Tim De Paravicini (EAR) preamp any good?
Gucciphile
Russ Sadd
news:19990426140932...@ng-fe1.aol.com...
> How good is his tube linestage preamp design 834L for EAR?
A word to the wise - stay away from Tim De Paravicini's designs.
The ones that don't have a major design flaw are very poorly assembled (I
know these guys), and I honestly wouldn't touch anything of his with a
10-foot bargepole.
Best regards,
Russ Sadd
Birmingham, UK
E-mail: gri...@dircon.co.uk
WWW: http://www.griffon.dircon.co.uk
Gucciphile
>
>The ones that don't have a major design flaw are very poorly assembled (I
>know these guys), and I honestly wouldn't touch anything of his with a
>10-foot bargepole.
I thought this guy is a genius in circuit design...
Acrosound
Russ Sadd offered:
<<
>A word to the wise - stay away from Tim De Paravicini's designs.
>
>The ones that don't have a major design flaw are very poorly assembled (I
>know these guys), and I honestly wouldn't touch anything of his with a
>10-foot bargepole.
and gucciphile offered the following:
::I thought this guy is a genius in circuit design...
Interesting to hear Russ's comments. And Gucci points out what I have also
heard through the audio grapevine... that... Tim D. is regarded as a near
genuis by many for his design work. Tim has done a lot of pro studio design
work and custom retrofitting of cutter head amps and great work on studio
quality analog recorders... or, so I have understood....
Tim's work is highly regarded in Japan. His 835 (did I get the number right)
PP amp was picked (IIRC) as product of the year by Stereo Sound magazine???
Personally I have never seen or heard Tim's work or commericial offerings so I
can't weigh in on this debate.
Gucci's comment struck me as interesting because it is possible for a designer
to be near genuis in the design phase and perhaps (though I don't know it to be
true in this case) the designer does not build or execute his designs to the
same level as they appear on paper. Which may be the judgement of Russ in this
case.
MSL
Russ Sadd
news:19990427014516...@ng-ft1.aol.com...
> Interesting to hear Russ's comments. And Gucci points out what I have
also
> heard through the audio grapevine... that... Tim D. is regarded as a near
> genuis by many for his design work. Tim has done a lot of pro studio
design
> work and custom retrofitting of cutter head amps and great work on studio
> quality analog recorders... or, so I have understood....
Hi Mike,
The thing is, I'd always though TdP was some kind of genius myself. At
least, so he's portrayed by British audio magazines. However, I've had a
run-in with some of the things he's built (like that valve stereo decoder
for the Leak Troughline), and was rather shocked that it sold at all,
certainly not at the price it did. Seeing the innards was a lesson in what
not to do, and the soldering made mine look good (no mean feat). This rather
shattered my illusions, a bit
like finding out that Naim gear regularly toasts itself did. The only time I
really encountered Tim, a couple of years ago now, when he was explaining at
a hi-fi show why you couldn't drive Quad ESLs directly from valves - and an
engineer from the crowd started patiently explaining where Tim had gone
wrong. He's not an all-round expert!
His designs - on paper - aren't the problem, but it's the execution of this
design that worries me. Resistors and capacitors being run well over their
ratings, for example, as Tim *really* doesn't do conservative. Therefore, I
rather suspect that the people who actually build these well thought-of
designs of his upgrade the component choices and think harder about the
build quality.
My other point here is that I've encountered first-hand the work done by
other audio engineers on restoration. The GT Audio stereo decoder board is
superb, for example, as is the restoration work done by people such as
Graham Tricker or Keith Troman - neither of whom are strangers to pro studio
design! Again, these are people you'd run into if you were in the same
business, but they've not got Tim's stardom.
It could be that Tim's extremely good at *transformer* design, but not so
good at unusual circuits or in executing his designs himself. I find it hard
to
believe that someone could be a genius at everything, assuming that he's as
good as everyone says. There are so many damn good people associated with
valve audio around the world, and it does rather annoy me that the glossy
hi-fi mags have only got one pedestal free to put a designer on. I've got to
admit I prefer to find out for myself, and take a recommendation from
someone within the industry more to heart - that's possibly the best way to
find the right people, finding the man or woman the buck stops with!
Jérôme Phaneuf
Me too I was all intoxicated by this info on TdP in the magazines until we
had to build an EAR 859 for a customer several years ago. This amplifier
has nasty measurements. It sounds okay but grainy, and nothing in this
design qualifies for a "genius" label in my experience.
Oh, on a more positive note I will say that the output transformers, though
they were ugly, were very very good, and I am very hard to satisfy
tranny-wise.
Though it sounded okay, it ran innnnnncredibly hot. You better not have
little kids when you run this amp in your setup.
Best regards,
Jerome
The Green Manalishi
: Oh, on a more positive note I will say that the output transformers, though
: they were ugly, were very very good, and I am very hard to satisfy
: tranny-wise.
Heya Jerome -
Do you know if TdP's transformers are available for purchase by hobbists?
--
Vandit Kalia GO FLYERS!!!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ship of state is the only ship that leaks from the top
Kurt Strain
: It could be that Tim's extremely good at *transformer* design, but not so
: good at unusual circuits or in executing his designs himself.
Funny you say this. I own one thing from E.A.R. That's the MC-3 moving
coil step-up transformer. I love this transformer's performance. Reasonable
price too for these things ($995), and it never overheats :-).
Kurt
John Beach
to be very enjoyable to listen to and comparable to my Audio Research
SP-11, MkII, only warmer.
With that said I must add that a look inside the units reveals the PCB
to be very cheaply done. And the manual is just a couple of sheets of
paper. The schematics for both units are the same but with the phono
RIAA compensation circuit hand drawn in.
But again, with NOS Mullards installed these things do sing.
John Beach
Jérôme Phaneuf
>Heya Jerome -
>Do you know if TdP's transformers are available for purchase by hobbists?
Baah, I believe they're Partridges. Call Esoteric Audio Research and ask.
Or call "La maison de l'audiophile" in Paris (ask for Walter) they might
have what you need. Esoteric Audio Research should be able to sell you the
transformers. At worse they will sell them as part of a kit. But once you
have the kit, you do what you want with the parts, right? The TdP trannys
look like they are C-core open frames. They look artisanal. They certainly
were by magnitudes the best components in this EAR-859 amplifier.
They are, in my opinion, almost as good as MQ when you compare products of
equivalent prices. I will soon disclose the results of a comparative test
(including pictures) of two VT-52 amplifiers of the exact same design. One
uses MagneQuest QS-030 silver transformers, and the other has Partridges.
Of course, it is not a fair comparison since we will be comparing
transformers that are in a ratio of about 8 to 1 in terms of price.
But it will be fun. I will try to make this test as scientifical as I can,
which is not much. :-) But at least I can "write down" what the scope
says. For in-room testing, you will have to trust my vast experience and
knowledge of music and also this incredible set of ears that I take out
sometimes on special occasions.
Till then, let's keep that iron hot.
Jerome
Mats Wiklander
> Do you know if TdP's transformers are available for purchase by hobbists?
Most unlikely. I am fortunate enough to know people who uses them in
their commercial amps so I think I can by a pair for myself. But the
general public will probably have to settle for some more common OPTs.
If anyone has any information about buying TdP transformers I would be
most grateful to read about it.
Peace