Equipment
Preamp provided by Rick Henthorn
"Lefty" DHT line stage - Sowter Attentuator Transformers (model 9335) feeding the grid side of 1LE3 DHT, suitable for battery operation. Plate is loaded by a Magnequest EXO-99 plate choke, configured in the 600H/10ma connection, output is paralell feed vai an Electra Print 25K:600 nickle core line output transformer - power at this time provided by HP low and high voltage regulated supplies - battery supply is in the works ..
This preamp seems to be the reference standard for more than several of the dixie bottleheads, with them saying they have never heard anything better - magazine article out soon on this preamp.
Power Amp
provided by Jim Dowdy otherwise known as _ the Dowdy Lama_
SE GM70 amp - 3C24 L-C coupled to a relatively low power GM70 (copper plate), pin strip parafeed output approx 12 to 14 watts
Jim has built quite a number of good sounding amps - He and everyone else there think this is the best and takes it up a notch - there were some very critical and experienced listeners there that believe this amp is the best amp they've ever heard - bar none.
Jim took this amp to Oswald's mill this year and had a similar reception there.
Speakers
Speaker system provided by Steve Blair (we were at his home), otherwise somebody would have had to bring these in a trailer -
Sierra Brooks 32" Tractrix Horns w/Tad 4001 compression driver crossed over a 500 Hz (1st order) to Perkins bass horn cabs w/ Altec 416'bs
There were some other amps/equipment there - Everyone thought this sounded so good they just wanted to listen to it.
Source was a Sony SACD player
Listening impressions - this combination was the best I have ever heard. And better than anything I thought I would ever hear - at least under 4k - I can't hear above that. I used to play bass many years ago. I told my wife when I got home that I haven't heard anything like that since I was working the local club scene - it's that real.
Other impressions - this is really a super bunch or guys that are serious listeners -
There were listeners there from the 4 states of NC, SC, VA and Tenn.
Next meeting (listening session) will be in Knoxville, Tenn on the second Sunday in Jan.
Randy is supposed to bring his 845 amp to that meeting and Jim will bring the GM70. When I heard Randy's amp several months ago, I thought it was the best I had ever heard till that point and so did some of the others at that time. It's really going to be interesting to compare the two after he's tweaked his some more.
I think for me, what was so good was the tonal quality and hearing the low level detail along with the dynamics that the system was reproducing. Prior to this I had heard some absolutely killer tonal quality with excellent ability for low level information retreival. But there had seemed to be loss of dynamics (compression??) and not as much punch. This sounded like a push pull 20 or 30 watt setup with lots of punch and dynamics yet the low-level detail was there along with incredible tonal balance.
Rick is sending me some digital photos that I will post when they arrive
If anybody is interested in attending in Knoxville in Jan, send me an e-mail.
Ken
Preamp provided by Rick Henthorn
"Lefty" DHT line stage - Sowter Attentuator Transformers (model 9335) feeding the grid side of 1LE3 DHT, suitable for battery operation. Plate is loaded by a Magnequest EXO-99 plate choke, configured in the 600H/10ma connection, output is paralell feed vai an Electra Print 25K:600 nickle core line output transformer - power at this time provided by HP low and high voltage regulated supplies - battery supply is in the works ..
This preamp seems to be the reference standard for more than several of the dixie bottleheads, with them saying they have never heard anything better - magazine article out soon on this preamp.
Power Amp
provided by Jim Dowdy otherwise known as _ the Dowdy Lama_
SE GM70 amp - 3C24 L-C coupled to a relatively low power GM70 (copper plate), pin strip parafeed output approx 12 to 14 watts
Jim has built quite a number of good sounding amps - He and everyone else there think this is the best and takes it up a notch - there were some very critical and experienced listeners there that believe this amp is the best amp they've ever heard - bar none.
Jim took this amp to Oswald's mill this year and had a similar reception there.
Speakers
Speaker system provided by Steve Blair (we were at his home), otherwise somebody would have had to bring these in a trailer -
Sierra Brooks 32" Tractrix Horns w/Tad 4001 compression driver crossed over a 500 Hz (1st order) to Perkins bass horn cabs w/ Altec 416'bs
There were some other amps/equipment there - Everyone thought this sounded so good they just wanted to listen to it.
Source was a Sony SACD player
Listening impressions - this combination was the best I have ever heard. And better than anything I thought I would ever hear - at least under 4k - I can't hear above that. I used to play bass many years ago. I told my wife when I got home that I haven't heard anything like that since I was working the local club scene - it's that real.
Other impressions - this is really a super bunch or guys that are serious listeners -
There were listeners there from the 4 states of NC, SC, VA and Tenn.
Next meeting (listening session) will be in Knoxville, Tenn on the second Sunday in Jan.
Randy is supposed to bring his 845 amp to that meeting and Jim will bring the GM70. When I heard Randy's amp several months ago, I thought it was the best I had ever heard till that point and so did some of the others at that time. It's really going to be interesting to compare the two after he's tweaked his some more.
I think for me, what was so good was the tonal quality and hearing the low level detail along with the dynamics that the system was reproducing. Prior to this I had heard some absolutely killer tonal quality with excellent ability for low level information retreival. But there had seemed to be loss of dynamics (compression??) and not as much punch. This sounded like a push pull 20 or 30 watt setup with lots of punch and dynamics yet the low-level detail was there along with incredible tonal balance.
Rick is sending me some digital photos that I will post when they arrive
If anybody is interested in attending in Knoxville in Jan, send me an e-mail.
Ken