My Shindo system

[jondkaufman]

Tommy:
Great pictures and great set-up - you did a great job! I know that you are already planning your next upgrade for the pre-amp - as good as the little Aurieges is (and it is), it is a whole 'nother ballgame as you move up...
Best, jdk

[TommyC]

Originally Posted by magoo

I don't have any experience of their KT 88's, but I recently ordered 4 Psvane 12au7's for my pre amp, and was delighted with them, very good across all frequencies with a gorgeous rich tonality.....and securely packaged to make the trip from China to the UK. As soon as my account manager (aka better half lol) agrees, I'll be ordering a set of their EL34's for my power amps.

BTW, if my understanding is correct, Shungang & Psvane parted company a while back

Your impression mirrors many who uses the Shuguang Treasure tube or the newer iteration.

Originally Posted by Jerome W

Tommy,

I believe John when he says that better KT88s exist but will the sound improve a lot in your amps ? I'm not sure.
Imho you should trust Jonathan Halpern if he put those ones in : the amps must sound terrific as they are.
In my opinion you should enjoy those amps as they are for at least one year before thinking of changing tubes.
There is always something in this hobby disturbing us from ENJOYING THE WONDERS WE OWN.
Philippe ( Rafale ) told me once : " when you drink a great wine, does the knowledge of better other wines come to decrease your pleasure of drinking your particular wine ? of course not. Why are we doing the opposite with audio ?? ".
This wine comparison applies very well to Shindo but of course it is true for any kind of gear.

Subsidiary question for Jonathan : are those amps auto biasing ?

Jerome, I'm more than happy now. The setup is simply awesome. I don't plan on changing tubes any time soon. But, it's nice to know I can use other tubes when the need arises.

Btw, my CC80 is not auto biasing. Jonathan said the biasing instruction is simple.

Originally Posted by karsajid

What about the KT120? Is it possible to use this tube with the CC80?

In my experience it has been superior to the current production 6550 or KT88.

I don't know. I just know the CC80 is designed with KT88 in mind.

Originally Posted by jondkaufman

Tommy:
Great pictures and great set-up - you did a great job! I know that you are already planning your next upgrade for the pre-amp - as good as the little Aurieges is (and it is), it is a whole 'nother ballgame as you move up...
Best, jdk

Thanks jdk. I can't imagine how much better it can improve. But I'm ready for it

[Pronan]

TommyC,

Thanks for sharing the piccie, haven't the courage to take the covers off my 80's so very interesting to see inside,

[Pronan]

Originally Posted by JPrest

I'm also wondering about the use of newer reissue Gold Lions in such wonderful equipment, can you share how hot they are to the touch after listening for awhile?

If they are really hot, in my experience, they tend to go without warning and can damage equipment. I used them in a MC275V5 and it required service for blown resistors, after a tube run away an arched. McIntosh does not even push tubes hard at all.

Jprest,
My CC80's also came with the gold lion and they run Damn hot! I will try your idea regarding extracting after 20 mins or so

[TommyC]

The class A CC80 (~35w @ 8 ohm) sounds fuller and more powerful than my old Luxman (110w @ 8 ohm) solid state. The bass goes quite a bit deeper and more organic. I was listening to Chris Botti in Boston yesterday and it was fantastic. I stopped analyzing sound and just enjoyed the performance.

The CC80 works very well with Guarneri Memento. I'm using ~50% volume on the power amps and 7-9 o'clock on the preamp. This gives me lots of headroom.

I am happy

[TommyC]

Originally Posted by Pronan

Jprest,
My CC80's also came with the gold lion and they run Damn hot! I will try your idea regarding extracting after 20 mins or so

Matt told me with the gold lion, the tube cage won't fit. But I see you have your tube cages on.

[Jerome W]

Originally Posted by TommyC

The class A CC80 (~35w @ 8 ohm) sounds fuller and more powerful than my old Luxman (110w @ 8 ohm) solid state. The bass goes quite a bit deeper and more organic. I was listening to Chris Botti in Boston yesterday and it was fantastic. I stopped analyzing sound and just enjoyed the performance.

The CC80 works very well with Guarneri Memento. I'm using ~50% volume on the power amps and 7-9 o'clock on the preamp. This gives me lots of headroom.

I am happy

Tommy,

I thought that the CC80 were rated at 70 W on 8 ohm. But like the CCQ and most Shindo amps, they decrease their power on 4 ohm very fast.
It's no surprise to me that the CC80 can handle the GMs at moderate levels. Shindo amps give an incredible sense of power, which denies their rated power.
But I still wonder if the use of the CC80 is "approved" by Mr. Shindo with the SF GMs.....

Sent from my iPad using A.Aficionado

[gortnipper]

Originally Posted by Jerome W

But I still wonder if the use of the CC80 is "approved" by Mr. Shindo with the SF GMs.....

Matt sold it to him, so of course it is approved!

[Pronan]

Originally Posted by TommyC

Matt told me with the gold lion, the tube cage won't fit. But I see you have your tube cages on.

Tube cages are fine. There is clearance, I'll post a closer piccie this weekend and you can judge from yourself, what I will say is that the amps are in a vertical arrangement in my Rack of Silence, one above the other. But the higher one is set back further because I was worried about the heavy rising from the KT88 on the other channel.

Again. I don't have lots of experience of tube amps so i might be guilty of bring overly protective. 😳

[Pronan]

TommyC,
there is about 3-4mm of clearance between the cage top and the tube.

regards,
Paul