Cryogenically Frozen Tubes
Jul 25, 2002 at 10:08 PM Post #2 of 34
next thing you know, someone is going to claim that their vacuum tubes have been exposed to the cold reaches of outer space for the 'ultimate' in sound quality...

jeez...
 
Jul 25, 2002 at 10:12 PM Post #3 of 34
I don't know about the effects on sound quality, but I bet those things would take forever to warm up!
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Jul 26, 2002 at 12:48 AM Post #4 of 34
I can see the benefits of using cryo tubes to lower the noise floor if you had a phono amp and used a low output moving coil cartridge and therefore had a huge gain factor. Other than that I think your money would be better spent buying tubes from a reputable dealer that selects and tests tubes for noise and microphonics specifically for your equipment and application.

The cryo tubes would be nice to have but I think we're talking the last 1% in this case. In most cases when you get to that point your room's acoustics is more of a problem than the limitations of your equipment.

Of course, people that treat money like a disease and try to get rid of it as soon as they get it will just have to have these tubes whether justified or not.

Due to stock market conditions the current value of my .02 opinion has been seriously reduced.

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Jul 26, 2002 at 2:29 AM Post #5 of 34
I support cryogenically freezing old NOS tubes. Perhaps future scientists can use their DNA to bring them back to life.
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markl
 
Jul 26, 2002 at 3:18 AM Post #6 of 34
Seriously though, I have "frozen" tubes in the freezer for a few days just to see if they would sound better, and they do, everything becomes more focused, tighter, especially the bass with more punch as well. But it does not last forever, 2 weeks tops... I do not know if it had any lasting benefits at all with just using the freezer, but I believe a cryo treatment is a bit more permanent though I do not know what affects it has on the sound.
 
Jul 26, 2002 at 5:39 AM Post #9 of 34
John,

I know Brendan personally,he is a standup guy and I have purchased many,many tubes from him and traded many others.He firmly believes in cryo treatments and swears the he hears audible sonic improvements.I don't know.I have tried some of the cryo tubes and was unable to confirm this.Cryo treatment has been discussed at the Bottlehead forums and was briefly demoed at the last Vacuum State of the Art conference.It has been pretty much dismissed by all but the most diehard supporters,which include Brendan.
 
Jul 26, 2002 at 6:31 PM Post #11 of 34
ah... tuberoller... just noticed you got the Rogue 99 pre/120M monoblock combo... where do you find the room to fit those beasts? and whatever happened to the avantgarde duos?
 
Jul 28, 2002 at 6:44 PM Post #12 of 34
Cryo is a very interesting process, it does change the structure of metal. It is used to treat many types of metals to improve durability, stability and conductivity. When the metal cools, it contracts, and the small voids in the crystal latice structure close up. If the metal is carefully (slowly) brought back to room temperature the structure will change minimally from the cold condition. End result is less "gaps" between the crystals in the metal. Try a Google search and you will find a ton of info.
 
Jul 28, 2002 at 7:01 PM Post #13 of 34
Quote:

acidtripwow said...

This all sounds pretty weird to me. Next thing you know people will be putting their amps in the freezer and just have a long headphone ext cord.
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Hey guys, I just got through listening w/ my head in the freezer, everything sounded SO GOOD! I couldn't smile, because my face was all numb, but if I could've I would've had a HUGE GRIN on my face! *
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* Meant to be funny, as I've no idea if cryo has audible effects or not.
 
Jul 29, 2002 at 6:01 AM Post #14 of 34
Hmm; I can get access to liquid nitrogen for free... I wonder how they bring the temperature up slowly, though...

Any DIY plans? We could do some free (+shipping of course) cryo treatments here
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Jul 31, 2002 at 10:50 PM Post #15 of 34
ERIC343,

I don't know exactly how "they" bring the temp up slowly, but I have read some posts/articles on DIY Cryo and the method seems to follow something like this:

Freeze as slow as possible too, then:

leave in liquid for as long as it stays cold...
xfer to freezer section of your fridge for another couple days...
(maybe use intermediate step of packing in ice in a cooler, but freezer might be just as cold - test with therometer)
After couple to few days in freezer, xfer to fridge for another day
and lastly, place in cooler by itself until it reaches room temp.

OR - any variation of above that works for you.

Please let us know how it turns out and the method used. You may have a budding new business on your hands.
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