Lampizator Valve / Tube Rolling Review Thread
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Yep, I bet that's it. I had problems with thePX4's in my Pacific, and had to tweak the socket contacts to tighten things up enough to get them to work. The Elrog has fatter pins, likely.
I reckon it's a very good idea to use UX4 socket life extenders.
I just do not think the majority of UX4 sockets were designed with frantic valve rolling in mind. I am on my third set. Audio Note Silver UX4 sockets - steer clear. They'll break in no time. Been there, done that
I just do not think the majority of UX4 sockets were designed with frantic valve rolling in mind. I am on my third set. Audio Note Silver UX4 sockets - steer clear. They'll break in no time. Been there, done that
Now I have the horses for the race so lets see how they do on the track...
Been conditioning them during the weekend and first impression today is very very positive.
Gain similar/same as 242/PX25 which in my case is great.
More to come...
Been conditioning them during the weekend and first impression today is very very positive.
Gain similar/same as 242/PX25 which in my case is great.
More to come...
Cleaned them after I took pictures - I hate dirty stuffGive them a clean!
Cleanliness is next to godliness!!
Anyhow I want to thank you for this discovery as these tubes are just exceptional and more then valuable addition to the collection.
I've been listening them today for entire day and they are above all clean and precise, portraying exceptional stage and layering while not being fatiguing at all. Tonality is fantastic as well. Just pure joy to listen to them. I've swapped them with KR242RK which I've been using in the last period while RDs where at Normans place. Nothing missed vs 242 to be honest...
That's an excellent description of their attributes, Goran. They really are the least coloured valve I have. They genuinely are excellent.Cleaned them after I took pictures - I hate dirty stuff
Anyhow I want to thank you for this discovery as these tubes are just exceptional and more then valuable addition to the collection.
I've been listening them today for entire day and they are above all clean and precise, portraying exceptional stage and layering while not being fatiguing at all. Tonality is fantastic as well. Just pure joy to listen to them. I've swapped them with KR242RK which I've been using in the last period while RDs where at Normans place. Nothing missed vs 242 to be honest...
Enjoy.
Anyone know source of high quality ux-4 tube savers? ideally Teflon. Looked around quickly and couldn’t find any.I reckon it's a very good idea to use UX4 socket life extenders.
I just do not think the majority of UX4 sockets were designed with frantic valve rolling in mind. I am on my third set. Audio Note Silver UX4 sockets - steer clear. They'll break in no time. Been there, done that
This is what I bought last year. They work.
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I have put about 35 hours on a new pair of RK KR 242s. I am sure they are still breaking in but I am enjoying them. Right now they lack some of the mid range sweetness that I was hearing from the WE 300Bs but they have a little more high end extension. Let’s see what happens in the next 50 hours.
My digital source time has been a little limited recently since I just got a new Durand Tosca tonearm and have been listening to that a lot.
My digital source time has been a little limited recently since I just got a new Durand Tosca tonearm and have been listening to that a lot.
My guess is that the KR will be always more analytical then other 300b's.
I've gone back to post #1 of this thread.
EML AD1 through Dueland 0.47uF caps. If ever there was a case for Dueland it is this pairing.
It's still f'ing A.
Recti VU71. Also f'ing A.
Tonight's session TMBF1/VU71 to R86/VU71 to R86/STC 5R4GY to Tesla RD27AS/STC 5R4GY to RD27AS/VU71 all via 2.2uF Jupiter.
Then EML AD1/VU71 via Dueland.
Pinnacle stuff. TMBF1/VU71 also ranking.
I will do a list of top stuff soon.
EML AD1 through Dueland 0.47uF caps. If ever there was a case for Dueland it is this pairing.
It's still f'ing A.
Recti VU71. Also f'ing A.
Tonight's session TMBF1/VU71 to R86/VU71 to R86/STC 5R4GY to Tesla RD27AS/STC 5R4GY to RD27AS/VU71 all via 2.2uF Jupiter.
Then EML AD1/VU71 via Dueland.
Pinnacle stuff. TMBF1/VU71 also ranking.
I will do a list of top stuff soon.
Do the 242’s and AD1’s work in the Big 7? You’re making both tubes sound so tempting I’d like to give them a try. Thx!
I am not yet recommending the 242s. I know others have but it is too early for me.
I used to use EML AD1 in my Big 7 before massively modifying it.
It is a good tube and can sound excellent. I had mine made on UX4 bases. But as with most big tubes microphony is on the high side. The Tesla AD1n is much better behaved.
Despite the above ranting TMBF1 is noticeably better I think but very hard to find.
Dang, this is fun!My DAC is new B7MK2 Balanced with 5 position heater dial and vc.
So, I think all of these have been discussed before. I like the USAF 596 Recti with RCA 112a’s the best so far. The National Union 45s and NU 5U4G Recti are good also but would rank second. I need to revisit the Cunningham 01a and likely will pair with the USAF 596 Recti- but the Cunninghams are very microphonic-so much that at full volume there is actually feedback! My stock tubes are Shuguang 300b-98s and Russian 5C3S. I also need to revisit the 300b-98s with the USAF 596. I have TJ Mesh Globe 300b matched quad arriving Monday and will report back.
I have gone back/forth between balanced and SE outputs and at this point prefer balanced due to slightly less noise and more overall gain working better for me.
It has been quite an excercise in banishing noise from my system. The Uptone Audio ISO Regen I can recommend highly for breaking ground loops over USB. Nice and quiet now and all sorted as the British would say.
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OK- got the TJ 300b globe mesh quad. Not for me.. Kept waiting for break in and kept them going while at work for a week. Nope. At least in my setup too harsh and etched. Surprising for 300b right? Anyway, maybe for someone else these might work-they were very favorably reviewed in the early 2000s.
So, then it was back to RCA 112a’s - nice and full bodied, easy on the ear (very important to me, old ears with tinnitus), nice sound stage, sweet but not too sweet, etc. These are very good tubes in my system and may go back to them.
But then just for kicks went back to Cunningham 01a’s......what I didn’t understand initially was that with balanced quads you have flexibility and more than that —you have to be patient and find your right combination-left/right and front/back position. It is almost impossible to find a matched quad with NOS tubes like this, and even if you do, you may still need to experiment with the “quad location” i.e. left-right -neg/pos phase. I have volume control and additional analog inputs. What I did is I set it to analog input and place the VC at max and then switched the tubes from spot to spot on the grid L-R and front/back (neg/pos phase) until I found the lowest noise and equal channel balance combination. I used an SPL meter and placed it on the floor touching the center of the speaker for consistency during testing.
I did this with the TJs, the RCA 112, and the Cunningham’s , the Cunningham’s were dialed in and surprisingly (or not?) the lowest noise. However, even so, they remained the most microphonic of the three. In fact, at zero db on the VC, you can even speak loudly and hear ringing in the system briefly (which is kind of cool I think ). I will reserve this as a party trick!
Anyway, the Cunningham 01a’s are the masters of my universe for now. They have the magic- just bought more RCA 201a’s on eBay tonight.
Loving the B7.
So, then it was back to RCA 112a’s - nice and full bodied, easy on the ear (very important to me, old ears with tinnitus), nice sound stage, sweet but not too sweet, etc. These are very good tubes in my system and may go back to them.
But then just for kicks went back to Cunningham 01a’s......what I didn’t understand initially was that with balanced quads you have flexibility and more than that —you have to be patient and find your right combination-left/right and front/back position. It is almost impossible to find a matched quad with NOS tubes like this, and even if you do, you may still need to experiment with the “quad location” i.e. left-right -neg/pos phase. I have volume control and additional analog inputs. What I did is I set it to analog input and place the VC at max and then switched the tubes from spot to spot on the grid L-R and front/back (neg/pos phase) until I found the lowest noise and equal channel balance combination. I used an SPL meter and placed it on the floor touching the center of the speaker for consistency during testing.I did this with the TJs, the RCA 112, and the Cunningham’s , the Cunningham’s were dialed in and surprisingly (or not?) the lowest noise. However, even so, they remained the most microphonic of the three. In fact, at zero db on the VC, you can even speak loudly and hear ringing in the system briefly (which is kind of cool I think ). I will reserve this as a party trick!
Anyway, the Cunningham 01a’s are the masters of my universe for now. They have the magic- just bought more RCA 201a’s on eBay tonight.
Loving the B7.
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You could try mass damping the chassis, applying damping material side the chassis, putting the DAC on mag lev feet and adding tube dampers to the 01A.
It does sound like you have a pretty challenging amount of microphony there.
If you do all of the above, it will change the sound and probably quite noticeably.
Actually I am going to add more damping material inside my DAC, and upgrade the mag lev feet as the DAC is exponentially heavier than it used to be, putting it very close to the mass limits of the mag lev feet I am using.
Excess microphony drives me round the twist. Unacceptable on music with fast start/stop transients.
Fortunately I have enough low microphony valves in my collection for it not to be much of an issue.
Glad your having fun playing...
It does sound like you have a pretty challenging amount of microphony there.
If you do all of the above, it will change the sound and probably quite noticeably.
Actually I am going to add more damping material inside my DAC, and upgrade the mag lev feet as the DAC is exponentially heavier than it used to be, putting it very close to the mass limits of the mag lev feet I am using.
Excess microphony drives me round the twist. Unacceptable on music with fast start/stop transients.
Fortunately I have enough low microphony valves in my collection for it not to be much of an issue.
Glad your having fun playing...
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