- Posted by Corndog71 (A) on May 03, 2009 at 10:13:25
It took me couple of days to build it. Instructions were overall excellent. There were a couple of points that could've been clarified better but these are minor quibbles. I also want to add how well packed everything was.I was so excited while doing the resistance and voltage checks that I could barely contain myself. Or maybe it was fear of having missed something. No worries though because it all checked out and fired up right away!
I plugged in my Klipsch Heresey IIs and was immediately disappointed.
Ok, bear with me here. I found the right channel seemed to be muted in the upper frequencies. First I swapped tubes between channels but that didn't help. I unplugged the speakers and plugged in my headphones and...it was perfectly balanced. I glared at the stereo suspiciously. As far as I knew the speakers were fine. I knew my right channel output wiring to the binding posts was a little tight so I thought maybe it just was a bad solder joint. So I pulled the sex amp out and resoldered those connections. Back into the stereo and dang it there was no change.
Then I went down the line. I swapped speaker cables and no change.
Then I swapped the speaker connections at the amp and the right side was consistent so that brought me to suspect my right speaker. It's so weird because I had been using a NAD integrated before and didn't notice this problem before.Anyway, I plugged in some different speakers (I seem to have a lot of these laying around :)) and everything was fine. I just have a speaker to troubleshoot now.
I let it play all night and burn in and today it sounds very good. There's definitely a very nice clarity in the midrange that I'm not used to hearing. Bass is also very good. I'm digging it! Even through my 91dB Definitive Tech. Studio Monitor 350s they can fill a small room with big, beautiful sound! Who knew 2.5 watts could be so effective. Those tubes get HOT too! Especially when reaching over them to pull speaker cables and my soft, tender inner forearm brushed against one. Yowch! Those tubes need some kind of cage to protect unwary hands.
To sum up, a fantastic kit and one I'm sure I will enjoy for a long time!
Also looking forward to installing some upgrades!Thanks to Doc B., The Queen, and PJ!
Edits: 05/03/09 05/03/09
