[Deleeh]

Eric said

The amp is wired OK to use 6V4, EZ80, EZ81... Note these tubes are NOT pin compatible with the provided 6BW4, but the amp is wired that the amp can use all these tubes.

No adapter is needed. as I hard wire the amp to use these : 6bW4, 6V4, EZ80, EZ81 ( EZ81 is a bigger tube, and the filament current is a bit higher than the others, the UltimatE can handle)

Bought another Ez80 from Bel, which is actually Mullard.
With Eric's and the Dumont, there are 3 rectifiers to start with.
I think that's enough.

I can change the tube normally, did I understand that correctly if 6bw4 was in there before, just put in Ez80 and I'm done?
The translator sometimes translates really strange lately.
I haven't even looked for 6v4 yet.

The Raytheon were lucky, a friend had found them and linked them to me, so I really couldn't say no.
I'll let you surprise me, I still have a few Sylvania in mind that are also supposed to be good.

With all your 12at7 recommendations where I have mostly found some and one or the other myself, with the 6sn7 what I have here and 3 pairs of 6v6 I am really not badly positioned for the UltimatE for the beginning.

The only things missing are Kt66/88,6SL7,EL34.
I wonder if 6BX7, 6BL7 might still make sense.

 

[UntilThen]

I can change the tube normally, did I understand that correctly if 6bw4 was in there before, just put in Ez80 and I'm done?

YES.

The only things missing are Kt66/88,6SL7,EL34.

Only if you're crazy. Otherwise you don't need these tubes.

I wonder if 6BX7, 6BL7 might still make sense.

You cannot use these in Ultimate.

 

[UntilThen]

I'm picking up Nick's amp ! Moving faster than the speed of light.

 

[mordy]

You might be interested to know that Hungarian Tungsram also made the E80CC. And as you might expect, it is closer to the German sound than the Holland sound.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225550157196

I have both the Philips and Tungsram E80CC and prefer the Tungsram - a very good sounding tube.

 

[Deleeh]

YES.



Only if you're crazy. Otherwise you don't need these tubes.



You cannot use these in Ultimate.

I asked Eric if he could make a list of which tubes go with the Ultimate.
Maybe he got it wrong.

He wrote me that 6BX7, 6BL7 would work.


About Kt66/88 and El34, yes, I think I'm a bit crazy.
They are tubes I have always wanted to try.
They would work in the Euforia but I have too much respect for not wanting to overload it.
I'd rather have an amp that can drive them without too many problems, even on the transformer side.

6SL7 would be something where I would say if I find something cheap, why not try it?

Have fun with Nick's amp, I'm looking forward to your impressions.

 

[UntilThen]

Home ! and sorry about the hurriedly taken photos. I do what I can.

First up, Ultimate with Destiny. Both in gold.

 

[UntilThen]

The 2 Ultimates together. Arnie and Danny Devito. Twins !

 

[UntilThen]

This amp has true xlr balanced input and RCA input. Hence the 2 black knobs (between the 2 output transformers) that are transformers necessary for the balance circuitry.

 

[UntilThen]

There she is in all it's glory. After this I will post my initial impression on first listen.

 

[UntilThen]

First up, the good news for Nick. This Ultimate is incredibly QUIET. As quiet as the other Ultimate, maybe more so according to my ears. I did a quick test with Grado 325x, HD800 and Susvara. Even tested driving my Axis Voicebox S desktop speakers (83db and 5 ohms) and it drives it ! Drives Susvara at 1pm loud.

The tubes I have in Nick's Ultimate are Ken Rad 6sn7gt and Philco 6y6g grey glass with Sylvania 6bw4 rectifier.

Everything function as it should. I'm testing the xlr input now with Yggdrasil. Eric ask me to test it as he has no balance source. xlr input works like a charm. Now I have to consider if I want to spend more on my Ultimate to have xlr input.

Both volume and input selector knob are ultra smooth and they are solid aluminium and not plastic.

Incredibly the amp is devoid of scratches. Eric has surpass himself here.

Lastly before I get to sound, I love the fact that the headphone outputs are in the front facing panel. Also the large chassis makes changing tubes easy. It looks good too. I'm loving this chassis and layout !

 

[UntilThen]

Now to the sound aspect of this golden Ultimate. I am comparing it with the smaller silver Ultimate. I am trying to create a level playing field here by using identical tubes.

Ken Rad 6sn7gt and 6y6g with 6bw4 rectifier.

Nick's Ultimate sounded smoother and has a wider soundstage.... I find that hard to believe, so I am getting a mate over later to verify. Maybe it's my brain playing tricks equating the wider chassis for a wider soundstage.

The sound is the beautiful tone of Ultimate that I have been hearing for one month. Fluid and smooth with punch and slam. Extended high FR and digs low. A midrange that is forward and engaging. It's a tone that has me hooked in every listening session.

Now the smoothness in Nick's Ultimate could be due to the Mundorf Supreme silver solder... who knows.

Overall though, it's a superb build and I personally want this amp.

 

[UntilThen]

He wrote me that 6BX7, 6BL7 would work.

I'm checking with him on these tubes now.

About Kt66/88 and El34, yes, I think I'm a bit crazy.
They are tubes I have always wanted to try.

Sure why not. I just didn't want to burn a hole in your pocket with NOS tubes for these but you could always try new production tubes first. They are not the same though.

6SL7 would be something where I would say if I find something cheap, why not try it?

6SL7 aren't that expensive and you can certainly get some. Even the good ones.

 

[UntilThen]

Alright @Deleeh regarding 6BX7 and 6BL7 as driver in Ultimate, this is Eric's reply. I might try it later.

It is a Yes,,.. but the gain is low at mu =10 and 15... but could be good sound? worth to try...

Only ONE very minor possible "issue" is that the filament current for this group - supply to the driver and rectifier is designed to be 2A... In this combination 6BW4 takes 0.9 A, and 6BX7 or 6BL7 takes 1.25A giving a total of 2.15A... slightly over the designed 2A but it is within 10% so it is workable with no issues.

 

[Nick Ryan]

Nick - I had some hum when I first got my Eufonika H5 Miflex. Solved it by plugging the H5 power cord into its own AC socket, separate and away from all my other AC adapters and crap, which are plugged into a power strip connected to another AC outlet on another wall of the room. Not saying it'll solve your problem, but worth a try if you haven't already done it...

Hi, there are 4 coils with the Miflex caps piggy backed on them, I measured the coils résistance three are nearly identical at 16 ohms, the fourth only reads 4.5 ohms, I’m thinking this may be the source of the hum. I’ve written to Wieslaw requesting a replacement coil. The amp is supposed to be balanced so,this odd transformer would throw the balance out and maybe fuse hum. Fingers crossed.

 

[UntilThen]

I find the Yggdrasil xlr output to Nick's Ultimate much better than RCA. So I'm going to have that included in my Ultimate. That's about it. I have nothing more to upgrade.