Hi Ken,
Dan has some fine well regarded products under his belt. One of my favorites is modified Sony 9100 ES universal CD/DVD/SACD player which sound great. It would be great addition to my rig and add state of the art multichannel playback capibility which my system is missing.
Modwright SWL 9.0 SE stock tube linestage was the unite that was the part of the shot-out. I imagine that 36.5 would do substantially better and I am not for one underestimate its qualities and overall performance superiority over older 9.0 design. I have had the pleasure of hearing 36.5 during 2008 CES in Vegas. I can not comment or discuss its potentials due to the usually poor sounding rooms that are major problems in most cases while trying to audition new gear at the shows. The only way to get any meaningful and true idea of its virtues and sound is to insert it to your system and listen.
Its signature "house" sound characteristics were audible.....is it a good thing ?....I do not know. Maybe for some and not for others I guess. At the end it looks seems like a solid performer and it might be worth a closer look.
As to the Mullard tube of choice. It is:
(7840)
CV 2493
KB/ODD
NOS
(I have some pics of that tube in My Gallery on Audio Circle - user name "Mariusz" )
This tube is just wonderful in Dodd preamp. I must add that I never was a big fan of Mullard's smaller tubes and the only other tube from Britain that I considered to use in my system was Mullard's famous EL34s for my mono-amps.
Its middle-range is second to non and its ability resolve and rendition of music material is relaxed and very emotional experience. 7308 Amperex NOS made in W. Germany was plain and boring in comparison. It took about a minute for the fellow audiophiles to rule the Mullards as the champ. I also used some NOS orange label 6922 Amperex made in Holland. These performed better and are just behind Mullards.
I hope it helps somewhat and answers your questions.
Regards
Mariusz
Dan has some fine well regarded products under his belt. One of my favorites is modified Sony 9100 ES universal CD/DVD/SACD player which sound great. It would be great addition to my rig and add state of the art multichannel playback capibility which my system is missing.
Modwright SWL 9.0 SE stock tube linestage was the unite that was the part of the shot-out. I imagine that 36.5 would do substantially better and I am not for one underestimate its qualities and overall performance superiority over older 9.0 design. I have had the pleasure of hearing 36.5 during 2008 CES in Vegas. I can not comment or discuss its potentials due to the usually poor sounding rooms that are major problems in most cases while trying to audition new gear at the shows. The only way to get any meaningful and true idea of its virtues and sound is to insert it to your system and listen.
Its signature "house" sound characteristics were audible.....is it a good thing ?....I do not know. Maybe for some and not for others I guess. At the end it looks seems like a solid performer and it might be worth a closer look.
As to the Mullard tube of choice. It is:
(7840)
CV 2493
KB/ODD
NOS
(I have some pics of that tube in My Gallery on Audio Circle - user name "Mariusz" )
This tube is just wonderful in Dodd preamp. I must add that I never was a big fan of Mullard's smaller tubes and the only other tube from Britain that I considered to use in my system was Mullard's famous EL34s for my mono-amps.
Its middle-range is second to non and its ability resolve and rendition of music material is relaxed and very emotional experience. 7308 Amperex NOS made in W. Germany was plain and boring in comparison. It took about a minute for the fellow audiophiles to rule the Mullards as the champ. I also used some NOS orange label 6922 Amperex made in Holland. These performed better and are just behind Mullards.
I hope it helps somewhat and answers your questions.
Regards
Mariusz