[GermanGuy]

listened to some tube combos yesterday focussing on the mullards and my top combos:

mullard df91 combined with

tung-sol mil spec dl92:
- you get all the benefits of the mullards, great bass texture, quality and decay, miss some bite, attack, speed, sparkle, clarity
- would be my top 'sweet and relaxing'  combo dream set, so call it dream set (no.3)

lorenz dl92:
- good compromise, less bass quality, but more clarity, sparkle, .. 

tesla 1L33:
- good sounding in its own way, hides the mullard bass enhancements, but how to say moving all this properties more to the mids, highs


lorenz df96 - tung-sol mil spec dl92:

- won the contest again to be my dream set (no.1), nearly the bass quality of the mullards, but more clarity, detail, great allrounder

telefunken 1u4 - lorenz dl92:

- fights to be my dream set (no.2), and it is, the clarity is amazing, if you directly compare it to dreamset ds no.1, ds no.1 sounds somewhat unprecise, boomy, bassy (but only in direct a/b comparison, differences are so small), great allrounder, very neutral

telefunken 1u4 mil spec - tesla 1L33 (pin 1 removed):

- a special recommendation for this combo, fast, hard attack, ultra precise, speed, speed, agressive, slighty brighter sounding, no allrounder, but listen to some pink floyd or for example stratovarius - vision - black diamond - and you hear what i mean. my dream set (no.4) (for this kind of music) - how to say it's more like a techno party, not the relaxing armchair.

to explain, there is no absolute rating when calling the sets no.1, no.2,.., my decision to select and to listen to one of this sets is also based on the music i want to listen to and my general mood.

Posted this some time ago.

A tube combo i always come back to is the double non-standard RFT DF97 - Philco 1S4 combo.

Starting yesterday i listen to the Tesla 1F33 - Tesla 1L33 combo and really like this combo.

 

[ianmedium]

I really hate to say this but tonight I have been listening to my Marconi/Lorenz combo and it is without a shadow of a doubt the best combination by far of all the combo's I have tried.

That is not to say I do not like the others, I do but this combo just add's another 5% on top of all the others and as you all know, when it comes to high end equipment that extra 5% is oh so important.

Things like detail, texture and musicality are just sublime. Of all the tubes I have tried and the ones I have loved coming back to this pairing leaves me breathless at the end of a performance, just sublime.

Why do I hate to say this? These two are the rarest of rare. The Lorenz's are not the stock ones, these ones are made in Stuttgart and apparently from those in the know that makes a substantial difference over the ITT Lorenz tubes. The Marconi's? I think there is more chance of finding teeth in hens than there is of finding another pair like these!

I wish there were more so you could all experience what I am experiencing. Other combo's come close but they simply do not do what this pairing do!

The other thing is that these were not outrageously expensive tubes, I paid $20 for two Lorenz's plus shipping and won the two Marconi's for $10 the pair plus shipping.

I truly think it is crazy to spend over $20 a tube for this type of tube and I know one seller in Germany I contacted wanted over $70 for a pair of Tele's..Outrageous!

Be patient and you will get the tubes you want for much less (except the Lorenz/Marconi!) It has been my experience that if you keep an eye on various countries ebay sites you will end up getting what you want for much less than some of the sellers who have internet stores!

 

[xplosive]

Congrats for your purchase gmahler.. I am pretty sure you won't regret it.
 
For me the included milspec silvania tube already perfect for my tur06.. and i think jh roxanne will be its perfect partner..

ath11ltd still my best pair headphone for now.
 
Still waiting for Sean review on his using NEC tube though..

 

[AnakChan]

Woops!! Sorry! I didn't realize you were waiting for a review . My bad!!

 

[bmichels]

  Hey guys, as the post count increases, can everyone post their current favourite tube combos? I'm getting persistent 'clinking' during silence with some tubes and with limited listening time and limited tube rolling time, could use some guidance towards a quiet, good sounding combo.
 
The Siemens dl92/Sylvania IT4 combo is doing a great job for me tonight. Just a bit of paper crackling in between songs, hopefully it will resolve with some burn in.

 
Still listening to the (modified) combo RFT DF97 / PHILCO 1S4, but I believe that I will come back to RFT DF97 (modified)/ Philips DL92 combo 
 
Also, the original stock tube combo that came with the TU05 was quite good for me :   RCA 1U4 / Raytheron 3S4
as well as the  Telefunken DF904 / Philips DL92
 
 
 
I have also tested and did NOT LIKED (according to MY ears):    
- Tungsram 14T4 / Sylvania 3S4;  
- Tungsram 14T4 / Mullard 3S4;
- Siemens 1T4 / Mullard 3S4 ;
- Telefunken DF904 / Tesla 1L33 (modif); 
- Telefunken DF904  or Lorenz DF96 / Tung-Sol DL92  or Philips DL92

 

[GermanGuy]

And so as summary - it's a matter of taste, the sonic preferences, the hole chain, the headphone.
 
if shipping cost were not that high (or low, but slow , but maybe not my problem) ...
 
as i have lots of tubes and in most cases at least four of each type at the moment i am really thinking about
 
- bundling a  tu-05 tube demo kit  with for example
 
- DF91 - Siemens, Telefunken, Valvo, Mullard, Radiotechnique, Lorenz (sic!), Brimar Red Printing with Stamp
- DF92 - Siemens, Telefunken, Valvo, Mullard, Radiotechnique, Tung-Sol, Radiotron, Philips
 
- 3S4T - ORION
 
- 1S4 - Philco, Sylvania with adapter (sic)
- DF97 - RFT - with adapter
- Tesla 1L33 - with adapter
 
to give new or existing owners the chance to listen to all the tubes, also the rare ones, to find their dream set before ordering. To reduce shipping cost i think it would be possible to form a chain (US, Indonesia?)
 
- i send such a kit express with tracking to the first US thread member, then the members send it from member to next member, the last member in the chain sends it back express with tracking, the members together share shipping cost ?!
 
any interest?
 
must think about, maybe it's too risky that the tubes get lost somewhere during shipping?

 

[GermanGuy]

btw - ordered ten additional Radiotechnique DF91 tubes 50 cent each - have the feeling that the increasing sales of shikada san's amps will make it nearly impossible in the future to get at least one set of good sounding european tubes for a price not killing you, they get more and more rare and expensive, so in one or two years there maybe are some new thread members happy to get some.

 

[bmichels]

  And so as summary - it's a matter of taste, the sonic preferences, the hole chain, the headphone.
 
if shipping cost were not that high (or low, but slow , but maybe not my problem) ...
 
as i have lots of tubes and in most cases at least four of each type at the moment i am really thinking about
 
- bundling a  tu-05 tube demo kit  with for example
 
- DF91 - Siemens, Telefunken, Valvo, Mullard, Radiotechnique, Lorenz (sic!), Brimar Red Printing with Stamp
- DF92 - Siemens, Telefunken, Valvo, Mullard, Radiotechnique, Tung-Sol, Radiotron, Philips
 
- 3S4T - ORION
 
- 1S4 - Philco, Sylvania with adapter (sic)
- DF97 - RFT - with adapter
- Tesla 1L33 - with adapter
 
to give new or existing owners the chance to listen to all the tubes, also the rare ones, to find their dream set before ordering. To reduce shipping cost i think it would be possible to form a chain (US, Indonesia?)
 
- i send such a kit express with tracking to the first US thread member, then the members send it from member to next member, the last member in the chain sends it back express with tracking, the members together share shipping cost ?!
 
any interest?
 
must think about, maybe it's too risky that the tubes get lost somewhere during shipping?

 
Good idea, buy i also may add the combo RCA 1U4 / Raytheron 3S4.  Did you tried it ? 

 

[bmichels]

this may even tempt me to go back to analog !  sooooo beautifull !
 

 

[GermanGuy]

don't have any raytheon DL92 / 3S4 !

 

[gmahler2u]

Congrats for your purchase gmahler.. I am pretty sure you won't regret it.

For me the included milspec silvania tube already perfect for my tur06.. and i think jh roxanne will be its perfect partner.. ath11ltd still my best pair headphone for now.

Still waiting for Sean review on his using NEC tube though..

Yes I'm getting this amp because the Roxanne. I hopping it'll be great match.

 

[xplosive]

I am about to make my first ear mold for the Roxanne next week. I have tried tur06 using final audio pf ix, akg3003 and  jh5 yesterday at local jaben. The sound sig that really fits me is from the Jerry Harvey one.

 

[GermanGuy]

  Another VERY nice tube amp I would like to share with you :   Audio Space Ref 3.1
 
 

 
to post just the opposite - even seen the colibri nut?
 

 
http://www.roehrentechnik.de/assets/images/Kolibri-Nuss.jpg
 
btw - http://www.roehrentechnik.de/ - i ordered two universal SE output transformers listed on this website. Mr. Reinhöfer, a very nice guy and specialist for custom made output transformers modified them especially for use with the DL tubes (smaller gaps). i will use the output transformers to test different primary / secondary (1,3-2-3-4-5,2-6,6-8 KOhm) / (4-8 Ohm) impledance combinations, also this transformers are rather cheap, 37 Euros a piece, hope they sound good.

 

[LFC_SL]

They all look pretty but not exactly travel friendly. Only really this and Alo Continental available. And extend to Alo Pan Am with asterisk a flat surface is required

 

[GermanGuy]

agree. i am thinking and thinking what i maybe really want or how to say, what to integrate into the larger tu-05 housing. do i need vu meters? is an input switch really nessesary? ...  and so on. at the moment i think that after having received the larger housing i will just have a look at the available space and then see what is possible to kepp my modded tu-05 as tu-05 like as possible, the major point of possible sound improvement and so the priority i think will be the integration of the second internal power supply board and batteries to completely separate left and right channel and the integration of better output transformers (which will result in also integrating an extended impedance switch). all the rest is nice to have, but not absolutely nessesary.