Lampizator Valve / Tube Rolling Review Thread

[christoph]

Hi Christoph,

It‘s not that I am missing anything really. It’s a quest I guess and it’s fun.
I would like to have a best-of stable of quads, one per each position on the heater dial. The AD1 seems a candidate for the PX4 setting, but opinions seemed mixed on it. Any other suggestions?

I would also like backups in case of an odd failure.

I sure hope the general thinking and advice that the DHTs (as implemented) will last years turns out to be correct. It seems right now that it will be difficult to replace them.

If you absolutely insist on populating the PX4 heater setting, get yourself a quad of Philips PT14

 

[Designsfx]

Those are soooo affordable these days!

 

[Famester]

View attachment 119993
View attachment 119994
View attachment 119995

Just gonna leave this here…

I feel left out.. I never received the fancy schamcy box with mine!

 

[Blake]

I feel left out.. I never received the fancy schamcy box with mine!

Same for me, but early adopters sometimes miss out on the frilly stuff.

However, my TP PT14 adapters that I just received had the new fancy box. Maybe I'll put it on top of the Christmas tree?

 

[Blake]

I'm not sure anyone was using EML AD1 per se. I have one or two pairs NOS ad1 (Tesla and Phillips) if I remember correctly and they were excellent indeed. Bummer is to seek for quads of NOS tubes...

I seem to recall reading that people really like the NOS Ad1's from a sonic perspective, but some were having reliability issues? I could be mistaken.

All of this is academic, since the NOS are in the unobtanium category.

Edit: I guess not 100% unobtanium as I now see some listed for sale on ebay. That wasn't the case earlier this year.

 

[dbeau]

Same for me, but early adopters sometimes miss out on the frilly stuff.

However, my TP PT14 adapters that I just received had the new fancy box. Maybe I'll put it on top of the Christmas tree?

@Blake as the PT14 adaptors are newly available - congrats.
Please report your thoughts on improvement over previous adaptors.
I have just installed all other positions on Pacific2 and have PT14s so am very interested in your evaluation.
The tubes/adapters from Laszlo have really lifted my system even though still in early break in (first week).
Yeah, I got a nice box
Thanks

 

[Blake]

@Blake as the PT14 adaptors are newly available - congrats.
Please report your thoughts on improvement over previous adaptors.
I have just installed all other positions on Pacific2 and have PT14s so am very interested in your evaluation.
The tubes/adapters from Laszlo have really lifted my system even though still in early break in (first week).
Yeah, I got a nice box
Thanks

Just stating the obvious... my ears/system/yadda yadda.

I now have a fully loaded TP Pac (TP adapters in all positions: Valvo G2504, dual Telefunken C3G, and PT14's... I also have a TP dual adapter for some special E83f that I still need to try). All TP adapters make a very noticeable and meaningful sonic improvement over the xulingmrs ebay version- not a knock on him, we are all eternally grateful as his inexpensive adapters have allowed us to try so many different tube types..

With that out of the way, for me, the TP adapter in the PT14 position makes the largest sonic improvement, but ymmv.

EDIT: a point of clarification here, my prior PT14 adapters were made by Tibor, so not exactly chopped liver, since, as we all know, Tibor is a legend/tube master. All other prior adapters were xulingmrs.

 

[2ndLiner]

Just stating the obvious... my ears/system/yadda yadda.

I now have a fully loaded TP Pac (TP adapters in all positions: Valvo G2504, dual Telefunken C3G, and PT14's... I also have a TP dual adapter for some special E83f that I still need to try). All TP adapters make a very noticeable and meaningful sonic improvement over the xulingmrs ebay version- not a knock on him, we are all eternally grateful as his inexpensive adapters have allowed us to try so many different tube types..

With that out of the way, for me, the TP adapter in the PT14 position makes the largest sonic improvement, but ymmv.

EDIT: a point of clarification here, my prior PT14 adapters were made by Tibor, so not exactly chopped liver, since, as we all know, Tibor is a legend/tube master. All other prior adapters were xulingmrs.

I posted this pic in another thread- a visual in case it is useful:

View attachment 121073

Blake, this post is right on the edge of bragadociousness! Great system

 

[Blake]

Blake, this post is right on the edge of bragadociousness! Great system

Guilty, TP's fault. Oh, and your DAC/tubes/TP adapters are identical to mine, so great system right back at you!

 

[christoph]

Dual Telefunken C3G, and PT14's... I also have a TP dual adapter for some special E83f that I still need to try

I'm most curious about your findings on that compare.

 

[Sampajanna]

TP adapters rule!

 

[christoph]

TP adapters rule!

I meant E83F against C3G

 

[Trab]

Hello!
It is known that mesh anodes have their own character, liked and appreciated, but what about nickel anodes, are they worth interest? Has anyone tried? Such valves are rare and among the earliest ever made. There is not much about in internet.

And, by the way, has anyone tried cool looking RGN1404 (G1404) ? I hope I can use it . Will try as soon as they arrive. Maybe I'm not the first and alone.

 

[Sablon Audio]

@Trab, I have a couple of nickel 1amp tubes here - have listened to one but not the Siebt in photo below. I also have a couple of rgn1404 equivalents. In general, I don’t think that I have heard a bad 4v rectifier from the 1930s. Some are better than others and we can then subdivide into some which may be a better subjective fit for my system / tastes.

Up for listening today was a Hoges vg5006 which was pretty nice. I will however say that the adapter has a great influence on sound quality and the TP one beats my modded chinese one in photo.

 

[Designsfx]

@Sablon Audio
What’s going on within those acrylic adapters?

 

[Sablon Audio]

Hi Todd. I have upgraded the resistors to some metal foil ones from Vishay. These are branded Powertron but they are also used by mundorf for the MResist ultra. They are rated 3watts in free air hence within spec when run parallel for 1amp tubes. For 2amp tubes, you should use heatsinks - the 30watts ones in the photo below are overkill but fun visually. Definitely an improvement sonically but fall behind the TP special adapter from @takacs75

 

[Designsfx]

That’s cool (No pun intended!)
What tubes are you running in the clear dual adapters? I’ve been wondering how those setups work and even more so SOUND! Is the strategy to create a combination that exceeds the output performance of a single tube or to pull two finer sounding lower output tubes together to meet the requirements of a single tube?

Another question- have you ever experimented with compaction tubes?

 

[Sablon Audio]

So the dual adapters have e83f pentodes instead of the original 6sn7. This tube type had a similar design brief to C3g in providing low noise amplification for Telephone lines.

Since we are replacing a dual triode, two pentodes are needed to cover each signal phase for xlr transmission. Not only is the e83f the best sounding tube I have heard in this location but it is also very cheap.

Sorry but no insights on compaction tubes.

 

[christoph]

The e83f is the best sounding tube I have heard in this location.

Did you also compare the E83F to the Siemens/TFK C3g and Mullard ECC32 ?

What other tubes have you tried in that position and which ones where the best sounding ones before you discovered the E83F ?

I have Philips E83F SQ with mesh plates and yours look the same as mine.
Are there E83F from other manufacturers/brands as well?
Do E83F also exist with solid plates?

 

[Sablon Audio]

Yes I prefer it to the Siemens c3g Christoph, simply more articulate and resolving. I have a pair of cv181 here to audition but I have been told by a few people that they are already behind c3g so my expectations aren’t high. In many respects C3g is a very likeable tube and I can understand how some may stop there, however I feel the e83f is objectively superior and also significantly cheaper.

Have 4 different types of e83f - early Tungsram 45 degree getter / original Philips / regular Tungsram - as well as the @1960 Valvo D getter you see in the photo. I like that one best as it has a little more bloom (gold pins?!?) but haven’t fully pursued the burn-in and evaluation of the others. Am not aware of there being a solid plate option.

I did also recently try two types of TFK ef804 and they certainly have merit but was happy to return to the valvo e83f.

nb these views are in the context of being using as a 6sn7 substitute with the ebay adapters. Am not sure if the 6n6p operating points in Pacific would necessarily give the same outcomes. One also needs to consider the synergy with rectifier and output tube choices - I found that e83f benefited from a denser sounding rectifier than c3g.