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Post by Clive on Dec 5, 2016 18:50:26 GMT
Have you any clues as to the life left in the various valves? I got fed up with one of my power amps recently. I discovered the 274B rectifiers were past their best. I'm finding rectifiers have a shorter life than 300Bs, which is just as well given the price of 300Bs.
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 5, 2016 18:55:45 GMT
Good question!
Not for certain. The vintage 6SN7's were bought by the preamp's previous owner from a respected dealer a few months ago who would have tested them so I would assume they are still good.
The 70's Mullard GZ34 I have no idea about, but I was given an identical tube which I could try in its place just to check it's good.
One thing's for sure is that I don't think I'm really anywhere close to the full potential of this combo.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 5, 2016 19:04:22 GMT
Jules, you seem to have a 'thing' about old valves being better. That seems kinda weird to me, having played with such things for a while (decades). Yes, there are some classics, but a lot of the vintage "NOS" valves are rubbish, ime! -- e.g. Ken Rad 6SN7 - been there, done that. Kind of bland, nothing special about them at all. For 6SN7 I settled on TAD, new valves imported from Germany for amounts that won't break the bank. Really good!
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Post by Clive on Dec 5, 2016 19:05:07 GMT
I only mentioned it as I spent a while swapping 300Bs (I have a fair old stash) before I thought about the rectifiers, a bit of a Doh! moment. I'm not saying you've done that though.
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 5, 2016 19:19:23 GMT
Jules, you seem to have a 'thing' about old valves being better. That seems kinda weird to me, having played with such things for a while (decades). Yes, there are some classics, but a lot of the vintage "NOS" valves are rubbish, ime! -- e.g. Ken Rad 6SN7 - been there, done that. Kind of bland, nothing special about them at all. For 6SN7 I settled on TAD, new valves imported from Germany for amounts that won't break the bank. Really good! Not especially Jerry! I’ve been using an EH 6H30P in my integrated for years. What I’ve found that when you really get the right NOS tube, it’s invariably far superior to new production tubes. I wouldn’t swap out any of my older tubes in my phono stage for anything new now. The trouble is the time that you spend trying inferior and often expensive tubes in the quest! It's very possible that the EH tubes will be the best value 6SN7 - there's no way I'm paying 300-400 a tube for some metal bases!!
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 5, 2016 19:20:29 GMT
I only mentioned it as I spent a while swapping 300Bs (I have a fair old stash) before I thought about the rectifiers, a bit of a Doh! moment. I'm not saying you've done that though. You're quite right Clive in that I'm not 100% sure whether it's the rectifier or the 6SN7's that aren't quite to my taste - I won't know till I've done some swapping around ...
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 5, 2016 20:43:25 GMT
Now this is a bit of a curveball! Just had the lid of to put the EH / Cary tubes back in and notice that the EH tubes are not their regular 6SN7 - they are actually 6SN7X which looks like the 6H30 tube with octal base. I believe these have more gain the the regular 6SN7. Like this - I'm very tempted to just buy a quad of regular EH 6SN7 and see if they are as good as people say they are ...
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 6, 2016 14:52:07 GMT
For 6SN7 I settled on TAD, new valves imported from Germany for amounts that won't break the bank. Really good! Jerry - I'm going to buy either TAD or EH now. I can import the TAD valves for exactly the same price as the price as the standard EH tubes - can you give me an idea of how they compare sonically?
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 6, 2016 15:05:46 GMT
I think the EH are a tad (not TAD) brighter, with good clarity probably helped by being a bit brightly lit. But the TADs are more sophisticated and richly musical, more complex, better 'staging in depth. The EH are a bit 2D in comparison, ime. For me the EH were good but the TADs were much more satisfying over the long haul. But, as ever with valves, a lot often depends on the circuit in which you place them. I'm not at all familiar with your pre so I wouldn't like to really hazard a guess as to the synergy there. But if it were me making the choice, I'd put my money on the TADs. The Philips power amp has something of a warts & all approach to the music, so I think the TADs would work well with it. You don't really want any added brightness, imo.
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 6, 2016 18:34:03 GMT
Thanks Jerry - if the can TAD can deliver the sound you describe in my pre I will be very happy indeed but as you say it's equipment dependant ...
I've noticed they also make a GZ34 - I'll take one of these as well so I can try a full set of TAD and then try them with the Mullard GZ34.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 7, 2016 8:08:27 GMT
I love TAD valves - their 12AX7 / ecc83 is a joy to behold. I was at a bakeoff, and someone slotted a TAD ecc83 into the amp on dem at the time, replacing a beloved-by-the-owner NOS from the Golden Age (I forget which!) --- my jaw dropped! Holographic to the nth degree, and lovely textures and definition. I've been a TAD fanboy ever since and they have never disappointed me. When searching for a 6SN7 valve I was surprised that they weren't available direct from the UK, but good old Google turfed them out in Germany. I hope you like them as much as I do.
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Post by pre65 on Dec 7, 2016 9:52:16 GMT
I had a look at the TAD web site.
Do you know if TAD actually make any of the valves, or do they just re-badge from "other" manufacturers ?
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Post by Stratmangler on Dec 7, 2016 10:18:35 GMT
I had a look at the TAD web site.
Do you know if TAD actually make any of the valves, or do they just re-badge from "other" manufacturers ? They rebadge from other manufacturers.
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Post by jandl100 on Dec 7, 2016 11:05:07 GMT
Yes, I think so. In my experience, they have excellent judgement! I'm happy for them to select my valves for me.
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 7, 2016 13:29:42 GMT
TAD 6SN7's now on their way, and I've also bagged a Toshiba (Mullard) GZ34 from Hifi-do in Japan which is of an earlier vintage to my Mullard ...
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 16, 2016 19:11:43 GMT
I had hoped to be reporting back on my new tubes but have been conspired against most heinously... I bought the TAD tubes at a good price from a German retailer that claimed to have plenty of stock, only for them to send me three out of the four I need. The fourth is still on 'back order' so I doubt that will be turning up before Xmas. So annoying and unnecessary. I have to say that hifi-do were an absolute pleasure to deal with and my Toshiba tube managed to reach England a day after being sent. Now I am being let down by bloody customs clearance. It has been sitting in their depot for four days and the customs charge still hasn't been confirmed. All I do know is that in addition to the VAT, I will be charged a hefty £13 by Parcelfarce as a handling fee. What a pleasure, not.
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Post by MartinT on Dec 17, 2016 10:13:33 GMT
Couriers and customs are a shower of sh1t. They slap on any charges they like (different each time for the same thing) and then deliver to anyone they feel like. Another one gone missing yesterday, delivered to a 'neighbour' the address of whom I don't recognise and signed by someone indecipherable. I'd have preferred collecting it, but I wasn't given that option.
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Post by julesd68 on Dec 21, 2016 14:16:44 GMT
At last Parcelfarce have delivered ... Here ladies and gentlemen I have an object exercise in packing tubes to survive the perils of international travel and couriers. You know you are dealing with a serious seller when you open up a parcel like this - take a bow Japan's finest, hifi-do! Can you imagine what they would do with packing one of their monster vintage amps??
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Post by MartinT on Dec 21, 2016 15:53:25 GMT
Nicely done. The Japanese always seem to pack well, a good example being Snow Records.
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Guest
Rank: Quartet
Posts: 347
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Post by Guest on Dec 24, 2016 16:14:32 GMT
Systemitis? Have you tried Brulidine?
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