[ianmedium]

OK, Help me fellow forum members, I have become a tubeAholic! :blink:

I have just this minute ordered yet another set of tubes, this time some NOS Brimar's from the UK! None of my previous orders have arrived yet, I think next week I will be awash in a sea of glass! Its not like I don't love the sound of the amp with the stock tubes either.. Though for clarity I do think the sylvania's are a weak link as the microphonics have returned a little.

Great thing about these tubes ( I had better get used to saying Valves again once I return to the UK to live at some point!) is that it does not cost a fortune to experiment. Most I have paid is $7.88 for a Mullard.

 

[cooperpwc]

Ian, where are you buying your valves at these great prices?

 

[ianmedium]

Paul. I have done some due diligence and found a seller in the UK with an excellent reputation, also one in Ontario with similar reputation. Both are from the dredded ebay but both sellers have been used by tube loving friends with no issues.

I will PM you their stores.

 

[cooperpwc]

Thanks, Ian.  

 

[smial1966]

ianmedium,
 
Welcome to the awfully wonderful addiction known as tube rolling, or valve twiddling as I like to call it!
 
$7 for a Mullard is an absolute steal. If you ever need any thermionic advice, Steve from www.mullardmagic.co.uk has an encyclopedic knowledge and is a very nice guy to deal with, his blog is very informative and strangely compelling too.
 
Andy. 
 
Quote:

Paul. I have done some due diligence and found a seller in the UK with an excellent reputation, also one in Ontario with similar reputation. Both are from the dredded ebay but both sellers have been used by tube loving friends with no issues.

I will PM you their stores.

 

[ianmedium]

Thanks for the link Andy, I really appreciate it.

I am really looking forward to all this 'glass' arriving. How are you finding your amp? What do the mullards sound like in comparison to the stock tubes? BTW, Edited the amount as it was $7.88 per tube!

 

[ianmedium]

Goodness me. Around 60 hours now and how is the best way that I can describe the sound? I think really, how I describe the Piano Forte's.. Mature.

This amp feels like it is a grown up, a responsible one but also one that knows who to have fun. I bit like that old Uncle or Aunt whom you have known all your life to be dependable, wise and always there when you really need them. But then one day you happen upon a party and there they are, the life and soul of it and producing all the entertainment.

If that makes sense this is this amp. It has such depth, such strength and control and yet it also knows how to have fun. But, more than that it also knows when to be serious!

Tonight I think it reached a point in its burn in where I could put on something really deep and meaningful and achingly beautiful to see how it conveyed the album.

The album in question is by Leon and Eric Bibb Praising Peace- A tribute to Paul Robeson.

This is such a beautiful and heart filled album lovingly played and recorded. For me it is a must have album and it is one of those albums that stirs up so much emotion.

Through this amp and my Piano Forte's tonight I gained a new level of appreciation and respect for this album, track after track I am not ashamed to confess brought me to tears with the power of emotion of love conveyed in this album.

This amps ability to resolve detail, to convey emotion and presence is palpable. So many times through listening tonight the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and my scalp tingled. It is like it has given me, along with the PF's entry and permission into the musicians soul.

I will report more once I start tube rolling. I have in the amp now as a start the original Tung-Sol power tubes and the replacement RCA Tung-Sol pre-amp tubes. I have to say if you get this amp pre order at least replacements for the gain section (the sylvania's) not only are they microphonic they simply do not do justice to this amp's capability.

Like the Piano Forte's ability to raise it's game with what feeds them in terms of amplification this amp raises it's game when you give it good tubes. The stock Tung-Sol's are very impressive I feel giving a nice tight but not that deep bottom end. Once the Mullards arrive I shall see what they do to that bottom end!

Hand on heart I can truly say this amp is something of a bargain I feel. It is for me true high end in terms of detail retrieval, emotional involvement in the music and build quality.

The two most expensive components in my system, this amp and the PF's are also the greatest bargains as well and who would have thought I could say that of things that cost this much but the old adage is so true in this case...You get what you pay for!

 

[SoundFreaq]

Nice, Ian. Great impressions. I can't wait to get ahold of one myself. Just a waiting game. I bet this amp would be a great compliment to the FI-BA-SS as well!

 

[ianmedium]

I reckon the SS will sound really really good with this amp!

On another note the shipment arrived from the UK this morning (Langrex are great to deal with!) So I have now in the amp two Mullards in the power stage and two Brimar's in the gain stage, just letting them warm up with some music and will have a listen, can't wait!

I have two Mullards on their way for the gain stage on their way as well and also two GEC's for the gain stage.. Should be set for tubes now!

 

[ianmedium]

OK.. So, one of those lush and amazing things we get to experience in HiFi is happening to me right now. First time was with the PF's second time was with this amp (the only previous time this happened to me was invloving Wilson and Nagra!)

So, I place in the new tubes, Brimar 1T4''s for the gain stage, Mullard 3S4's for the power stage.

I let it warm up then play music through it for 10 minutes.. What happened next makes me want to state this for anyone contemplating buying this wonderful amp. Figure in an extra $30 on top of the price of the amp for getting these tubes is not an option, it is compulsory I feel.

Immediately what becomes obvious is that the ability of this amp to dig deep into the sonic and retrieve detail increases to a point I never dreamed of possible with portable audio. One not only hears the piano one also hears the strike of the hammer on the metal string and the metallic resonation of that string decay. Truly, I have only ever heard this before on that Wilson/Nagra set up.

Likewise, there is more weight to the bass but the bass remains tight but oh so much detail to a bass string. Again, the decay of the note one plucked is simply amazing. I really really hate to use hyperbole but these tubes in this amp won't allow me to do anything else but apply it!

Vocals on Anne Bissons music.. Oh boy, Anne has so much more feeling, the vocal is just.. Wow!

So, why I chose this set of tubes. Well, I know that the bottom end on Mullards is legendary as is the weight and warmth. The Brimars are known more for their detail extraction and speed so I thought a combination would bring all the things I love to the fore. This is, I am so happy to say, the case!

This truly is not subtle. It is wonderful. Di-Ma, going on my experience with this amp is truly a gifted amplifier maker. Add in top notch tubes and you have something very very special indeed and to think, the tubes have got to settle in still and there is still some burn in on the amp left!

But at the moment I am simply lost in the music, who would have thought this possible with a portable set up, it truly rivals some really really good home set up's I feel!

Oh yes, with these tubes, ZERO micro phonics, I can tap firmly on the case, nothing. Background noise is non existent as it was with the stock tubes but now that blackness feels darker and deeper!

 

[evolutionx]

Thanks for sharing these great impressions.   I am enjoying my TU-05B feeded by AK100 as well.   Has been listening to Steven Wilson's "Grace for Drowning" album from HDTracks with my PF-X and I must say the music is sublime.  Will try rolling some tubes when I can find the time to stop listening.    

 

[ianmedium]

Oh fantastic, another owner!

How do you find the stock tubes in terms of mircrophonics? It was not until getting these new ones that I realized how bad the stock ones were. Having said that I was never unhappy with the sound of the stock ones, that is until these came along!

It is a beautiful amp in so many ways and I agree, the music is sublime.

Did you go for the upgrade route as well or stick with stock? I love the volume pot on this, lovely subtle clicks and they all seem perfectly placed, no gaps in volume rise.

 

[evolutionx]

Hi Ian, yes there are lots of microphonics when you brush against the metal surface of the amp before my leather case arrived.   I try to avoid knocking against the surface then but the leather case helps a lot in reducing the microphonics.    I sold my ALO Pan Am after getting the TU-05B as it is much more musical in my opinion.   I kept the Siemens and Russian tubes from my Pan Am and will try roll some tubes and see how it goes.    Love the volume pot as you mention.  Time to bring out the screw driver......  
 
 
 

 

[ianmedium]

Hi Ian, yes there are lots of microphonics when you brush against the metal surface of the amp before my leather case arrived.   I try to avoid knocking against the surface then but the leather case helps a lot in reducing the microphonics.    I sold my ALO Pan Am after getting the TU-05B as it is much more musical in my opinion.   I kept the Siemens and Russian tubes from my Pan Am and will try roll some tubes and see how it goes.    Love the volume pot as you mention.  Time to bring out the screw driver......  

The gold PF's and the black case look magnificent!

Honestly, get yourself some Mullards and Brimars, zero microphonics. I was really shocked how it changed completely and I think you will like the sound of the combination. I have some mullard 1T4's on the way as well just to see what an all mullard set up sounds like.

I really recommend Langrex in the UK, I ordered last Wednesday and they arrived yesterday in Canada, well packaged, the tubes are tested then put back in their original military boxes, heck, even the pin protector bases came with them!

Here are their listing on ebay
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/3S4-DL92-CV820-MULLARD-NOS-/260765283638?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Valves_Vacuum_Tubes&hash=item3cb6d27536#ht_500wt_1413
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1T4-DF91-CV1971-BRIMAR-NOS-/310310089301?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Valves_Vacuum_Tubes&hash=item483fec3255#ht_500wt_1413

Depending on exchange rates your looking at just under $8 a tube and they discount on shipping multiple items.

 

[evolutionx]

Quote:

The gold PF's and the black case look magnificent!

Honestly, get yourself some Mullards and Brimars, zero microphonics. I was really shocked how it changed completely and I think you will like the sound of the combination. I have some mullard 1T4's on the way as well just to see what an all mullard set up sounds like.

I really recommend Langrex in the UK, I ordered last Wednesday and they arrived yesterday in Canada, well packaged, the tubes are tested then put back in their original military boxes, heck, even the pin protector bases came with them!

Here are their listing on ebay
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/3S4-DL92-CV820-MULLARD-NOS-/260765283638?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Valves_Vacuum_Tubes&hash=item3cb6d27536#ht_500wt_1413
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1T4-DF91-CV1971-BRIMAR-NOS-/310310089301?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Valves_Vacuum_Tubes&hash=item483fec3255#ht_500wt_1413

Depending on exchange rates your looking at just under $8 a tube and they discount on shipping multiple items.

Thanks Ian for the link.  Will try ordering tomorrow.    Cheers.