Suggested Hi-Fi system for a near-midlife crisis!

[megatombomb]

Good to hear CNo re clean sounding speakers generally suiting valve amps. The most notable thing about the GX's is the increased scale, detail and most of all sheer cleanliness with it that they have bought to familiar recordings on familiar electronics.

And Mac...am indeed waiting on a pair of solid oak plinths to place each power amp on.... the MB845's are just not going straight on a floor!!

It'll be interesting to see if the radiators stay off in the winter time

 

[Anonymous]

Try some nitrazepam for your crisis. Take twice daily with a stiff rum.
This will give you some temporary relief, often in the form of a very good sleep. Try some barbituates for something more permenant (indefinite sleep)

 

[Macspur]

If you're still around Megatombomb... just saw these, if you're still interested-

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?91174-FS-Tannoy-Kensingtons-SE

Mac

 

[megatombomb]

Hello Mac,

Indeed i still exist 🙂 I have been a busy boy.

Thanks for the headsup on those Tannoy's. I wont deny they are the speakers i would love to own oneday but for now i am spent. Literally.

A big chunk of the budget has gone on developing a large unused room at home (i think i mentioned it before) into a dedicated home cinema/ hi fi lounge. I am putting the finishing touches to it this week having had it re-carpeted and underlayed and purchased some custom racks, loadsa new cables etc.

For the time being i must 'make do' with the setup comprising the Marantz cdp, Icon amps and MA GX300 speakers. Ironically i am yet to connect them all up and I havent actually listened to the setup. So far ive only heard the GX300's in the Home cin setup and am mightily impressed with them especially having paid less than £1500 for the pair. If nothing else they are much better on movies than the RX6's i had (now the rear channels lol). How they will work for music on the end of the Icon's i have absolutely no idea but my hunch says they'll show the electronics off really well whilst not quite truly providing the warm rich 3d valve glow i so desire.

If everthing goes to plan then this time next week i will be able to give my thoughts on everything. I am both properly excited to finally get em up and running and yet strangely scared at this prospect having committed the number one sin of hifi purchasing..... deaf purchasing ie not listening to what ive bought before i bought it.

Wish me luck lol

 

[Macspur]

Hello Mac,

Indeed i still exist 🙂 I have been a busy boy.

Thanks for the headsup on those Tannoy's. I wont deny they are the speakers i would love to own oneday but for now i am spent. Literally.

A big chunk of the budget has gone on developing a large unused room at home (i think i mentioned it before) into a dedicated home cinema/ hi fi lounge. I am putting the finishing touches to it this week having had it re-carpeted and underlayed and purchased some custom racks, loadsa new cables etc.

For the time being i must 'make do' with the setup comprising the Marantz cdp, Icon amps and MA GX300 speakers. Ironically i am yet to connect them all up and I havent actually listened to the setup. So far ive only heard the GX300's in the Home cin setup and am mightily impressed with them especially having paid less than £1500 for the pair. If nothing else they are much better on movies than the RX6's i had (now the rear channels lol). How they will work for music on the end of the Icon's i have absolutely no idea but my hunch says they'll show the electronics off really well whilst not quite truly providing the warm rich 3d valve glow i so desire.

If everthing goes to plan then this time next week i will be able to give my thoughts on everything. I am both properly excited to finally get em up and running and yet strangely scared at this prospect having committed the number one sin of hifi purchasing..... deaf purchasing ie not listening to what ive bought before i bought it.

Wish me luck lol

I certainly do.

I understand your trepidation. When I changed my Sugden for the Accuphase without hearing first, it was a bit of a gamble, but happily worked out for the best and I'm pretty sure you will be pleased with your new set up.

Looking forward to your thoughts next week.

Mac

 

[megatombomb]

Well the moment came today, finally after months since arriving ive unboxed the Icon pre and power amps and got them all hooked up to the CDP and speakers in the new room. I have been gagging to listen to this setup for what seems an age. I carefully followed the instructions of installing the valves correctly and wiring the speakers and pre-to power up as recommended then finally plugging in the mains cables and the moment of truth was upon me.

Double checking the manual i turned on the Pre-amp first and as expected it lit up on the front and the big valve glowed yellow. Cool. Then turned on the first of the power amps and as per the manual as expected some hum and hisswas present from the connected speaker. Before i even got to the second amp to turn on the slight hum sound just stopped dead which didnt seem abnormal to me but when i pressed the power button on the second pwr amp i was greeted by its refusal to power on. I turned to look at the other power amp and pre-amp and they were totally dead looking. Que a rushing feeling of dissappointment and skepticism of how i had a feeling these fragile looking expensive items might not be totally straightforward!

Ive now checked all of the connections and the mains leads even swapping out the mains leads for others to make sure a blown fuse wasnt the cause but not one of the three Icon amps will simply power on at all.

This has left me really angry and dissappointed to say the least i do not know what could be wrong? My best guess is the fuses internally on each item all blew but why i dont know. Nothing sinister appeared or sounded to happen at any stage of setting up to turning the first of the power amps on so i have literally nothing to go off. I have regrets now about the purchase i know its going to be difficult dealing with the dealer who supplied them effectively second hand to me (in the case of the power amps) to resolve this and kinda wish that i'd one the much simpler route of an MF or Electrocompaniet all in one box or pre-pwr combo.

At this moment in time i feel like insisting on my money back but i can see already how hard thats going to be.

 

[CnoEvil]

I'm very sorry to hear this.......hopefully you will get it sorted.

Maybe Floydy will drop by with some helpful insight.

 

[megatombomb]

Hi Cno.

Glad you are still reading this thread, sorry i'm not able to report on how wonderful these amps should sound.
The disappointment is overwhelming right now. I need to log out and go and do something. Anything!

 

[megatombomb]

Ok so now they all work. Sort of.
It indeed is blown fuses on what I think are 4 out of 6 sockets of a posh mains extension. The 3 icons were attached to 4 of these sockets and the 4th socket was feeding my MA subwoofer. Now I did plug the subwoofer into one of the pre-outs on the icon Pre-amp and I'm guessing I shouldn't have done this. Using some other sockets I now have power to all the icons and the CDP. I tentatively turned everything on and again upon turning on the power amps am greeted by the hum I am told to expect but also there is some distortion from both speakers almost like hiss on an old cassette mixed with the crackle sound of vinyl. This is obviously not meant to be there and hasn't gone away after very quietly playing music for 10mins or so.
So the good news is that only the posh mains extension has a problem and the sound I AM getting (minus the crackling) has given me a good taster and ive liked what little ive heard so far and even at very low volume which is good too!
The bad news is I have no idea what this distorted sound is? Its certainly not harsh at all and doesn't sound like its going to be damaging the speakers but I suppose I shouldn't take any chances and unplug em all even though my heart says give the speakers some beans and lets here what these stunners can do.
Any valve amp experts are welcome to chime in here and help a noob out!

 

[Macspur]

Hi,

I'm really sorry for the probs you've been having, I know how disappointing these things can be, particularly when you've been waiting so long to put it all into action.

Are you able to plug the amps straight into the mains?

Mac

 

[Tear Drop]

The crackling could be a valve which is about to go. You would need to swap valves in and out to confirm if this is the case, and if it is, which valve needs replacing.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

don't muck around. Contact the dealer.

You could also contact Icon Audio directly. You don't want to play around, could make things worse.

 

[CnoEvil]

don't muck around. Contact the dealer.

This is good advice.

Don't let impatience / frustration lead you into more trouble, which could possibly take you outside the warranty.

 

[megatombomb]

Cheers guys I will be in touch with Icon audio asap.

Its Unlikely I guess to be the pre amp at fault as its all brand new but that doesn't mean it cant be. I have checked as much as I am confident to check and gonna call it quits before I damage something or myself even.
Such a stressful day!

 

[megatombomb]

Just a quick update to say the dealer I purchased the power amps off have very kindly offered to immediately come and collect them and sort them out.
I sadly cant get them back to them until late next week but they appear to be very helpful at this stage and for me ive waited months already so don't mind a delay as long as they are fixed I know i'm going to be very happy with them :dance:

Keep ya'll posted.

 

[Macspur]

OK, good luck.

Mac

 

[megatombomb]

Hello all,

Over a month has past since i mentioned the Icon 845 power amps i purchased were faulty and it has been a hard task for the man who has been looking at them. They have both rather oddly suffered from the exact same fault. Each amp has a problem with its smoothing capacitor which were both bulging indicating an imminent failure on them both. These are not the cause of the crackling sounds. After running each amp with only the oitput valves in place (the big 845 valves) he found that the crackling sound dissappeared. He then found that if any of the four (two each amp) 6SN7 valves were fitted to any amp socket the crackling returned which is unusual to find all four being faulty. He has tried new ones and run the amps and theyre fine like this but when he introduced the final 6SL7 valve the crackling returned yet again so each amp is having to have all new 6SN7 valves, new 6SL7 valves, new smoothing capacitors and finally each will get a proper fuse fitted (as these are wrongly 5amp blow outs when they should be 3amp anti-surge type).

The dealer has very kindly offered me the choice of new valves the question is do i go with the original Icon units or the cheaper but more reliable Tung-Sol brand the repairs man has been testing with. They have been very open and honest and not hesitated to put them right for me which has been a pleasant change from past experiences ive had with these kind of things (not this dealer of course) esp considering the units are 3 yrs old now.

Will let you know what happens next!

 

[megatombomb]

Hello all,

Over a month has past since i mentioned the Icon 845 power amps i purchased were faulty and it has been a hard task for the man who has been looking at them. They have both rather oddly suffered from the exact same fault. Each amp has a problem with its smoothing capacitor which were both bulging indicating an imminent failure on them both. These are not the cause of the crackling sounds. After running each amp with only the oitput valves in place (the big 845 valves) he found that the crackling sound dissappeared. He then found that if any of the four (two each amp) 6SN7 valves were fitted to any amp socket the crackling returned which is unusual to find all four being faulty. He has tried new ones and run the amps and theyre fine like this but when he introduced the final 6SL7 valve the crackling returned yet again so each amp is having to have all new 6SN7 valves, new 6SL7 valves, new smoothing capacitors and finally each will get a proper fuse fitted (as these are wrongly 5amp blow outs when they should be 3amp anti-surge type).

The dealer has very kindly offered me the choice of new valves the question is do i go with the original Icon units or the cheaper but more reliable Tung-Sol brand the repairs man has been testing with. They have been very open and honest and not hesitated to put them right for me which has been a pleasant change from past experiences ive had with these kind of things (not this dealer of course) esp considering the units are 3 yrs old now.

Will let you know what happens next!

 

[Macspur]

Hi,

I've been looking out for your return, wondering how things were going.

It's great that you're getting some expert support.

Afraid I can't help with valve choice, but there's plenty of others here with experience and sure they'll be along soon.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi,

I've been looking out for your return, wondering how things were going.

It's great that you're getting some expert support.

Afraid I can't help with valve choice, but there's plenty of others here with experience and sure they'll be along soon.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net

Seconded.

I hope things work out to your satisfaction.

 

[BigH]

Any news?

 

[megatombomb]

News indeed. Very good news

The amps were set up half an hour ago and fired up and first good news is they work faultlessly. There's the usual mild hum/hiss but its inaudible as soon as the music comes on at even low volume.

Stupidly i've spent the last 4 weeks waiting for their return by plugging a disused Marantz MCR603 into the MA GX300's (stupid I know especially now with hindsight!) and being wholly unimpressed by the sound coming out of the speakers but it gave me a benchmark. I was worried that nothing could make the speakers sound good. Until tonite.

Ok perhaps its easy to get carried away but ive spent 30mins listening to some of the 'Yes Album' and I am loving what I am hearing. What is apparent is how the MA GX300 speaker is quite honest and revealing so it shows me its only as good as what feeds it and doesn't tolerate bad sources. What the speaker also reveals is just how lovely the Icon kit is to listen too. I could go on about how the soundstage has opened up and how I can hear all the instruments in the mix etc but the electrics are too good for talking all that guff.... I am simply hearing the music and grinning from ear to ear in the process. In fact its pointless trying to describe it almost if that makes any sense? Ive always loved the Yes album and know it well but this evening its like ive not heard it before. It sounds soooo much better. This is exactly what I hoped to achieve!

Now I will spend some time listening to other recordings, especially poorer ones to conclude my love for my music again!

As an added bonus with all the lights off in the room the amps create an ambiance and atmosphere before the music even starts playing. The literally golden glow from the big power valves is hard to take yore eyes off! It has made a mundane task of putting a CD into a tray and turning an amp(s) on much more exciting!

So far, so awesome :rockout: :clap:

 

[CnoEvil]

At this stage, you totally deserve an awesome system.

Class A / Valves often sound really well with clean revealing speakers.

:beer: :beer: :beer:

Cno

 

[megatombomb]

Thanks, CNo. Its been along time waiting. I'm glad its all gonna be working for winter where it'll help keep me warm. Literally! The long winter here wont seem as long I expect this time.

I have yet to hear evidence of the slow/sloppy bass one can expect from some valve amps. Something tells me just by looking at these MB845s and feeling the heat they give off that there's plenty of current and grip on tap!

 

[Macspur]

News indeed. Very good news The amps were set up half an hour ago and fired up and first good news is they work faultlessly. There's the usual mild hum/hiss but its inaudible as soon as the music comes on at even low volume. Stupidly i've spent the last 4 weeks waiting for their return by plugging a disused Marantz MCR603 into the MA GX300's (stupid I know especially now with hindsight!) and being wholly unimpressed by the sound coming out of the speakers but it gave me a benchmark. I was worried that nothing could make the speakers sound good. Until tonite. Ok perhaps its easy to get carried away but ive spent 30mins listening to some of the 'Yes Album' and I am loving what I am hearing. What is apparent is how the MA GX300 speaker is quite honest and revealing so it shows me its only as good as what feeds it and doesn't tolerate bad sources. What the speaker also reveals is just how lovely the Icon kit is to listen too. I could go on about how the soundstage has opened up and how I can hear all the instruments in the mix etc but the electrics are too good for talking all that guff.... I am simply hearing the music and grinning from ear to ear in the process. In fact its pointless trying to describe it almost if that makes any sense? Ive always loved the Yes album and know it well but this evening its like ive not heard it before. It sounds soooo much better. This is exactly what I hoped to achieve! Now I will spend some time listening to other recordings, especially poorer ones to conclude my love for my music again! As an added bonus with all the lights off in the room the amps create an ambiance and atmosphere before the music even starts playing. The literally golden glow from the big power valves is hard to take yore eyes off! It has made a mundane task of putting a CD into a tray and turning an amp(s) on much more exciting! So far, so awesome :rockout: :clap:

Excellent news... really pleased for you... well deserved after all your efforts and I'm sure it's only going to get better.

Don't be a stranger.

Mac

www.macsmusic.blogbubble.net