Kinnie Bluetooth Player RCA PA-103 PB-23 JBL K2-9500

Letter from Hong Kong (24-14): Another Longest Day, Part II

JBL K2-9500 and RCA Summit

I forgot to mention in my report on the visit to Take One Audio that, finally, I met our author Shawn P for the first time. He's had a rough few months (including 2 false medical alarms for family members, imagine!) and I'm glad that things have sorted themselves out now. jules also joined us there.

JBL K2-9500 After Take One, we decamped to the den of Brother Shan 山哥, also in a nearby Industrial Building. What a luxuriously large space that, unusually, doesn't have any clutter at all. The host is apparently a neat man who doesn't like too many things lying about.

Apparently, this pristine pair of JBL is on loan (I'm envious that these fellows with large spaces often get donor items to play with) They were driven very nicely by a pair of DIY 211 SE amps (with KT66 drivers) that sport many transformers (including inter-stages), the most expensive of which being some Bartolucci (apparently the Italian is controversial and very tardy in delivering his stuff). Preamp is DIY VT-25 (10), very unusual. Source was mostly the excellent Kinnie Blue Tooth Player (previously reported here) via digital out to the DAC of the Esoteric CDP. Esoteric has never been a personal fav, and we briefly tried and preferred Kinney's own analogue out. Overall, a very decent performance! Most of us think the 9500 sounds better than the later 66/67000. I also have previously heard an excellent 9800, driven by my humble integrated tube amp Fisher X-101-C (it slaughtered FM Acoustics on that day)!

RCA Summit Shawn had to leave and the four of us went for a quick dinner. After dinner, we decamped to Taimonsing's place. You have met this RCA man before (here and here)! 

This is the pinnacle of RCA Tube amps, RCA's answer to Western Electric 41/42/43. In the above pic, the Preamps and Amps are housed in the tall Equipment Rack in the center, whereas the Booster Amps are slightly to the rear, on the right. The huge PG105 horns heard on the day.

PA-103 (Preamp): Tube complements are 57 driving 59.

PB-23 (Booster Amp): 45 PP Amps heard on their magnificent own before (here). UY224A and 56 driving 45 PP. Rectifier is 80.

PB-45 (Amp): 845 PP. 866 Rectifiers. This place otherwise has all old-stock tubes but here Chinese 845s are used. Understandably, as almost no sellers can test these high voltage tubes buying old-stock is like a gamble.

As to be expected at Taimonsing's place, the sound was excellent. With the huge amount of power on hand (845 PP) the soundstage was pushed backwards and images were rock steady. Observations: 1) compared to the PB-23 (45 PP) by itself in the last visit the sound was more expansive but necessarily lost some refinement and subtlety; 2) but it was not at all completely without, as the sound was still mellifluous, and definitely carrying some traits of the 45 Booster Amps; 3) the PB-45 (845 PP) to my ears are superior to the very similarly structured Ballantyne MX-24, also heard last time. IMHO, at least part of this has to do with the transmitting tube employed. The Ballantyne uses 805, which in my experience has never really roused me even with old-stock tubes, in SE (like Wavac or some modern Chinese proponents) or PP configurations. Whereas 845 is different. My Unison Research Smart 845, even SE, minimal and using Chinese tubes, sounded marvelous in its hey-days! Problem is, old-stock 805s are still affordable and plentiful whereas 845 are really risky!!

The system's perfectly healthy condition now can be certified by the performance of just one LP cut that I requested. It was the same Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 (RCO/Haitink, Decca) played before. Now, everything is well sorted!

MARVELOUS! I'm really lucky to have experienced this kind of thing! Thx to my hosts and icefox for the arrangements!

2 Stage Preamp, VT25 drives VT25. Kinney Bluetooth Player (black)

with integral Antenna (golden "X'mas Tree")

Note the Blue Glow of the Mercury Vapor tubes 866, similar to those

used in Ballantyne and WE

RCA Vintage Kinnie Bluetooth Player Sound Sales PX4 Caudex Plants of Gods

Click pics to enlarge. Note the sectioned Horns and well as the woofer enclosures (Altec A5) have the Baffles enlarged all around. In front are the beautifully restored 64B loudspeakers hugging the Ballantyne monsters. In front on the floor a pair of Pilotone KT66 (unheard).

Letter from Hong Kong (24-4): The Longest Days, Part II

Written in Shenzhen

Part I, Jan 28th in Chaiwan, equipment galore.

Part III, Jan 29th, later on, chez moi, SET amps

In Part I, I chronicled our gathering in Chaiwan. I got back to my old house around 11 pm, and promptly fired up 4 amps in succession, much like before (here), and listened to 3 am and then slept on the sofa. The next day I went for early yumcha, and then it was another day arranged by icefox! To me, this day was one of the best ever!

January 29, Kwai Chung to start

I met icefox around 11 am in a Kwai Chung shopping mall and then took a short ride in a mini van to Taimonsing's place. Like Chaiwan, this area has a lot of Industrial Buildings (cheaper too) and so a lot of HiFi Nuts. This gentleman was a photographer (no longer, but facebook) as well as a crazy hobbyist/practitioner in many areas (see Instagram), including Caudex Plants, of which I must confess my ignorance - my first encounter! The shop/company is called Plants of Gods. Quite well known, apparently, even in China (just search plants of gods in 小红书). See pics at bottom.

I must say I was really gun-ho for this meeting as the host is a seasoned RCA collector. Not the tubes, but the very rare gear. It proved to be one of the biggest eye-openers! The place is not nearly as large as the 2 Chaiwan fellows I profiled in Part I, and it was literally exploding at the seams. stuffed to the T with old machine. ,We talked about the relative negligence of RCA (as compared to WE). But I have always been a fan. Many years ago, my now-deceased friend Edward took a really old RCA Preamp to my home and I was impressed by the sound. WE era stuff that should be as well known as Brook. The Preamp interestingly has some kind of suspension for the tubes, I suppose to combat microphonics. And the huge PS could be used for WE etc. And then I've known about some RCA amps, including 45 PP. Of course, I've always been a fan of their tubes too!

Taimonsing demonstrated so much in such a short time that it's impossible to write much in detail, nor to not commit errors. I have never heard of most of the stuff encountered, let alone have heard them! As Taimonsing said, info on these RCA stuff are very scanty and piecemeal at best, so it's doubly surprising that he has amassed such a collection!

64B Loudspeaker We started with this horn. It sounded fabulous! Here is a useful thread talking about this cabinet  (make sure you read the attached leaflets). See bottom also for some pics of the cabinets before restoration! Then we listened to:

PG105 Horn System comprises MI1425 horn and MI1433 Woofer. The latter is housed in an Altec A5 cabinet and is Field Coil, here powered by solid state PS. Augmented by 302 Tweeter. A bigger and more powerful, if somewhat darker horn sound. More below.

82C 6L6 PP Amp driven by BA2 6J7 Preamp (right) we heard first on the 64B Loudspeakers. Sound was very good indeed. Interestingly, Taimonsing tries his best to keep to the original (e.g., as depicted in brochures and catalogues), so in these gear as well as others mentioned below there are a lot of metal tubes. In this setup, all metal 6J7 and 6L6. Likely stock formation and certainly very cheap tubes. As the amp is sort of a Western Electric era equivalent WE124, one day I'd love to hear it with other tubes, including WE310B and WE350B. Too bad my small crop are all in NYC. Another thought is that I have always preferred the glass tubes to metal tubes, so personally that's what I'd do, but I agree with Taimonsing that it's a trade-off: usually the metal tubes sound richer but the glass tubes are airier.

MI-4256 2A3 PP Amp driven by MI-4236 56 Preamp Pic at bottom. This came next, and we had switched to the PG105 System. A bit more open and excellent. Wow! Just the 4x Single Plate 2A3 cost quite a bit! My first encounter with the 56 tube in-situ! The 2A3 PP amp must be even earlier than my Brook 12A, given that its partnering Preamp uses such an early tube. Here, I'd like to say most 2A3 PP are just lovely. My Brook for sure (I should restore it), and then Humphrey's Brook Parallel PP. I once also heard an excellent DIY one on the Heath W5M (the power transformer must be replaced for higher current draw), and now this one. The only dud I heard was the Sun Audio monoblocks, which was just very plain, and I wonder why Gizmo had such regards for the 300B version (basically same amp).

Sound Sales 12/14  PX4 PP Amp  (top of the rack). Now a very rare amp of the greatest merit!  The sound was superbly clear and finely textured. Commendably, it has a great sense of rhythmic finesse! According to Pilotrol, our local vintage encyclopedist: "...Sound Sales Model 12/14是Sound Sales於1946推出的期艦Radio Console後級放大器，也是當年著名的Sound Sales Polyphonic Radiogram上所使用的後級放大器。被稱為Sound Sales Paraphase Amplifier的Sound Sales Model 12/14是Sound Sales於二次大戰後所生產過兩款以PX4輸出的機種之一。這個後級放大器當年主要配合Sound Sales Type T.C.或Sound Sales Type TC/1前級放大器一同使用..."(...1946 flagship used in the Polyphonic Radiogram...mostly used with Type TC/TC1 Preamp...) I was quite enamored of the sound, yet another example of DHT PP after the 2A3! Having heard the fabled Leak TL12.1 (indirectly heated Tetrode run as Triode) many times, I dare say this amp sounds even better, and I think icefox thinks so too. Once again, my long-time conviction is upheld (Ultralinear<<Tetrode/Pentode run as Triode (TL12.1)<<Direct-Heated Triode)! What a gem! Now, the man has a pair of PX25 amps too, which I'd love to hear, but I reckon the PX4 is better. I've actually heard quite a few DIY SE PX25 amps before, and they can be very good, but not superior to things like WE300B (not to mention even earlier tubes like 205D), 45, 71A etc. But I have never heard an original PP PX25.

Most DHT lovers concentrate on SE, but DHT PP is quite something. Years ago, I had an excellent Manley 300B amp which runs 2x 300B tubes that can be configured as PSE or PP - and I ended up preferring the PP! The WE 86 Amp is the paradigm, simply the best DHT PP as well as 300B amp I have heard (that includes the WE91A). The Brook 12A and RCA above are excellent, and now this fabulous Sound Sales! One day I'd like a session at Taimonsing for just DHT PP - RCA 45 and his PX25 amps included! In case readers need a reminder, here we are all talking about very old and some very expensive tubes, the real things, not modern replicas. A modern replica can be good, or good value, but the legendary old tubes are famous for a very good reason - believe me, it's not just lore, despite the laughable efforts of modern sellers and critics to persuade you that the new is just as good, or even better.

Ballantyne MX24 805 PP Amp The closing act! I have seen these before several times but never heard them. These behemoths are closing in on the order of WE212. A transmitting tube DHT PP for an astounding 200WPC, driven by 6B4G (octal 2A3)! It drove the large horns effortlessly of course. But I did wonder whether it was necessary to use so much power to drive them. These should be perfect amps to drive JBL big boxes, like the 43xx series, or perhaps the 66/67xxx series or what have you. Declaration: I believe in getting away with the least power that one can, provided one uses all kinds of music. The miraculous thing is, despite its enormous power, there was nothing coarse about the amps, not at all...in fact the opposite, quite smooth.

A word on the 805 tube. This is a popular thoriated transmitting tube for senior level DIY people (high voltage and top cap turn many off) as they are plentiful and reasonably priced, and in SE configuration with ample power to drive real world loudspeakers. Quite a few Chinese manufacturers have models using this tube, previously ASL and now Line Magnetic for sure. The top dog in SE is likely the very expensive Wavac MD-805 and EC-805. As a student of Wavac (and owner of 811 and 300B amps) I have certainly heard the MD805 (here). Even if I like the sound I still think the smaller powered tubes like 300B has more nuance (and this is old-stock 805 vs new stock 300B!). In my estimation, among transmitting triodes, in SE configuration it is likely better than the 811 (I have the Wavac MD-811), but not the 211 (I have the Ongaku) and 845 (I have the Unison Research Smart 845). WE 212 is another animal but, as yet, I don't believe I have heard that tube at its best. And so, my preference for lower powered Triodes remain. As for now, I have gone down the flea-powered route as far as the 0.7 wpc 71A (Oliver Sayes) and love it! My dream is to tackle the 0.5 wpc WE 205D, but I doubt it will materialize.

So far I have not mentioned the sources, and fascinating they are:

Sony CDP-3000/CDS-3000 1984 legendary Sony (see this French site), not to be confused with the later cheap CDP-X3000. This is Sony's own 16-bit, very rare. The host played some CDs. Very good sound, and I've always been a fan of Sony's earlier CDPs.

Kinnie Bluetooth Player (right pic) With icefox's roaming crowd, Digital Playback is often just Bluetooth (albeit super-treated). In the last episode, we heard the Sarone. Here, its rival. The Kinnie (name of the designer) is considerably cheaper, also built with the same philosophy and utilizing vintage parts. Unusually, it employs a fancy antenna! I have no complaint at all for the sound. I'd like a chance to listen more carefully.

Let's just say that, impressed as I was with the Bluetooth sound of both the Sarone and Kinnie, endorsed by many big name players in our immediate circle (people I know, but have not remained in close contact with due to my absence in recent years from HK), I remain on the sideline, though imbued with curiosity. I myself am a strange phenomenon: in Shenzhen, I stream Tidal and NML (just USB out from laptop to DAC) from my desk; in HK, I have only borrowed wifi and play only CDs; in NYC now, I have little wifi either and play just LPs and CDs. During the pandemic, in NYC I had WiFi and first experienced Bluetooth because I sat far away from the audio station and did not want my laptop (I ain't a cellphone man) to be tethered to a cord, and I really got into it (chronicled here). But things changed. So, there I am.

Most of these are routed through a Music First TVC.

At some point, we also heard the Langevin 102 Preamp. His iteration is a little different from mine, but probably even better!

RCA Transcription Turntables Three RCA Transcription TTs with 16" platters sat on the left. See pics below. We heard several LPs. The mono Fairchild indeed played 葛蘭 卡門 very enjoyably!

Brief Thoughts

• 64B For me, this is complete in itself and fitting for the space. In fact, I said to host that, since I now lack a horn system in HK, should he want to unload, I'm game! :-) Of course, I doubt he will.

• PG105 Horn System This is a fascinating one. I don't think we have heard them at their absolute best, since the space is small. As it is, the bass needs to be fuller (also a problem with the A5 cabinet) but the Field Coil quality is fascinating, very different from our usual drivers and hard to describe. Here, it is a little distant but still quite tactile and focused. I was pretty satisfied except perhaps for the LP replay of the Shostakovich 13 (Haitink/Decca) where the soloist, chorus and orchestra seem to be inhabiting too much the same plane, when they need to spread out more. I'd love to hear these horns in a larger space.

• I'm already thinking about a second visit! So much goodies! And very accomplished and complex setups!

The Horn Loudspeaker System follows the PG-105 System (L column) except for the Woofer Cabinet

The Caudex Plants

From L to R: 70C with Alfred Borkland tonearm and EMT TSD cartridge (RCA BA1 as phonoamp); 70A with RCA MI-4875 Tonearm and Fairchild Cartridge (original Fairchild SUT and Pickering 130H phonoamp); 70D not heard. Note Cuban Cigars on front table.

Top of Rack, from L to R: unheard Supratek, Music First TVC, Sony CDP-3000 Control. Below right, Sony CDP-3000 mechanism; Below left, Langevin 102. Many step up transformers and phonoamps aurrounding them.

 

Side Profile of the Horn

Love the Dragon!

56 Preamp and 2A3 PP Amps

Views of the 64B during Restoration

小红書 search Plants of Gods

Western Electric 46

Click pics to enlarge. Top: Less than half the room shown. Double RCA 15" Field Coils in Bass Cabinet. Gaumont (UK) drivers behind the Multi-cell Horns, fronted by Jensen 302 tweeters. Hidden behind in the corners are a pair of EV Patrician 800 used as subwoofers. Just above the left horn one sees slivers of the subwoofer amps placed upon the EV. The host is a bodybuilder - note the thing dangling above the sofa, used for weight-lifting, or hanging oneself after despairing of ever achieving such sonic bliss.

Magnificent Horn System: Western Electric 46

These days I don't have time to do Home Visits, but yesterday was an exception. These days it takes me many days to write an article, but this one is an exception. One makes exception for the exceptional.

Thanks to my friend/taskmaster icefox, aka the "HiFi pimp 淫媒” (a nickname I think I aptly bestowed opon him, and I am glad it had gained widespread recognition) for introducing Eric. Eric is one of a rather prominent breed of HK audiophiles who have a dedicated space in an industrial building. I had visited him once a long time ago, but in a very short time this man has morphed into a WE man with one of the best horn systems I have heard.

Click pics to enlarge: Center Rack, Vintage Volume Knobs atop the Marantz player, and above it, the tiny Streaming Devices; beneath, buffer WE transformers. Further down, the pair of WE 46 amps. Flanking the 46's are a pair of WE 87 in disuse. Above the right 87, a pair of WE 124, and a WE 133. To the right, on separate rack, pair of WE 49.

Source: Marantz player into highly modified Musical Fidelity Digilog (a TDA1541 DAC); also Tidal streaming using cheap Bluetooth renderer. These are connected to a pair of vintage potentiometers and then a pair of WE 1:1 transformers for buffering before going into the amps.

WE 46 I count myself very lucky to have finally heard the legendary WE 205D tube in action. The Japanese WE crowd have long placed this tube in the stratosphere, calling it the stuff of dreams, 夢幻之球. This is really an integrated amplifier, with an output of 1.5 watts from a pair of push-pull 205D.

Not that much info on use or sound on the English internet. Fortunately, there is Official WE manual with schematics and there are some pics in radiomuseum.

Gaumont Kalee 379 The horn system is unusual too. The Gaumont system is a UK unit said to be similar to the Altec 288 system. There is next to nothing on the internet, and it is my first encounter of this name.

The RCA 15" field coil woofers have their own amps (click right pic to enlarge).

The Electrovoice Patrician 800's are, ha, used only as subwoofers. There are plenty of info on these, legends on their own. Peruse the Official pdf, and there is this beautifully written article on the EV Patrician series in the Finnish INNER magazine, plus more pics on itishifi.

Impressions
Easy. This is one of the very best horn systems I have ever heard anywhere (giving our other WE friend Humphrey a run for his money). To me the greatest virtue of this system is not just the WE 46 (which I wager potentially can be even more sinuous sounding than here), but the system as an integrated whole. Most preciously, the system conveys atmosphere like few others. I think the large surface areas here dedicated to bass reproduction is one of the reasons.


The opening of Celibidache's Pathetique (Warner) conveyed fully that brooding atmosphere that only a good horn system can. It should be mentioned here that I am a great fan of German radio recordings, which are more successful in capturing atmosphere than most others. Similarly, the third movement of Shostakovich's 8th (Andris Nelson/Boston SO, DG), also a live recording, has plenty of atmosphere, and symphonic weight.

Yes, I went home and played these, but there is no way a small system, no matter how meritorious, can come close. Salut!

All this from 1.5 watts, the magic of WE!