[leftside]

Do you really need to add solder to the pins? Here is another I received today NOS. Pins look secure. Precleaned (but already pretty clean as is).

 

[A2029]

Do you really need to add solder to the pins? Here is another I received today NOS. Pins look secure. Precleaned (but already pretty clean as is).

As long as the pins are secure I wouldn't worry about adding solder. Only if it develops noise down the road would you need to worry about it.

 

[leftside]

As long as the pins are secure I wouldn't worry about adding solder. Only if it develops noise down the road would you need to worry about it.

I’m more worried about the pins coming off in the adapter. But these look like they were made like this.

 

[leftside]

There are three types of getters with EL34 metal base and siblings. The more “common” (still rare...) type is with solid saucer getter. Next is ring getter. Then there is this one which is like a combo of the two later getters. This one has a solid ring on the inside, and a ring getter on the outside. Hopefully my pictures show them ok. Hurry up Sowter with my transformers - I want to use these tubes in Red Dwarf

 

[UntilThen]

Ah you’re using Sowter too.

 

[whirlwind]

There are three types of getters with EL34 metal base and siblings. The more “common” (still rare...) type is with solid saucer getter. Next is ring getter. Then there is this one which is like a combo of the two later getters. This one has a solid ring on the inside, and a ring getter on the outside. Hopefully my pictures show them ok. Hurry up Sowter with my transformers - I want to use these tubes in Red Dwarf

Killer

 

[Marutks]

Do you use Verite Closed headphones with the Blue Halo? What tubes?
I tried my VC with the BH and the noise and hum is too much. I tried to find some quiet tubes.
CBS Hytron 5692 is supposed to be quiet but it doesn't help much.

Are 6N6P tubes better? I will try them when I get adapters.

 

[chrisdrop]

In the BH, these are all relatively quiet for me: Foton 6n6p, GEC L63 "GT style", GEC 6J5G, Osram 6J5G, Fivre 6J5GT, NU 6P5GT, Mullard 6J5G, Fivre 6C5G, Cossor 6C5G, Brimar 6C5G, Sylvania 12J5GT, Sylvania 6J5GT, Sylvania 6P5G, RCA 6C5, KenRad 76s, (and in my BH with C3G sockets; Visseaux 6J7, AnM 6J7, EL3N, C3G), and more. The only tubes I think are louder are 6N7* family tubes. Notwithstanding the 6N7*s, it is a quiet OTL amplifier IMO.

"Hum" is often ~50hz mains power noise. In my setup presently - at most I can hear a faint air-like sound that you can only hear with music stopped. You can put a spectral analyser app (like this one) on your phone, shove it in your headphones and see what frequency the noise is. If it is ~50Hz (or even harmonics of) you may be suffering from mains hum. This is a hack, but probably not a bad one to guide your next steps. Battling mains hum, I had some success with a voltage regulator at one point and more success with a regenerator, but these are admittedly non-free options.

Another item, if your amp is on a hard surface, you can see if lifting it up quiets the noise. If it does, springy feet under the amp can help absorb any wobbles. I've only seen this be the case with power transformer wobble due to ... mains noise.

FYI - the Foton 6N6Ps (generally recommended brand of those) are available via eBay but took a long time to arrive from the Russia.

-Chris

 

[magicman2020]

Hey Guys,

In @A2029 Blue Halo, I can confirm what @chrisdrop is saying. I've tried VR101, 12BH7, 6N6P, 6N1P, 6N23P, Tesla 6922, Osram L63, Fivre 6J5GT, Fivre 6C5G plus I've ran all these tubes in various triplet combinations with no noise issues. Currently running with a pair of Firve 6C5G's plus a 6N23P riding shotgun. Imo the sound is quite pleasing.
A fairly wide sound stage.
Full rich tones with soothing mids, bass is deep and extended with and brings a very realistic slam when called on. The highs are detailed yet rounded enough as to not be fatiguing. YMMV

The sound is extremely immersive w/amazing 3D EFFECTS and super quiet.
Now I also use a 1101 Audio Pure Power C2029 power conditioner . That could be the difference maker.
I would say the worst the noise gets would be like " open air".

Stay safe,

Terry

 

[leftside]

Do you use Verite Closed headphones with the Blue Halo? What tubes?
I tried my VC with the BH and the noise and hum is too much. I tried to find some quiet tubes.
CBS Hytron 5692 is supposed to be quiet but it doesn't help much.

Are 6N6P tubes better? I will try them when I get adapters.

The dreaded noise is very frustrating. I've had my share of battles - especially as I have a turntable and tube preamp in the mix. Your headphones are not particularly sensitive, so they shouldn't be too noisy at all (throw something like the highly sensitive Focal Stellia at a powerful tube amp - and you'll probably get bad results).

Is the noise better/worse during different times of day? Do you have any nearby interference - cell phone for example? Have you tried different cables - power and interconnect? A Tripp Lite Isolator helped one of my (solid state) amps tremendously. Do you know someone else where you can take your amp to try? Other times with my tube gear the noise just disappeared after a certain amount of time.

 

[Marutks]

Today I left the amp to heat up / play some music for ~10 hours before listening.
Now almost all noise is gone ! Even on VC the background is barely audible.

I hope this trick will work with other tubes too. I am currently running metal base Sylvania 6J5G tubes and a CBS Hytron 5692.

 

[Marutks]

the highly sensitive Focal Stellia at a powerful tube amp - and you'll probably get bad results).

I had Focal Stellia. It didn't work well even with powerful solid state amps.
I think it would be fine with my ECP T4 amplifier. It has zero background noise (like solid state) with all headphones I tried.

 

[leftside]

I had Focal Stellia. It didn't work well even with powerful solid state amps.
I think it would be fine with my ECP T4 amplifier. It has zero background noise (like solid state) with all headphones I tried.

I reserve using mine with my DAP when in the yard in the summer.

 

[A2029]

Do you use Verite Closed headphones with the Blue Halo? What tubes?
I tried my VC with the BH and the noise and hum is too much. I tried to find some quiet tubes.
CBS Hytron 5692 is supposed to be quiet but it doesn't help much.

Are 6N6P tubes better? I will try them when I get adapters.

Today I left the amp to heat up / play some music for ~10 hours before listening.
Now almost all noise is gone ! Even on VC the background is barely audible.

I hope this trick will work with other tubes too. I am currently running metal base Sylvania 6J5G tubes and a CBS Hytron 5692.

Glad to hear noise went way down

Sounds as though the tubes needed some burn in to sound their best. For some true NOS tubes, small amounts of gas may have crept in over the time they were sitting in their boxes. During burn in they will continue to get lower noise as they are burned in more and more (some continue to decrease noise up to the 100-200hr mark). After the burn in, any tube generally takes up to 30mins run time after turn on for it to reach it's settling point and sound best. Also check the tube pins to see if there is oxidation on the pins. With NOS tubes it's usually necessary to use sandpaper to gently sand off all discoloration/oxidation from the pins, followed by isopropyl alcohol (99%) on cotton swabs to remove grease/oils/contamination from the pins. Once sanded/cleaned initially, the tube is usually good for a good long while before it would need sanding/cleaning again.

After burn in, some tubes (because of their design, cathode material, etc.) will naturally have a higher noise floor than others. Tubes such as some of the Russian supertubes (6N6P, 6N1P, 6N23P, 6H30P-DR, etc.) are generally very low noise tubes, which is why they are often used for the output stage of tube DACs. Other tubes that were designed for video or oscilloscope use (e.g. 12BY7/12HL7/12HG7) can also be very low noise and very "linear" when triode strapped as well.

Another possibility is that there may have been some heavy machinery or other device in the area that contaminated the electricity or the ground feeding into your setup. If that was the case then a conditioner/voltage regulator/AC regenerator would help for AC line noise. Ground noise is the real hard one to deal with, as the only things that I can think of trying if there is huge noise on the ground line is to try different wall sockets, or worse comes to worse set up some type of legal alternate grounding scheme (e.g. having a separate ground spike put in and new ground run by a certified electrician).

 

[chrisdrop]

FYI - for Blue Halo owners - I can’t get enough of the Foton 6n6p tubes. The ones I’m using have square getters and they are dead dead silent. Get some adapters and go get em!