It's always wonderful to hear from Yazaki-san, and he's always got some great ideas for audio adventures!
A week or so ago Yazaki-san told me:
Dear Jeff-san,
I have a plan to send you a pair of resistors and also a pair of reproduction WE18GA wire for power cables.
The resistors are prepared for the first tube's cathode resistor, R5/3.3KΩ, of your splendid MC30 monaural amplifiers.
The Ohmite WH/WN line doesn't have that particular value, but it can easily be made by the parallel connection of 5KΩ and 10KΩ resisters.
My DA30 SET's sound was remarkably improved with this WH/1KΩ.
I have long loved and used OHMITE wire wound resistors, but this one might be the goal of all resistors for my hearing. Yes, I have not heard such an information-rich resistor.
And the new 18GA, I used it as the power cable for the DA30 (PX25A ) mono SET I built for your blog's readers. I hope it could be completed by the end of next month.
I remembered well you had once tried WE16GA for power cable in your MC30's, and it reminded me that my old Marantz 7 k and my DA30 SET used 18GA power cable. And so this time, I tried this new WE18GA cable for the power cable.
The results were fantastic not only for me but also for Nakamura-san, Nishikawa-san, and Kajiwara-san.
The power cable is really very nice for DVD/CD player, DV-AX10, and also for prototype Class-D amplifier.
The cable's thickness, 18GA would be sufficient for such gear, and also the tinned-copper might fit well with our hearing, but I don't know the reason why.
Best regards,
Shirokazu Yazaki
Yesterday the audio adventure package from Yazaki-san arrived, thank you Yazaki-san!
Yazaki-san's audio adventure package contained the paralleled Ohmite WH/3.3KΩ resistors for R5 in my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers, and the reproduction Western Electric WE18GA for two power cords.
An audio adventure package from Yazaki-san!
I let Yazaki-san know that his package arrived safe & sound, and he followed up with a note telling me:
Dear Jeff-san,
To tell the truth, the day before yesterday, I changed two cathode resistors in my old Marantz Model 7k's first stage, the phono EQ, and the flat amplifier to WN 5KΩ resistors.
And so my system at present, all the first stage tube of the preamplifier, DA30 SET and 50CA10 PP amplifier were changed to this type resistor.
It just brought me really spectacular sound stage with finest detail. And I'm so happy!!
I imagine your new Resistor Adventure would start this way too!
Well, the Ohmite needs a few hours or day to hear its true ability, I experienced.
Best regards,
Shirokazu Yazaki
In the photo below you can see the Ohmite WNE10KFE and WNE5K0FE resistors Yazaki-san paralleled for 3.3KΩ to use in the R5 position in my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers.
Ohmite WNE10KFE and WNE5K0FE resistors paralleled for 3.3KΩ.
Here's a closeup of the reproduction WE18GA wire Yazaki-san sent me to try as power cords.
Reproduction WE18GA wire.
I tried WE16GA wire as power cords on my MC30's, but it turned out not be be a very good match musically for my Westminster Royal SE based system, so after some experimentation I went back to the stock power cords that Yves uses when he restores the MC30's (you can read about that odyssey here).
I will be looking forward to trying the reproduction Western Electric WE18GA as power cords on my vintage McIntosh MC30 monaural amplifiers, or perhaps on a DAC, or another application.
McIntosh MC30 Capacitor Adventure Project.
Yazaki-san had also recommended some high-quality & budget price AC plugs he likes to me, quite a while back, but I have forgotten what they are, so I have a request in to Yazaki-san for a reminder, and soon as I hear back I'll get some ordered and let you know what they are.
Update - Yazaki-san responds:
Dear Jeff-san,
About the power connector or the plugs, what would be the best, I can't tell. Yes, there are so many kinds of the gear.
But I have used Marinco 320IEC15 and Marinco 8215 NEMA Hospital-Grade Power Plug 15A 125V and these are very reasonable price.
Kind regards,
Shirokazu Yazaki
The Marinco plugs are available on Amazon: $21.59 USD for the Marinco 320IEC15, and $11.87 USD for the Marinco 8215's. I just ordered a pair of the Marinco 8215's for this adventure!
Update #2 - I ordered a pair of the Marinco 8215's to try as power plugs for the reproduction WE18GA that Yazaki-san has sent me, and they have arrived.
Marinco 8215
Marinco 8215
The design of the Marinco 8215 AC plugs are similar to that of the Furutech FI-25M AC plugs I used for the WE16GA power cords I built previously, and the Marinco 8215's are built to a nice level of quality, but not to the extreme level of quality that the Furutech offers at approximately $103 USD each.
Furutech FI-25M AC plug.
It's nice to know that there is a quality plug like the Marinco 8215 that is available for such an affordable price.
The adventure begins!
Important note: Frederik advised me that you should not try making power cords out of the Duelund DCA16GA wire, as it doesn't have the internal plastic insulation that the Western Electric does, which allows the Western Electric to be used for higher voltage applications like power cords or internal amplifier/preamplifier wiring, for example. The Duelund is perfect for lower voltage applications like interconnects, speaker cables, loudspeaker wiring, and crossover wiring.
Thanks for stopping by, and may the tone be with you!
