Harman Kardon The Lute A220

This Harman/Kardon A220 "The Lute" has been on loan to me this week, a little wonderful 12-15 watt push pull tube amp.

This unit was brought up from the USA and has gone through a full refurbish locally.

A beautiful sounding unit that oozes all the goodness of tubes that I often write about on this blog. This unit is in exceptionally good condition.

Marantz Model 28 update

I just got this lovely Marantz Model 28 back from Pure Sound locally and this little unit sounds absolutely wonderful for 20WPC.

This is a late 60's early 70's model that came out before the 22XX models. I like this era of solid state receivers as I find they are modeled closest to a push pull tube amp and this unit has that sound. Under normal listening conditions the bass is full, mid range is smooth and the highs are not as crisp as a single ended tube amp but pleasant just the same.

Imaging in the mid range is pretty nice with this unit, with a nice deep three dimensional sound stage.

This unit was noisy in the right channel when arrived and it has since been serviced at Pure Sound, a few transistors had to be replaced. All capacitors checked out to be fine. This unit still has minimal noise but it is very low and I will accept that given the age of the unit. The noise does not interfere with the music at all.

November update:

Since buying a Magnavox push pull tube amp, I would put the sound of this receiver near to the sound of the Magnavox. Not as lush in the mid range and a little brashy in the upper mids to low highs but a real solid sound stage that sounds magnificent. this unit matches well with the more efficient speakers that I own. this piece will be staying in the collection.

Electrohome Lorainne 40 Push Pull EL84 tube amp

Another piece of fine audio equipment came home from the same place as the EMI 630 speakers, this 20WPC Electrohome Lorainne 40 push/pull tube amplifier.

This unit has had some previous work done to it with separate volume pots, handles on the side and feet attached to the bottom.

The 12AX7 tubes are Mullard/Amperex tubes that flash upon start up.

So I now have the best of both worlds with an Electrohome Marseilles Single Ended tube amp and this Electrohome Push/Pull.

On first impressions the Electrohome P/P is much louder and can drive all my speakers to a pretty decent decibel level where as the Electrohome SET can only push my most efficient speakers to the 98-100db level, which is plenty loud.

I was expecting more bass from the  and the bass that is there is well controlled, the mids and highs are clean and transparent along with the imaging. Where I find the biggest difference is the open and luscious mid range and highs that the Electrohome Single Ended offers up, it just can not be beat. Once the mids and highs are this good the three dimensional imaging is spot on with a single ended tube amp.

There is a fantastic write up called "Single Ended vs. Push Pull: The fight of the Century" by Eddie Vaughn, it is a good overview of both amplifiers.

Just like the analogue vs. digital, New England vs. West Coast, solid state vs. tube and single ended vs. push pull you will get diehards defending either argument.

So, where does my bias lean towards? I seem to like the pure Class A sound of a single ended tube amp more than the Class A/B of the push pull, both are great but the Single Ended just nudges out the Push/Pull with the open mid range and sparkling highs.

EMI 630 Speakers

A rare sight to find these England made dual concentric speakers in the used market, these speakers or EMI speakers have been rumored to have been used in recording studios in England.

These speakers were designed around the use of tube amps and are very efficient. Smaller than the Isophon PH2132E speakers with a little more bass and the mid range set back just a bit.

Interesting to see the inductor coil wrapped around the capacitor in the crossover.

These speakers sound magnificent and image really well.

Plenty of further information can be found through the Ebay site on EMI and these speakers.

These speakers from my research seem to have a cult following in Asia, Japan and Honk Kong these speakers seem to command a premium compared to the North American market.

Mission 700 speakers finished

Finally got to the finish line today with this my second pair of original Mission 700 speakers.

I opted to re foam not in the inverted method as original as the foam angle did not match the original. No harm done just a different aesthetic . I noticed that one of the original tweeters had been replaced with another Vifa T-D19.

The cabinets are pretty mint on this pair and I love the look of the white baffle with the Mission logo.

These sound pretty sweet on the tube amp with great imaging side to side and front to back. the bass is not as deep as others in the collection right now but the mid range and highs are sweet and luscious.

Here is a link to how these arrived.

With solid state amps I always found the Vifa T-D19 to be shrill and fatiguing, with the tube amp it is way smoother, what a joy.

Carver Model 6250 Receiver

A recent trip out of town yielded a Carver 6250 receiver that runs at 125WPC so I would put it up there in the Monster receiver category, Carver did a similar receiver, the MXR-2000 at 200WPC.

When I was growing up in the midst of the Golden Age of audio I always held the Carver stuff as the top of the line in my opinion, it was esoteric and beyond reach for most budgets.

This unit will match up well with my Carver SD/A 390T CD player that has a tube output.

Now I am off to audition this unit.

Cerwin Vega D3 Speakers

Another summer project getting finished today is this pair of Cerwin Vega D3 speakers. These needed a re foam job and I picked them up as they have an efficiency rating of 93db, I figured this would be good for the tube amp.

I sourced the proper red foams and was surprised to see a decent cast basket for the woofer.

The internals had very little sound dampening material in them which would make one think there would be a pretty good back wave in the bass department, I added some more dampening material into the box.

The finished product turned out as follows.

Sitting on the pedestals I found the bass very mussy and boomy, I opted to get them about 9 inches off the floor and it cleaned up the bass significantly. There is still some muddiness there and perhaps a bit more filling is required to dampen the bass.

Where these speakers really shine is the forward mid range and the high end from the horn tweeter. Being forward in the mids envelopes you into the sound, there is a very realistic 3D image presented.

A fun speaker well suited to a tube amp, I have not tried it on solid state but from what I hear these are meant to be rockers, although they do a wonderful job on jazz and acoustic music. 

Update:

Although these speakers have now moved on to another audiophile along with the Altec Lansing Model 9 I really liked the forward mid range with these speakers that gave them incredible front to back depth. I often thought these were the closest to being in the room with the musicians as I could get live.

I ended up adding even more dampening material into the cabinet and it really cleaned up the bass. I would have liked to hear these on a push pull tube amp before their departure.

I will keep my eyes open for this project again.