[UntilThen]

Phenomena just absolutely phenomena. TS 6F8G is still in the driver's seat with 6bx7s and my smile has now extend beyond the horizon. In fact all of these drivers sound great with those power tubes.

As far as I know, Glenn's OTL amp is the only tube amp specifically build and tuned to use 6 x 6BL7 or 6BX7 and it sounds phenomena. Incredible performance.

 

[gibosi]

Are yours Melz? That's probably one driver I would like to try. One with perforated plates and the number 1578 etched on it. Probably the best of the Russian 6sn7 equivalent.

I picked up one of these for cheap as it has a broken guide pin. And frankly, I am not impressed. While the highs and lows are quite good, to my ears the mids are all sucked out. I am very glad I got it cheap.

 

[2359glenn]

I was going to get some can get them for $2 think I will stick with 1633 $4

 

[whirlwind]

I picked up one of these for cheap as it has a broken guide pin. And frankly, I am not impressed. While the highs and lows are quite good, to my ears the mids are all sucked out. I am very glad I got it cheap.

I believe the ones with the five holes in the plates, like this one, is suppose to be superior to the ones with the three holes in the plates, but who wants a sound where the mids are sucked out of it.

 

[UntilThen]

I picked up one of these for cheap as it has a broken guide pin. And frankly, I am not impressed. While the highs and lows are quite good, to my ears the mids are all sucked out. I am very glad I got it cheap.

Guess I needn't bother with Melz. There are too many good drivers to choose from as it is.

 

[mordy]

The 1952-55 Fotons with the ribbed anode are supposedly very close to the best Melz tubes. However, the Melz tubes are expensive, and there are many reported quality problems, so I have not tried them.
The difference to me between the 60-70's Fotons and the early 50's is a more even frequency response and a sweeter tone. The 50's also have a different construction with more support rods and are supposed to be less microphonic.
In my system, the 50's Fotons, paired with the GEC 6080, sounds just right, with all the detail and sweet tone across the entire FR, that I like. Since I put them in, I don't have any urge to roll tubes....
Here is a review of this tube from Scutey:
"the 53 Foton, it's a lovely sweet sounding tube, silent, no microphonics, warmish, smooth highs and detailed mids, bass is punchy and tight a tube I can easily listen to for hours, without ever sound lush"

 

[UntilThen]

This is my mercurial pairing. I couldn't have ask for more. I'm totally satisfied now.

 

[2359glenn]

Packing up a EL3N amt to ship
And building a basic OTL with Lundahl transformer and 6.3-12.6-25.2 volt switch.

 

[UntilThen]

That's super cute.

 

[ru4music]

Packing up a EL3N amt to ship
And building a basic OTL with Lundahl transformer and 6.3-12.6-25.2 volt switch.

I threw the 3DG4 rectifier back in the GEL3N (aka Scarlett) about a week ago and noticed an immediate improvement from the UE 596 tube it replaced. Tighter base, less distortion slightly more dynamic etc. I think the 3DG4 with less voltage drop is making a difference; the magic of the EL3N is really starting to happen (2 stage mode/ Senn 800 HP). For me it took about 150 hours of burn-in to get to this point likely due to very new and stiff EL3N tubes, the Duelund RS coupling caps and possibly the Mil spec. wire I supplied for the voice path. All and all Scarlett is providing that mid-centric glory of the 45 and 300B tubes.

Congrats to the new Glenn amp owners!

 

[ru4music]

That's super cute.

Just like Scarlett Johansson, but not to be confused with my Scarlett!

 

[2359glenn]

I threw the 3DG4 rectifier back in the GEL3N (aka Scarlett) about a week ago and noticed an immediate improvement from the UE 596 tube it replaced. Tighter base, less distortion slightly more dynamic etc. I think the 3DG4 with less voltage drop is making a difference; the magic of the EL3N is really starting to happen (2 stage mode/ Senn 800 HP). For me it took about 150 hours of burn-in to get to this point likely due to very new and stiff EL3N tubes, the Duelund RS coupling caps and possibly the Mil spec. wire I supplied for the voice path. All and all Scarlett is providing that mid-centric glory of the 45 and 300B tubes.

Congrats to the new Glenn amp owners!

The 3DG4 is a great rectifier for low cost better then rectifiers that cost hundreds.

 

[ru4music]

The 3DG4 is a great rectifier for low cost better then rectifiers that cost hundreds.

Well I'm definitely a believer now. Another added bonus (for me) is that the slightly elevated B+ has noticeably dropped the static (scratchy) noise level in the driver tubes. I would recommend that new GEL3N owners burn-in their amps using the 3DG4 (YMMV.)

 

[gibosi]

Well I'm definitely a believer now. Another added bonus (for me) is that the slightly elevated B+ has noticeably dropped the static (scratchy) noise level in the driver tubes. I would recommend that new GEL3N owners burn-in their amps using the 3DG4 (YMMV.)

You might want to try a GZ34. It has even less voltage drop than the 3DG4. In my OTL with a pair of 6AS7G as output, I measured the 3DG4 with a voltage drop of 17 while the GZ34 was 13.

 

[2359glenn]

There is also the GZ37 but costly.