[IFoundFate]

From my experience with the blue LEDs, the power one is always visible but in bright light the LEDs on the volume knob are recessed/invisible.

 

[gradofans]

I just got a raptor , it's an amazing Amp for me , and I'm looking for some optional tubes for it .
Hopefully it can be even nicer .

 

[SoundApprentice]

  I just got a raptor , it's an amazing Amp for me , and I'm looking for some optional tubes for it .
Hopefully it can be even nicer .

 
Welcome to the club.
 
What tubes do you have in it now? Once I decide on my preferred tube setup out of the options I have, I plan to share the ones I'm not using.

 

[dubsondubs]

I found that the stock tubes were great

 

[dubsondubs]

Also loved it with both the hd-800 and lcd-3

 

[hackstu]

anyone receive a manual with their raptor???

 

[JoeDoe]

Sorry to resurrect such an old-ish thread, but I'm curious to know if anyone out there is running their Raptor with HE500s? I know it pairs wonderfully with Grados, but I also need an amp that'll cover my bases in planar-land so to speak!

 

[buson160man]

 I changed my raptor fuse along time ago and replaced the stock fuse with a hifi tuning supreme fuse. The upgrade definitely makes a difference. The amp got much quieter and everything in general improved. Someone was asking about an inexpensive power cable. May I recommend the emotiva ac cable it is very inexpensive and offers high value for the price. It is a pretty decent power cable. I have moved on from them but I kept a couple as back ups. They offer a lot of bang for the buck. I use a genalax gold lion 12au7 on the input side. It definitely was a big step up  from the stock input tube .

 

[holmieSG]

just got a used raptor with unmarked tubes. new to the tubes so im quite lost. there is a slight channel imbalance in which the left is louder than the right side. after swapping the two 5687 tubes the channel imbalance reverses, may i know if its a problem with the tubes? and where do you guys reconmend to get a good matched pair of 5687 tubes? and lastly the 12au7 does not affect the channel balancing right?

 

[s1rrah]

  just got a used raptor with unmarked tubes. new to the tubes so im quite lost. there is a slight channel imbalance in which the left is louder than the right side. after swapping the two 5687 tubes the channel imbalance reverses, may i know if its a problem with the tubes? and where do you guys reconmend to get a good matched pair of 5687 tubes? and lastly the 12au7 does not affect the channel balancing right?

 
I owned a Raptor amp for many years and loved it ...
 
And yes, it sounds like you simply need to get a NOS set of 5687 tubes to correct the channel imbalance ...
 
Some good tubes for the 5687 spot: Tung Sol, RCA, GE ... all of these will sound wonderful with subtle differences in bass and tonality ... overall, I found the Raptor amp not as responsive to tube rolling as certain other tube amps I've used, but the differences are certainly there ...
 
See this eBay search for many affordable matched pairs:  5687 Tubes on Ebay
 
Also, the 12Au7 won't affect the balance issue at all ... but do experiment with various 12Au7's as they will affect the sound in a subtle way too.  
 
BTW: be *VERY* careful if you go on a mad tube rolling session and are using lots of 5687's and 12Au7's that are unlabeled or have the tube labeling worn off ... all three tube sockets on the raptor have the same pin-out and so if not careful, you might erroneously insert a 12au7 tube in one of the 5687 sockets ... this will *immediately* fry the power supply on your amp.  I speak from experience, LOL ... I did this very thing when using a bunch of unmarked tubes ... fortunately, Ray replaced my power supply for a very reasonable price and so wasn't that big of a deal.  Just a tip ...
 
Enjoy the amp!  It's a great bit of gear...
 
Best,
Joel

 

[holmieSG]

I owned a Raptor amp for many years and loved it ...

And yes, it sounds like you simply need to get a NOS set of 5687 tubes to correct the channel imbalance ...

Some good tubes for the 5687 spot: Tung Sol, RCA, GE ... all of these will sound wonderful with subtle differences in bass and tonality ... overall, I found the Raptor amp not as responsive to tube rolling as certain other tube amps I've used, but the differences are certainly there ...

See this eBay search for many affordable matched pairs:  5687 Tubes on Ebay

Also, the 12Au7 won't affect the balance issue at all ... but do experiment with various 12Au7's as they will affect the sound in a subtle way too.  

BTW: be *VERY* careful if you go on a mad tube rolling session and are using lots of 5687's and 12Au7's that are unlabeled or have the tube labeling worn off ... all three tube sockets on the raptor have the same pin-out and so if not careful, you might erroneously insert a 12au7 tube in one of the 5687 sockets ... this will *immediately* fry the power supply on your amp.  I speak from experience, LOL ... I did this very thing when using a bunch of unmarked tubes ... fortunately, Ray replaced my power supply for a very reasonable price and so wasn't that big of a deal.  Just a tip ...

Enjoy the amp!  It's a great bit of gear...

Best,
Joel

Thanks for the reply! Really appreciate it. As an update i have bought a new set of GE 5687 and tungsol black plates 5687, both working flawlessly and fixing the channel imbalance.