[dj nellie]

I guess in audio as in science, the best way to find out something is to experiment on yourself.  I just bought mwilson's pair of Siemens E88CC so I can see whether doing the 2 tube upgrade is worth it.
 
Can't wait to hear them.  The idea of owning something so vintage and rare is new to me; I guess that's a big part of the appeal with tubes.  Out-of-production 40+ year-old German tubes with rare "Earth metals" that don't seem to be used anymore?  Bring them on.

 

[landgreen]

Quote:

 
Honestly, I don't remember. It's been months since I listened to the stock tubes, and even then it was only for a few hours.
 
If it helps, here are some impressions I posted last week about the tubes in my regular rotation:
 
1. Siemens CCa (1960s): best balance from top to bottom, fantastic bass quantity, very musical.
2. Amperex 7308 USA-made Orange Globes: best imaging, best upper end detail, relatively bass-light but very tight bass
3. Mullard CV2493 (the ones made for the Swedish miliary in the molded Styrofoam boxes): fantastically warm and musical, great imaging, great bass quantity but relatively sloppy in quality, lacking in top-end detail

Thankyou. Very helpful comparisons of these tubes and an honest answer about the stock tubes. Anyone else have any thoughts on specific differences between the stock tubes and any upgrades?

 

[runeight]

Gents, tubes 1 & 3 should have more impact on the sound under normal conditions. These tubes are the front stage diff amp and handle both the input signals and the NFB.

 

[dj nellie]

Thanks, Alex.  Do you or anyone else see any issues with mixing a pair of Siemens 6922s with the stock JJs?  

 

[MorbidToaster]

Let me know how that works out. I was considering a new set of Siemens (or what you're doing with mwilson's tubes) but I ended up buying his Quad Tungrams instead.
 
Quote:

I guess in audio as in science, the best way to find out something is to experiment on yourself.  I just bought mwilson's pair of Siemens E88CC so I can see whether doing the 2 tube upgrade is worth it.
 
Can't wait to hear them.  The idea of owning something so vintage and rare is new to me; I guess that's a big part of the appeal with tubes.  Out-of-production 40+ year-old German tubes with rare "Earth metals" that don't seem to be used anymore?  Bring them on.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

So are there any websites that sell tubes which people have used and like?  The ones I've found so far with decent stocks of 6922s are thetubestore.com and tubedepot.com.  Or do most people just buy them used off of people on the FS forums here or Audiogon?
 
Does anyone have an opinion on any of the tubes listed here or here, other than the Siemens?  I'm thinking about the Tungsram E88CC, mainly because of the price, but if anyone wants to try and convince me that they're not a significant improvement over the stock JJs, or that I should just spend the extra money on the Siemens, I'd like to hear some impressions.

 
I've bought from both places with very good results. Being in Canada, Thetubestore is my "go to" source first. They're just down the highway and I usually get my tubes next day. That said, I went with the E88CC Genalex Gold Lions as my first tubes to roll in after I give the stock JJs a run for a few days. And true to form, they shipped them out same day and I got them less than 24 hours later.
 
My experiences with the 6922/E88CC on both my (now sold) WA2 and Lyr is that these new issue tubes are just fantastic. IME, they sound as good as the Gt. Britain made Mullard CV2492s with a touch more warmth and slightly more liquid mids. The treble is smooth without being rolled off. I might still pick up a quad of the Mullards too, but not yet anyway. For bass, the Matsushista 6922 made on Mullard tooling is fantastic if you want moar bass IMO, The Tungram Reds are great too, but I did prefer the Gold Lions on both of my previous amps...throw in the fact that they're new issue and have great reputations for lasting and lasting...I thought for now these should be my first choice.
 
Great "bang for your buck" tubes are the JAN-Philips..nice, clean and under $20ea. The Amperex Bugle Boys were also really good, though a bit pricey IMO. I preferred all of the tubes listed here to the stock JJs (which were not bad...not great either).
 
Quote:

WA22 and LF out for delivery!  Should have them by 5PM today

 
Please take good care of my WA22.

Its brought me so much pleasure over the past many months. Looking forward to your comparisons between the Trafomatic, WA22 (with the upgrade tubes I sent you

), and LF. You'll be one busy dude over the weekend!
 
In the meantime, my newly arrived LF will have to fill the audio void that the WA22 has left behind

:

 
Thanks again to mwilson (Nick) for such a smooth transaction!

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

 
 
EDIT: Also...You know what I want MH. Then again, I probably can't buy until Friday anyway even if you post impressions tomorrow.
 

 
I did briefly (15 minutes) plug in my W3000ANVs into Jack 2 with the LF and

. Just as transparent as my GS-1, but with a bit of added warmth that I felt that they needed. With my WA22, the noise floor was such that it wasn't an ideal pairing, but the LF is 95% as dead silent as the GS-1. So far, great pairing. More to come....
 
Sorry.

 

[MorbidToaster]

Good enough for me. W3000ANV order going out Friday.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Good enough for me. W3000ANV order going out Friday.

 
Just keep in mind, they are not "portable" headphones.

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Quote:

 
I did briefly (15 minutes) plug in my W3000ANVs into Jack 2 with the LF and

.

 
I second this. The LF / W3000ANV combination is superb.

 

[TheWuss]

glad to see the LF is off on the right foot, peter.
it is indeed a very fine amp.
 

 
i'm sure Solude will be chiming in with impressions of the LF soon too (nudge, nudge) 

 

[runeight]

Quote:

Thanks, Alex.  Do you or anyone else see any issues with mixing a pair of Siemens 6922s with the stock JJs?  

 
There shouldn't be any problem with any pairing of genuine 6922s or equivalents so long as they are tested and don't have any internal shorts or heater cathode leakage.
 
Of course, this doesn't mean that the audio result will be the same.

 Only that the amp doesn't mind so long as the tubes fall into the correct operating points.

 

[Solude]

Quote:

I did briefly (15 minutes) plug in my W3000ANVs into Jack 2 with the LF and

.

 
Now imagine it from the 1/4 ohm output instead of the 50Ohm output into 40Ohm headphone
 
Unfortunately the 'gent' at CP couldn't be bothered to physically look for 3 big boxes so I have to go in a bit in person to convince him to walk 5ft and scan the room.  CP system says they were dropped there at 12:26 but what does it know /facepalm.
 
Good news is I can A/B the two pretty easily.  DAC-2 feeds LF single ended and WA22 balanced.  How hot does the top of the LF get?

 

[MorbidToaster]

Now imagine it from the 1/4 ohm output instead of the 50Ohm output into 40Ohm headphone

Unfortunately the 'gent' at CP couldn't be bothered to physically look for 3 big boxes so I have to go in a bit in person to convince him to walk 5ft and scan the room.  CP system says they were dropped there at 12:26 but what does it know /facepalm.

Good news is I can A/B the two pretty easily.  DAC-2 feeds LF single ended and WA22 balanced.  How hot does the top of the LF get?

It's not bad but the top is almost all holes.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

It's not bad but the top is almost all holes.

 
Exactly...think iPad 3 after using it for a few hours straight.