[MidFi90]

The Tung-Sol 6L6GC is a great tube and well-balanced across the range in my experience. If you are looking for more treble extension, I would try changing the pre tube first. I don't have a great knowledge of 6SL7, but I do admit that most JJ pre tubes that I have tried typically sound just a little dark to me. Maybe look for a NOS RCA or Sylvania. Of course, I think the ultimate would be something like the RCA 5691 with the red base.

thanks the headup. For JJ tube I have same experience before on my other tube preamp before. totally agreed they do sound dark……

 

[LegatoB]

I also use 12AT7 in the Bigger Ben a lot. For the last few months I probably use 12AT7 more than anything else. I have a lot of variety in that particular tube type. I like the Amperex Bugle Boy for overall tone, but my favorites are the RFT and Mullard 4024. Another fantastic option is the GE square getter. 12AT7 is especially great with lower sensitivity planars and helps tame the volume so I can get the dynamics without listening too loud. I use an SS preamp(Audio-gd) followed by an input transformer box that I got from A&S. It's in the 1:2 configuration to step the input voltage up a bit for the BB. I added this to compensate for the gain that I take out during EQ on the digital side and it has worked great. It allows me to keep my preamp on low-gain where it works best. The versatility and simplicity of this amp has been absolutely brilliant in finding higher levels of synergy with each headphone that I've tried.

Is there anyway we can see this setup . I've been playing with playing with synergy for my pairings too with my Project Sunrise III and Kenzie now. Before, I had it too low and so I had to turn the amp my headphone was plugged into higher, and then through the preamp I could really hear that "staging" effect; am I picturing right? Cause I'm pretty sure I can hear both amps kind of acting off each other. Does the preamp acts like a stage for the amp that a headphone is actually plugged into? I was going to sell the Kenzie but gave it another listen and remember why I liked it so much. Such a crisp touch on the highs and bass impact/extension with the 5751, clean texture too. I think I had it turned too low when paired with a preamp, or sometimes I get too critical and fumble I gotta say I'm really impressed with using a preamp, so cool. I've been enjoying the Kenzie with the 12AX7 / 5751 tube better, it offers more dynamics with the Kenzie turned low than the 12AT7 on the Kenzie, where I'm too scared to turn it too high.

 

[MidFi90]

Will the hum nosie getting bigger？I got my forge about 2 weeks now，when i first pulg there is a little bit of hum nosie. But yesterday it getting bigger and bigger, I closed it for a night. Today I opened it it still that big. I checked there is nothings can create dc noise on this line….

 

[LegatoB]

Will the hum nosie getting bigger？I got my forge about 2 weeks now，when i first pulg there is a little bit of hum nosie. But yesterday it getting bigger and bigger, I closed it for a night. Today I opened it it still that big. I checked there is nothings can create dc noise on this line….

Hey there, is your amp around a lot of electrical components? It’s possible it’s around some place that is sensitive to the amp. From my experience, you could try to position it elsewhere.

If you said it’s getting bigger … that I’m not sure about.

 

[MidFi90]

Hey there, is your amp around a lot of electrical components? It’s possible it’s around some place that is sensitive to the amp. From my experience, you could try to position it elsewhere.

If you said it’s getting bigger … that I’m not sure about.

thanks i will give a try

 

[WillieB]

thanks i will give a try

Watch out for RF like wifi routers, mobile phones, etc... They can all induce noise into tubes. Usually you can eliminate by moving them just a short distance away. Also, some headphone cables can pick up noise as well. I've even had a scenarios where a UPS battery backup that I had on my PC was inducing noise into my headphone cables. You could also have a tube going bad. If it's only in one channel, it could be a bad/noisy output tube. Try swapping them around and see if the problem follows the tube. You can try swapping out the preamp tube or rectifier and see if any changes. If the noise changes when you move near the amp or touch a tube, then tube shields may help as that can mean that noise is being induced directly into the tube. You can find them on ebay.

 

[MidFi90]

Watch out for RF like wifi routers, mobile phones, etc... They can all induce noise into tubes. Usually you can eliminate by moving them just a short distance away. Also, some headphone cables can pick up noise as well. I've even had a scenarios where a UPS battery backup that I had on my PC was inducing noise into my headphone cables. You could also have a tube going bad. If it's only in one channel, it could be a bad/noisy output tube. Try swapping them around and see if the problem follows the tube. You can try swapping out the preamp tube or rectifier and see if any changes. If the noise changes when you move near the amp or touch a tube, then tube shields may help as that can mean that noise is being induced directly into the tube. You can find them on ebay.

Forsure I will do some “debug” work todayand happy holiday.

 

[ampsandsound]

Feel free to give me a call happy to walk you through some thoughts... The forge is a very very quite amp...

Justin 949-636-9076

 

[WillieB]

Well I guess on the same subject of noise, I have some preamp tubes that seem to be a little more sensitive to interference in the area when using them. I can put my hand around the tube and the noise is gone so I was thinking that I could just use one of the vintage tube shields when the need arises. Can anyone recommend a particular shield that would work with a socket saver? Most of the ones I see are designed to lock into a base and have springs in them. I was thinking I could just remove the spring and sit it over the tube. Like I said, it's only an issue once in a while.

 

[metabert]

The Amp&Sound Forge was my first tube amplifier, I loved it The Sennheiser HD800s never sounded so rich and wide, even after trying them in 5k solid-state amplifiers.

 

[MidFi90]

The Amp&Sound Forge was my first tube amplifier, I loved it The Sennheiser HD800s never sounded so rich and wide, even after trying them in 5k solid-state amplifiers.

for sure you can try some tube rolling，make it even better.

 

[theveterans]

The Amp&Sound Forge was my first tube amplifier, I loved it The Sennheiser HD800s never sounded so rich and wide, even after trying them in 5k solid-state amplifiers.

Forge 32/300 is my current desktop endgame too. I haven't been let down with it whatsoever

 

[duranxv]

Do you recommend setting the Nautilus to 100% volume and let the pre control the volume?

@ampsandsound - when you get a chance

 

[ampsandsound]

Yes I do in general terms.

 

[duranxv]

Yes I do in general terms.

@ampsandsound And in specific terms? Doesn't 100% volume drive the tubes harder and shortens their life? Or is it negligible if it's NOS tubes?