I got the cables installed today, I had an hour spare waiting before taking a friend to the airport. I remembered I had a pair of MK toughplugs in the garage - they'll do just fine for now. The other end is hard-wired - eventually to a switch, but just into a choc-block for now.
I had to dismount the circuit boards & slide the heatsinks down in order to drill out the hole for the new cables to pass through - they are bulky! Then I had to reassemble everything, and check it works (no smoke!).
All that is left is to connect the switches, I'm waiting to borrow an appropriate crimping tool for that - then I can mount the stone fronts. That will probably be after the weekend as someone may be visiting to see how they are put together.
Frustratingly, I don't know when I'll have a chance to listen to them, I shall have to scheme a way to steal a few hours from somewhere. I've little chance of remembering how they sounded with the old leads though.
Mains cables installed, heavy duty switches wired in, stone fronts in place & bonded on. There is a small amount of touching up to be done (chips & scratches), but they can probably wait. Once they're complete I'll polish the stone & use black car trim wax on the glossy sides.
Some pics:
Hardly pretty, but I feel biased. I like them! B-)
The sound has changed with the new mains cable, the balance has evened out somewhat. There's no loutish hooligan bass left!... which I think is a good thing. The whole thing sounds more balanced, more 'right' somehow, without any particular aspect or angle standing out above others. A bit more even handed overall, which means more detail jumps out during listening. Honestly, I think these are getting more resolving as the days go by, I've never experienced any Hifi like it. How much is down to having time to properly soak & burn in, and/or the new mains cable, I couldn't say.
I took them to visit 'The Jim' today, it was predictably a treat to spend time in his den with some real grown up speakers. These days he has folded back loaded corner horns (Tractrix) with Lowther EX4 drivers. They were fast! Seamless bass integration and less coloration than most box speakers. If anything they have the same speed & dynamics of ESL57s but a wider sweet spot, though maybe slightly thin tonally. Really fine speakers indeed. Just perfect for live jazz recordings. Guess what we were listening to?
They are a very good match for the type of valve amps Jim uses these days, no wonder as the speaker & amp technology grew up together many years ago and meet each others needs perfectly. I thought the SECAs stepped into the system very nicely, considering they are way more muscle than required and are probably really meant to grip much less efficient speakers. They certainly added some warmth, a bit of color and were easily fast enough to sit well with the extraordinary Lowthers.
Jim added a large resistor to one of the speaker lines, apparently a common trick when using heavily damped Lowthers with high damping factor transistor amps - apparently the DF of the valve amp Jim was using is between 2-5, the SECA is in the thousands. This allows the amp to 'see' more to drive. The sound certainly changed with it in place, everything was little fuller, I think 'plummy'(?) is the adjective here. The bass felt slower though, I think I preferred the amps without the added resistor.
In the end this was an unfamiliar system so I couldn't really tell how the amps have changed, but it was good fun and the SECAs really sounded the business. I need to get some grown up speakers at home in the future, the scale is addictive.
Now the SECAs have settled a little, and hopefully changed for the last time, I need to experiment with speaker positioning again so they sound their best with my (toy) speakers.
Mains cables are bwilliant! The bass is by no means absent, but it is behaving. This is simply super, it's like the brakes have been let off, the music has a sense of freedom and punch that exceeds what came before.
Col reckons the mains cables handle approx. 27 amps, should be adequate...
I don't have the scale here at home that Jim's behemoth horns had, but these amps seem happier somehow. They like having a slightly harder speaker load to grip by the scruff of the neck & fling down the road.
The stone front on my amp was originally intended as a bathroom tile, that one was intended as a tombstone. Which would have been appropriate if anyone tried to lift it!
Comments
I had to dismount the circuit boards & slide the heatsinks down in order to drill out the hole for the new cables to pass through - they are bulky! Then I had to reassemble everything, and check it works (no smoke!).
All that is left is to connect the switches, I'm waiting to borrow an appropriate crimping tool for that - then I can mount the stone fronts. That will probably be after the weekend as someone may be visiting to see how they are put together.
Frustratingly, I don't know when I'll have a chance to listen to them, I shall have to scheme a way to steal a few hours from somewhere. I've little chance of remembering how they sounded with the old leads though.
Some pics:
Hardly pretty, but I feel biased. I like them! B-)
I demand something of less diminutive proportions.
Hot running.......cool looking =D>
I took them to visit 'The Jim' today, it was predictably a treat to spend time in his den with some real grown up speakers. These days he has folded back loaded corner horns (Tractrix) with Lowther EX4 drivers. They were fast! Seamless bass integration and less coloration than most box speakers. If anything they have the same speed & dynamics of ESL57s but a wider sweet spot, though maybe slightly thin tonally. Really fine speakers indeed. Just perfect for live jazz recordings. Guess what we were listening to?
They are a very good match for the type of valve amps Jim uses these days, no wonder as the speaker & amp technology grew up together many years ago and meet each others needs perfectly. I thought the SECAs stepped into the system very nicely, considering they are way more muscle than required and are probably really meant to grip much less efficient speakers. They certainly added some warmth, a bit of color and were easily fast enough to sit well with the extraordinary Lowthers.
Jim added a large resistor to one of the speaker lines, apparently a common trick when using heavily damped Lowthers with high damping factor transistor amps - apparently the DF of the valve amp Jim was using is between 2-5, the SECA is in the thousands. This allows the amp to 'see' more to drive. The sound certainly changed with it in place, everything was little fuller, I think 'plummy'(?) is the adjective here. The bass felt slower though, I think I preferred the amps without the added resistor.
In the end this was an unfamiliar system so I couldn't really tell how the amps have changed, but it was good fun and the SECAs really sounded the business. I need to get some grown up speakers at home in the future, the scale is addictive.
Now the SECAs have settled a little, and hopefully changed for the last time, I need to experiment with speaker positioning again so they sound their best with my (toy) speakers.
Col reckons the mains cables handle approx. 27 amps, should be adequate...
I don't have the scale here at home that Jim's behemoth horns had, but these amps seem happier somehow. They like having a slightly harder speaker load to grip by the scruff of the neck & fling down the road.
He had the scab for many weeks, it was a lesson to us all!
No way, me having a heart attack every morning in the bathroom until I turn the mirror round.