Rivieraranch
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I recently sold the TABOO I bought new in 2008. It had seen service both at home and at the office; with and without a CSP2 preamplifier. My comments on the unit are found in various threads in this forum below. My first TABOO was a superlative piece of high fidelity equipment.
I teetered on the brink of buying a MINI TORII for the office but in the end I realized that it would not make sense merely to duplicate for the workplace what I have here at home.
I ordered a new TABOO with V-caps and 2 selectable inputs. I had been using a Radio Shack 2 input switch box for the tuner and CD inputs and was tired of it. It looked Mickey Mouse. The new TABOO arrived and I used it for 5 hours on one day before going on vacation for 6 business days. Then I came back to work and started really breaking it in.
This week was the first full week of breaking the TABOO in. Monday and Tuesday I began using a Mullard CV4024 in front, some old RCA 6BQ5's and a Tung Sol 5U4 rectifier. The unit sounded a little thin for the first couple of hours but quickly began mellowing.
Steve said that the V-caps help with the gain in the TABOO. After a few days I began to notice this. With the volume wide open, the music was louder than it had been with the other unit. Although I do not need maximum volume for this is an office, not a home system. The speakers are directly in front of me.
Wednesday I brought some 6P15P-EV's in to see how the unit would sound with the vaunted grid modification. After a couple of hours these sounded very detailed with a lot of air. The bass was there in good detail but was a tad lighter than with a 6BQ5. This was a very interesting, accurate, engaging sound indeed. I used these for 2 days to burn the tubes in. I was skeptical at first about using this tube; the mod was not the reason why I got this unit; but after using the tube with the grid mod, I may even prefer it.
Today I swapped the '15P's for a pair of 6P14P-EV, a stronger, meaner EL84 substitute. I immediately noticed the difference between these and the '15P's. The '14P's have heavier bass and a meatier presentation in the middle range. They were strong and authoritative, but without the extra detail of the 6P15P-EV. They are stronger than a standard 6BQ5. I imagine that these will sweeten with time. Although after running them for 7 hours they were pretty well warmed up.
So far, the new TABOO is working out quite well. It will mellow and sweeten with time, like the old one did. However, with the 2 inputs, the grid mod and the V-caps, my new TABOO better meets my needs for the longer term.
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