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Post by petea on May 5, 2021 17:39:29 GMT
I have been idly looking at tube dampers for a while now and a passing comment by realysm42 in Jerry's System thread piqued my interest. As a result, I ordered some of the HAL-O III Stabilisers from Mr Herbelin in the US as well as some Ultrasonic Rx Dampers late on Monday. Amazingly they turned up this afternoon here in Potsdam! I have fitted HAL-O III units to the KT-150s in my Lab12 Suono and Rx Dampers to its triodes (6n2p) as a first experiment (I have Rx and HAL-O units for the KT-150s and 6n2p triodes respectively as well).
I didn't have a lot of time to listen this afternoon and was expecting to need a decent session to hear any differences they made. I was wrong. The system was already very clear with a good soundstage etc, etc and I was unaware that a veil was present to be lifted, but obviously there was: what a perfect description that is. Any changes to "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed were subtle, but that could not be said about the acoustic version of "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morissette, an album I have played maybe 4 or 5 times in the last few days.
So, thanks for the recommendation, realysm42 and I can only agree. What a great product and what fabulous service (especially as the units for the KT-150 are not part of his standard range).
There are some Tube Toppers winging their way from NZ for the triodes. Let's see what they add to the mix!
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Post by user211 on May 5, 2021 18:43:40 GMT
I'd have ordered some but to accommodate all the triodes and other valves I use I'd need about 5 or 6 pairs. Maybe more.
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Post by MartinT on May 5, 2021 18:56:34 GMT
I bought a Herbie's turntable mat years ago. It was pretty good.
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Post by SteveC on May 8, 2021 11:32:33 GMT
Hi Pete.
I went for a pair of EAT Cool Dampers, which have been on my two, preamp, Telefunken 7DJ8 valves for over two years now!
I sourced the EAT Cool Dampers from Guildford HIFi. They were relatively cheap and the preamp certainly sounds “quieter” with them in situ!
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Post by petea on May 8, 2021 13:08:39 GMT
Interesting. Thanks, Steve. I might check these out for the DAC.
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Post by SteveC on May 8, 2021 13:20:43 GMT
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Post by petea on May 8, 2021 13:48:31 GMT
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Post by SteveC on May 8, 2021 18:37:18 GMT
Happy to be of service! Let me know when you are back in the UK and I will get your switch and cables back to you! |
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Post by MartinT on May 8, 2021 19:36:46 GMT
I've still got Pete's Townshend cables here. Perhaps it's a free storage ploy?
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Post by petea on May 8, 2021 21:12:14 GMT
I've been rumbled!
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Post by MikeMusic on May 9, 2021 9:12:31 GMT
Pete Townshend's cables eh ......  |
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Post by petea on May 9, 2021 10:27:12 GMT
That Martin, he has no shame: he steals cables from everyone!  |
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Post by petea on May 12, 2021 15:08:02 GMT
Well, that was interesting. The E.A.T. Cool Dampers arrived today and I swapped the Rx dampers on the triodes for them. They stayed on for a whole 3 tracks before I swapped back! The description of the difference on Mr Herbelin's site is a perfect summary of what I heard.
This was on the power amplifier and I will try the comparison again when I get round to fitting the dampers to the valves in the Lab12 DAC. I am waiting for the Mad Scientist stuff to arrive so I don't have to open the DAC too many times as I will try one of the NanoRings on the toroidal transformer it contains.
So, Steve, should you be so inclined, I would recommend the dampers from Herbie's over the ones from E.A.T.
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Post by SteveC on May 12, 2021 18:24:16 GMT
Well, that was interesting. The E.A.T. Cool Dampers arrived today and I swapped the Rx dampers on the triodes for them. They stayed on for a whole 3 tracks before I swapped back! The description of the difference on Mr Herbelin's site is a perfect summary of what I heard. This was on the power amplifier and I will try the comparison again when I get round to fitting the dampers to the valves in the Lab12 DAC. I am waiting for the Mad Scientist stuff to arrive so I don't have to open the DAC too many times as I will try one of the NanoRings on the toroidal transformer it contains. So, Steve, should you be so inclined, I would recommend the dampers from Herbie's over the ones from E.A.T. Thanks Pete Do you have a link to the website you ordered them from please? |
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Post by petea on May 12, 2021 20:38:50 GMT
herbiesaudiolab.comOrdered on the Monday afternoon from the website and confirmed by Robert Herbelin early evening (his morning) and delivered on Wednesday by UPS.
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Post by tarzan on Jun 6, 2021 19:15:13 GMT
Can also confirm that Herbies Tube dampers are blooming great- have them in my integrated, and phono amps.  |
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Post by realysm42 on Jul 4, 2021 12:39:14 GMT
I only just saw this thread - great to hear they worked for you!
Herbie's are great to deal with I've found over the years.
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