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In Reply to: deHavilland Mercury Preamp posted by Tuckers on September 20, 2004 at 00:37:28:
Just a question. I have a SuperVerve and have been considering upgrading. How difficult is it to find matched pairs of quality 85 tubes. Peace.
Follow Ups:
> Just a question. I have a SuperVerve and have been considering upgrading.By upgrading, do you mean selling your Super Verve and purchasing a Mercury or actually having your Super Verve upgraded to a Mercury? If the latter, it's not practical according to Kara. I already asked.
As I understand it Kara and George have a huge stash of 85s, enough so they will never runout.
Thanks for the reply. Will you be posting a full review anytime soon? Peace.
I'm a little new to AudioAsylum . . . sure, I've posted some . . . so I may not myself be qualified to post a review of the Mercury. Maybe the original poster will.However, I also just got one, maybe a week ago. I ran it all last weekend playing various stuff (using the Neatest Way Not To Get Bored During Burn In: Apple AirTunes!). This weekend I'm actually going to start listening . . . but wow. It's great.
First off, there's NO microphony. I've read people mention that the SuperVerve can be a little sensitive . . . but that doesn't seem to be the case with the Merc. I don't personally know 6SN7s (Verve) to be all that microphonic, so maybe it's something else. Who knows.
Fit and finish: EXPERT. Wonderful build quality. From the spec sheet (on their website), the components I can't see are top-notch. What I can see, the case, knobs, and the connectors, are great. It feels like I've had something custom-built, rather than bought something off a shelf, if that makes sense.
Manuals, support: EXCELLENT. The manual is quite simple. I was looking forward to seeing a schematic of the Merc, but one's not included (secrects inside!). But that's not a big deal. The manual is short (good if you've got ADD . . . Look, a bird!), and Kara is very responsive via email. Not that I've had any questions.
Tube complement: a 5AW4 rectifier, type-85 triode (x2), 6AH4 cathode follower (x2). 5AW4 and 6AH4s are trivially easy to find, and CHEAP (expect $5-10/tube), and many people have stashes of type-85s, it would seem. Also about $5/tube. Kara included a pair of nice chrome-dome 6AH4s; I've also found some nice side-getters.
Inputs: 4 (single-ended)
Outputs: 2 (single-ended, electrically equivalent)
The sound: Open. Detailed, but not analytic. More liquid than my system sounds without it, perhaps because of the tube rectification. Stereo imaging is wonderful. You can hear everything. Bass is as good as my system can muster (modded Moth Cicada horns); someone with a system that's better on the low end might be able to comment better on that. Not only are voices wonderful, but the instruments are clear as well. Its resolution is wonderful.
Probably because this is a REAL piece of tube-equipment (meaning tube-rectified point-to-point) it actually DOES improve quite a bit with 30-45 minutes of warm up. That time may shorten as it ages, but for now, at first it's a little cold . . . for lack of a better word . . . and then it warms up and, well, gets warmer. Or smoother. Something.
Features and quirks: 30-second warmup delay for the tubes to start heating before the rectifier kicks in. Trim pots, one for each channel, to serve as "balance." I'm not sure where they sit in the sound path, but I keep them all the way open. I wonder if it really needs them, but wide open they shouldn't affect the sound too much (I guess!).
Ultra-high end preamp. I recommend it without reservation. I have the one without the remote (since I wanted the Goldpoint stepped attenuator, rather than a mechanized pot.)
Rest of the hodgepodge system: Berning Siegfried (811-10) amp, Ah! 4000 CDP (upsampled, Amperex 6DJ8s), Dynaco FM-3 tuner, vdH Ultimate interconnects, some Zu Cable Gede interconnects as well, and Zu Cable Wax speaker cables to modded Moth Cicada horns. van 's Evers Refernce 85 line conditioner, Zu Cable Birth power cords.
How's that for an amateur's first review?
Stuart
--
Stuart Hall
(sturob@swbell.net)
Not baaad! It has given me some of what I wanted to know. A belated thanks. But not being completely satisfied since I am now agonizing over whether to buy, any thoughs now? Thanks again for your insights. Peace, history
Yeah, I still love it.It's started to open up now that I've had it a few weeks. I generally run it all the time on weekends (and not much during the week because of my work schedule), but it's impressive. It's exactly what I wanted in a preamp, and it's a perfect match to the Berning Siegfried.
Whisper-quiet. Dynamic. Detailed. Tubey. Lots of presence, ample bass (even from horns).
Stuart: Thank your for sharing your experience with the Mercury. Just bought a Tung-sol 6sn7 with the round plate, etc. What a difference it made with the Verve. This one reason I am having a hard time deciding since mine works well with the Music Reference RM-200. Thanks again. Peace, jim owens
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