeley style folded corner joints. Although it seems that your woodworking skills do exceed mine considerably. I do have LRM`s but Mk 1 Berkeley´s have been long time on my wish list. Their size is in "pain in the ass" territory... but maybe somehow manageable. Last year when I found pair of 1967 vintage Altec 604E`s I had idea to build Berkeley sized light weight cab for them and use Mastering Lab crossover. Light weight well braced cab made from 9 mm baltic birch plywood or 12 mm MDF would be necessary to keep total weight reasonable, as Altecs tip the scales around 15 kg ea. HPD 385 should not be too far from this. Best Regardskimmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageMan Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 So you simply recovered old Berkeley´s with layer MDF... Looks really nice, doing these Lancaster style joints is probably easier than original Berkeley style folded corner joints. Although it seems that your woodworking skills do exceed mine considerably. I do have LRM`s but Mk 1 Berkeley´s have been long time on my wish list. Their size is in "pain in the ass" territory... but maybe somehow manageable. Last year when I found pair of 1967 vintage Altec 604E`s I had idea to build Berkeley sized light weight cab for them and use Mastering Lab crossover. Light weight well braced cab made from 9 mm baltic birch plywood or 12 mm MDF would be necessary to keep total weight reasonable, as Altecs tip the scales around 15 kg ea. HPD 385 should not be too far from this. Best RegardskimmoMDF?Nope, I'm not sure what the English word for (massive) Essen-wood is?A regular Berkeley is about 35Kg I believe.Most of the woodwork has been done by a friend who owns a wood furniture building company Those Altec 604E look impressive to! I would love to hear a pair of those in the right cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Accept my sincerest apologize... but front face of top panel in your 3rd picture looked like MDF.General consensus seems to be that Berkeley sized cabs are too small for 604E´s. But I made some calculations and it seems that if series coil DCR is in order of 2 ohm, this will increase total Q enough to make Berkeley sized cab quite good for 604E. Good response to about 35-38 Hz at -6 dB should be possible.Tannoy´s and Altec´s should not be too far from each other. HPD385 crossover was more advanced than 604E xo as Tannoy did have eq correction for 3 kHz horn related bump in response. Both these units are familiar to person living quite close to you http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/hiraga/hiraga.htmlBest RegardsKimmoPS we have been off topic for some time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageMan Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 PS we have been off topic for some time... Yep, my bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VintageMan Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Yesterday I replaced the Accuphase with the SONY TA-N55ES.They basically sound the same, but the Sony has more power, even on lower output.It ad's just a little more "bite" to the AR3a's.Yesterday I received Sinatra at the Sands with Count Basie, a version that is generally known as the best release of this performance.Can't wait to listen to it.The last 2 days I've listened to Harry Belafonte Live at Carnegie Hall.I love it, and on the AR3a's it sounds like I'm actually there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted July 25, 2015 Report Share Posted July 25, 2015 Does anyone of you have experience Japanese built Harman Kardon 30-series twin power receiver´s of 70´s. I used to have H/K 930 receiver in late 70´s. I replaced it with H/K 670 within few years as tape monitor switches of H/K 930 caused trouble. Also Armstrong 600 series receiver that my brother, who sadly passed away two weeks ago, used to have sounded better.Now consensus seems to be that H/K 930 is best of bunch (630, 930, 430, 730) even H/K 730 that replaced it used complementary output devices. Others were DC coupled but used quasi complementary outputs. I have 4 pc US built H/K Citation´s of same era and they have been very easy to work, so I like to try if I misjudged H/K receiver almost 40 years ago. H/K 670 handled AR9 as load easily, but I used to have pair of AR7 with H/K 930 so can not tell how load tolerant it was. So any memories, info or reprints of test would be appreciated as googling did not bring too much info apart service and owner manuals.Best RegardsKimmo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ar_pro Posted July 25, 2015 Report Share Posted July 25, 2015 I'm sorry for your loss, Kimmo.Have you seen this 730 review in Tone Audio?http://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/harmon-kardon-730/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iso Posted July 26, 2015 Report Share Posted July 26, 2015 Thank you for your kind words. I did find this one and one review for H/K 930 from Audio. Most likely pre production 930 was supplied to Audio for review, as back panel was not black and fascia was gold toned like Citation 12 and some early H/K 230 and 330 amps used to be. I suppose that all other 70´s Harman Kardon´s were either "silver" or black colored. However info for smaller 630 and 430 models seems to be scarcer. Especially 630 seems to be interesting as it does not have S/R/M/R/L switch in the signal path and is more powerful than later 430 unit. Best RegardsKimmoHK-930review.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owlsplace Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 ... Kent, I'm having amplifier blues at the moment and after working on my old SAE I'm starting to like your amp more. I'll see if I can snag one on the auction site. Not sure what the difference is between the original Adcom 555 and the Model II is. Was it a major design change or just mod/tweeks?I'll probably gut the SAE and stuff a later model amp in the case at a later date Don't ask!RogerWell, I put the SAE Mark IIb back in service. It is a dinosaur from the early 70s. I recapped it after repairing one of the power supplies and managed to install several caps backwards which lead to some problems. I just got in the mood to dig back into it after side-lining it for seven months. It will be interesting to A/B it with the Adcom 555II after I get an amp switch. Meanwhile perhaps I'll drive a pair of 5's with it so I can remember its nice warm sound.Nice to have a backup and the Adcom is due for some new caps anyway.Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted August 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 Well, I put the SAE Mark IIb back in service. It is a dinosaur from the early 70s. I recapped it after repairing one of the power supplies and managed to install several caps backwards which lead to some problems. I just got in the mood to dig back into it after side-lining it for seven months. It will be interesting to A/B it with the Adcom 555II after I get an amp switch. Meanwhile perhaps I'll drive a pair of 5's with it so I can remember its nice warm sound.Nice to have a backup and the Adcom is due for some new caps anyway.RogerCool. I forget what preamp you are using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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