[AnyDave]

I love the AC when paired with the GEC KT88… they’ve been running for the last 3 days!

As a stroke of luck, I found another near new one to go with my other near new backup. So that should be me done for them now! They’re supposed to last a long time!

I’m sure you’ll have many happy hours with them, they look in good condition… enjoy

I'll have to put some AC time on it. It was mostly Caldera Closed for me today as I had one handy when the tubes arrived. I'll try some other things out tomorrow.

 

[Dixter]

does anyone know what tubes will be offered with the commercial version of the Aegis

 

[AnyDave]

does anyone know what tubes will be offered with the commercial version of the Aegis

IIRC, they are JJ 6SL7, JJ EL34 and a Sovtek 5AR4.

 

[Dixter]

IIRC, they are JJ 6SL7, JJ EL34 and a Sovtek 5AR4.

thanks....

 

[L0rdGwyn]

does anyone know what tubes will be offered with the commercial version of the Aegis

I thought you will be building one, no?

 

[khaine1711]

A friend lent me the Susvara for the week. Very impressive technicality and similar power requirement as my OG He6 - I don't think the Aegis has any trouble driving them both, though a speaker amp would probably fare better.

The Susvara is still a bit too "tame" for my taste; the EL156 helps a lot with the weightiness; startling soundstage too. Overall very nice pairing & listening experience - now I get what people mean by the Susvara sounding "just right".

 

[mchuckp]

Yeah @mchuckp maybe give them some more time. They should not sound veiled relative to a new production tube.

Well I've learned that I really need to be patient on burning in tubes. I had posted that I wasn't feeling impressed with some RCA red base 5691's. First they were noisy for the first 4 hrs our so. They slowly started to quiet down. I then started listening to them and I felt they sounded veiled and lacked bass presence for the next 2-4 hrs. So I continued to burn them in thinking in the back of my mind I was going to shelf them. After about 12 hrs or so, the veil began to come off and the bass started to get come into play. Over the next few hours after that, they became fast, spacious, punchy, atmospheric, etc. There is also not a hint of noise to them.

Yesterday it was very difficult to stop listening. Every genre sounded incredible. It was like rediscovering my music collection. The combo of the Mullard EL38, RCA 5691, along with a Brimer rectifier is pure magic on my Atrium Open. Just got some Mullard EL37s yesterday and starting to burn those in. Will have some Verite Closed in the mail tomorrow. Very interested to see if my "magical" combo will be good for that headphone. Also, wondering what I'll think of these EL37s with each headphone.

Anyway, for those newer to tubes, the moral of the story is to not underestimate tube burn in. From what I've heard so far on the old stock tubes I have, it takes at least 12-15 hrs to begin to fairly assess them. And don't panic if you hear some noise at first.

 

[Dixter]

I thought you will be building one, no?

@L0rdGwyn Yes... I'm building mine... have all of the parts except the chassis and the tubes.... Dave said my chassis is being painted so its close to shipping... and I was looking at all of the tubes that you guys are showing and using and when I go and look at those most are hard to find and not cheap.... so I started to figure out what do the companies do for tubes when they are selling tube amps ... looks like many supply tubes that are rebranded and some are cheap and some aren't..... but I'm building an Aegis so I thought I'd start at what tubes are in the commercial version... and I did put those red bases on order that you mentioned to me.... those should be here next week.... Oh... in case anyone was wondering... Brian said he has 5 switches left in stock ready to ship..... amazing how fast the boards got here from China... and I did get the new design on those....
all is well and coming together very well... thanks again for the GREAT build documentation... couldn't get any better...

 

[AnyDave]

@L0rdGwyn Yes... I'm building mine... have all of the parts except the chassis and the tubes.... Dave said my chassis is being painted so its close to shipping... and I was looking at all of the tubes that you guys are showing and using and when I go and look at those most are hard to find and not cheap.... so I started to figure out what do the companies do for tubes when they are selling tube amps ... looks like many supply tubes that are rebranded and some are cheap and some aren't..... but I'm building an Aegis so I thought I'd start at what tubes are in the commercial version... and I did put those red bases on order that you mentioned to me.... those should be here next week.... Oh... in case anyone was wondering... Brian said he has 5 switches left in stock ready to ship..... amazing how fast the boards got here from China... and I did get the new design on those....
all is well and coming together very well... thanks again for the GREAT build documentation... couldn't get any better...

I think getting a set of the stock tubes for your DIY build is not a bad starting place at all. They sound pretty good in there and will always be handy to keep around as backups even if you buy pricier NOS tubes later.

 

[mattiastomas]

and I was looking at all of the tubes that you guys are showing and using and when I go and look at those most are hard to find and not cheap....

I started out with new production tubes. Mullard GZ34 rectifier, Tung-Sol 6SL7 input and Gold Lion KT66 power tubes. Came up to $300. And it sounded really good. I was quite happy with them for awhile before I started tube rolling.

 

[Dixter]

I think getting a set of the stock tubes for your DIY build is not a bad starting place at all. They sound pretty good in there and will always be handy to keep around as backups even if you buy pricier NOS tubes later.

Thanks ... ordered a set... can all ways swap others in/out... hard to beat the prices ...

 

[AnyDave]

Snagged a pair of smoked glass GEC KT66 tubes, so those will be a nice addition to my Aegis tube collection. The only real gaping holes now are Mullard EL37 and Tung-Sol 6550s.

I remembered that I have some 6V6s here, so I threw an RCA set in there this morning. Very pleasant sounding tubes. Definitely not as much impact, but sweet and enjoyable.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Snagged a pair of smoked glass GEC KT66 tubes, so those will be a nice addition to my Aegis tube collection. The only real gaping holes now are Mullard EL37 and Tung-Sol 6550s.

I remembered that I have some 6V6s here, so I threw an RCA set in there this morning. Very pleasant sounding tubes. Definitely not as much impact, but sweet and enjoyable.

I have a pair of Mazda 6V6 which sound great, not the last word in technical performance but very nice tone.

 

[Toonartist]

Snagged a pair of smoked glass GEC KT66 tubes, so those will be a nice addition to my Aegis tube collection. The only real gaping holes now are Mullard EL37 and Tung-Sol 6550s.

I remembered that I have some 6V6s here, so I threw an RCA set in there this morning. Very pleasant sounding tubes. Definitely not as much impact, but sweet and enjoyable.

Very nice, look forward to hearing how they sound!

Quite a while back I picked up a pair of NOS RCA 6V6GT Grey Glass. Nice enough..."pleasant sounding" sounds about right. Probably been too spoiled with other offerings

 

[AnyDave]

Very nice, look forward to hearing how they sound!

Quite a while back I picked up a pair of NOS RCA 6V6GT Grey Glass. Nice enough..."pleasant sounding" sounds about right. Probably been too spoiled with other offerings

Well, if the KT66 sound anything like the Osrams I borrowed from Zach, then I know that I'll love them. They aren't as big sounding as the KT88 but another pleasant sounding tube, but better than the 6V6.