Samsquatch
New member
Hello BH forum,
Finished up my stock SII this week. I've been listening for a few days now with zero issues. I went with Audio Note balance and volume pots because I really liked the improvement with the Alps Blue in my Crack (I says Pardon?) but couldn't get the Alps at the time of ordering and figured it would be an improvement over the stock supplied ones. I also installed some Solen Silver 3.3uF caps and actually have some .1uF for the driver stage that I totally missed dropping in at the time of the build so I'll get to them after the DC filament and Shunt Regulator upgrades and many hours of listening.
Anyways, I'm not very versed in the way of describing how it sounds but I would have to say there's a better presentation from my Fostex FE126ENs. Better imaging or soundstage I guess would be my impression. I'm extremely happy and the darn thing is just gorgeous. And this thing really cranks up and doesn't overdrive the tubes at all. Not that I listen to music super loud but you gotta go there sometimes. The Smash/Seductor combo would fall apart at high levels but still love them.
A couple questions because they come to mind. Why use 3K and 2K Ohm resistors in parallel from the hum pots and not just a 5K? Also, should this thing be dead quiet with the hum adjustment? I can get it so close but there's still some perceivable hum if you're really listening for it. Will it get quieter with the DC filament upgrade?
Now what do I do with that Smash and Seductor? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated and considered!
Finished up my stock SII this week. I've been listening for a few days now with zero issues. I went with Audio Note balance and volume pots because I really liked the improvement with the Alps Blue in my Crack (I says Pardon?) but couldn't get the Alps at the time of ordering and figured it would be an improvement over the stock supplied ones. I also installed some Solen Silver 3.3uF caps and actually have some .1uF for the driver stage that I totally missed dropping in at the time of the build so I'll get to them after the DC filament and Shunt Regulator upgrades and many hours of listening.
Anyways, I'm not very versed in the way of describing how it sounds but I would have to say there's a better presentation from my Fostex FE126ENs. Better imaging or soundstage I guess would be my impression. I'm extremely happy and the darn thing is just gorgeous. And this thing really cranks up and doesn't overdrive the tubes at all. Not that I listen to music super loud but you gotta go there sometimes. The Smash/Seductor combo would fall apart at high levels but still love them.
A couple questions because they come to mind. Why use 3K and 2K Ohm resistors in parallel from the hum pots and not just a 5K? Also, should this thing be dead quiet with the hum adjustment? I can get it so close but there's still some perceivable hum if you're really listening for it. Will it get quieter with the DC filament upgrade?
Now what do I do with that Smash and Seductor? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated and considered!