Summertime, and the listening, at least, is easy…

It’s high summer! And true to the way the past couple of years have gone, it’s not at all “business as usual”. Many of us are spending most of our time outside enjoying the sun, the waters, mountains and forests. On the other hand, some of us out here in the west are finding ourselves indoors a little (and maybe a lot) more than anticipated. This is the view from the back deck one night at the beginning of August… Fortunately, even with some property losses, no one was hurt, though the fire, smoke and heat are still with us and keeping us indoors quite a bit more than usual…

 

In either case, and particularly for those of us in the latter group, for whom music is indeed a refuge, there’s lots of opportunity to listen to and explore options with our stereo systems. As discussed in the previous blog, it’s also a great time to look at trading up into an Allnic product, or further up the Allnic product line. Hammertone, Kevalin and Corby’s Audio are always willing to look at high quality trades, so if you have something of that nature and you’re interested in an Allnic, don’t hesitate to get in touch!

And this possibility includes cables, too, so don’t forget about Allnic’s exceptional and exceptionally well-reviewed ZL technology power cords, speaker cables, and interconnects - see the reviews on the individual product pages or the “Reviews” page on this website.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are other options that Allnic, like other tube gear, offers to audiophiles, like tube-rolling. Allnic uses excellent tubes in its circuits and, where possible, tubes that are readily available. Nonetheless, some of the more common tube types Allnic utilizes are available from a wide variety of tube makers and times, and experimenting with those can be interesting. It also makes it possible to modify the sound a little to individual preferences. In any case, please contact your Allnic dealer for helpful information about tube options. For one thing, we are getting feedback from customers and building a knowledge base about what they have tried. We’re getting enthusiastic comments on changing the 5654 tube found in many Allnic amps, preamps and phono-preamps, the outstanding value H-5500 phono-stage, for example (5654 equivalent to 6AK5W, CV4010, M8100, 6096, E95F…).

Try, among others, the NOS varieties by Mullard, Telefunken, and Siemens. While not in the direct signal path, as with rectifiers they can make a difference; and in your system, those differences might be beneficial. They each offer a slightly different “flavour”, apparently, and prices are still quite reasonable for these small tubes. Speaking of rectifiers, the extremely popular H-7000 offers lots of possibilities for tube-rolling, since it can use both direct and indirect heated types.

 

Volumes of information about swapping them around can be found in various on-line forums. Prices do vary tremendously for these tube types, depending again on manufacturer and vintage.

The M-2500 monoblocks are another example, and though using ONLY direct heated 5U4G/GB type rectifiers, provide the opportunity to tailor the sound by experimenting with manufacturers and vintages, from NOS RCA and Tung-Sol to Japanese manufactured tubes of various branding, to modern production types from several different countries.

On the new review front, we’re still waiting for the coming reviews of the T-2000 30^th Anniversary KT170 integrated amp, the H-5500 phono-stage, and the Allnic Rose and Amber cartridges by Audiophilia, Part-Time Audiophile and Soundstage! Well - it is summertime! ;-)

Also, as mentioned enthusiastically in the previous blog, we’re hoping you’re planning to attend the Toronto Audio Show in October 2021 . Corby’s Audio and Coherent Audio Loudspeakers will host with Allnic Audio. We’re all really looking forward to it, and fingers crossed that it will actually happen… we’re still waiting for confirmation! We’ll keep you posted here, but you can follow the news about the show directly at: Toronto Audio Fest 2021

In the meantime, please get in touch with any of us to discuss purchasing or trading up into Allnic, tube-rolling, and all things stereo. Stay safe and well, wherever you are and however summer is rolling along for you!

Canada:

Hammertone Audio (Allnic North American Distributor) – We do trades!

Kelowna, BC

Website link: Hammertone Audio

Email or call Dave Beetles:

Email: [email protected]

Tel:+1 250.826.6872

 

Corby’s Audio

Freelton, Ontario

Website link: Corby’s Audio

Email or call Don Corby:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +1 905.689.1976

Toll free: 1.877.689.1976

 

USA:

Kevalin Audio

Corvallis, Oregon

Website link: Kevalin Audio

Email or call John Ketcham:

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +1 503–292–5592

To arrange for purchase and free shipping of any Allnic product to parts of the world where there is no Allnic representation, please contact Hammertone Audio.