Gorgeous. It meets my need for a bit of warmth plus and a sense of presence without being overwhelming or edgy. Sometimes the middle starts to get congested as the volume goes up, something that didn't happen with the KT66, in spite of an HDTV in the middle. It could be a number of things, including the Tesla's higher voltage, but I'll start with the NOS pair coming from the other Czech seller, and play around more with the preamp tubes. I'd like to try another modestly warm recti in the pre that's better than the vg Fivre 5U4G, but I'm not sure what that is at the moment. Definitely not a GEC U52 or an RK, and the Shuguang WE274B is good but not up to this set up. I'm also experimenting with 6SN7's in the pre (a pair of CBS/Hytrons about to arrive).
VERY early in a sound-off between the KR and Tak rectifiers. KR is brand new, Tak fully broken in.
With just 6 hrs of burn in, KR falls short. Less 3D than the Tak in both soundstage width and height. KR a touch brighter which sounds nice on female vocalists. On classical KR sounds further from the stage than the Tak. You get more of the hall ambience with the Tak at this point. Obviously way too early to tell. This was all with the Psvane output tubes BTW. The Brimars I bought have about 24 hrs of burn-in but still sound not so hot with either the Tak or KR. Maybe they improve, right now they're pretty veiled compared to the Psvanes.
I will update as the tubes break-in assuming I am not boring everyone to death.
About 100 hrs on the KR. Sound hasn't really changed all that much. The combo with the Psvanes is a little bright for my tastes. That combo is not as 3D as the PS/TAK combination. KR still further back in the hall than I would like. Something in between the PS/TAK and PS/KR might be best as PS/TAK a little darker than I prefer. I thought the (Russian) Gold Lion KT66/KR was better than the Psvane/KR. Haven't listened to the Brimars again. They're at ~ 150 hrs now.
Do you think I've gotten all the improvement from the KR I will get or might it need more hours?
My Teslas are on their way from Serbia (should be this week) but I don't how long it will take to get the adapters for them (coming from Hong Kong).
About 100 hrs on the KR. Sound hasn't really changed all that much. The combo with the Psvanes is a little bright for my tastes. That combo is not as 3D as the PS/TAK combination.
Do you think I've gotten all the improvement from the KR I will get or might it need more hours?
The RK recti should not be bright, especially not with the Psvanes
I would say the RK is not at it's Maximum Performance capabilites yet.
But even then, I think the Taka-Psvanes Combo is VERY hard to beat in the 3D and palpability, reach around discipline
KR still further back in the hall than I would like. Something in between the PS/TAK and PS/KR might be best as PS/TAK a little darker than I prefer. I thought the (Russian) Gold Lion KT66/KR was better than the Psvane/KR. Haven't listened to the Brimars again. They're at ~ 150 hrs now.
The Taka recti pushes the soundstage out to the listener much more than any recti I have heard.
Right between the PS/RK and the PS/Taka would be the Shuguang GZ480.
Not only tonally (a little bit airier and smidgeon less tonal weight than the Taka) but also the presentation is not as much into the room as with the Taka.
If the Brimars start thawing some more, they could be a match for you with the RK, but IME not in the league of the Psvanes.
Think it will be difficult to discover much better tubes. EL51+GZ480 is king; KR 5U4G Anniversary 2018, RVC Marconi 5U4G + EL51 great combos; Acme + EL51 very good combo, Philco + EL51 also very good. I didn’t do an extended test with my new KR 5U4G and Franky. They’re still burning in. Takatsuki 274b wasn’t in the game last weekend.
Thx Christoph! I‘m in here since a while but more as a reading guest than as an active member..
FF works fine, but it’s not burned in yet. Soundstage is definitely smaller than with GZ480, but this Shuguang lamp is next level. What I really like so far is Franky‘s organic timbre. Think it will work very well with acoustic music. Will report more when this tube comes alive...
Thanks. I almost bought the one that just sold on eBay. Guy wanted $300 (with Woo adapter), I offered $250. I've bought SO many tubes the past 2 weeks (KR recti, Teslas, Brimar output tubes) I just decided to let it go.
Thanks. I almost bought the one that just sold on eBay. Guy wanted $300 (with Woo adapter), I offered $250. I've bought SO many tubes the past 2 weeks (KR recti, Teslas, Brimar output tubes) I just decided to let it go.
I made the same offer, but then we settled on a few dollars more to cover shipping. Probably overpriced, as I'm not sure the Woo adapter is better than the cheap ones on eBay. Will soon see.