Tube Help

[poppachubby]

I liked E-Stat's post as a whole, not just the picture But the picture is good too

Dude, im still waiting on those cables

Tony I've been too busy to even think about those cables. Tell you what, once I am done my current audio projects, including mounting a new tonearm, you and I will look at what we want to do.

We'll evaluate which design we want to use, components, etc. From there we'll drum up the cost (parts no labour of course ) and get it done.

I have been very busy with my job/family and what time I have after that has been limited.

Don't you feel bad for me> Haha. Anyhow, let's PM and get the thread back on topic.

[poppachubby]

UPS delivered the tubes for my MKIII's Friday. Two matched pair's of Tung Sol 6550's and four Phillips JAN 6922's. Put in all the new tubes. Connected them to some Minimus 7's. Set the bias and let them "burn in" a little. No signal applied. Saturday afternoon I install them in my room, warm them up,.set the bias and play some music.

They have about 20 hours on them now and have improved slightly since Saturday.
Tubes and "stats"

Sounds good Joe. I wound up having an issue with a couple of pots. Thought I was going to have to change the resistance to add more negative bias, but turned out ok. The SE40 can be a PITA when it wants to be.

I guess the new rage for 6L6 users is an 80's made Russian tube...6P3S-EV. They can be bought NOS overseas or from Jim McShane in Illinois. They have the octal coin base and fit a 6L6 socket. For 6 unmatched tubes, fully inspected by Jim the price would be roughly $75. Not bad for a tube people are claiming sound close to the old RCA blackplates.

I think I will buy a set just based on price, and before everyone in the world figures it out, and stocks are depleted.

I wanted to give my audio brothers a head start here at AR.

"Audio brothers, may we bond together and die by the audio sword which we have sworn to protect!"

[Geoffcin]

Poppa;

They make a "Gold Lion" re-issue of the KT66 tube you can use.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Factory-Matched-...item1e5e2da5f4

The Gold Lion 88's that I use have great bass and extended highs. Really a premium tube.

[JoeE SP9]

When I rebuilt my MKIII's I used a technique one of my old Professors taught.

Design and build to last forever. Use the best parts you can get.

The bias pots are sealed Mil spec. The resisters are Vishay and Holco. The caps are Solen and Wondercaps. All the point to point wiring is Teflon coated Silver. WBT and Cardas are used for input ouput connectors and the ceramic tube sockets have Gold plated pins..

The Tung Sols seem to be broken in. The sound is very slightly forward with a sweet top end.

Maybe I'll try some rolling with the 6922's and see what happens.

[poppachubby]

Poppa;

They make a "Gold Lion" re-issue of the KT66 tube you can use. http://cgi.ebay.com/Factory-Matched-...item1e5e2da5f4

The Gold Lion 88's that I use have great bass and extended highs. Really a premium tube.

Those look gorgeous Geoff. It's a very simple mod on my SE40 to adapt the KT's, I have read plenty about it at the GTA Yahoo group. I am not eager at this point to try it.

One thing I will try is the 6SN7 to 6SL7 mod. This is to increase the input gain, mostly with a direct, variable source in mind, I keep toying with the idea of banishing digital from my main system, if I do, that's a mod I would like to try.

The Tung Sols seem to be broken in. The sound is very slightly forward with a sweet top end.

I can't believe what an improvement mine have made Joe. Quieter background with improved seperation between instruments. You're right about that high end...Sa-weeee-yit.

I've got some Roy Hargrove on, the harder he blows, the better it sounds. Just superb. 100% engaging sound.

Did you see that I also bought a Moth MKI tonearm? I got the basic model without the Incognito rewire or stainless weight. However, I can upgrade to those things later. After mounting the tonearm, I think I will be set for sometime. I may build some Cardas recipe silver cables (thanks to your help!).

BTW, off topic here but I am considering a pair of Frugal Horns. Local sale so I will be auditioing them with my SE40. I'm pumped and hope that they are everything promised. They were hand built by Dave Dulgos at Planet_10HiFi. I know you're not a big horn fan, but these babies look sweet. They contain Fostex enABLEd drivers.





Joe I also took in my EICO HF85 for a full upgrade/mod. I am having a Lipschitz curve put in the RIAA stage. The Lipshcitz white paper on this topic has been widely considered one of the best ever wrote. Companies like Lehmann and PSAudio have used his ideas when it came to formualating their stages. When it's all said and done I think I will be EXACTLY where I want to. No more "upgrades", nothing but buying LPs and chillin. Count me in as stage 4 nervosa please.

[JoeE SP9]

Gee Pops! All you need now is another SE-40 so you can bridge them. The you can get the ESL's you know you want. You'vre got one foot in the door of stage 4. You'll have the other one in the door soon. Come on in the waters fine.

Check the link for a 120Watt mono block kit based on the Dyna MKIII. I'm giving it serious thought. Having the bridged Crowns for my subs has made me want more power for my stat's.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/new.htm

[poppachubby]

Gee Pops! All you need now is another SE-40 so you can bridge them. The you can get the ESL's you know you want. You'vre got one foot in the door of stage 4. You'll have the other one in the door soon. Come on in the waters fine.

Check the link for a 120Watt mono block kit based on the Dyna MKIII. I'm giving it serious thought. Having the bridged Crowns for my subs has made me want more power for my stat's.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/new.htm

Yep, my long term goal is to add another SE40. They have an internal jumper, bridgeable for mono. It's funny because after working on mine, and then hearing it in his system for a few days, my tube tech bought himself an SE40. I should be able to pry it out of his hands, when I am ready with the cash.

OK I am gonna listen to a couple more sides and then beddy byes.

Night joe!

[hifitommy]

as much as we all love tubes, 'stats do better with SS. an odyssey khartago or an adcom 5500 will serve you just fine for those acoustats joe.

[poppachubby]

Gee Pops! All you need now is another SE-40 so you can bridge them. The you can get the ESL's you know you want. You'vre got one foot in the door of stage 4. You'll have the other one in the door soon. Come on in the waters fine.

Check the link for a 120Watt mono block kit based on the Dyna MKIII. I'm giving it serious thought. Having the bridged Crowns for my subs has made me want more power for my stat's.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/new.htm

Joe I had some time to pine over your link. Those do look lovely! How much do you think they'll want?

When I was at The Tube Store, I was chattin with the guys about learning tube DIY and troubleshooting, etc. They rec'd a couple books and suggested that a kit would be the best way to start.

However, since I am half way to dual mono, i think I will first go with another GT SE40. They lend themselves to dual mono with individual bias for each socket. You can dial them in and keep that tolerance nice and tight.

Joe, you ever listen to any Harrison/Blanchard? They were Jazz Messengers in the 80's i believe and I think it was Blanchard who had a seat in Hampton's touring band. I bought 3 minty LPs, and I love them all. I'm not sure how many they cut as a duo, but they eventually went their own ways. I would like to own them all. They really mix up the styles nicely, and bring a New Orleans vibe to it.

I plan to rip them if you would like a copy.

Anyhow, yes ESL's would be grand!! There's a brand of 'stat that Rich was on about some time ago. I think he heard them at a show. I forget the name but I think it had "Prince" or "King" in the title. They are supposedly the best for price/performance.

I am anxiously awaiting my Frugal horn audition. Perhaps it's a horn life for me. I will also be auditioning a pair of 3A Model 360. These are a 3-way floor stander. My 3A's are superb but I have to supplement the bass.

[tube fan]

"Vintage tube services" is the best source for NOS tubes IMO. andy Bowman does a great job selecting the best tubes.

[Geoffcin]

Get out the marshmellows for that pair of monos!

[Feanor]

Gee Pops! All you need now is another SE-40 so you can bridge them. The you can get the ESL's you know you want. You'vre got one foot in the door of stage 4. You'll have the other one in the door soon. Come on in the waters fine.

Check the link for a 120Watt mono block kit based on the Dyna MKIII. I'm giving it serious thought. Having the bridged Crowns for my subs has made me want more power for my stat's.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/new.htm

Wow! Those are bee-you-ts.

Probably a bit rich for my blood, though. I'm targetting a "ST-120" from Bob Latino; 60 wpc should do it at my listening levels. I doubt a tube unit like this would approach the resolution and authentic sound of my current class D amp -- but I would love to find out for sure.

[Geoffcin]

Before I bought my amp I came within a hair's breath of buying one of his ST-120 kits. The build quailty is fist rate, and his test measurments are phenominal; a 10kHz square wave that is good as any Krell!

[JoeE SP9]

I looked at those. They however are not the mono blocks I was speaking of.


The ones below are. Also from Tubes 4 HFi


125 Watts in Pentode mode 65 Watts in Triode mode.

[E-Stat]

as much as we all love tubes, 'stats do better with SS.

Hmmm. I find that VTL MB-450 monoblocks with 600 watts of power supplied by 500 joules of power supply perform quite well with either my former 2+2s or the current Sound Lab U-1s.

rw

[hifitommy]

well ralph,

we dont all have those resources. you see joe has mark IIIs and poppa has golden tube. not quite VTL/ARC territory.

the stereophile show years ago near LAX showed ML statements driven by a SEA of VTL tube amps/power suppplies.

BIG tube power is wonderful for all kinds of things.

[E-Stat]

loooool, too funny!

The picture requires no further commentary.

rw

[E-Stat]

we dont all have those resources

Sorry, I didn't consider a budget qualifier in your comments. First generation ST-150s at half that power can be found used for around $2k and would offer similar magic.

rw

[Geoffcin]

After playing with many amps of both high and low power I'm not convinced that more power is always better. Certainly you need enough to have your speaker play at your preferred listening level, and also with enough headroom so that it doesn't clip.

I rarely listen above 90dB anymore, so if my amp can reach that volume without clipping then it will be OK for most of my listening. Turns out that's about 10w with my speakers, and with an amp with a RMS power of 70w it can reach 97 dB, so I have all the headroom I need.

[Poultrygeist]

Those Frugal Horns are highly efficient and gain a db or so mechanically for their back loaded horn design. You can drive them with a hand full of watts but extra headroom is always welcome. Never heard the Frugals but I still lust after the HS Horns which are a similar design. If you get the Frugals you could end up rolling amps instead of tubes.

Be forewarned, once you enter the realm of the full range driver you may never return.

[Geoffcin]

Hey anyone ever see or hear one of these new KT88's in person?

[tube fan]

After playing with many amps of both high and low power I'm not convinced that more power is always better. Certainly you need enough to have your speaker play at your preferred listening level, and also with enough headroom so that it doesn't clip.

I rarely listen above 90dB anymore, so if my amp can reach that volume without clipping then it will be OK for most of my listening. Turns out that's about 10w with my speakers, and with an amp with a RMS power of 70w it can reach 97 dB, so I have all the headroom I need.

I agree 100% with this. My AR D70 tube amp can drive both my SC IV and Fulton J speakers to live levels. Tube watts are MUCH more powerful than SS amps.

[JoeE SP9]

as much as we all love tubes, 'stats do better with SS. an odyssey khartago or an adcom 5500 will serve you just fine for those acoustats joe.

I've never had a Khartago to check out. Adcom GFA-535, 545, 555, Hafler DH-200, DH-500 and Crown XLS402 have been tried on my stats. Those are amps I either have now or owned in the past. One buddy brought his Levinson and another brought his Krell KSA. The MKIII's although just marginally powerful enough, sound better than any of the SS amps, at least to me they do..

Tube driven stats! That's for me.

PC: I anticipate the cost of those mono blocks in kit form to be around $1K each. The 60 Watt ones with 2 6550's are ~$500..

[Geoffcin]

I agree 100% with this. My AR D70 tube amp can drive both my SC IV and Fulton J speakers to live levels. Tube watts are MUCH more powerful than SS amps.

I've got a theory about that, and it has to do with current flow and clipping. Sound is all about dynamic expression and it seems to me that with all of the current (pun?) measurments available, save for the gross slew capabilities, it's hard to get a solid number on it. Certainly anyone who has ever heard a tube amp scraches their head as to why it sounds so "powerful" for the wattage compared to SS.

[hifitommy]

i agree that tube watts are bigger sounding than ss ones. big tube amps are usually hideously expensive however.