[UntilThen]

It would be worth owning the OTL just for the B36!

Haha... I think that B36 will be gone by the next sunrise.

 

[JazzVinyl]

I have found the 6F8G to sound essentially the same as the corresponding 6SN7GT from the same maker, with the exception of National Union. The NU 6F8G sounds different than both the gray glass and black glass NU 6SN7GT, and in my opinion, it sounds better.

So if one already has WWII-era Tung-Sol, RCA, Ken-Rad and Sylvania 6SN7GT, then there is no compelling reason to get the corresponding 6F8G. But again, to my ears, the NU 6F8G is special.

Great to know, g...

Just so happens I don't have any NU 6SN7's..,so will keep an eye out for a nice NU 6F8G.

Appreciate!

 

[JazzVinyl]

Siemens C3G
Tung Sol 6F8G
Sylvania 6sn7w metal base

I have a pair of used Sylvania 6sn7w bakelite base but they are not super quiet. I'm very fussy. If tubes exhibit a little noise, it bothers me. So I don't use them much.

C3g back on top! And ECC31 falls off the top 3

So the C3g does not sound 'clinical' in the GOTL and has some warmth?

I am a big fan of 1940's 6SN7W, so the C3g's have big shoes to fill..!




BTW, I am hereby laying claim the name "Sophie" for my amp. She will be beautiful and sophisticated.
So, Sophie shall be her nickname.

Cheers...

 

[UntilThen]

My top 3 are in no partucular order. C3g does not sound clinical in GOTL. Transparent and revealing but not at the expense of being clinical.

In my opinion, it's the 6sn7w having big shoes to fill, keeping pace with c3g.

Nevertheless both are outstanding drivers in the OTL.

And Sophie is a great name.

 

[JazzVinyl]

My top 3 are in no partucular order. C3g does not sound clinical in GOTL. Transparent and revealing but not at the expense of being clinical.

In my opinion, it's the 6sn7w having big shoes to fill, keeping pace with c3g.

Nevertheless both are outstanding drivers in the OTL.

And Sophie is a great name.

Thanks on the Sophie designation.

And if it turns out that the 6SN7W will have to run to keep up with C3g....that will be a good thing!

 

[lukeap69]

C3g back on top! And ECC31 falls off the top 3

So the C3g does not sound 'clinical' in the GOTL and has some warmth?

I am a big fan of 1940's 6SN7W, so the C3g's have big shoes to fill..!




BTW, I am hereby laying claim the name "Sophie" for my amp. She will be beautiful and sophisticated.
So, Sophie shall be her nickname.

Cheers...

Sophie is a wonderful name. A name and amp to love.

 

[JazzVinyl]

Sophie is a wonderful name. A name and amp to love.

Glad you like the name, Luke...

Cheers!!

 

[2359glenn]

Glad you like the name, Luke...

Cheers!!

JV I will give you a 1940s RCA 1633/25SN7 with the amp.

 

[whirlwind]

That's what I will be doing going forward. Having sample most of my tubes, I'm just going to roll with a set of tubes for a week before changing. I have the same tubes as you now. A Tung Sol 6F8G with a pair of Tung Sol 5998.

One month has passed since I got Glenn's OTL amp. It's still a reference grade amp in my opinion. In 2017, I heard quite a few good sounding amps, including the Woo Audio WA5. If I had to start over again with buying a tube amp, it would still be Glenn's OTL. It is unique and robust in it's construction. I could find no fault with the build after one solid month of usage. It's sonics is definitely up there with the best I've heard. Glenn's OTL, to my ears, sounds better than all of them. I've not had the fortune of listening to a DNA Stratus and EC Zana Deux Super. I hope to have the opportunity one day. It will make for an interesting comparison.

UT, I would pick mowing the lawn over shoveling snow everyday of the week

I actually made the mistake when I first got my amp of rolling tubes too fast, not even coming close to enough time for each tube to settle in.
It is very easy to do and you can still hear the differences in tubes, the problem was that most of the tubes once they had sufficient hours on them sounded much better.
A tube that has a little noise can become quiet, bass can tighten up ect.

I also started burning my new power tubes in with a cheap driver tube and vice versa, so I did not feel I was wasting hours with real good tubes burning in.
This would be good advice for someone who is new to tubes. I remember talking to Ken about this approach, he mentioned it and it was very good advice.

Eventually I left tubes in for a couple week period and listened to them with dozens of albums instead of just a few select songs....my take on many combos seemed to change, enough that I bought a notebook and started taking notes on different combos
These notes have come in handy and they really help as you can roll so many damn tubes in Glenn's amps that you will at least know what combos you have tried. Glenn told me there would be enough combos to drive me crazy, and that is so very true.
Without notes I felt like a dog chasing his tail.

For new owners, I would suggest taking your time and enjoying the nice long ride, it is a great journey and you will discover combos that just do it for you, maybe even combos that others don't necessarily like or a certain combo that just does it with a particular album.
Take advantage of Glenn's driver circuit, it is the greatest feature in my eyes and it separates his amps from others. You can find many cheap drivers for this amp and you do not need to find pairs.

While this amp will roll so many tubes that it will make your head spin, I can totally see how people just throw a combo in and enjoy their music, as this is what it is all about.
You do not need to go broke buying tubes...but it is much easier said than done!

When I first received Glenns EL3N amp, it was like, man only tubes that I can roll are rectifier tubes and they seem to make smaller differences than driver tubes for sure..while subtle, after awhile you hear it.
The EL3N tubes also takes much longer to settle than any other tubes I have encountered, pretty finicky actually, when it does it is really glorious.
There is no denying the sound of the EL3N tubes in the topology of Glenn's amp...the sound is like having your very best tube combo in the OTL amp, and maybe even then some...the difference I suppose is transformer output compared to tubes.

Bottom line is that both the OTL and EL3N pack punch well above the price point IMHO.

I can only imagine the sound of the 300B amp...but the price of the tubes and me not being able to use speakers kills it for me.

For me personally, I will never need to look for any other amps, but I would love to hear many different headphones on both amps.

This all being said, if Glenn comes up with something new, it would more than likely get my attention.

Enough rambling, lol.

Congrats to all who are in line to get an amp from Glenn...the wait may be long, but you will be rewarded in the end.

 

[UntilThen]

Hi Joe, for JV and myself, we're just revisiting tube rolling again after a 2 years period of tube rolling with Elise. In my case, that extends to Euforia and La Figaro 339. All my 6as7 and 6080 power tubes have sufficient hours of burn in with those amps. So much so I could pick out the tone of all my 6as7 and 6080. They are uniquely different. When I got GOTL, I concentrated on the new tubes, namely 6BX7s and some of the new drivers. I don't find the 6BX7 changing much over time. You could pick out their tone even at the beginning.

EL3N is different though and some of the other pentodes - EL11 and EL12. Those do evolve over many hours but not in so much as to become completely different sounding tubes. By the time I sold Elise and all the EL3N tubes to Ross, those tubes are already burned in, in access of 150 hours.

What I do notice is that when using the various 6as7 and 6080 on the different tube amps, the amps sonic signature have a more overriding bearing on the tube tone. When listening to those power tubes that I'm familiar with in GOTL, there's a different interesting take.

 

[2359glenn]

My amp has a totally different output stage then the La Figaro and FA amps that are both cathode follower outputs.
I run the 6AS7 completely different have a different sound and more drive.

 

[2359glenn]

My dam heat is out and it is 17deg F or -8 deg C Bad day Sunday the blower motor burned out
and can't get one until tomorrow.
Going to be a cold night.

 

[gibosi]

I certainly hope you have some portable heaters!

 

[mordy]

My dam heat is out and it is 17deg F or -8 deg C Bad day Sunday the blower motor burned out
and can't get one until tomorrow.
Going to be a cold night.

Watch out for the water pipes - maybe let the faucets drip. Here it was 12F this morning.

Wishing you good luck on getting your heating system fixed right away!

 

[UntilThen]

My amp has a totally different output stage then the La Figaro and FA amps that are both cathode follower outputs.
I run the 6AS7 completely different have a different sound and more drive.

That explains why I hear the power tubes sounding a bit different on GOTL and that includes 6BL7. There's a bounce to the tone. More drive, more dynamic and more punch. Certainly sounded better to my ears.