[jaghouse]

Got the Cyber-20 a couple of days ago. After 20hrs of burn in the sound was not very good. Hard midrange, ultra extended highs. Bass had good snap though. I was impatient so I put the power tubes I had in the MG-Head (Sovtek EL84M) into the Cyber.

and there it was.

Midrange with great organic weight. But not too much so that it over took the bass. There is a little tube warmth, but not as much as the Head.

Bass has good tone and weight. Not real quick or snappy, but tonally accurate.

Highs are not extended, but edges are polished with the Sovteks. This is what I want. I threw in all kinds of rock (Primus, Metallica, Hum, FuManchu, PosterChildren) and the presentation on the top end never was fatiguing. In fact, the Cyber was able to make more sense to the top end of Hum's Downward is Heavenward than I have ever heard. Listening to the Hum CD and FuManchu (Godzilla's Eatin' Dust) there were a couple of times when things were so real that my skin got lit up with waves of goosebumps and my eyes started to water. Good grief... physiological responses... what is going on here?

I am also getting great detail. Yo Yo Ma's New York Album had great low level detail on the soft solos.... and when things got intense, all intruments can be heard, defined and composed, without any hints of distortion. Patricia Barber's Modern Cool sounds great too. Intimate and real. Voice, piano, bass, percusion are all portrayed with uncanny realism. Notes do not come in and out with analytical speed but with natural smoothness.

Build and aesthetics are beyond the $350 price I paid for this amp. The power supply must weigh around 10lbs and the unit itself around 7lbs. Headphone and RCA jacks are solid. I have to use quite a bit of force to get the Superconductor RCAs on the Head, but they slide on smoothly with the Cyber. Looks great one shelf up from my nOrh CD-1. The blue light is bright, especially when looking directly at it. I really like the volume control, its easy to make small changes. Speaking of volume, the 9-10 o'clock range is where things start getting too loud. Pushing it to 12 oclock briefly did not reveal any obvious distortion.

I have to thank templeboy and Consonance for this hook up.


goosebumps and watering eyes.

 

[dngl]

congrats! any other amps to compare it to? don't forget to try further tube rolling...

PS. Tesla is a heck of a deal in current production tubes.

 

[jaghouse]

I had the OBH-11 for a short time. I didn't like the sound with my system so I sold it.
Yeah... I will definately continue to tube roll. I hear alot of good things about Ei and Svetlana for new production, and will check into Tesla. My tubes in the CD-1 are stock... I have 5 tubes in the chain.

 

[templeboy]

The power supply uses choke regulation. With the chunck of iron in place, no wonder its heavy.

I have no idea about EL84 but per 12AU7 the best is Amperex Bugle Boy. Maybe you can try E80CC, if it works, it will be better than any 12AU7 by large margin.

 

[jaghouse]

I bid on a couple of Bugle Boy auctions and lost. I don't think they can be had for less than $20 a tube. Music Direct has some RFTs I might try. The E80CC, is that a close equivalent to the E82/12AU7? I am a bit sceptical of trying this.

 

[templeboy]

E80CC is not a direct replacement at all so it may or may not work. However, the tube itself is better sounding that 12AU7.

I still have a quad of NOS RFT lying around somewhere in my large tube caddy. It's a highly liner and balanced tube but too analytical for my taste. That's why it never find a place in my gears before.

There is a lot of FAKE Amperex BB at eBay so be careful! I got a pair triple tested only from a trusted eBay seller I dealt with several times for $55 including shipping. And it's sweeeet!

 

[jaghouse]

who is that ebay seller??

 

[templeboy]

jaghouse,

From your crave for warm mid-range, look no further than RCA cleartop 12AU7 which is sooooo easy to find. Although it looses grounds to BB in lots of other aspect, warmy (bit fat for my own taste) mid is its strength.