[genefruit]

I don't think so - either Donald or Brent would have mentioned any required adapters...

No adapters required. I’ve run several 6BQ7As without issue, as have others.

 

[thehutch]

Thanks for the noise heads up! If mine have some noise I'll ride that out. Do you have any idea how many hours it took roughly to settle them down? I got these from Brent Jesse

JAN CRC-2A3 VT-95 military RCA label blackplate, dual plate. MATCHED PAIR​

NOS in white boxes. 1940s manufacture vintage, these are military surplus. Rare dual black S-shape plates, clear glass bottle. Vintage blackplate quality at an attractive price. Some made for other brands but all are RCA made​

Cool. Honestly not sure – 75, 100? But the line conditioner was really key to getting the noise under control. If you have clean power to your amp, I’m guessing you won’t have any issues. And this was probably just this specific set of tubes.

 

[LarsMan]

Look forward to hearing how things go with the power tubes. Thanks for these great impressions.

I got some 1940s RCA 2A3s in a little while ago. They were really noisy at first but had a much richer sound than stock tubes. Guy I bought from had just put 10 hours on them, so weren’t burned in at first. I just got a new line conditioner – the EQUI=CORE 1000 – and that dropped noise floor pretty low. I was still hearing some noise and was actually close to selling the tubes. I switched back to stock tubes and did not like them by comparison. Much dryer, didn’t have as much life to them. Switched back to the RCAs and the noise is gone now. Really glad I stuck with them.

That's interesting. A year or so ago I got a Forge from AmpsAndSound. I plugged it in along with my Utopias, and for the first time I heard what people described as a 'noise floor', except this floor was about chest-deep; it was so bad it was drowning out the music. I contacted Justin from AmpsAndSound and told him about this; he suggested I pick up an EQUI=CORE 1000 and a DEEP=CORE 1800. Both of them together, or separately, made almost no difference from the cheap plastic power strip I first tried using, so I had to return the amp. I have had many tube amps, headphone and 2-channel, and this was the only amp that had this issue. Oh well, guess his amps just don't want to use my power no matter what! Still using EQUI=CORE anyway but I've got the DEEP=CORE up for sale.

 

[thehutch]

That's interesting. A year or so ago I got a Forge from AmpsAndSound. I plugged it in along with my Utopias, and for the first time I heard what people described as a 'noise floor', except this floor was about chest-deep; it was so bad it was drowning out the music. I contacted Justin from AmpsAndSound and told him about this; he suggested I pick up an EQUI=CORE 1000 and a DEEP=CORE 1800. Both of them together, or separately, made almost no difference from the cheap plastic power strip I first tried using, so I had to return the amp. I have had many tube amps, headphone and 2-channel, and this was the only amp that had this issue. Oh well, guess his amps just don't want to use my power no matter what! Still using EQUI=CORE anyway but I've got the DEEP=CORE up for sale.

Ah wow sounds like he sold you a lemon. Justin turned me on to the Equi=Core stuff after seeing him use it at CamJam. How much of a difference does the Deep=Core make? Have you used on your Stratus? I guess not enough to keep it…

 

[LarsMan]

Ah wow sounds like he sold you a lemon. Justin turned me on to the Equi=Core stuff after seeing him use it at CamJam. How much of a difference does the Deep=Core make? Have you used on your Stratus? I guess not enough to keep it…

No, I don't think it's a lemon, I just think that's his amp design and my electrical grid, and in most people's places, their electricity is likely just fine for it, at least after being treated. Even in the instructions, Justin spells out the importance of good, clean power for his amp; I don't see that warning with other amps I've had, including the Stratus.

But it just didn't work for me. Neither Equi=Core nor Deep=Core made any appreciable difference in my system - no biggie, plenty of other great amps out there, no? I could just as easily go back to the cheap plastic power strip (but I won't!).

The Stratus, like every other tube amp I've had besides the Forge, has given me no reason to go looking for a power cleaner; can't hear any noise floor.

 

[thehutch]

No, I don't think it's a lemon, I just think that's his amp design and my electrical grid, and in most people's places, their electricity is likely just fine for it, at least after being treated. Even in the instructions, Justin spells out the importance of good, clean power for his amp; I don't see that warning with other amps I've had, including the Stratus.

But it just didn't work for me. Neither Equi=Core nor Deep=Core made any appreciable difference in my system - no biggie, plenty of other great amps out there, no? I could just as easily go back to the cheap plastic power strip (but I won't!).

The Stratus, like every other tube amp I've had besides the Forge, has given me no reason to go looking for a power cleaner; can't hear any noise floor.

Fascinating

 

[johnnypaddock]

No, I don't think it's a lemon, I just think that's his amp design and my electrical grid, and in most people's places, their electricity is likely just fine for it, at least after being treated. Even in the instructions, Justin spells out the importance of good, clean power for his amp; I don't see that warning with other amps I've had, including the Stratus.

But it just didn't work for me. Neither Equi=Core nor Deep=Core made any appreciable difference in my system - no biggie, plenty of other great amps out there, no? I could just as easily go back to the cheap plastic power strip (but I won't!).

The Stratus, like every other tube amp I've had besides the Forge, has given me no reason to go looking for a power cleaner; can't hear any noise floor.

I think there is something to this. I had a Pendant for awhile and ran into the same issue. It was super noisy here at my house, but when I sent it back to ampsandsound it played fine. Like you I find the Stratus to play really quiet in my system.

 

[erics75]

I think there is something to this. I had a Pendant for awhile and ran into the same issue. It was super noisy here at my house, but when I sent it back to ampsandsound it played fine. Like you I find the Stratus to play really quiet in my system.

I've owned a few of Justin's amps and unfortunately it's a common issue users deal with, especially the higher power models like the Forge, Pendant, etc. The quietest of his amps I've owned is the Kenzie OG Rev 2, and that's pretty quiet. But all the others had various degrees of noise. The issue isn't as noticeable with high impedance low sensitivity sets like the Atticus/Eikon, but becomes much more noticeable with low impedance high sensitivity sets like Focals. All the Focals i've used on A&S amps pick up some noise floor, even on the Kenzie OG 2. So far no noise floor i can detect on the Stratus

EDIT - Not knocking Justin's amps, I still love how they sound, and won't sell my Kenzie unless finances force me to. But the noise floor issues are what they are, I'm just being honest.

PS EDIT - I've run splitters from my dac, and will take a month or two to listen to both side by side to do some comparisons. So far the biggest takeaway is these two amps have VERY different tonalities. The Kenzie is dark, euphonic, and smoooooth. The DNA with the new tubes is much leaner and more athletic sounding. That's all, I need major time to compare and contrast.

 

[erics75]

Look forward to hearing how things go with the power tubes. Thanks for these great impressions.

I got some 1940s RCA 2A3s in a little while ago. They were really noisy at first but had a much richer sound than stock tubes. Guy I bought from had just put 10 hours on them, so weren’t burned in at first. I just got a new line conditioner – the EQUI=CORE 1000 – and that dropped noise floor pretty low. I was still hearing some noise and was actually close to selling the tubes. I switched back to stock tubes and did not like them by comparison. Much dryer, didn’t have as much life to them. Switched back to the RCAs and the noise is gone now. Really glad I stuck with them.

It only took a minute of listening with the new power tubes to know they were worth every penny. Much like the rectifier, the sound is cleaner but richer as well, with better speed and dynamics. It really livens up the sound without increasing fatigue. It's only been a few hours listening so I can't go into heavy detail, but IMO upgrading the stock tubes is worthwhile for a significant upgrade in sound quality. Ugh another late night of listening... new tubes, new headphones, somewhat new Stratus. So many toys, so little time

 

[thehutch]

It only took a minute of listening with the new power tubes to know they were worth every penny. Much like the rectifier, the sound is cleaner but richer as well, with better speed and dynamics. It really livens up the sound without increasing fatigue. It's only been a few hours listening so I can't go into heavy detail, but IMO upgrading the stock tubes is worthwhile for a significant upgrade in sound quality. Ugh another late night of listening... new tubes, new headphones, somewhat new Stratus. So many toys, so little time

Good to hear. Which 2A3s did you get?

 

[erics75]

Good to hear. Which 2A3s did you get?

I got these from Brent Jessee.

JAN CRC-2A3 VT-95 military RCA label blackplate, dual plate. MATCHED PAIR

NOS in white boxes. 1940s manufacture vintage, these are military surplus. Rare dual black S-shape plates, clear glass bottle. Vintage blackplate quality at an attractive price. Some made for other brands but all are RCA made

 

[LarsMan]

It only took a minute of listening with the new power tubes to know they were worth every penny. Much like the rectifier, the sound is cleaner but richer as well, with better speed and dynamics. It really livens up the sound without increasing fatigue. It's only been a few hours listening so I can't go into heavy detail, but IMO upgrading the stock tubes is worthwhile for a significant upgrade in sound quality. Ugh another late night of listening... new tubes, new headphones, somewhat new Stratus. So many toys, so little time

Tubes sure can make a huge difference, can't they? I've also got an Eddie Current Studio B; I initially got it with Gold Lion 300B tubes, then JJ's, and the amp sounded fine but my Susvaras didn't sound too good through it; quite thin. Then finally just bit the wallet and got a pair of Western Electrics, new ones, and they made it sound like the next model up in the Eddie Current lineup, if there was such a thing. Love them Susvaras through it now, with a lot more beef... Eagerly awaiting my DNA upgrade tubes!

 

[erics75]

Tubes sure can make a huge difference, can't they? I've also got an Eddie Current Studio B; I initially got it with Gold Lion 300B tubes, then JJ's, and the amp sounded fine but my Susvaras didn't sound too good through it; quite thin. Then finally just bit the wallet and got a pair of Western Electrics, new ones, and they made it sound like the next model up in the Eddie Current lineup, if there was such a thing. Love them Susvaras through it now, with a lot more beef... Eagerly awaiting my DNA upgrade tubes!

Agree 100%. What I wonder is why do new production tubes lack whatever magic is in the NOS tubes? NP tubes are ok, but just can't match a good NOS tube for overall sound quality. I've wondered this countless times, it's frustrating. Maybe they used materials banned in today's production processes? Lead, etc.? Alien tech? Unicorn farts and fairy dust? The world may never know....

 

[LarsMan]

Agree 100%. What I wonder is why do new production tubes lack whatever magic is in the NOS tubes? NP tubes are ok, but just can't match a good NOS tube for overall sound quality. I've wondered this countless times, it's frustrating. Maybe they used materials banned in today's production processes? Lead, etc.? Alien tech? Unicorn farts and fairy dust? The world may never know....

I think it's unicorn dust and fairy farts for my WE's, but yeah, you're right to a large extent. There's a very interesting story on the Western Electric website about their new plant in Georgia for making 300B tubes, and how they ARE using some of the same materials that went into the original 300B's of last century. Also gotta figure that they made a lot more tubes, at least domestically in the US, back in the NOS days, 'cause tubes are what you had back then (I still remember the TV tech who would come in armed with a battery of tubes and demagnetizers and such); they hadn't been replaced by transistors yet....

 

[thehutch]

I think it's unicorn dust and fairy farts for my WE's, but yeah, you're right to a large extent. There's a very interesting story on the Western Electric website about their new plant in Georgia for making 300B tubes, and how they ARE using some of the same materials that went into the original 300B's of last century. Also gotta figure that they made a lot more tubes, at least domestically in the US, back in the NOS days, 'cause tubes are what you had back then (I still remember the TV tech who would come in armed with a battery of tubes and demagnetizers and such); they hadn't been replaced by transistors yet....

Bet it’s like original, original Coke – secret ingredient was cocaine. Hasn’t been the same since.