Bring some money. Or not.
Totally Tubular: The Tube Thread
- Thread starter displayname
- Start date
Splunders
Well-Known Member
I listened to the EVO 300 integrated and a pair of Spendor D7.2s a couple weeks ago. Even though I fully understand just how wildly different it might sound inputting that combo in my setup and room, I still can't help thinking about it. If you bring money, grab a stack of willpower while you're at it too.
Jango
Active Member
Hmmm... I could leave my plastic in Massachusetts to be safe. But I won't.
Seriously- see if you can demo with KT88 tubes. It’s a completely different amp compared to the EL34s they ship with. I think @Splunders will agree.
Splunders
Well-Known Member
I don't have the EVO, but the ProLogue 5. It came with KT88s, and long story short I have quads of Upscale Audio Cryo Gold Lion KT88s and KT77/EL34 each. I've swapped them back and forth multiple times and always go back to the KT88s. The EL34s bring a tad bit more warmth but way less bass grip and depth. KT88s are further extended in the high freqs as well. Just a much more extended tube all around and fit all music types much better IMO.
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
This may not be as close of a competition as I had hoped.
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
Jango
Active Member
Go on...
Jango
Active Member
So I spent about an hour with the EVO 400 on Saturday. The EVO 300 unit they usually have was out for an in-home demo, and the dealer thought they were similar enough for a first listen. He had set up a pair of Focals that weren’t the same as mine but a successor. Long short, it sounded great. The dynamics were pretty incredible. Very clear highs - almost too clear - and lots of bass. The soundstage wasn’t as holographic as I was expecting, especially for tubes. It wasn’t very midrange forward. The differences between ultralinear and triode was very subtle, but welcome depending on what I was listening to.
It easily bested my Marantz, but to be honest, I wasn’t transported. I think the Marantz has more depth, but it definitely doesn’t have the fidelity of the PL. The unit I listened to had the stock EL34s. It had been warming up for a few hours, but he wasnt sure how many hours it had on it. I asked if there was any hearing It with a set of KT88s and he said I could tube roll to my heart’s content if I brought it home.
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
Still some proper measurements coming, as well as more extended comparison tests. I might set them up as A-B on my amplifier switch for rapid testing.
Off the top of my head, the KingKo is warmer, friendlier, a bit more compressed. More flexible with poor recordings. The Decware is...so detailed. Like, so good that it lays bare every poor recording but sounds transcendant with anything halfway well-produced. And it will require an active preamp to get full output.
Jango
Active Member
Did you figure out the issue you were having with the crossovers in your Fortes?
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
The frequency response problem was using, like, iPhone microphones. Gonna measure again with a proper omni this week to see how real it is.
Jango
Active Member
What makes you say you need a preamp for the Torii?
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
It's got an input sensitivity of 1.9V, which is about 2x what I'm putting into it, so I'm only getting partial wattage.
Bloodlemons
Well-Known Member
I'm sure I mentioned this above, but my ZMA sounded very very good on its own and fucking fantastic once I added a gain stage.
MikeH
Well-Known Member
So far don't have a ton of hours listening to it (I only set it up on Saturday AM!) but I am really digging the Jolida so far! It feels like a big upgrade, or at least a very different sound, from my LX-LPS. Sounds great paired with the Gold 3. Eventually when I get brave enough, I might test out some other tubes with it but for now, I love the sound. I may be a tube-preamp convert as well but want to spend more time with it before I fully declare it!Well, for what it's worth, I'm sold on tube pre-amps. Between the Jolida and now the Manley, I'm completely in
Maybe @MikeH can share his Jolida JD9 impressions
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
The Decware honestly sounds incredible. Part of my consideration regarding whether to keep it is the extra expense of the preamp, not to mention the fact that the Decware will likely be vastly easier to resell than the KingKo.
And for the record, the KingKo sounds very, very good. The Decware is just a tier above.
Splunders
Well-Known Member
The preamp can come later, right? If it sounds incredible as-is, there's no rush to spend more now. And you are 100% right about the resell factor. I can't speak to your financial comfort, but to me, based on all your feedback, keeping the Decware seems like the right choice.
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
Well, if I keep the Dec I will want to resell the KingKo. I’ve already returned it once on the seller’s dime and then paid to have it sent back to me after he diagnosed the issues I was having and did 48 hours of in-home testing to confirm all was well. I don’t have the heart to return it a second time and say ‘I got something I like more.’
I suppose if it comes to it, someone will get a nice deal on a pretty sweet little amp.