Lampizator Valve / Tube Rolling Review Thread

[wisnon]

KR more raw and with more gain. RK more polite and refined...

 

[bonzo75]

Recommendations on 242's with Pac? KR or RK?

They will be different.. So far almost all 242 experiences are with KR. Audioquattr has the RK and he prefers it to his KR, but that does not mean it will necessarily sound that way in your system due to gain match. Steve and Al's experience mean this Volume control might be the way to get rid of this gain match dependency

 

[steve williams]

KR more raw and with more gain. RK more polite and refined...

I tend to agree although I have not heard the RK myself, but every one who owns both says exactly the same as you

 

[wil]

I guess the RK is less available-- don't see it online.

Is there a sonic difference between KR standard and limited edition? I take it the limited has a more robust build?

 

[Zero000]

Double check...my spidey sense telks me no with the multiple voltage points. Autobal is based on watts. Of course, I could be wrong.

Ron Coleman regulation. Existing auto-balancing in the bin. 3-4 position switch to control heater current.

It's going to be a lot better.

 

[marty]

I tend to agree although I have not heard the RK myself, but every one who owns both says exactly the same as you

Let's be clear about what we are talking about when you say "RK". Are you referring to the RK-KR PX25 vs the KR 242, or the RK-KR 242 vs the KR-242? As far as I know, very few people have tried the RK KR 242 while several have tried the RK-KR PX25.

 

[Golum]

Lets visualize it once for all...left side KR242RK; right side KR242.
Same tube shape goes for all RK variants i.e. 300b, PX25, 5u4g, 242, PX4

 

[steve williams]

Yes. You have it correct.

I do have a friend in Manila who uses the RK-KR 242
I use the KR 242 standard

i do have a pair of yet to be used RK-KR PX25’s

 

[Golum]

I guess the RK is less available-- don't see it online.

Is there a sonic difference between KR standard and limited edition? I take it the limited has a more robust build?

RK version is only being produced for Lampizator and being sold either via Lapmizator when ordering DACs of via best300b.com webshop. You can’t source it from KR directly or via their regular channels...talking about new tubes of course

 

[Zero000]

Yes. You have it correct.

I do have a friend in Manila who uses the RK-KR 242
I use the KR 242 standard

i do have a pair of yet to be used RK-KR PX25’s

What DAC are you using Steve? A Pac?

EDIT: forget it just read the PAC thread.

Enjoy.

 

[Tim F]

Years of catching up to do! About to get a GG2 SE. Mine has a switch rather than a rotary knob for lower noise and therefore won't support the 300b. I can see a mountain of stuff about KR valves and WE 300b. Is that about the summary of this thread for valve choice? I would be after a neutral sounding system with an emphasis on stereo image size.

I have an ARC Ref 3 pre and V140 monos with Focal Scala Utopia.
Cheers! Tim

 

[Golum]

Years of catching up to do! About to get a GG2 SE. Mine has a switch rather than a rotary knob for lower noise and therefore won't support the 300b. I can see a mountain of stuff about KR valves and WE 300b. Is that about the summary of this thread for valve choice? I would be after a neutral sounding system with an emphasis on stereo image size.

I have an ARC Ref 3 pre and V140 monos with Focal Scala Utopia.
Cheers! Tim

Tim congrats on your inbound GG2. Fantastic peace of gear and I can say with fair amount of confidence that you'll love it. If without rotary knob and with switch this switch is meant for adjustment of the heater voltage for specific tube sets being 300b, PX25, 101d, PX4, 45, 242. So I'm fairly sure as well that 300b is normally supported as such as it's one of the DHT types that is commonly used in Lampi (other thing is if its among the preferred ones). I've been using in my GG2 PX25 with best result followed by 242 and yes they give exactly what you're after.
Which tubes you'll get with the DAC?
In this thread you can find a wealth of knowledge regarding tubes and variables between output ones and rectifier ones.

Anyhow family is big and helpful, so you'll be set and running in no time.

Cheers;
G

 

[Tim F]

Thanks for the reply, really appreciate it I'm going up from an Amber Plus which I love. Spent ages rolling tubes in that!

I don't have the 5v 300b setting. This was some sort of special build.

I'm getting the Dac with some basic valves, really nothing too special, hence the question.

Thanks for the welcome and the advice, I did have a long and time consuming read through as much as I could! Good to see people have been enjoying these for a long time.

Cheers, Tim

 

[Sfox7076]

What is your opinion about the Western Electric 1996 300B? They came in nice wood double boxes. View attachment 61585

I am not a person who entirely dislikes these. And the earliest 90s date, which you have are the best. I think at some point in 1998 or 2002 they ran out of filament wire from the original WECO group or something else went wrong and the filaments started expiring prematurely. To be clear, there is a difference in these verses the late 70s (and before) Western Electrics. They are not quite the same level as they are missing some of the stereo soundstage and mid-range that make the 300B the best tube ever. I cannot talk about the last runs of the WECO made 1980s 300Bs because I have never heard them. So, in sum, I like them. They are not worth the same as the pre-1980 300Bs and I worry about longevity in the post-1996 tubes.

Shawn

 

[abeidrov]

Guys, what is the second best (after Lampi Anniversary) 45 tube, that can be easily sourced? My current favorite is RK PX25, but it has too much gain for late night listening in my system, and I want to try some other low gain tube.

 

[bonzo75]

I have a normal KR 45 I can sell for 150 pounds plus postage. It is not as good as the special 45s

 

[Golum]

ACME 300b? Never heard it, but read somewhere here that somebody likes it a lot...PX4 maybe? For easy night listening might do the trick...rest are anyhow exotics...

 

[Sfox7076]

You can get a pair of decent ST shape 45s for short money these days. I like 45s, but much prefer the 46.

 

[Golum]

I know a guy who loves 46 above all tubes in his desings (amps, pre, dac, phono, etc)

 

[bonzo75]

You can get a pair of decent ST shape 45s for short money these days. I like 45s, but much prefer the 46.

You can use 46 in Lampi?