Lots of equiptment, but need advice for a 2 Channel System

High end and really nice stuff in the day, but dreadfully out of date.

The traditional audiophile knee-jerk response is to embark on an expensive equipment replacement project, but that is so 1990's.

There are several more productive ways to go of which these are the two extremes:

(1) Obtain a modern equalizer and audio measurement set up, learn how to use it, and diagnose both the system and the room and apply equalization and room treatments as required.

(2) Obtain a higher end AVR with Audyssey XT32, set aside all components but the speakers and the disc player, and take advantage of the automated system tuning features of the AVR.

I guess the real question is how much time you want to put into this project? if you've got the time then path(1) is the way to go. If you want something better next week, then (2) is the way to go.

While we are on the topic, the Snell E5s are nearly legendary as older school higher end floor-standers. However, they are sorely limited on the bottom end if true high end sound is your goal. Here are the results of running the 8 inch woofer through my optimistic model for bass response with low distortion:

Freq,Hz Max SPL, DB

10 73
20 85
30 92
40 97
50 101
60 104
70 107
80 109
90 111
100 113
110 114
120 116
130 117
140 119
150 120
160 121
170 122

I would say that these Snells and their 8 inch woofer are only capable of they high end performance down to 90 Hz. As mid fi they are good down to 50 Hz. Thing is no matter what kind of music you listen to, you really want response down to no higher than 30 Hz. Clean loud (110 dB SPL) 20 Hz is required for true high end performance.

If you get an AVR with good bass management, adding a higher end sub (something big from Hsu or SCS for example) could make a big difference.

I have no idea what an X-10-D "tube thingy" might be, but let me guess that it is a preamp.

If it is the Musical Fidelity X-10D, it has two 6DJ8 tubes in it, and they probably do need replacing if it has been around for a few years.

I found that with my old Audio Research LS-2 preamp the tubes would go flat and the sound quality took a pronounced nosedive at around 1000 hours (on a set of tubes).

A new set of tubes put things back in order, and everything sounded nice again. My current one acts about the same but uses a different set of tubes.

I have about 20 new 6DJ8 tubes, and will sell you a couple for very cheap ($10 including shipping...and that is mainly the shipping cost...that assumes you are in the USA).
Edited by commsysman - 1/15/13 at 11:08am

Only 1000 Hrs from 6DJ8's?? Those tubes are real horses they should be giving you between 5-10,000 hrs. You might need to get your LS-2 checked. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the LS-2 was a hybrid design that only needed one tube yet you mention set of tubes. How is this possible?? I may have gotten the models mixed up so please clarify..

Three months ago I setup a separate 2 channel system with an Outlaw 2150 two channel receiver and a pair of Focal Choras 814's. Fantastic.