Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:26 pm

jonpanaligan wrote:@jadis...sir powering proac d1.

Recently had a querry on speaker cables...got better results with the minimax. Now i am :)


thanks Jon. happy listening.
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby TheAnalogSource » Thu Mar 13, 2014 8:19 am

Image

here's Jon's complete system Philip....i think he made use of those maggie panels as absorbers hehehe
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby Superman » Thu Mar 13, 2014 8:27 am

Congratulations!
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby BenC » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:18 am

....i think he made use of those maggie panels as absorbers hehehe ...

Astig! ;)
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Thu Mar 13, 2014 9:57 am

TheAnalogSource wrote:Image

here's Jon's complete system Philip....i think he made use of those maggie panels as absorbers hehehe


Haha...Quite useful din pala... :D
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Sun Mar 16, 2014 7:55 pm

DARK SIDE OF THE MAX... :lol:

Image

Image

With due apologies to one of Pink Floyd's greatest albums, Dark Side of the Moon, :lol: which incidentally is one of Morita's favorite 'push-you-to-the-edge' albums and an album I cannot fully comprehend till now. :lol: Still burning in the new line stage, the bright, slim and tall 6X4 tube is the beaming light of this design, and quite literally.
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jon_p » Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:08 pm

jadis wrote:
jonpanaligan wrote:@jadis...sir powering proac d1.

Recently had a querry on speaker cables...got better results with the minimax. Now i am :)


thanks Jon. happy listening.



Salamat sir
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jon_p » Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:09 pm

Superman wrote:Congratulations!



Salamat sir.
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby TheAnalogSource » Mon Apr 07, 2014 10:01 am

had a field trip down south with the jologs to listen to this.... 8)

Image

that small unit on the lower left slingshot a mighty reference phono months ago...
.... thus giving us an opportunity to come back to give it a listen....well....and more... :drunk: 8) :lol:
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Mon Apr 07, 2014 10:08 am

TheAnalogSource wrote:had a field trip down south with the jologs to listen to this.... 8)

Image

that small unit on the lower left slingshot a mighty reference phono months ago...
.... thus giving us an opportunity to come back to give it a listen....well....and more... :drunk: 8) :lol:


Hmm...looks like a Ref 75 amp and an ARC line stage which I cannot identify. Mighty max shoved way deep inside the rack, you DON'T have to do that for it to create a DEEP soundstage. :D :D
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby TheAnalogSource » Mon Apr 07, 2014 10:11 am

Philip, the injured reference phono goliath has the same face plate as the pre and power haha

i think the pre and power are new offered models...coz owner got them brandnew
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The Might Max in 2003

Postby jadis » Tue Apr 08, 2014 10:27 am

THE MIGHTY MAX IN 2003...

Long time ago, maybe 10 years back, Morita would visit me a lot, asking for information that I had gathered from the net about vacuum tubes. At that time, he and I both shared a great passion for tubes and records, and we have continued the bond in present times. I printed out some tube info for him, among which was this 2003 article on a shootout among tube brands by the Hong Kong tube afficionados. This was how 'crazy' they were about tube brands and tube rolling. They organized an event, a party even, for this shootout but what is more revealing now, as Morita has pointed out to me a few days ago, was the fact that the Eastern Electric Minimax Line stage of Alex was used for this 12AU7 tube shootout. Well, in 2003, I didn't even know what a Minimax was, I was an ARC and Jadis boy, but now, things are changing - just like global warming. :D The full article can be clicked at the bottom of this page. :)


Best of the Best 12AU7

From: ah_yung1d
Date: Sun Mar 16, 2003 12:31 am
Subject: 12AU7 Party - Result

We have a wonderful party, with champagne and perhaps the biggest crowd ever in Vintage Sound, to celebrate the launch of the Eastern Electric MiniMax pre-amp designed by Alex, and also to attend the 12AU7 shoot out.

Just to give the background on the system used today :

Source : Jungson SACD player (as transport) + Micromega Duo BS DAC
Pre-amp : EE MiniMax with GEC CV4005 + Telefunken E80CC/N in 1st stage
Power amp : BBC AM8/6 KT88 PP monoblock
Speaker : Early 15 ohm Spendor BC-1

Due to the vast number of 12AU7 tested, we decided to use famous "Choi Kam 3-noter" track as seen and heard in the opening scene of recent blockbuster, "The Infernal Affair".

Because of the large audience and number of 12AU7, I had to be full-time "tube changer" and stood next to the speaker in front of the audience during the shoot-out. Therefore, I cannot provide any fair input to the comparison but just to summarize the comments I heard.

We have tested 17 12AU7 this afternoon and, apart from the Chinese 12AU7, all the 12AU7 test are what people will be regarded as Rolls Royce or BMW grade. Some 12AU7 some members brought in are so rare that their very existence have never been reported.

And they are (in the sequence of appearance this afternoon) :

Amperex long welded plate D-getter 12AU7 (pre-1955)
Chinese stock 12AU7
RCA 1940's black plate square getter 12AU7
Valvo long plate D-getter ECC82 (pre-1955)
Siemens chrome plater double getter support ECC82
Marconi toast plate square getter wrinkle glass B329 (Mullard made)
Telefunken ribbed plate wrinkle glass square getter ECC82 (the most early version)
Telefunken smooth plate copper rod ECC82
Telefunken ECC802S factory certified version
Telefunken ECC802S generic version
Brimar long black plate square getter 12AU7
Brimar half box plate square getter CV4003
Hivac shinny black long smooth side square getter CV491
Gold Monarch B749
Mullard 10M gold pins 12AU7
Cossor wrinkle glass long welded plate square getter double support
12AU7 (likely to be Mullard/Ediswan made)
Lorenz welded plate circle getter 12AU7 (tested below standard!)

As expected, there is no single 12AU7 rated by all above all others. But a few did stood out from the rest. And the Best of the Best are (in no particular order):

- Gold Monarch B749
- Lorenz welded plate circle getter 12AU7 (even with sub-standard readings!)
- Mullard 10M gold pins 12AU7
- Telefunken ECC802S factory certified version
- Cossor wrinkle glass long welded plate square getter double support
- Siemens chrome plater double getter support ECC82
- Marconi toast plate square getter wrinkle glass B329 (Mullard made)

For the full text:

http://hktubeaudio.homestead.com/files/ ... _12AU7.htm
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby Superman » Tue Apr 08, 2014 10:42 am

Nice!
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Tue Apr 08, 2014 11:22 am

Superman wrote:Nice!


When will the SuperMax be posted? :devil:
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby Superman » Tue Apr 08, 2014 5:04 pm

jadis wrote:
Superman wrote:Nice!


When will the SuperMax be posted? :devil:



Hahahahahahaha!! :rofl: :rofl: :lol: :lol: :D :D I WISH Sir :rock:
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby kitaro » Fri Apr 25, 2014 12:23 pm

Hello Jadis, it has been quite a long while since your first date of burning in the minimax pre. I am still eagerly waiting for your minimax's review. :P
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:59 pm

kitaro wrote:Hello Jadis, it has been quite a long while since your first date of burning in the minimax pre. I am still eagerly waiting for your minimax's review. :P


Hi Kitaro,

Thanks for writing. Yes, it's been a while now. I have been listening, and digesting the max pre and the Jadis. I've been trying out some nice tubes on it too. Just waiting for 1 more Mullard rectifier tube to come in and I will be making my notes very soon. :)
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Eastern Electric MINIMAX Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Sun Apr 27, 2014 5:55 pm

MAXING OUT THE LINE...THE MINIMAX LINE STAGE


It's been a while now since I got the Minimax Line stage. Why I got it untested is because I have some faith in my guts. :lol: Ever since Pat brought his 'demo' unit here for one afternoon, I had been curious to hear what a matched brand phono and line stage would sound like. I was looking for their 'synergy', as they were cut from one hands, so to speak. Also, my Jadis JPL line stage had a gain of 35db and I was curious what the Mini's 20db gain would sound like after giving up 15 dbs. I want to see how the Mini would push itself when compared to a seasoned brand like Jadis, who's sonic signature enamored me enough not to be an 'audio infidel' for the last 15 years. :lol:

Out of the box, and into the first few days and weeks, I did not experience any 'terms of endearment' moment with it. :lol: The Jadis would be hard to match, I'd thought, specially with an all-Mullard ensemble. True enough, after initial comparison, the Max still had a long way to go, in dynamics, in lushness, and finesse. What I did next was to yank out the ICs and move back to the JPL for my day to day listening while the Minimax Line gets burned it for as many hours as I can monitor it, and I did this for several weeks.

As time passed, my order of a pair of NOS 12Au7s came in:

Image

Sticking in these tubes in place of the stock Eastern Electric tubes provided instantaneous improvements! The tonal character of course shifted to the classic Mullard sound that I know of. Female vocals specifically sounded full, luscious, and airy. It's almost Doris Day and Julie London were lying down in their beds. :lol: Bedroom voice. :inlove: Maria Mellnas in the album Cantate Domino now sung like a songbird reaching highs that makes my skin crawl. Putting on some jazz albums, I played Jazzical Class by Wayne Bedrosian, of late my pet LP, and was wow'ed by the utter dynamics given by this little preamp. It blew me down, literally, one night. I felt there was a certain 'rightness' in the combination of the Mini phono and the Mini line stage. It is just magical. And the more I crank up the volume, this combination opened up the sound stage even more. Images are stable and instruments have a rich texture and top to bottom coherence is quite excellent. The Mini line preamp's overall performance is knocking at the door of my JPL. This alone is surprising enough as cost-wise, the Mini is just a fraction of the Jadis. Ultimately, the Jadis line still has an edge as far as 'emotional content' is concerned, it gives a little more tingling sensation after listening to its vocal rendition on LPs but the Mini line is not far behind. I would like to venture a guess that the 35db gain of the Jadis line may be too much as at times, my max volume level was just at the 10 o'clock level and it felt like things were bursting already in some cuts. The Mini Line does not exhibit such phenomenon even at the 1 o'clock level. And it actually sounds deeper and more transparent than the JPL/Mini Phono combination. Overall, the Mini line stage gives me a level of satisfaction that I am not in a hurry to go back to my JPL line stage. I know when I go back to the JPL I will discover where its magic still lies as I have gotten so much used to its sonic character and loved it as well, but the Minimax Line is tempting, and taunting me to be an 'audio infidel'. :lol: Well, at this point, it has quite succeeded, actually. :D Is this the feeling of having a mistress? I mean in the audio world. :inlove: :D As they say in the commercial jingle, 'palit-palitan pag may tym'. :D
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby Superman » Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:34 pm

Please reserve the Mullard Tubes :lol: :rofl: :D :inlove: :clap: :emo: :rock: :hai: :call: :wasntme: :$ :tmi: :o ;)
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Re: Eastern Electric MINIMAX Phono and Line Preamps

Postby jadis » Mon Apr 28, 2014 8:56 am

Superman wrote:Please reserve the Mullard Tubes :lol: :rofl: :D :inlove: :clap: :emo: :rock: :hai: :call: :wasntme: :$ :tmi: :o ;)


I regret to say, Mr. Steelman, that after further considerations, the Mullard tubes are deemed 'un-reservable'. :D :D :D
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