Favorite H H Scott Tube Integrated Amplifier

Ldatlof and Wwwrecords,

Thanks for the glowing advice (slight pun intended - tubes, glow...). I am definately going ahead with Craig at Nosvalves.

Thanks!

Ldatlof and Wwwrecords, many thanks, excellent advice. Karavite, looking out for each other is our PURPOSE in these forums. When we all share information like this, we spare each other wasted time, disappointment and costly mistakes in our search for truth in music reproduction. One thing I've always loved about vintage Scott gear (and the reason I started this thread) is the opportunity to get into some really musical gear without mortgaging the house. Karavite, when you get your Scott back, please be sure to post and let everyone know how it turned out. By the way, what speakers have you been using that mate so well with your Scott 222a?

Will do. I'll let you know about everything!

I agree about the budget issues. Before I found my Scott I thought I had to spend thousands and thousands for great sound and I indeed spent thousands and thousands for nice, but not entirely satisfying sound (Totem, Rotel, B&W...). Actually I now know you don't have to spend so much $$$ even for great sounding new gear (Prima Luna integrated for example), but it is tough out there and most of us learn the lessons only after spending money.

My speakers are Omega Loudspeakers Super 3Rs. I bought them about three years ago. Omega has a new model of my speaker out now and here is the website: http://www.omegaloudspeakers.com/super%203.htm

Louis at Omega is a fantastic guy. I mean it, Grade A, super number one. He put up with all my newbie questions with 100% class and patience. He was anything but arrogant or pretentious (so rare in the world of audio). On top of that he makes some awesome speakers. At 93db and with a single 4.5" full range driver these speakers are a fantastic match for my Scott. When I first turned them on it was love. Then I bought some nice speaker cables from Louis and it was even more love. Then I got the Skylan stands and it was insane love. Then I filled the stands with sand and it was over the top out of control love (I was skeptical this would have any effect, but it was huge).

Any way, that and a Rotel CD player and a Music Hall MMF turntable are all I have here in the living rom, but it keeps me happy. Well, in a month or two I should be set up with a modded Squeeze Box 3 and one of my Macs as a music server. I think it will be kind of neat to have a 45 year old amp hooked up to a wireless computer based music network.

Well I did it and despite warnings of doom, the results were fantastic. I had my Scott 222 worked on by Ryan at http://www.hotglassaudio.com/. Like Craig at Nosvalves, Ryan uses the right kind of replacement parts and his whole approach is to get the amp back to its original design specs. From what I could tell, this guy knows just about everything there is to know about old tube audio. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Ryan I now know that I have a somewhat rare 222 (just 222, not an A, B, C...). He said the 222 is biased very close to class A and is one of the best sounding Scotts. He replaced all the caps and other parts. Turned out someone replaced the power transformer and tried to disguise it as being the original part. Ryan said the replacement wasn't outputting enough voltage so he set me up with a new power transformer that he likes to use. All that and a few new tubes is all that was needed.

So, how does it sound? Fantastic and very much improved. I cannot do the whole audiophile sound description thing (liquid midrange with lushness in the upper...), but in a nutshell it sounds cleaner, brighter and crisper yet lost none of the warmth that I liked so much about this amp. Is the Scott the best amp of all time? Of course not, but even though the price of a used Scott is going up a bit you could buy one, have it restored by someone who knows their stuff, and you will end up with a Jolida or Prima Luna beater at half the price.

Just picked up a 222c, needs filter caps, I'll boost them by at least 100% tightens up the bass, keeps the mids clear as the volume goes up. I'll probably go with auracaps for coupling caps- this has worked wonders on other Scotts I've moded. May raise the B+ for the line stage (see my article in Glass Audio vol 1 issue1) and then increase the load resistors.
Be glad to let you know how it comes out- been working with these and other CLASSIC amps for 20 years.