Hello From North Carolina
- Thread starter richwr
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2014
- Messages
- 3,507
- Location
- Gaston, SC
- Tagline
- Victim of the record bug since age five
Yep…I put my toes into the PL “pool” that way too. Next you know, you’ll be ordering a WOAD control board, backplane, and transistors for a fully-complimentary system. Trust me on this 
Welcome to the rabbit hole!
Welcome to the rabbit hole!
Using a Concept receiver as a preamp, with a Cambridge audio CXN V2 streamer/dac into the 400 and some imported towers speakers from Denmark. Using two transports Oppo bdp105 for SACD - Blu-Ray music and a Cambridge Audio CXC transportfor standard CD's. I use 2 SVS pro series sealed subs to help from 40hrz down.
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Messages
- 74,912
- Location
- Gillette, Wyo.
- Tagline
- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
I can tell you from personal experience, going from Quasi- to Full-complimentary was ear-opening. The tight, punchy bass, incredible headroom and lack of distortion - even at watt levels higher than what my speakers are rated for (and no blown fuses!) are leaps above my original 400-II.
A good friend who has been on a quest to buy the best damn tube amp he can find has been auditioning systems for the past several months. While he had been convinced the tube amps sounded better than his stock 400-II, even some legacy McIntosh amps, he wrestled with the money commitment these sellers were asking. I finally convinced him to come listen to my system ... nothing esoteric - a Topping D50s, upgraded (not BillD) Carver C1, and my WOPL'ed 400-II driving a pair of a/d/s/ L1230 (as well as a pair of L1290 that I use to go back and forth).
He was immediately sold and gave me the down-payment to buy the WOPL Works: PS caps, Control Board, Backplane kit, transistors for full-complimentary, and rectifier snubber board - as well as Don's Watt's Abundant speaker protection board. His amp was 100% stock and fully functional but he loved the warmth and tight - QUIET - system he heard at my house.
You too will be very impressed ... the old, even re-capped, PS equipment is decades dated - and in serious need of upgrading.
Not sure if you are aware of the comparison of Full- and Quasi complimentary, so I grabbed a screen from Joe / Gepetto / Mr. White Oak Audio where he explained all ... to save him some keystrokes.
Enjoy!
Al
A good friend who has been on a quest to buy the best damn tube amp he can find has been auditioning systems for the past several months. While he had been convinced the tube amps sounded better than his stock 400-II, even some legacy McIntosh amps, he wrestled with the money commitment these sellers were asking. I finally convinced him to come listen to my system ... nothing esoteric - a Topping D50s, upgraded (not BillD) Carver C1, and my WOPL'ed 400-II driving a pair of a/d/s/ L1230 (as well as a pair of L1290 that I use to go back and forth).
He was immediately sold and gave me the down-payment to buy the WOPL Works: PS caps, Control Board, Backplane kit, transistors for full-complimentary, and rectifier snubber board - as well as Don's Watt's Abundant speaker protection board. His amp was 100% stock and fully functional but he loved the warmth and tight - QUIET - system he heard at my house.
You too will be very impressed ... the old, even re-capped, PS equipment is decades dated - and in serious need of upgrading.
Not sure if you are aware of the comparison of Full- and Quasi complimentary, so I grabbed a screen from Joe / Gepetto / Mr. White Oak Audio where he explained all ... to save him some keystrokes.
Enjoy!
Al
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Messages
- 74,912
- Location
- Gillette, Wyo.
- Tagline
- Halfbiass...Electron Herder and Backass Woof
In my systems the difference wasn’t night and day, which I consider a good thing.
From top to bottom everything got cleaner and sharper without loosing that wonderful “PL sound”. I think the improvement in the lower registers alone is worth the upgrade. Besides the sound improvement, there is the reliability of new modern components but perhaps the greatest value is the community that comes with it. Whatever route you choose, these guys will support, educate and share their knowledge with you…….priceless
From top to bottom everything got cleaner and sharper without loosing that wonderful “PL sound”. I think the improvement in the lower registers alone is worth the upgrade. Besides the sound improvement, there is the reliability of new modern components but perhaps the greatest value is the community that comes with it. Whatever route you choose, these guys will support, educate and share their knowledge with you…….priceless
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2022
- Messages
- 5,564
- Tagline
- music...the healer of souls...
that is exactly the way i feel....to me...although old....think the original pls sound great too... there is improvement in the wopls....as i have 1 on line and working on the second wopl....but, the main thing....i know its gonna work when i turn it on...the original stuff....well, they kinda say to me....do you feel lucky, punk??
lol....
you can not be more on target about the phoenix support and encouragement....priceless...
lol....
you can not be more on target about the phoenix support and encouragement....priceless...