TJ 845's
#16
Point taken Nick. I merely said that Liang was not bad at £500 compared to what is a 4k amp brand new from the shop. I think honesty is the best approach even if it is someone you have not met before. No point in sugar coating everything. I am sure with all the audio knowledge in that room that day given time we could have had the UR845 sounding as it should with the right speakers.
Last edited by swampy on Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#17
Maybe, but given the owner is happy with how it works in her home, with her speakers, and her music, it may be a tad arrogant to assume it should be changed. What if it was gutted, the driver stage changed to be more like the MrLiang, then Sam got it home and found it was pants in its normal environment.I am sure with all the audio knowledge in that room that day given time we could have had the UR845 sounding as it should with the right speakers.
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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richardcooper2k
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#18
a lot of people here are interested in how their gear sounds at least partly with a veiw to redesign/modification to improve things (subjectively of course).
however, some people might not fall into this trap or want to . and if one did want to, an 845 amp is probably not the best place to start. (unless someone else did it for you).
hope you don't feel i'm speaking on your behalf, samantha. communication is an interest of mine (probably because i'm not very good at it)
however, some people might not fall into this trap or want to . and if one did want to, an 845 amp is probably not the best place to start. (unless someone else did it for you).
hope you don't feel i'm speaking on your behalf, samantha. communication is an interest of mine (probably because i'm not very good at it)
#19
ooh, a difficult line to tread here....
I think we have to remember that many of us here have been playing this game for some time. Hopefully gathering some experiences along the way.
But lets be honest, almost any valve amp is not only good, but excellent. They range from a box of bits costing ridiculously low sums to rather extravagant toys.
But they all offer something rather good compared to the mass offerings esp in the solid state commercial arena.
Samantha, maybe take comfort in that many of us have been exactly where you are now. I've no doubt your amp sounds great, and maybe it gives you exactly all that you require from it.
But others have different ideas and knowledge. You wouldn't want them to keep that to themselves and only tell you what you want to hear would you?
That would be just like that nice man in the shop you once described.
We are all here to share and enjoy, and it works rather well. Many inc myself have come far (or maybe not so far !) and only because of sharing knowledge, experience and above all honest opinions that allow us to delve further into the subject.
And trust me, most of us have been disappointed one way or another along the way.
You can't buy what is offered here by the members.
There is nothing wrong with your amp, we all know that much. But any amp can be improved upon like most things. They guys here are doing it all the time to their own boxes of joy.
I believe that is all the guys are trying to say.
I think we have to remember that many of us here have been playing this game for some time. Hopefully gathering some experiences along the way.
But lets be honest, almost any valve amp is not only good, but excellent. They range from a box of bits costing ridiculously low sums to rather extravagant toys.
But they all offer something rather good compared to the mass offerings esp in the solid state commercial arena.
Samantha, maybe take comfort in that many of us have been exactly where you are now. I've no doubt your amp sounds great, and maybe it gives you exactly all that you require from it.
But others have different ideas and knowledge. You wouldn't want them to keep that to themselves and only tell you what you want to hear would you?
That would be just like that nice man in the shop you once described.
We are all here to share and enjoy, and it works rather well. Many inc myself have come far (or maybe not so far !) and only because of sharing knowledge, experience and above all honest opinions that allow us to delve further into the subject.
And trust me, most of us have been disappointed one way or another along the way.
You can't buy what is offered here by the members.
There is nothing wrong with your amp, we all know that much. But any amp can be improved upon like most things. They guys here are doing it all the time to their own boxes of joy.
I believe that is all the guys are trying to say.
#20
I was not suggesting we gut her amp. That would be silly.Nick wrote:Maybe, but given the owner is happy with how it works in her home, with her speakers, and her music, it may be a tad arrogant to assume it should be changed. What if it was gutted, the driver stage changed to be more like the MrLiang, then Sam got it home and found it was pants in its normal environment.I am sure with all the audio knowledge in that room that day given time we could have had the UR845 sounding as it should with the right speakers.
#23
I would be more worried what the 30 geeks looked like after Sam had finished with them.
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
#24
Hi David/All,
Just thought I'd post an update.Got some Mills resistors and a pair of cryo'd(does it make a difference? I think not...) new Tung Sol KT66's a few weeks ago(Ok they were only 30 quid a matched pair delivered).Tried the 66's first for a while.Hmm.. nope,the Reflektor 5881's walked all over them to be honest.Did you say you tried some Mullard David? Then I fitted the Mills and listened for a while.Lots more detail but changed the sound in a way I really didn't like at all,sounded very solid-state-ish,very edgy and so on.Do these take a while to burn in? Left it there as my system is still at my place in Leeds and I'm working up in Sconnie Botland now.The next week I took delivery of some coupling caps.I'd intended to get Obbligato copper bodies,but diyhifisupply was out of stock of 0.47 ,so in a moment of madness I plumped for a pair of 0.47 SCR's and a pair of 0.22 standard Obbs.200 dollars yikes!! Even more yikes when the Obbs were only 12 dollars of that! How silly was I to spend that much on caps for a Chinese amp.Fitted these on the Saturday in a fever of anticipation as it were.They were amazing from first switch-on.I've never changed a component to such great effect before.Talking to Nick at Owstfest and asking his advice on the Lampizator mod for the Mr Liang,he'd mentioned that the mod removed a "hole" in the upper mid amongst other things.Now having become accustomed to the amp and not hearing any others for a while in my system,I'd not really noticed this,but fitting the SCR's totally transformed the sound and I noticed retrospectively that the hole Nick had mentioned was no longer there.The sound was just so much more complete if that makes any sense.Now I know I'm not in the realms of breadboarding and trying new things every week,but I've heard little if any mention of SCR's.Has anyone else tried them? I know they are pricey and it's just IMHO but I really think they are worth every penny.I've changed caps before,and not always to the better,just different,but with these it's like listening to a different amp.Maybe it's just that the supplied caps were crap,I dunno,they have no brand name,just a white coating,but the new caps made a huge difference in every area,and from what I can gather from the site,they have a long burn-in time,so maybe they'll get even better over time.
Regards,Ali.
Just thought I'd post an update.Got some Mills resistors and a pair of cryo'd(does it make a difference? I think not...) new Tung Sol KT66's a few weeks ago(Ok they were only 30 quid a matched pair delivered).Tried the 66's first for a while.Hmm.. nope,the Reflektor 5881's walked all over them to be honest.Did you say you tried some Mullard David? Then I fitted the Mills and listened for a while.Lots more detail but changed the sound in a way I really didn't like at all,sounded very solid-state-ish,very edgy and so on.Do these take a while to burn in? Left it there as my system is still at my place in Leeds and I'm working up in Sconnie Botland now.The next week I took delivery of some coupling caps.I'd intended to get Obbligato copper bodies,but diyhifisupply was out of stock of 0.47 ,so in a moment of madness I plumped for a pair of 0.47 SCR's and a pair of 0.22 standard Obbs.200 dollars yikes!! Even more yikes when the Obbs were only 12 dollars of that! How silly was I to spend that much on caps for a Chinese amp.Fitted these on the Saturday in a fever of anticipation as it were.They were amazing from first switch-on.I've never changed a component to such great effect before.Talking to Nick at Owstfest and asking his advice on the Lampizator mod for the Mr Liang,he'd mentioned that the mod removed a "hole" in the upper mid amongst other things.Now having become accustomed to the amp and not hearing any others for a while in my system,I'd not really noticed this,but fitting the SCR's totally transformed the sound and I noticed retrospectively that the hole Nick had mentioned was no longer there.The sound was just so much more complete if that makes any sense.Now I know I'm not in the realms of breadboarding and trying new things every week,but I've heard little if any mention of SCR's.Has anyone else tried them? I know they are pricey and it's just IMHO but I really think they are worth every penny.I've changed caps before,and not always to the better,just different,but with these it's like listening to a different amp.Maybe it's just that the supplied caps were crap,I dunno,they have no brand name,just a white coating,but the new caps made a huge difference in every area,and from what I can gather from the site,they have a long burn-in time,so maybe they'll get even better over time.
Regards,Ali.
#25
Sound like a worthwhile change Ali 
I don't know about SCR caps, but I am coming to the general conclusion that the caps fitted to many Chinese amps are pants, I just replaced the caps in a expensive (>1k when new) chinese el34 amp and the improvement was obvious, the caps I replaced then with were two AN Cu PIO's and four Clarity Caps,
I don't know about SCR caps, but I am coming to the general conclusion that the caps fitted to many Chinese amps are pants, I just replaced the caps in a expensive (>1k when new) chinese el34 amp and the improvement was obvious, the caps I replaced then with were two AN Cu PIO's and four Clarity Caps,
Whenever an honest man discovers that he's mistaken, he will either cease to be mistaken or he will cease to be honest.
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andrew Ivimey
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#27
I've got a big handful of Obbs and been trying them here
and there and I'm not sure yet!
For PSUs, fine, but coupling?
I really haven't made up my mind.
and there and I'm not sure yet!
For PSUs, fine, but coupling?
I really haven't made up my mind.
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andrew Ivimey
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#29
Al, my first inclination is that I like them but in the first instance they were a direct replacement for those RS polyprop caps. Obbs are better than that.
Adrian Budd has also used them in an upgrade for a chinese amp.
A few months ago I posted, has anyone used these caps and I don't think I got any responses - which is a shame.
The new range of Obbs are copper covered. They look snazzy good and well rather like Audionotes, but being metal sheathed means they can easily short out other parts of the circuit (as can audionotes), which is a bit daft, then.
Adrian Budd has also used them in an upgrade for a chinese amp.
A few months ago I posted, has anyone used these caps and I don't think I got any responses - which is a shame.
The new range of Obbs are copper covered. They look snazzy good and well rather like Audionotes, but being metal sheathed means they can easily short out other parts of the circuit (as can audionotes), which is a bit daft, then.
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richardcooper2k
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#30
there is some clear shrink stuff you can put over these metal cased caps, but i don't know where to get it from. anyone know ?