Lafayette 250A Stereo Tube Amplifier: She's turning 50 next year! Well if it were back home, one SMS to our "suking" audiophile techie and the amp would have been nursed back to good health in no time. However here in the EU, getting skilled labor is quite difficult and not to mention "te duur" (expensive). I have already contacted some people, and the price they quoted for repairs is nearing that of buying a brand new modern tube amp. "Kaya esep-esep muna, hehehe..."
So as I ponder if I should send the amp to the doctor or just purchase a new one, I need to assemble a "temporary" audio setup to keep our music playing for the meantime.
I only have two criteria to help me decide what equipment to get for this setup. It has to be:
1. AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE and...
2. GOOD-SOUNDING
These may be contradicting to most people since common sense tells us, you usually get more by paying more. Maybe so, BUT in this time of credit crisis and recession, it would be foolish to splurge.2. GOOD-SOUNDING
So, on to the hunt...
When looking for cheap stuff, I always check online first. Here we have Marktplaats, a version of ebay that is even more practical as it allows direct contact with the sellers. When buying audio equipment, this is really handy as it lets you audition the item first before committing to buy. I found a month-old Marantz SR 4021 stereo receiver from this site for 1/3rd its retail price. A very good deal if you ask me.
I also got a pair of gently-used Danish floorstanders for only 50 euros. Yet another great bargain.
Eltax Symphony in Birch Buying retail does not always have to be necessarily expensive either. Just keep an eye out for sales and discount promotions. I couldn't find the cd player that I wanted online. Luckily my "suking" A/V dealer had some overstocked. I got 100 euros discount for a brand-new Marantz CD5001. Again, not bad.
Marantz CD5001: Can also be used as a stand-alone headphone setup. Then comes the fun part, setting up the gears. And then of course, the all-important listening test that follows... So what's the verdict?
The Marantz SR 4021 is a mid-level 2x80 watts "no-nonsense" solid-state intergrated stereo amplifier that performs surprisingly well. I like its retro-looking solid aluminum metal faceplate and minimalistic design. It is a very musical amp with lots of detail at both high and low ends and has that typical laidback "Marantz sound". I also noticed that unlike some solid-state amps I've owned before that can get pretty hot while in use, the 4021 is very cool in comparison (even after several hours of use). The overbuilt chassis and huge heatsinks probably helped a lot in this department. I did notice however that on some recordings, vocals can sound a tad "bright" at higher volume levels. Maybe it's just my ears being used to the warmer sound of tubes (?). But for the price I paid, I'm not complaining, anyway I already discovered something that might improve this.
The Marantz CD5001 is an entry-level single-disc cd player that was well-received by reviewers. It shares the same design cues as the 4021 so they pair quite nicely style-wise. Sonically it is a transparent player and does not add any tonal coloration (in short: Garbage In = Garbage Out). Audio reproduction is very realistic, vocals are distinct and istruments well-placed. Soundstage is also nice and wide. Looks like the Cirrus Logic DAC with 128fs over-sampling is doing its job pretty well. It also has extra features such as cd-text, pitch control, and built-in headphone amp that you normally don't find in similarly-priced models. I tested the head-amp with my Sennheiser HD 280 and it did a very decent job of driving the 64 ohm load. The only quirk the 5001 has is that the cd-tray automatically closes after ~30 sec. Too quick for me.
I mentioned that I found something to reduce the "brightness" that seem noticeable when playing certain CD's on the newly-assembled stereo setup. Guess what? It's aptly nicknamed the "missing link". It is actually the Musical Fidelity X-10D line-level tube preamplifier. Again, I did not want to pay retail , so I scoured ebay and found one in the UK for 1/4th the price. It was the first version of the X-10D (current ones are V3), but is still in very good condition. Plus, it already had upgraded tubes inside, and the seller also shipped the stock tubes as spare. Another "great-value-for-money" find. So what does it exactly do? Well it's basically a tube buffer that acts as an impedance-matching device (high input and low output impedance). In a sense, it allows the analog output stage of the cd player to be more efficient as it always "sees" a constant load. And as the audio signal passes through it, the vacuum tubes impart their inherent harmonics.
"The Missing Link" The tube buffer gave that characteristic "tubey" sound I was looking for. It really smoothened all the rough edges of the two solid-state devices it was connecting. This accessory from Musical Fidelity complements the two Marantz's so well, I just had to think of a monicker for them all put together. So as the Brits have their "fish 'n chips", I'm calling this setup "tubes 'n chips". Go figure. :-)
"Tubes 'n Chips" in Action All-in-all I had a lot of fun doing this. In the end we got ourselves a very nice-sounding secondary audio unit without breaking the bank. Our ears are happy, and so are our wallets. Now time to enjoy the music... Ciao! -Rey
Just a random few from our collection...
