[ianmedium]

Hi Ian, I can see you are really enjoying yourself perfecting the sound of the TU-05B.   Hearing your impressions on tube rolling really makes me wants to go out and get those tubes Immediately.  According to Kageyuki-san, 3S4 and 1U4 are directly heated tubes and it takes few minutes to warm up.   I will try my local stores to see if I can find those tubes recommended by you.   Enjoy your weekend!  

Ooh, thats useful info, thank you! Have a great weekend also, with this amp I think that is assured eh!

 

[evolutionx]

Just ordered the tubes from eBay.  Looking forward to receiving them and try out some tube rolling.   Thanks Ian for sharing the info. 

 

[ianmedium]

Just ordered the tubes from eBay.  Looking forward to receiving them and try out some tube rolling.   Thanks Ian for sharing the info. 

Oh thats great! I am really looking forward to your thoughts on them. I have just ended this evenings listening, finished off with Astral weeks by Van Morrison, what a great album that is!

 

[rudi0504]

Hi Ian and Evolution 
 
do you know the sound different between full tube TU 05 vs TUR 06 hybrid ?
 
which one is more power ?
 
pleaae advice 
 
thank you 

 

[ianmedium]

Rudi, I have not heard the new amp so cannot comment on its sound other than something Di-Ma mentioned which was that it is not as smooth as the 05

 

[rudi0504]

Quote:

Rudi, I have not heard the new amp so cannot comment on its sound other than something Di-Ma mentioned which was that it is not as smooth as the 05

Thank you Ian 
today i show friend about your new TU - 5 , he said how can you order your amp ?
direct ordered from Di-Ma?

 

[ianmedium]

Thank you Ian 
today i show friend about your new TU - 5 , he said how can you order your amp ?
direct ordered from Di-Ma?

Thats right Rudi, directly from him, you can email him via this address
weedmail2008 @gmail

 

[TC91]

Anyone compare this amp to the portaphile 627?

 

[ianmedium]

Ahh, New week new tubes

This time two NOS US made GEC 1U4's arrived initial comparisons are yet again zero mircrophonics which is great. Sound compared to the Brimars they replaced is a little more open and deeper. Will give them a few hours more but initial thoughts are I prefer these slightly to the Brimars but the differences are small compared to the Mullards verses the Tung Sols and the difference is in favour of the mullards. Now I just have Mullards 1U4's to arrive and that will be the end of my tube purchases as I have enough glass to last me the rest of my days!

 

[kiwirugby]

Quote:

..... as I have enough glass to last me the rest of my days!

 
That all depends on how much beer you drink for the rest of your days!

 

[ianmedium]

That all depends on how much beer you drink for the rest of your days!

Ahh, Dam! You got me there. One little secret I have been keeping with this amp is that add beer glasses and the sound just goes through the roof!

I am hoping the Mullards get here this week then I will try to do a review explaining the differences in sound of each tube. I have decided that as level I will keep the Mullard 3S4's in as they are simply miles ahead of any of the other Power tubes I have. They seem to underpin the sound and the 1U4/T4's seem to give the clarity and detail so the tuning is more about the gain stage tubes... Report to follow!

It has to be said though that all the replacement tubes so far are much better than the stock tubes in terms of SQ and microphonics I could certainly live with the SQ of the stock tubes, none of that is bad but the microphonics were really bad and did not improve with use.

To see if it is just the tubes Di-Ma keeps in stock I found a Sylvania 1U4 locally and replaced it and that one was just as microphonic. The tung-sols fair better but the Brimars, Mullards and GEC's have zero microphonics.

 

[ianmedium]

A little update.

If you have very sensitive headphones then the 1T4's might be a better choice as they require more volume to get the same levels as you would from the 1U4's. Differences after allowing some hours on the GEC's is that they are a little smoother yet retain the detail retrieval of the Brimars. If you have harsher headphones and you want to tame that then I would say the Mullards and GEC's would do you better than the Mullards/Brimars.

Having said that they do not bloat or saturate the mid range on mid-centric headphones, actually so far the Mullard GEC combo is my favourite. But I will report more once the Mullard 1T4's arrive then I will do a more comprehensive write up on the different sonic values of the brands of tubes.

It has to be said though that all of the tubes including the stock ones give a lovely sound so you can't go wrong on that front but it is nice to think you can tune your amp even more for specific headphones!

 

[ianmedium]

And so, my final set of Tubes have arrived and are warming up as I type, the Mullard 1T4's so the amp now has an all Mullard tube compliment.

This coming weekend I will do extensive listening of all the voltage gain tubes and give some thoughts as to what they bring to the sound and as I said in my other post I will keep the Mullards in the power tube section as a level playing field... It will be a fun weekend!

 

[ianmedium]

OK. So no waiting until the weekend!

I have spent a very enjoyable hour and a half swapping between the GE 1U4's and the Mullard 1T4's. Let me say right of the bat that both are excellent tubes and in their own ways excel, it just comes down to what is more important to you as an overall musical presentation.

The Mullards start with a minus point as they are a little microphonic, no where near as bad as the Sylvanias but a gentle tap on the sides of the case will illicit a slight tinging sound. Now, this is largely irrelevant when listening to music as it cannot be heard.

Also, fit and finish of the Mullards is a little worse than the GE's,

The GE's are absolutely silent, one can knock hard on the sides of the case and nothing. Likewise they have exceptional build quality.

Now, to the sound.

The Mullards have that traditional romantic, euphonic sound signature. Immediately it draws one in as it is friendly and warming to listen to, Bass notes are stronger and are delivered with a more romantic than factual presentation. Initial listening had these as my favourites as it just sounded so lovely. Treble extension is lessened and the sound of wooden drumstick on cymbals felt larger than life.

All of this seemed lovely, I was really enjoying it and then it came to plug in the GE's

Now, The GE's have more bass weight than the Brimars but initial listening right after the Mullards left one feeling that some of the warmth and coziness had been taken away, it felt less inviting and enveloping, it felt like there was less bass. Treble extension just went on and on but is clean and no grain.

With the Mullards notes seem to keep going on and on never seeming to decay but rather smear into the next note, this on initial listening sounded great. The GE's on the other had start and stop on a pin. There is only decay of a note where it is actually present in the recording. If it is not there the GE's won't make it up, this initially felt a little cold and sudden. Guitar sounded more euphonic with the Mullards, more romantic where as with the GE's there was more definition to the notes played, more texture and detail.

However, after repeated swapping of tubes between tracks ( I used September in Montreal by Anne Bisson and from Steve Davis's quality of silence album one two free and infant eyes) the GE's started to move ahead in terms of musicality and involvement. I found that once the romance faded from the Mullards I kept preferring the directness of the GE's but to put it in context it was a diplomatic directness rather than a strict one.

Though the GE's lack bass weight bass is not lacking, rather the texture of the bass is revealed more than the Mullards making it in the long run far more involving to listen to the GE's than the Mullards as one could hear all the details but not at the expense of warmth or musicality where as the Mullards are all about warmth and musicality at the cost of detail and texture.

So, overall the GE's are ahead for me as they combine speed, accuracy and detail with musicality and warmth. Drum sticks on cymbals sound like wood hitting metal and felt in proportion. Notes decay as they should rather than as a work of fiction. Texture and detail are outstanding with the GE's digging deep into the mix and retrieving everything but not in a tiring way and not in such a way that all you end up doing is listening to detail. No, the GE's are holistic in their approach to reproducing music and combined with the Mullards in the power stage where you want some grunt and oomph this so far is my favourite all round pairing.

Over the weekend I will try the Brimars again and report back.

For reference I used my Piano Forte's solely

As far as the amp goes, well, great tubes make this amp even greater, this does not sound like a portable amp. In fact I keep coming back to my reference in pre amps when I think of this amp, the Nagra PL-P. That is another class A battery operated amp and with the combination of tubes that I prefer this comes as close as I have heard to that wonderful amp and higher praise I could not give!

 

[ianmedium]

Current Price list for the TU-05 (as just posted on facebook by Shikida-san)



‎****The current price list****

TU-05 body
85,000 yen

Tube Set
5,000 yen

**Option**

high Quality Capacitor
3,000 yen

high Quality Volume Pot (Scarcity!!)
3,000 yen

impedance select SW
4,000 yen
(Pls select Low-Mid High of Two)

Tube guard panel
5,000yen
(It is also protected from radio waves as well as the object.)

Leather Case
30,000 yen
(Pls choose It for the left shoulder or right shoulder.
And tel me What Player you insert the pocket. (example iPod classic 5G,,,)

+Shipping (sent by EMS).