General Asylum

Re: Just purchased a Variac. Did I get the right one?

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Kevin Hayes

In Reply to: Just purchased a Variac. Did I get the right one? posted by Jon L on January 13, 2001 at 06:50:08:

Every VAC Renaissance 30/30 manufactured since the spring of 1995 contains a circuit called the 300B Sentry. One of the functions of this circuit is to delay the application of high voltage for 45 seconds, ensuring that the 300B and 6SN7 heaters are fully on first.
A 300B heater warms up in approximately two seconds.
Over the seven years of Renaissance production, we have seen many versions of the 300B, and are familiar with the failure tendencies of most of them. We've never seen a set of Sovteks last more than a month or two; this is not typical, and appears to be a function of the construction of that version.
If your amplifier does not have the 300B Sentry, please contact the factory for an update. If it does, your variac may produce erratic results.

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Thanks for info, but couple more questions. Jon L 20:24:46 01/14/01 (0)
When I called VAC a couple of years ago, someone told me that "every" Svetlana 300B (which is what I'm asking about, not "Sovtek") you had at VAC had problems. Have you tried any Svetlana 300B's with the Sentry system and experienced any failures still?
I'd love to get the Sentry but I've seen the upgrade price on the website, so I'm thinking Variac will be cheaper.

By the way, the reason I'm so hung up on Svetlana 300B despite the problems is that it makes the VAC Ren 30 sound SOOOOO good. Svetlana doesn't sound so good if used with stock golden dragon 6SN7's, which I think masks the resolution of Svetlana. But used with good 6SN7, in my case Sylvania VT-231 tall glass for input and Sylvania metal base for driver, with Svetlana 300B, the VAC just is Awesome, awesome, retaining all the harmonic beauty while gaining laser-like resolution and accuracy surpassing that of my Spectron digital amp even. Thanks for the creation of Renaissance line!

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