Lyrita's Mono Power amps and Line Preamp

[stevieboy]

Congratulations Abhijit!

I will be going down this very same road soon and will have to ship my amp back to Viren for updates. Mine was one of the first and I think the first 2A3 SET amp so quite a few updates are in order.

Regards


Torque ain't cheap but it sure knocks yer socks off

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

I will be going down this very same road soon and will have to ship my amp back to Viren for updates. Mine was one of the first and I think the first 2A3 SET amp so quite a few updates are in order.

Steven,while your amp is at Viren's ask him to fix new OPT's with the provision for the 5K impedence load.

It made the system more transparent and but a little bright( which i attribute to my Klipsch speakers).

Abhijit,try placing/taping a thin tissue paper over the tweeters of the Klipsch speakers .This will tone down the brightness a bit.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Congratulations Abhijit.

Your listening impressions are similar to mine. The pre. is superb value and the performance second to none.

Believe you me a couple of people who own the highly regarded Ayon amps. have ordered the Lyrita amps. after side by side comparisions.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[stevieboy]

Hi,

Steven,while your amp is at Viren's ask him to fix new OPT's with the provision for the 5K impedence load.

Rajiv,

You mean 15k ohm that I remember you once posted you use with your altecs? If not and it's 5k, what's the benefit? How does it work?

Regards


Torque ain't cheap but it sure knocks yer socks off

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

You mean 15k ohm that I remember you once posted you use with your altecs? If not and it's 5k, what's the benefit? How does it work?

Steven,I had asked Viren to provide me with tappings for 8 ohm and 16 ohm speakers on my 2A3 amp,as I tend to use various speakers,and the older drivers are mostly 16 ohms.

Later when I wanted to use the 45 tubes in the 2A3 amp,I checked with Viren to see if the 45's would see the correct load on the OPT. As per textbooks the optimum load for the 45's is 5K and 2-3K for the 2A3. But this is not cast in stone and designers like Paul Joppa (quoted below) have good results with different loads.

People keep saying that 5K is the proper load for a 45, but I do not agree. The proper load depends on the operating point. For example, in the original RCA manual three operating points are given with loads of 2700, 3900, and 4600 ohms.

The best sounding 45 amp I've ever heard used a 3000 ohm load impedance; I've used 3K and 4K in my own designs with very satisfactory results.

In the Lyrita 2A3 amp the ratios are(quoting from Viren's mail)

In the 2A3 SET :
The turns ratio in the output transformer for a 8-ohm load is 18:1, and for a 16-ohm load is 12.7:1.
For a 16-ohm load at the 16-ohm connection, that translates to a primary impedance of 2.6K ohms.
For a 16-ohm load at the 8-ohm connection, that translates to a primary impedance of 5.2K ohms.

While playing around with the 2A3 and 45's a few months back I connected the 16 ohm Altecs to the 8 ohm tap(when connected this way the 2A3 tubes see a 5K primary impedance on the OPT) and found that the sound became cleaner and there was more control and tightness in the bass.

I spoke to Viren about this and he thought that the improved clarity and tightness could be because of the improved damping using the 5k load .Viren has also tried the 2A3 amp with the 5K primary impedance OPT's and found the sound to be better.I think that all new 2A3 amps now have the OPT's wound to the 5K primary impedance.

The only downside to running the 2A3 with a 5K load is that the power drops from 3.5 watts to 3 watts,but the improvement in sound quality is worth the marginal drop in power.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[abhijitwadekar]

Hi,
Abhijit,try placing/taping a thin tissue paper over the tweeters of the Klipsch speakers .This will tone down the brightness a bit.

Regards
Rajiv

Hi rajiv, thanks for the suggestion. I did mention about the brightness of sound to Mr Viren and he said he will look in to the amp while modifying it and suggested to wait till i get my power amp back.
Regards
Abhijit

 

[santhosh]

Good review Abhijit. Another tweak for brightness\sibilance that you could try is adding absorbent foam around the tweeter like in the BBC LS3\5A. You could also try automobile felt if you are unable to source open cell foam.

See first pic in link below:
The Unofficial LS3/5a Support Site

 

[abhijitwadekar]

Congratulations Abhijit!

I will be going down this very same road soon and will have to ship my amp back to Viren for updates. Mine was one of the first and I think the first 2A3 SET amp so quite a few updates are in order.

Regards


Torque ain't cheap but it sure knocks yer socks off

Hi Stevieboy,
definitely go for the DHT preamp, it will be a very pleasant and warm surprise.
I thought i had a wonderful amp and it will be difficult to beat it musically but the preamp just took it to another level! The best part is what it does to digital music. My Cd playback is pretty close to the vinyl sound now, and i love it that way.
Regards
Abhijit

 

[jls001]

Abhijit,try placing/taping a thin tissue paper over the tweeters of the Klipsch speakers .This will tone down the brightness a bit.

A friend of mine uses this cheapest of cheap tweak to tame the brightness of his Jamo floorstanders and it works very well. First try with one sheet and listen. If still bright, try two layers, etc.

 

[stevieboy]

Hi,


Later when I wanted to use the 45 tubes in the 2A3 amp,I checked with Viren to see if the 45's would see the correct load on the OPT. As per textbooks the optimum load for the 45's is 5K and 2-3K for the 2A3. But this is not cast in stone and designers like Paul Joppa (quoted below) have good results with different loads.


While playing around with the 2A3 and 45's a few months back I connected the 16 ohm Altecs to the 8 ohm tap(when connected this way the 2A3 tubes see a 5K primary impedance on the OPT) and found that the sound became cleaner and there was more control and tightness in the bass.

I spoke to Viren about this and he thought that the improved clarity and tightness could be because of the improved damping using the 5k load .Viren has also tried the 2A3 amp with the 5K primary impedance OPT's and found the sound to be better.I think that all new 2A3 amps now have the OPT's wound to the 5K primary impedance.


Regards
Rajiv

Hi Rajiv,

You mention the 2A3s tubes. Did you try the 45 tubes also and they also benefitted from the 5k load? I feel like listening to the 2A3 tubes now for a change, will swap them in tonight...

Thanks!

 

[abhijitwadekar]

Good review Abhijit. Another tweak for brightness\sibilance that you could try is adding absorbent foam around the tweeter like in the BBC LS3\5A. You could also try automobile felt if you are unable to source open cell foam.

See first pic in link below:
The Unofficial LS3/5a Support Site

Thanks santosh for the suggestion and the link. Will try that out when i get my power amp back
regards
Abhijit

 

[santhosh]

Thanks santosh for the suggestion and the link. Will try that out when i get my power amp back
regards
Abhijit

Actually Abhijit, what I suggested will work for conventional speakers but not horns. I googled the Klipsch speaker in your signature and that is when it occurred to me that it has a horn HF unit - all Klipsch's do . Which is why Rajiv and Joshua rightly suggested putting a tissue cloth in front of the tweeter. My bad !!

 

[abhijitwadekar]

Hi santosh thanks for taking that effort to google and let me know.. Will let you all know once I get the power amp...
Regards

Abhijit

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

You mention the 2A3s tubes. Did you try the 45 tubes also and they also benefitted from the 5k load?

Yes, I tried the 45's with the Altecs at both 8 ohms(5K) and 16 ohm(2.6K) taps.

5k is the recomended load for the 45 and it sounds good at this setting.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[stevieboy]

Guess who's next in line for the DHT line preamp? :licklips: Viren has some refreshing upgrades lined up for my amp also, so it will come up to speed with his current production ones. Wonder which other manufacturer will bother to do this. A real treat it is to buy something from him! I keep learning something every time I call him up.

 

[Rajiv]

Guess who's next in line for the DHT line preamp?

Hi,

Congratulations Steven.

BTW what step up transformer are you using with the ortofon SPU?

Regards
Rajiv

 

[stevieboy]

Hi Rajiv,

The Cinemag CMQEE-3440A is hardwired into the phonostage. Viren is making a resistor setting for me so I can experiment with loading for the SPU. Right now, its set up for the Denon 103.

Regards

 

[stevieboy]

Rajiv,

I dug out the 45 ST RCAs and put them in. They sounded tighter with more treble but somehow quite flat and a kinda cramped soundstage relative to the globes. The globes are quite dimensional, spaced out relaxed and alive with a little magical sound. It's spatial with a hugh soundstage like the 2A3s but with that linear intimate direct 45 sound. You should really think of getting a pair. I think their relaxed spatial nature will go well with your forward/driven horns. The mullard/philips GZ34 complements them very well. Quite expensive I know but you should be able to sell them easily back on ebay if you don't like them. I'm quite hooked and have no option but to pick up another pair when these die out. If you're ever coming to bangalore again let me know you can drop in for a listen if you'd like to.

Regards


Torque ain't cheap but it sure knocks yer socks off

 

[arj]

Abhijit,try placing/taping a thin tissue paper over the tweeters of the Klipsch speakers .This will tone down the brightness a bit.

Regards
Rajiv

this is a great tweak.is still used by many ..i had tried it with my old Klipsch RF3s. cut a small square from a thin tissue (the soft type) and push it slightly into the tractrix horn ( no need of tape) with the klipsch. it actually absorbs some of the energy in the 3k region..klipsh should make that a permanent fixture !

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

I dug out the 45 ST RCAs and put them in. They sounded tighter with more treble but somehow quite flat and a kinda cramped soundstage relative to the globes. The globes are quite dimensional, spaced out relaxed and alive with a little magical sound. It's spatial with a hugh soundstage like the 2A3s but with that linear intimate direct 45 sound. You should really think of getting a pair. I think their relaxed spatial nature will go well with your forward/driven horns. The mullard/philips GZ34 complements them very well. Quite expensive I know but you should be able to sell them easily back on ebay if you don't like them. I'm quite hooked and have no option but to pick up another pair when these die out. If you're ever coming to bangalore again let me know you can drop in for a listen if you'd like to.

Steven,the prices for the globe 45 tube pairs have gone through the roof.At these prices I am hesitant to buy them .

A visit to Bangalore is long overdue,but does not seem possible till June.

I would love to drop by and listen to your system especially the Ortofon SPU.

Regards
Rajiv