(page 3)

(Performance continued)

03-Jan-2003

Hi Boris,
Got it...I am glad you are happy with the Ah! player! I can exchange the Siemens. If you need something sweeter I suggest Amperex 7308 as the hot ticket.

They are $40 each...a little warmer

Kevin.

10-Jan-2003

Hi Kevin, I just received the Amperex 7308 tubes. Thank you for sending them out so fast. I trust you've received the Siemens 7308s I sent out earlier. Ah! The Amperex do work better in my system: They're a bit warmer without sacrificing detail or air.

Thanks!
Boris

The gold pin Amperex 7308 work very well in my system. These are NOS vintage '67 - '68, about as old as I am and they're a treat every time I power up. The "special" Russian 6H23s are Vintage "Rocket Logo" (DAC grade) and are really great starter tubes. They are part of Kevin's "Goody gift pack". They are not quite as open and airy as the Amperex but they do have a bold sound I really like. The standard Philips JAN 6922 are just OK, they're hard to go back to once you've tasted the better stuff. Nevertheless they come in handy when I'm burning-in things downstream. If you are ordering the Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 from Upscale Audio I recommend you start with the Vintage Russian "Rocket Logo" 6H23s. Don't rush and order the Siemens, Amperex or other until you have a chance to listen to the player with these tubes in your own system, you might find the 6H23s just spot on. Otherwise call Kevin Deal and tell him what your system's overall balance is and what you would like it to be. Chances are Kevin will send you the tubes that will be right for you and your system.

Having found my tubes of choice (for now, tube rolling is fun), I was ready for a closer listen. In the next couple of weeks I must have gone through my entire CD collection, at least twice. Compared to the Cambridge Audio D500SE the Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 made every disk and every track more interesting … more alive … more real! I'm a big fan of sound stage; you will often find me talking about it in one form or another throughout the tweaks I review. The Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 opened up a wonderfully believable and deep musical venue. Vocals are transformed to singers standing in your listening room, instruments vibrate deep behind the speakers and rhythms swing with believable authority, focus and locality.

With the Amperex 7308s the player never sounds harsh or brittle and it's not syrupy or thick either. The highs are sweet and open, full of detail and sparkle. The midrange is also special: Open, lots of presents and energy. Lesser machines sound more shut it, hollow and cuppy. The Ah! is fuller and richer in the midrange. The low frequencies are very good too. To be honest I was expecting a bit of bloating and muddying of the low frequencies but to my surprise I found the bass firm, deep and projecting authority. There's bass information I'm now hearing on tracks I have not heard before.

The player is equipped with variable volume adjustment via the remote control. Apparently this variable control is defeated on its maximum setting. You shouldn't really use it for your main volume control, I find that as you decrease the volume you also lose some resolution. For serious listening always play it on maximum setting and use other, more appropriate, devices to control the volume.

I used a pair of EVS Ultimate Attenuators in the early stages of my audition fed by a length of Nordost Red Dawn interconnect cables. I then switched to the excellent Bent Audio TX102s transform based volume control kit I just finished building recently (more on this in a DIY review coming soon!). Amplification was provided initially by Classe Audio CA-101 and later with the "hot" PS Audio HCA-2. The speakers were a pair of Magnepan MG 1.6QR, bi-wired with Nordost Blue Heaven RevII speaker cables.

Conclusion

The Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 is an excellent sounding player. Yes, there are players that sound better but they most likely cost considerably more. Its plastic fascia and light casework may leave you wanting more in the cosmetic and the build department. However this player is really about something else: With its new 24Bit/96kHz Upsampler and with a pair of fine tubes this player is all about maximum sonic bang for the buck. The Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 is a player I outright enjoy and one I can also afford. Best Buy.

If you would like to comment on this player or suggest alternatives, please click here.

Comments (add)


Jan	Hello Boris, If you have a tjoeb cd player, try to use the tube E288CC. The best tubes for the Tjoeb CD player are: Siemens E288CC/8223 (gold pins). Look at the pictures and you see that they are bigger than the E88CC or 7308. Regards, Jan Hermans

John	Hi there, I've had a Njoe Tjoeb 4000 with UpSampler for just under a year and it is superb. I have been using the JAN 6922 tubes, but have a pair of Siemens E288CC on order. Took a while to settle down but once it did... Wow! I cannot see myself replacing this CD player. John H. London, UK

Eddie	Boris, I recently purchased an Ah! Njoe Tjoeb cd 4000 & love the sound. But find that after playing a few cds (either with or without the Upsampler) the player starts to get very warm, the music disks become pretty warm, & often skip within tracks. I have used the player with the top off & obviously this enables the heat to dissipate, but using the player like this is not a full time option. I just wondered if you or any of the other guys out there have any comments or feedback, such as how warm are your cds after playing them etc ? Thanks - Eddie

Boris	Eddie, Yes, the CDs do get a bit warm but that has never been a problem for me. Also, I had no problem with CDs skipping, so I wouldn't necessarily blame the heat for tracking problems you are experiencing. I would check with the vendor if skipping is not an isolated case. Initially I was using the player with the cover off, simply because it was easier to try out different tubes. Once I settled in on the pair that I preferred I returned the cover. I was never concerned by the heat.

The Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD Player