Lampizator Valve / Tube Rolling Review Thread

[Nuforce]

Two days of listening and I’m going to propose WE 101d’s as the king of DHT’s for compatible non-pentode Lampi DACs. It’s hugely better than the KR 242’s, although it’s lower gain. That’s probably a good thing for most folks whose preamps were overloaded by KR 242’s. Sadly, they’re rarer than hen’s teeth. But you just have to find a quartet. They’ll outlive you. But they’re very hard to find NOS. They cost me less than my 242’s. I won’t sell them at 10x the price I paid for them. Mine came from Italy. Here’s the guy I bought from. You can ping him directly if he has or can find more. He doesn’t list any more.

RARI TUBI TWO -CW101D WESTERN ELECTRIC -BALANCE-PAIR-NOS-NIB (300B-2A3-AD1-45) | eBay

GUARDATE LE ALTRE MIE ASTE. CONTATTATEMI X ALTRE FOTO.

www.ebay.com

What heater voltage is the 101D?

I read your findings with interest, as I've never thought to try a 101D. My favourite is the 46 or PX4. They look tiny too!

 

[godofwealth]

Heater voltage is 4.5V, as per the original specifications.

https://frank.pocnet.net/sheets/084/1/101D.pdf

 

[Blake]

Interesting findings on the WE 101D. I know WE is a totally different proposition to current 101D options, but, I don't recall reading much love for current/modern versions of the 101D.

I tried some modern 101D, and they were by far the worst tubes I ever tried in my GG and Pac.

 

[godofwealth]

Comparing a NOS WE to a modern version is like comparing a Stradivarius violin to a cheap mass-market violin at a local music shop made overseas . Even the "official" WE reissues are pretty horrible compared to the originals. The art of making vacuum tubes is a lost art, and one that will be hard to resurrect. Modern tubes last a small fraction of the time that WE tubes last. I hear it has much to do with subtleties like the thorium coating etc. Like the 300-year old Stradivarius violins were based on a deep understanding of musical properties of wood, varnish, strings etc. All that's been lost. We can send spaceships to Mars, but we can't make a better violin than Stradivarius did.