Coincident Dragon Amplifier

Almarg,
Ironically, I have this exact same pairing, having bought a VAC Renaissance 70/70 MkIII a month or so ago (in an auction) to try with my Ulysses speakers. I am trying KR 300B tubes, which I literally lucked into finding at a crazy good price. I believe they are a big improvement over the JJ 300Bs that came with the amp (although they sounded quite good as well). I am still messing around with different 6SN7s. My favorite combo so far is Ken Rad Black Glass and Raytheons, which sound great.

Like you, I am very, very happy with the way the VAC amp sounds on my Daedalus speakers. What a spectacular match!

Enjoy!

Thanks very much for the nice comments, guys.

Waltersalas, you're most probably already aware of the need to make certain that any 300B used in the Renaissance amps conforms to the original Western Electric specifications (which many 300B's that are available do not). But to be sure, let me point out the following statement on page 9 of the manual (which is available at their website), concerning KR tubes:

KR Enterprises: Many versions produced, most deviant from 300B standards. Be certain that the version you use conforms to the WECo 300B standard for filament current (1.5A) or amplifier damage may result.

The email from Kevin that I mentioned in my previous post specifically suggests checking with him when in doubt.

Consistent with your findings, btw, the manual comments somewhat negatively on the sonic performance of the JJ's in the amp.

Thanks for joining the thread and sharing your experiences. As you certainly know, while the Daedalus speakers are very easy to drive and unusually versatile with respect to amplifier selection, at the same time they will make the sonic character of the amplifier that is used very evident, which in this case is clearly something special.

Best regards,
-- Al

Hi Al,

Want to say congratulations! I am glad you are pleased with your amp. Hope it gives you many blissful hours!

Best,

Dave

Hi Al,

This is Jim from Shanghai China, I'm an audiophile and starting interested in vintage radios since months ago, gladly to see your posts with several pics of McMurdo Silver Masterpiece V console from your collection, and you've mentioned you have another Masterpiece VI to be refinished, so do you still have them in your room by now? if a yes and you may consider to sell one of them to me, I will be glad to hear your quote.

I'll fly to Buffalo on May 14th and will be hanging around in east coast area for 2 weeks, if possibly and you don't mind maybe I could come to visit you.

During my trip to the US I could be reached via email to jim2wang@yahoo.com, or my Skype ID is jim2wang, I will get a phone number when I arrived Buffalo 14228 NY.

I looking forward to hear from you soon.

Cheers
Jim

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your interest. I still haven't gotten around to having the McMurdo Silver cabinet refinished; it's a low priority for me right now. Also, I don't envision selling any of my sets in the foreseeable future.

Since you are relatively new to the hobby, I'll suggest that if you already haven't you check out the site of Antique Radio Classified, including the links it provides to other sites, and the books they offer for sale.

Regarding a visit here, personal circumstances make that impractical for me in the coming weeks.

Regards,
-- Al