By Juan C. Ayllon Main photos by Juan C. Ayllon Additional photos by Eric Krupp and John Lumley CHICAGOLAND -- This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of joining Gudebrod Audio’s Eric Krupp and John Brunner, as well as their friend, John Lumley (who designs and builds vacuum tube preamplifiers and amps, as well as speakers through Lumley Reference) at Eric’s house for a listening party. Showcased up front were the Gudebrod Audio 3T12V preamplifier, Eric’s revamped JBL L112 speakers and, alternatively, five watt prototype tube amplifiers built by Krupp and Lumley. A Pioneer DVD-7400 digital transport feeding into a Mytek Stereo 192 DSD DAC handled sourcing, while a pair of Gudenbrod AC/120/3 AC line filters ensured clean sound. The sound was incredibly detailed, nuanced, full-bodied and lively. Selections from Yello’s The Eye, Abdullah Ibrahim’s Sothelo, Pat Metheny’s The Way Up and many other albums played admirably. “When you have sensitive speakers, you don’t need a lot of power -- that’s just five watts!,” Lumley asserted, adding that with tube based systems like these, you wring out every last bit of emotion and musicality out of the music, whereas higher powered solid state equipment made for more sterile presentations. Sitting there, taking it in, It was hard to argue his point. A reconditioned, diminutive tube amplifier retrieved from an old Magnavox stereo console, while not on the level of Lumley’s and Krupps creations, was surprisingly good. It was hard to believe what my ears were hearing! We listened, laughed, sipped beer and noshed on sandwiches from a local deli, and critiqued the amplifiers. Talk of starting a Do It Yourself club came up. I’ve never built my own equipment, but that didn’t dissuade Lumley, who predicted, “Juan, you are going to build a preamplifier!” Maybe so. Either way, it was a lovely, thought provoking time. I look forward to more gatherings like this!
1 Comment
3/28/2022 11:12:58 pm
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Juan C. AyllonA writer, artist, educator and owner of Prairie Audio Man Cave, he lives with his wife, Isabel (AKA Belle), and their Goldendoodle, Liam, enjoys listening to high fidelity music and all things hi-fi at their home in the greater Chicagoland area.. Archives
March 2024
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