I’m committed to the Pro-ject Tube Box for budget reasons. I’m not going to spend $15,000 on a phono stage when my entire system is about $45,000, spent over a 45 year period, or in other words, about $1,000 a year. If someone wants to recommend a phono stage that’s no more than $2,000, I’m all ears.
And, I have these weird little boxes in the chain, just before the amps, “BBE Sonic Maximizers” https://reverb.com/item/74294033-bbe-282ix-desktop-sonic-maximizer that I learned about from a guitarist friend. They are $90 each and probably everyone here is saying wtf but they WORK, as long as you don’t use them as tone controls. They adjust the phasing, and in doing so they make the sound more detailed and present. So big $$$s is not necessarily better. Black cat white cat whatever catches the mouse.
You may ask: but you spent all that money on the Koetsus? (I have a rosewood signature as well)
I paid nowhere near full price for the Leopard, and the (old original) onyx was a gift from a quite famous rock musician ( he allegedly had four of them) who will remain unnamed for fear of being accused of name dropping. The only hint I will provide is that he is an ardent environmentalist and he heard through the grapevine that I played a not insignificant role in keeping fracking out of NY State and that my Koetsu Black, at 25+ years, was reaching the end of its life, that I was budget conscious and decided to help me out.
As for the results I’m getting: this guy goes around the New York metro area and up into New England, into dozen’s and dozen’s of people’s homes selling hi end gear, and tubes in particular.
He shows up with a tube tester and a bag of 20 or 30 or so pairs of tubes, and we stick ‘em in the phono stage, and I listen to specific tracks that I have memorized over and over with each set. While he listens for maybe 30 seconds and then based on that, rummaged through his bag looking for the next set. After doing that for an hour or so, he leaves 3 or 4 sets behind for a week so that I can burn each for 24 hrs then listen.
I was at his home, his system is much more modern and his amps alone cost far more than my entire system. Nevertheless, on the last visit, I put in a fourth set, and instead of listening for 30 seconds then running to his bag, he just stood there and listened to the entire track. He says that “I’ve worked on so many high end systems, I’ve never stepped back and listened to an entire track before. This system is not just better than almost anything I’ve heard. It’s different in a way that is totally …” and I forgot the word he used but it was along the lines of “caressing in a completely enveloping” sort of way.
And yes, tubes are known to change, for worse but also for better, not just over weeks or months, but over years.
And yes, I’m lucky to have found this guy who happens to live in my neighborhood so to speak. It is a blessing from the audio gods, to be able to try stuff out before you buy, as some tubes have a terrific rep but when you put them in they are just “meh” and I’m talking about British Mullards for example.
@trivema I’ll post a list of the tubes later. The ones with the “nirvana” are mCp-something. He is a big fan of Valvo, and those in fact have been the best. They leave Telefunkens in the dust.
theaudioatticvinylsundays.com