i have the Kensngton SE and i am trying to find that perfect balance of interconnect and speaker cable. are you still using the Audioquest and what has been your experience. i currently have Siltech in my system.

dsholl1 September 06, 2011 23:37

Great Mulveling! very happy for you mate! - no worries about the late reply, glad you went down the tannoy rogue route - instead of the ares, i got the Decware ZP3 - similarly priced but It only takes MM - but it is indeed a mind blowing pieces of work! (it takeS my SoundSmith Boheme well) - yes, you are right indeed - the stock rogue tubes are terrible, i've just begun rolling the driver tube on the integrated with a NOS 5814 RCA Blackplate - hell of a difference! need to swap out the 12ax7 and the rest of the 12UA7, wonder if the cronus will take the KT120:))

thegoodarcher August 29, 2011 04:31

Thanks guys!

Hoa,
Those are GIK Acoustics Tri-Traps in the corners and GIK 242 panels on the front wall. Excellent acoustic effectiveness, extremely reasonably priced, and though not premium in build quality they don't look terrible. Since I bought mine they now offer premium cloths/colors. I might check and see if they have a good match to the Tannoy's tweed grills...though the plain off-white does blend in to the walls.

Yeah, the Kensington SE are magic once you get the right gear behind them - but therein lies a challenge, as despite their musicality they are deceivingly revealing/resolving and every tube/component change will be heard LOUD AND CLEAR. They've actually made my gear habit worse this past 2.5 years.

Nice that you have Tannoys AND Harbeths. Lots of British audio WIN in your home!

mulveling August 07, 2011 16:33

I like it!

mapman July 28, 2011 09:40

Hello Mike,
What is the brand of the bass traps that you used behind your system? I just got a pair of Tannoy Kensington SE and LOVE them!!! Thinking of doing a little room treatment to get the best out of my system. Thanks in advance.
Hoa

jaytea July 28, 2011 01:35

System edited: Much experimenting with tube rolling. Haven't yet run into an RCA black plate - of 12AX7, 5751, and 12BH7 - that I don't like...and certain variants in particular are just lovely. Also liking the Mullard long-plate 12AX7 and Tung-Sol 12BH7. Not a fan of any 12AU7 yet. Ditched the EH KT90 for the new-ish KT120. NICE improvement there. The KT90 were just too forward up top. KT120 is nice and balanced; silky smooth from mids through treble, and with even more powerful bass. Still haven't convinced myself that the 6H30-DR are worth trying (@ $200 a pop times 8).

mulveling July 08, 2011 00:31

Thegoodarcher,
Man, I haven't checked this thread in a while - sorry for the way delayed reply. I used an Atlas (not even magnum) before the Apollos, and I know the Cronus you've got sounds really sweet.

I've had the Ares for more than a few months, and it actually took me a while to warm up to it. The problem is that I'd been using a Sonic Frontiers Phono 1 - clearly better than even the GCPH - but it was adding a touch of warmth to my system. That was kind of compensating for the crappy stock EH 12AX7 small signal-tubes I'd been using in my Apollos.

I finally put some nice NOS tubes in 12AX7 and 12AU7 positions on the Apollos (ended up with 12BH7A in place of the 12AU7). Then, I put some RCA 12AU7 cleartops in the Ares. The Ares still ONLY has EH 12AX7 (soon to be rectified), but already it's clearly the most resolving stage I've had yet. Killer bass and dynamics. Very clean & neutral; I'm sure I can tune it further by finally swapping those 12AX7s. The SF is running a quad super nice JAN Amperex 7308, and it's still getting beat. Loving that Ares - and I must remember to never cheap out on small-signal tube rolling in the future!

mulveling May 06, 2011 03:33

System edited: Updated system. Hera preamp is off to Rogue for upgrading to version II+ status. In the meantime I'm left with a little SS headphone amp (with preamp outputs) - despite being a real nice headamp it SUCKS compared to the Hera. Really was starting to take that thing for granted, and it should be even better when it gets back. Next...is it even worth it to gamble some $1.6K for an octet of 6H30-DR supertubes in this preamp?

mulveling May 06, 2011 03:21

Hello There,
I am new here, your set up looks amazing:) i have the modest Cronus Titan Integrated "Magnum Version" with 90w/pc (with KT 90 Tubes).

I am too contemplating on the "Rogue Ares" Phono Stage, i had a PS Audio GCPH up to yesterday, since i am in Malaysia, it might take sometimes for the Ares to get here - i'd appreciate any feedback regarding this, since it will take sometime to reach our local distributor.

Equally, i didnt quite feel the stealth, now lets go all rogue..

Cheers!

P/S : I am eyeing on the Tannoy Stirling SE ( have you tried the super tweeter?)

thegoodarcher November 08, 2010 14:16

Very nice system and room, I'd love to hear it!

stuartson May 27, 2010 20:30

Wonderful system...love to hear that!

artk April 19, 2010 21:13

System edited: Added my reel-to-reel tape deck to system. I LOVE the sound of the damned thing but it's a bit of a PITA. Sometimes the left channel cuts in/out intermittently - it think it may be happening after the unit is fully warmed up. Or perhaps it's somewhat tape-dependent...or maybe both! The RCA jacks are also WAY TOO CLOSE together. I don't have any RCA cables with barrels skinny enough to fit well. Finally hooked it up again, a couple nights ago - first time with the Apollos. It's definitely worth putting up with (for now), for the sound and the needledrop music I've got on Maxell tapes. I've been looking forward to every night I'm at home, so I can go through more LPs and tapes!

mulveling April 18, 2010 12:35

Thanks Jerico!

I've been very impressed with the GCPH. It's dead neutral, resolving, about as smooth as I've heard from Solid-State gear. It's better than my Benz PP-1 (at least on Ortofon carts - I used to have a Glider L2, hence the Benz), for less money. The XLR outputs are a nice plus with a preamp like the Athena/Hera. At $700 new - how can you argue with that?

The only reason I haven't bought this GCPH from my dealer, is that I'm impatiently anticipating the soon-to-be-released Rogue Ares phono stage ($2K MSRP). It's going to be an AD797 step-up plus a tube MM stage of four 12AT7 tubes. It would be nice to have an all-Rogue system (I'll be asking for fancy metal feet to match to Hera/Apollo, heh). I've previously tried the Rogue Stealth and loved the voicing, but it wasn't as resolving nor as quiet as the PP-1. If the Ares fixes that, then it'll be perfect for me. Though I do wish it would have XLR outputs, which it won't.

Still, if the Ares doesn't beat the GCPH noticeably, then the GCPH will stay! I certainly can't complain about the sound I'm getting now. Of course that won't stop me from trying to improve it further, as this affliction dictates. Next, I'd like to look at an Ortofon Winfeld cart upgrade - which may dictate a lower mass arm, too.

mulveling April 13, 2010 01:29

That's a beautiful looking setup - and I'm envious of the lack-of-residential neighbor aspect!

I also have a GCPH and have been very happy with it (picked it up new for $700 as well - so VERY happy given the discount).

jerico April 12, 2010 20:10

System edited: Big update - Apollo monoblocks have arrived, and the Atlas will be gone soon. Also using a loaner PS Audio GCPH (XLR outputs into the Hera) in place of the Benz PP-1, with 50-ohm loading. The Apollo/Hera/Kensington combination is freaking blowing my mind.

mulveling April 12, 2010 19:26

Way to go Mike! Sounds like your close to where you want to get. Congrats on the amps, and good luck in your hunt for the phonostage.

tom_hankins March 22, 2010 06:52

Thanks for the comments, guys!

Well here's where the "ever evolving" comes in...

I've had the Rogue Hera for a month now. It's been a modest revelation for me. Significantly better resolution and micro-dynamics, along with a BIG increase in soundstage depth, a slight increase in width, and a more neutral/natural tone (as opposed to hitting all AROUND the bulls-eye with different variants of 6sn7 in the 99). Absolutely worth the cost of entry, and in fact I feel I got a GREAT deal on mine.

Unfortunately, now I've had a taste of higher-end and it's like blood in the water. After auditioning a different amp and phono stage in my system, it's clear those two components now represent weaknesses.

Amp:
The system's "macro-dynamics" didn't receive a commensurate bump-up with the introduction of the Hera. An audition of my friend's Stereo 90 Magnum easily showed why - I actually lack enough power for high dynamic range recordings (classical). This was a somewhat surprising to me - I now admit I underestimated my power requirements. That and the 90 Magnum displayed a bit more finesse and articulation too. I decided it's time to move on from The Atlas (GREAT amp for the money), so I now have a pair of Apollo monoblocks on order from my dealer :)

Phono Stage:
I auditioned my dealer's PS Audio GCPH in place of my Benz PP-1 (current T9 version), both using 100 ohm loading on my Ortofon Kontrapunkt "c". The PP-1 was more resolving that other stages I'd previously tried (Aragon 47K, Rogue Stealth, Dynavector P75), but at the expense of a slightly nasty spike/peak/resonance somewhere in the treble. I always assumed that was a side effect of its resolving power - that it was just revealing something in my cartridge or TT setup. Once again, it turns out my assumption was probably wrong. The GCPH is wonderfully smooth over the WHOLE range, no treble peak, and every bit as resolving. In fact, the bass is ever-so-slightly more punchy and taut. The GCPH midrange doesn't have the touch of added warmth of the PP-1, and it's just a tiny bit less 3D, but overall the GCPH is wonderfully liquid and musical, tonally dead neutral, and more enjoyable if only for the lack of that treble aberration. I should also note that I was running AQ Cheetah XLR cables from the GCPH, while the PP-1 uses AQ Jaguar RCA. So, this is not completely fair ground, but the treble problem is too much to be explained by the cables alone IMO. I also might get a Rogue Ares phono stage (soon to be released tube/SS hybrid) for audition, so the winner between that and the GCPH will likely be my next phono stage.

Cables:
Well now this has begun too. I really really like the solid silver I've heard - so smooth AND resolving, with NONE of the brightness that some complain about with silver. I got a pair of AQ Cheetah XLRs that will connect the Hera to the Apollos, when they arrive. I've got an incoming pair of Sky RCAs in anticipation of the Ares phono stage. I've ordered a LeoPard phono cable. My pair of Mont Blanc speaker cables will have to do for now (they don't suck), after some minor re-termination surgery. The Mont Blancs are smoother and more 3D than the LAT silverfuse cables I've repeatedly tried to "downgrade" to (to recoup some money from the Mont Blancs). A little down the line I may look into bi-wiring with VERY short (3-4ft) pairs of KE-4 and Gibraltar.

Speakers:
The Kensngton SEs are here to stay. They've SIGNIFICANTLY enhanced my enjoyment of music in the year since I purchased them. The magic there hasn't yet begun to wear off (for gear, a year is a LONG time with me), though I'm continually shocked at how resolving they are of ANY component (and cable) changes in the system. It's time to get the "right" system behind them.

Mike

mulveling March 21, 2010 00:04

MIke,
Hope the preamp gets there quick and works out as good as you hope! (sure it will) Great system.

tom_hankins February 15, 2010 18:47

Would love to see more photos of your space.

gsm18439 February 14, 2010 20:44

Congrats on your system. I,too, just bought Kensingtons (not the SE) and cannot say enough about them. Oh so musical! I also have tubes and an ortofon cartridge. ENJOY!

aronsss February 14, 2010 17:22

Old or new, you've got to love those Tannoy's! Congrats on a beautiful system, Tannoys and tubes were meant for eack other, as in the 40's, when the DC's were first developed, there wasn't anyhing else. Enjoy.

Regards,
Dan

islandmandan February 14, 2010 15:07

Very nice system. I agree that classic Mullard tubes really awaken the Rogue gear...truly a must. Enjoy.

chadlesko February 14, 2010 08:03