August 19, 2004
Modified Luxman DU-10 & Exception Preamplifier
The elusive quest for sonic truth has found a brilliant advocate. John Tucker of Exemplar Audio has developed a unique approach to circuit design which, to put it in the simplest of terms, comes closer to the sounds I hear from the podium than anything else I have heard.
-Christophe Chagnard
Symphony Conductor, Music Director
Northwest Sinfonietta
Paraglow/Parabee II upgrade
That's a great deal on the Paraglow II upgrade kit IMO. DIY folks might want to consider it too for their homebrew amp designs as I think it is the best sounding driver stage I have heard yet for an SE 2A3 or 300B amp. Very elegant and original design indeed and you won't find it in any existing designs out there that I know of.
-Ed Fallon
This not just a great deal, it may be the best money you ever spend...The already amazing Parabees will bring you to tears with the upgrade to the input/driver stage. Whether you do it or have JT do it, just do it.-Tom Kean
Custom modification of Millenium Preamp and Altis reference DAC
August 20, 2002
Dear John,
This is to tell you how absolutely floored and overwhelmed I have been with the proprietary modifications you made to my Millenium preamp and Altis Reference DAC. I have gone through several iterations of various modifications but never have I been so definitively stunned as with these latest modifications of yours. Incredible dynamics, amazing transparency, the absolute best world class imaging, a naturalness and vividness in the flow of music unparalleled to my ears, absolute truth of tonality and pitch, an all around phenomenal and monumental presence of the musical performance. You brought all these and much more to my ears and for my ultimate delight.
John this is an absolute masterpiece. I am thrilled beyond belief.
Congratulations for this truly remarkable landmark achievement.
Best regards,
Donald Liteanu
It has happened before to me in thirty years of audio reproduction, but rarely.
The first instance was when I passed a stereo store where Infinity
Servio-Statics with ARC electronics were playing. My life was not the same
afterwards. Never had I heard such fidelity. It happened next when I first heard
the Decca London cartridge and again with a good SET amp on horn speakers. But I
doubt if any of these equaled the awe I felt when I first heard John Tucker’s
newest amp and preamp creations.
What I am talking
about are those instances when there is absolutely no doubt that you’ve never
heard equal to this sound before…not by just a little bit, but overwhelmingly
so. A massive delta, a quantum jump, or a 100 percent improvement are all
phrases that apply here.
These as yet unnamed products use the same ingredients: parallel feed outputs,
shunt regulators with constant current sources, and the Sovtek 6N1P used as the
driver tube in the amps and as the output tube in the preamp. The amps also use
the VV45 triode with cobalt output transformers versus nickel in the preamp.
Do these tube electronics sound like the very best tubes? No! Do they sound like
the very best solid-state products? No, they do not. Actually, neither
characterization of the sound applies, as these products lack the sweetness of
tubes as well as the edge of solid state. The only word that I can use to
characterize them is vivid. They are incredibly clean, dynamic, accurate, and
have a very precise soundstage with excellent extension both in the treble and
bass. Vivid seems best, however, in capturing their sound. I am mindful of high
definition television with the very bright lights resolving great detail in
everything captured by the camera. This is what I mean by vivid. You have no
question that you are hearing everything that can be resolved off the record, cd,
or sacd, and most importantly you also get the pace of the music. With these in
your system, however, you cannot read books or magazines, at least not if you
turn them up. The music will startle you so often that you finally will give up
and just listen.
Of course, the amps have one severe limitation; they put out one and a half
watts. There is promise of a staggering more powerful 2A3 amp with double the
power and even a 300B in the dreadnought class of ten watts, but believe me you
will buy horn speakers to use these amps once you have heard them. I used
Beauhorns and played them loudly without clipping.
I should say that I did not just plunk these down on the floor and connect them
to my speakers. Rather I have them on level five Mana stands with Aurio 1.0 feet
under them with tungsten carbide balls on top each Aurio. My interconnects and
speaker wires are Nordost Valhallas, and ac comes to them from Sound Application
CF-Xs through MAC, Omega Mikro, and VanEvers cords. All of these products are
great but do not offer the same magnitude of improvement. I fully expect,
however, that they contribute greatly to what I am hearing.
I bought Infinity Servo-Statics, several Deccas, and many SETs. I got many hours
of enjoyment out of each, often despite edge-of-the-art manufacturing
difficulties. Each got me closer to high fidelity or the absolute sound, but
none got me anywhere near what I have now with Tucker’s amps and preamps.
Hopefully, I will not face manufacturing quality problems. I could not recommend
them more strongly. If you do not hear them, it is your great loss.