Updates

It has been a long time, but between work, unpacking and family, it has been hard to find the time to blog. I recently purchased a pair of Etymotic hf5 from Headphonic here in WA. Very pleasant experience and good price. It arrive to me in Melbourne on Wednesday morning, after ordering on Sunday evening. I am now listening to them at work, and the sealing is very impressive. I can't hear any of the basic office noises around me, including my own typing, etc. Not much to say about the sound yet, got to give them a least 20 hours of burn in. But at the moment, it sounds pretty balanced in its presentation, but a little lacking on the highs. Again, not enough time to write more or to try out new things. But hopefully in the coming months, I can get back onto some consistent blogging.

Updates and WE396a Tubes Arrived!

After a few weeks of moving and settling in, I am not somewhat settled. Listening to the TU882R with the WE396a tubes right now. It is a good feeling to be mostly unpacked and most things setup. It is quite relaxing indeed. Anyway, in the last few weeks two notable events took place. Firstly, my order of 3 pairs of 396A tubes have arrived from Audio Tubes. I purchased from Brent;

1. WE marked WE396a tubes. 
2. National marked WE made 396a tubes.
3. United marked and United made (in the UK) 5670 tubes.

They did attract a premium, being WE produced tubes and UK made tubes. I hope to get some photos up of these tubes, along with my three other types of 5670 tubes, once I find some space. It'd be good to do a sonic comparison of these tubes later on. 

The second item of note was my ordering of the Jordan JX92s MLTL kit from Decibel Hifi. They also arrived quite promptly from Brian in Queensland. I must say that they were a lot smaller then I thought they'd be, but nonetheless, still sizeable. From initial impression, the fit is good, and being MDF, should be easy to finish. Along with this order, I also put in for a set of 4 Eichmann Silver Bullet plugs. This is to connect the various computer output and DAC to the standard amps with use the RCA. As some long time readers will know, I prefer to use the XLR style connectors. But, when dealing with kits, inevitably, they are all RCA connections.

Anyway, back on track, I hope to be able to put these together in a few weeks. With a proper sized TV/main room, I am excited to see the JX92s perform. I plan to dress these up a little with some hardwood cladding over the MDF. This will both function as aesthetic, as well as adding additional stiffening and allowing me to fix some speaker cloth to it, to protect against the young ones. Again, long time readers can see my Fostex MLTL towers... Finally, regarding the Fostex, I plan to revive them by turning them around and adding a Speakcon on the current front side, and turning the 2 sets of binding posts into a hole for the vent. 

Lots to happen in the next few weeks, and now with a decent space to do some wood working, and space to place and use the speakers, I hope to be catching up with all the various speaker builds that have lay in abeyance in the last year or so.