[Mullet]

I know Sachu has recommended the Belleson Super Regulator. I tried to get out of him what made the regulator so much better and never got an answer. I've also read that this regulator needs a larger case to fit. Don't know much about the Hovlands, but I do know that you really have to spend quite a bit on caps to really notice a huge difference with the CTH. I'm curious to hear about your impressions with both.

 

[Misterrogers]

+1. Did some reading on the Belleson, and the design/advantages make sense. I suspect that improving the power will improve sonics more than the cap up/side grade. I'll have to see about physical fit. If I need to, I'll cut an opening in the top and do a heatsink thing. With a little luck, I'll have it fired up before the end of the weekend.

 

[sachu]

Quote:

I know Sachu has recommended the Belleson Super Regulator. I tried to get out of him what made the regulator so much better and never got an answer. I've also read that this regulator needs a larger case to fit. Don't know much about the Hovlands, but I do know that you really have to spend quite a bit on caps to really notice a huge difference with the CTH. I'm curious to hear about your impressions with both.

YOu get much better line and load regulation. Far lower ripple noise. All this translates to a cleaner supply to the output buffer section, better dynamics, extension on both ends of the spectrum and better detail retrieval due to the blacker background/low noise floor.
 
I am expecting to receive some Salas shunt regulator boards shortly that i am planning on using to build a 24 volt regulator to use with the amp. However, with that it is no longer compact. The advantage of the Belleson is that its a direct drop in replacement, albeit might not fit in the standard case to to mechancial dimensions (mainly height in this case)

 

[cfcubed]

Quote:

Working on another CTH using the same case that cfcubed did with his 'Fancy' CTH. I'm going to use Hovland SuperCaps, plus a Belleson Super Regulator to replace the 24V reg. I'm pretty excited to see what benefit I'll hear with this very clean, fast regulator. Does anyone have any experience with either of these two parts?

I'll also be interested in your work & findings WRT that Belleson Super Regulator.  Pricey, but not more than say 2 desirable tubes, performance comparison to our 24V reg is interesting 
As you'll have 2 CTHs it'd be great if you could somehow keep everything the same in the two w/only 24V regs differing, for test/compare of just the regulator difference.  Maybe asking too much tho
 
BTW I bought-back my "Fancy" CTH as the buyer wasn't able to get the "tubey"/rolled-off highs sound he was looking for & needed the $$$s for more important things.
 

 

[Mullet]

Thanks Sachu for the clarification. If I ever build a more substantial CTH in a larger case, I might consider this upgrade. Then again, it actually might not be hard to poke a larger hole in my perf metal where the regulator is located. Then again I'm quite happy with my CTH and might not feel the need to muck around with an already great thing.

 

[sachu]

Well the other option is to build it into a bigger case and use a Sigma11 or Salas Shunt regulator (or any such similar regulator).
 
 
Again, this will significantly up the size of the amp.

 

[dmcs414]

Hey all,
 
Happened to see this tube up for auction last night and it was just about to end with no bids, so I went ahead and bid .99 cents and won.  The ad said it was a Sylvania 6922. You can view the pic here- 
 
The seller also said, "Tested on Sencore 154".  Anyone around here seen tubes that look like this?  Whether it ends up being the real deal and I just happened to win it cheap, great.  If it's bunk or fake, well figured it's worth the 7 bucks (includes shipping) to try and see; after all I could get lucky I suppose.  Be glad to hear you all's thoughts on this.  Thx!

 

[Mullet]

It is the real deal. I think other than Amperex, Sylvania was the only other company to make American made 6922s. The rest were rebranded Western European E88CCs. I don't think the Sylvania are the highest regarded of the 6922/E88CC variety of tubes, but they certainly aren't the worst. Heck $7 isn't a bad deal all around. Search this thread for favorites like the Amperex 7316 or 8416. Other favorites are the Siemens Chrome Plate ECC82. One of my personal favorites is the late 50's Amperex/Philips tall plate ECC82. Expect to pay $40-$50 minimum for a harder to find rare tube. Sometimes you can get great deals on a bunch of tubes and get a gem or two in the lot. Other things to look out for are rebranded tubes.

 

[dmcs414]

Ok one more time dear friends and mentors. So,  I won an auction for these two tubes and just wanted to see if you guys have heard these and if you think I got a good deal.  I paid $52 for the pair, another 12 or so shipping.
 
They were advertised as- "[size=small]PERFECT PAIR NOS AMPEREX ECC88 6DJ8 E88CC CCa BUGLE BOYS HOLLAND original 100% !"  WONDERFUL MATCHED PAIR of ECC88 / 6DJ8 / 6922 / Cca AMPEREX BUGLE BOY, made in Holland, early 1960! This is a FAMOUS Bugle Boy valve superlative for AUDIO performance, no microphonics, great sound imagine, stunning in voices and real open in mid-range. They’re in brilliant shape, admirable inner structure with LARGE ring getter. TOTAL FULL, BALANCED and MATCHED tests as follow: [/size]
T1= 17.3/18 and T2= 18.1/18.1 mA; 100% emission.

 
What do you guys think?  If these turn out well, I think I'm done tube shopping for awhile.  I've got a Sylvania 6922 on the way, a replacement RCA C6G7 Clear Top for the one I bought which showed up minus a pin, and these two.  Any guesses as to which tube will sound the best with my Thunderpants?
 
As always, this thread is indispensable.  Many thanks gents (and ladies, if you're there too)   
 
 

 

[Misterrogers]

That's a fair price for a good tube. The large O BB's are a favorite of mine. Let's hope the perform as promised.

Ok one more time dear friends and mentors. So,  I won an auction for these two tubes and just wanted to see if you guys have heard these and if you think I got a good deal.  I paid $52 for the pair, another 12 or so shipping.
 
They were advertised as- "[size=small]PERFECT PAIR NOS AMPEREX ECC88 6DJ8 E88CC CCa BUGLE BOYS HOLLAND original 100% !"  WONDERFUL MATCHED PAIR of ECC88 / 6DJ8 / 6922 / Cca AMPEREX BUGLE BOY, made in Holland, early 1960! This is a FAMOUS Bugle Boy valve superlative for AUDIO performance, no microphonics, great sound imagine, stunning in voices and real open in mid-range. They’re in brilliant shape, admirable inner structure with LARGE ring getter. TOTAL FULL, BALANCED and MATCHED tests as follow: [/size]
T1= 17.3/18 and T2= 18.1/18.1 mA; 100% emission.

 
What do you guys think?  If these turn out well, I think I'm done tube shopping for awhile.  I've got a Sylvania 6922 on the way, a replacement RCA C6G7 Clear Top for the one I bought which showed up minus a pin, and these two.  Any guesses as to which tube will sound the best with my Thunderpants?
 
As always, this thread is indispensable.  Many thanks gents (and ladies, if you're there too)   
 
 

 

[Mullet]

I like the Bugle Boys as well. They have a nice punch to them. I just won a BB for $10 on the bay. I'm sure it's not as nice as yours, but I didn't care if it had a nice label. My readings were around 13mA/13mA, so it's probably a used tube. I'm going to say the Bugle Boys sound best with Thunderpants. I find the higher gain 6dj8 type tubes perform better than the 12v 12au7s when using the Thunderpants. That RCA is a nice tube though, I just don't like it as much with the TP1s. My favorite tubes with Thunderpants are the Siemens ECC88, Siemens E88CC, Lorenz PCC88, Amperex BugleBoy ECC88, and Amperex 8416. I do have a rebranded late 50s Amperex 12AU7 long plate that is a top contender though.

 

[Pingfloid]

**** happens.
 

 
[size=10pt]Fortunately I bought a pair for just 20$

[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I find this cheap Westinghouse 6FQ7 to have similar sonic characteristics than the Raythenon or RCA 6F8G, and with the advantage of 9-pin base and no cap connector. This is great news, because I have not managed to get rid of the unbearable noise and microphonics from the 6F8G huge bottles.[/size]
 

 

[dmcs414]

Hey there CTH thread.  I've had a rather serious issue with my CTH and was hoping I could get some advice.  It started when my wife asked to take my CTH and headphones with her to Australia recently, with her firm assurances that she would be extremely careful in using & adapting for Australian power requirements, which are different than those here in the US.  I allowed her to do so.   This was, in retrospect, a grievous error on my part, but there it is.  
 
When it came back to the US, my CTH would no longer power on, nor does it exhibit any response when the power button is pushed.  When I plug the wall-wart power supply into an outlet, the power light turns green and it appears to still be drawing power just fine.  My wife tells me she used an Australian coworker's power adapter in order to plug it in and was able to listen to my rig for a few moments, but reported that the sound was not right at all, and quickly turned it off.
 
From this brief description, does it sound like my CTH may be fixable, or am I better off shopping for a new amp?   Could whatever happened to the CTH possibly also have damaged the tube (Amperex Bugle Boy Holland 6DJ8), or my headphones (Modded Fostex T50RP/Thunderpants)?  I tried my headphones through my FiiO E17 and they sounded OK, but that amp (At 6 Gain) doesn't really have the power the CTH does to make them shine.  Normally I use my FiiO E17 at 0 Gain and the CTH between itself and my headphones, primarily for the DAC and EQ functions the E17 has.   
 
If the CTH might be fixable, what's typically involved in this type of endeavor and what might it cost me?  I should note, my CTH was built by MrSlim, who I messaged last week but hasn't gotten back with me as of yet.  
 
If anyone's had experience with this sort of thing before, I'd greatly appreciate any advice you'd care to give.  Many thanks!  

 

[cfcubed]

It sure reads like she used an adapter that simply mapped your CTH's 115V A/C adapter plug-pins to Australia's 230V wall plug, sending about 48VAC into the CTH that expects 24VAC.  
That would be bad.  Would take a motivated DIYer some time to ID how much damage was done, working through its 3 PS legs (24VDC low voltage, 100V high voltage & 6.3V/12.6V heater circuits) & down-stream circuitry.  Then time, parts-pulling, testing, etc to possibly fix it (I'd think).
 
BTW many/most newer switching DC power adapters accommodate 110VAC ~ 240VAC input & say so somewhere on the device.  CTH's adapter is an AC one, really just a transformer in a box.

 

[sachu]

am guessing she plugged in a DC power adapter and not the power adapter that you were supposed to use. Since you mention that she used an aussie cowroker's power adapter.
 
Likely that it wasn't an AC adapter.