[DecentLevi]

@A2029 I meant to tell you, I finally am able to use the amp with the speakers the amp was intended for and it sounds just as lovely as it does driving headphones. The gain ended up being a total non-issue, the amp seems very content driving the Omegas. The room, on the other hand, is a disaster and a half but that's a totally different issue. I don't understand why people like vaulted ceilings so much, all it does is turn the room into a giant echo chamber. I didn't get a choice in the matter though so that's how it goes I guess.

The dozen acoustic panels I added to the room helped, but not enough. It's a work in progress.

Probably because most people aren't HiFi audio enthusiasts, and say everything sounds great haha. We have a vaulted ceiling upstairs, and I was hoping maybe acoustic dampening would help. To what extent did it with you? And EL34/ 6J5 are usually not interchangeable. That's interesting - are they with your amp?

 

[A2029]

Hey Blue Halo owners - have any of you tried EL34
as input tubes? If so curious how you like them? sounds like they would have much more distortion as input tubes than say a 6j5.

In my limited time testing EL34's via EL34 to 6J5 adapters on BH I found them to be overall slightly warmer/bolder than a 6J5, with a loss of some of the fine technicalities. Soundstage was smaller and details were more obscured by the additional warmth/distortion. Their distortion is over 10X that of a 6J5 in the BH. This was testing with some pretty low end EL34 though (A few different vintages of Electro-harmonic and Svetlana). In the BH+, EL34's could also be run as OTL output tubes (via EL34 to 6AS7 adapters), but the output impedance of the amp jumps up so high that it could do some wonky things to the frequency response of dynamic headphones (boosting certain frequencies and subduing others).

 

[A2029]

@A2029 I meant to tell you, I finally am able to use the amp with the speakers the amp was intended for and it sounds just as lovely as it does driving headphones. The gain ended up being a total non-issue, the amp seems very content driving the Omegas. The room, on the other hand, is a disaster and a half but that's a totally different issue. I don't understand why people like vaulted ceilings so much, all it does is turn the room into a giant echo chamber. I didn't get a choice in the matter though so that's how it goes I guess.

The dozen acoustic panels I added to the room helped, but not enough. It's a work in progress.

Awesome! Good to hear you are finally getting some listening time with the Omega's! The right speaker pairing makes all the difference for low power SET amps

 

[mordy]

I would think an EL34 would be somewhat less linear than a 6J5, but it might be very good for tone.

It's funny I was just thinking before you bumped this thread that's it's been far too quiet in here. Time for a pic!

I thought the way the evening sunlight was hitting the amp was pretty striking and had to snap this, only to look at it and go "DUST!" after seeing it. Oh well, it's still a nice shot.

It’s really funny - I only see the dust on my amps after I take pictures…

 

[raindownthunda]

In the BH+, EL34's could also be run as OTL output tubes (via EL34 to 6AS7 adapters), but the output impedance of the amp jumps up so high that it could do some wonky things to the frequency response of dynamic headphones (boosting certain frequencies and subduing others).

Out of morbid curiosity, what would the output impedance be running 6x EL34 in BH+ power stage?

 

[maxpudding]

Out of morbid curiosity, what would the output impedance be running 6x EL34 in BH+ power stage?

Interesting…

 

[A2029]

Out of morbid curiosity, what would the output impedance be running 6x EL34 in BH+ power stage?

Surprisingly not as bad as I had in my mind for some reason (after I looked up the numbers and did the math) Output impedance would be somewhere around 90-100 ohms for a single EL34 per channel, 45-50 for a pair per channel, and 30-35 ohms for an EL34 triplet per channel.

 

[leftside]

Listening to some bass heavy/warm sounding music this evening. Kind of sounded a little too heavy compared to when I listen with speakers. Switched the amp to use C3g tubes. Freshens everything up nicely.

Haven’t used the C3g tubes for a long time in the “Thunder” amp, but they are a nice option to have.

 

[MIKELAP]

Listening to some bass heavy/warm sounding music this evening. Kind of sounded a little too heavy compared to when I listen with speakers. Switched the amp to use C3g tubes. Freshens everything up nicely.

Haven’t used the C3g tubes for a long time in the “Thunder” amp, but they are a nice option to have.

So, are the C3G tubes i sold you years ago still going strong ?

 

[leftside]

So, are the C3G tubes i sold you years ago still going strong ?

Yeah probably. I have quite a few pairs, and to be honest I'm not sure if I'm using yours in the Glenn 300B and V6 Thunder or not Great tubes. Definitely have their own sound signature.

 

[Xcalibur255]

C3g tubes last a very long time. The bigger issue is that sometimes they can become noisy over time.

 

[whirlwind]

C3g tubes last a very long time. The bigger issue is that sometimes they can become noisy over time.

I remember many years ago, some people were prying off the metal shields because they looked better.
Those shield's are nice to have on those tubes for noise issues.

They are about the most transparent sounding tubes that I have ever heard. Great tubes.

 

[Xcalibur255]

My opinion back in 2013 was that removing the shield made them sound a little worse. I actually tried my old pair of 'naked' C3g again recently in the Glenn 45 and my ears say they sound fine now. That could be more to do with the amplifier than anything though. I've had various issues with the amp sounding "off" over the years but ever since I moved into this house it's been doing well. Maybe EFI/RFI or high/low voltage in other places was making the amp unhappy. The way it would randomly sound fine and then not fine was always a mystery, I'm just glad that it's happy right now.

 

[Xcalibur255]

It's kind of a shame this place is so quiet, but I guess that's to be expected without new owners joining the ranks. I'm still loving my KT150 amp very much. Now that the room acoustics have been addressed just enough to make my speakers not sound like arse I've been going through all of my 6J5 again to see what has good synergy with the speakers. I'm finding that my impressions from demoing these tubes in the GOTL are actually translating over pretty well for the most part. Best listening session so far has been the Raytheon 4-Pillar 6J5G roundplates, and not by a small margin either. I'm kind of bummed that these tubes are mismatched in gain enough that it actually causes the stereo center image to "lean" in the direction of the stronger tube, but they sound so good that it pushes that bit of disappointment aside. Absolutely massive three dimensional soundstage that extends deeply behind the listening position with these tubes in the amp, and it's not just back wall reflection from the room either. I have a few more pairs to try but it'll be tough to beat this.

 

[Zachik]

It's kind of a shame this place is so quiet, but I guess that's to be expected without new owners joining the ranks.

God Mischa willing, I will join the ranks soon-ish