Feliks-Audio EUFORIA - A Wolf in "Sheep's" Clothing...
Mar 21, 2018 at 11:31 PM Post #4,246 of 11,413
You can try looking on the for sale forum here at Head-fi. I have bought and sold tubes here before, and had great luck. UPside is, you can see their reputation here also, to give you an idea if the person has been around awhile.
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 9:54 AM Post #4,247 of 11,413
Hi GT,
If you buy from a reputable place they should replace a defective tube. If you buy on eBay look for good feedback. In addition, eBay gives you a comprehensive warranty on purchases.
Bear in mind that a professional seller may ask $50 for a tube that you may be able to pick up for $10 from somebody selling off his grandfather's TV repair shop.
Having bought many tubes over the years it is rare to get a defective one or broken in shipping, but it could happen. However, in those rare instances the sellers always refunded the money, albeit sometimes with some prodding from eBay/PayPal.
I can't think of any tube that I wore out by use - most tubes last 3000-5000 hours, and some 10,000 hours. Because of this I am not afraid to buy a used tube that measures well.
You also have to be aware of that there are fakes out there and overpriced sellers.
If you have specific questions about a purchase, I am sure that forum members will help you with advice.
To educate yourself, start reading the past posts......
Thank you for all the advice, sorry if I was in anyway annoying by asking such basic questions.
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 10:12 AM Post #4,248 of 11,413
Not a problem at all. We all had to learn somewhere, sometime. I did not always know EVERYTHING! People on this forum and others have always been very helpful. When I upgraded from an Ember amp to the Elise, I went back and read the whole forum and picked up alot of information that way. I know it is a lot of information, but it is the combined experiences of all the members that make it so valuable. But, if you have questions, please ask, much better than making a wrong assumption and ruining your new hobby. Take care
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 10:43 AM Post #4,249 of 11,413
Thank you for all the advice, sorry if I was in anyway annoying by asking such basic questions.

Hi GT, and welcome...please forgive my own tardiness - am not 100% at the moment....

But others here have given you good advice already - and I do hope you can spare the time to look back in this thread for further info. Plus, the tubes mentioned in the Elise threads will also apply to Euforia...(you might need a good bit of spare time lol! :wink:...but it should be worth it...).

What I shall repeat however, is that although Elise might well offer better value-for-money, I personally have found that Euforia scales better, no matter how far up the chain you are prepared to go in all other areas of your setup...mine, for example, I think can't go very much higher lol!! :ksc75smile:...Good luck, and CHEERS!...CJ
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 10:46 AM Post #4,250 of 11,413
H, I am sure if you try hard enough, you will find ways to spend even more money on this amplifier!. Have a good day and hope you're feeling better take care chief
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 11:06 AM Post #4,251 of 11,413
H, I am sure if you try hard enough, you will find ways to spend even more money on this amplifier!. Have a good day and hope you're feeling better take care chief

Hey cf...PLEASE don't encourage me further - our late lamented friend pctazhp was bad enough!! :wink:

(But I have to admit to being very interested in the new and upcoming closed Senn HD820! Although for less-kind listening, I still think open cans are much better!...CJ).

And thanks again for everyone's concern...am slowly getting a bit better - methinks!! :ksc75smile:
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 4:43 PM Post #4,252 of 11,413
Hi Johnnysound,

Listened to the EL11/Mullard6080 for a while. This combination does not cut it for me because the bass is too soft. Again, YMMV because of associated equipment and taste.

On a hunch I changed the power tubes to a pair of unsung heroes: The RCA 6080. These tubes are plentiful and inexpensive and have a great mid bass.
Paired with the EL11 they sound very good with the right amount of well controlled bass, and the mid range is very sweet.
I have maybe 6 pairs of these and especially like the late 50's early 60's variants.
IMHO they sound just as good as the EL11/Chatham6080; a little less punchy but more musical and better mid bass.
Another winner? Will let them percolate for a while before I make up my mind.....
Here is a night view: Whatever the EL11s lack in tube glow these make up:
@mordy. Bought some old TFK EL11's a couple months ago, tried them with a few different powers, and although they sounded good I didn't feel I was getting the best from them, so I put them in their boxes and forgot about them, then I read your post about trying RCA 6080 so I thought I'd give it a try too and now they sound like the tube I hoped they might be, quite warm, yet detailed, with good mid and upper bass giving them a really nice timbre, sounds particularly good with jazz, at least to my ears, so thanks mordy for a great "hunch", you've rescued my EL11's :smile_phones:.
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 5:12 PM Post #4,253 of 11,413
@mordy. Bought some old TFK EL11's a couple months ago, tried them with a few different powers, and although they sounded good I didn't feel I was getting the best from them, so I put them in their boxes and forgot about them, then I read your post about trying RCA 6080 so I thought I'd give it a try too and now they sound like the tube I hoped they might be, quite warm, yet detailed, with good mid and upper bass giving them a really nice timbre, sounds particularly good with jazz, at least to my ears, so thanks mordy for a great "hunch", you've rescued my EL11's :smile_phones:.
Hi Scutey,
Glad to hear that you enjoy this combination. I am becoming more and more convinced that what you need to find is great synergy between driver and power tubes.
The EL11 shines with the GEC6080, Chatham 6080 and RCA 6080. Maybe the GEC tubes sound the best, but they are very expensive and hard to find. The Chathams have more bass punch, and the RCA a great mid bass.
Any one of these combinations will please. I have been listening to the EL11/RCA6080 for several days now, and I don't feel that I am lacking anything in the presentation. All three combinations sound a little different but all are very good.
Yep, another winner.....
 
Mar 22, 2018 at 5:52 PM Post #4,254 of 11,413
Hi Scutey,
Glad to hear that you enjoy this combination. I am becoming more and more convinced that what you need to find is great synergy between driver and power tubes.
The EL11 shines with the GEC6080, Chatham 6080 and RCA 6080. Maybe the GEC tubes sound the best, but they are very expensive and hard to find. The Chathams have more bass punch, and the RCA a great mid bass.
Any one of these combinations will please. I have been listening to the EL11/RCA6080 for several days now, and I don't feel that I am lacking anything in the presentation. All three combinations sound a little different but all are very good.
Yep, another winner.....
Hi mordy,
I'd certainly like to give the GEC and the Chatham a go, about 2/3 months ago I had the chance to buy a pair of lightly used GEC 6080 for less than going price for one NOS, unfortunately I hesitated and guess what?, yep gone!:cry:, however with your discovery of the RCA I've finally recovered lol:wink:, oh and I'm still loving are old fave the Foton ribber anode, surely the best bang for buck 6sn7/6n8s you can get!.
 
Mar 23, 2018 at 12:03 AM Post #4,255 of 11,413
Hi mordy,
I'd certainly like to give the GEC and the Chatham a go, about 2/3 months ago I had the chance to buy a pair of lightly used GEC 6080 for less than going price for one NOS, unfortunately I hesitated and guess what?, yep gone!:cry:, however with your discovery of the RCA I've finally recovered lol:wink:, oh and I'm still loving are old fave the Foton ribber anode, surely the best bang for buck 6sn7/6n8s you can get!.
Hi Scutey,
Did you try the Foton ribbed anode with the RCAs? I haven't yet, but it might be an idea...
OK, just did a quick "spark plug" change:
upload_2018-3-22_23-57-34.png

Sounds really good with a meaty bass.
This combo got to be the bargain king - Yugo price for a Lexus (or do they say Morris Minor price for a Jaguar in the UK?)
 
Mar 23, 2018 at 7:56 AM Post #4,256 of 11,413
Hi Scutey,
Did you try the Foton ribbed anode with the RCAs? I haven't yet, but it might be an idea...
OK, just did a quick "spark plug" change:

Sounds really good with a meaty bass.
This combo got to be the bargain king - Yugo price for a Lexus (or do they say Morris Minor price for a Jaguar in the UK?)
Hi mordy,

Yes I have tried this combo and it's very good, meaty bass is a very apt description!, it seems to give the Foton's more weight, a somewhat "bigger sound", tried this combo on the soundtrack to Blade Runner 2049, all I can say is it was a bit of a jaw dropper, most of the soundtrack is ambient and the Fotons/RCA realy brought out the texture of the music, wonderful!.

And yes right again about the Morris minor analogy, if only you could get a Jag for Morris Minor money, well I can dream!:smile_phones:
 
Mar 23, 2018 at 1:18 PM Post #4,260 of 11,413
Not yet, but I would expect it to sound similar to the GEC 6080. Will try later...
Hi Scutey,
Later is now - these tubes are so expensive that they are only exercised on a clear Sunday summer day, but in the interest of scientific research we'll make an exception:
upload_2018-3-23_12-53-42.png

The going price is around $300 each today.
How do they sound with the Fotons? Excellent, with a very even frequency response top to bottom, and with what DecentLevi called "mythical energy."
But I am going to save these investment grade tubes and put them away in my safe (really a shoe box).Instead I will use my other category of tubes called "GEC savers" such as the RCA6080 (which have more of an emphasis on the mid bass range).
And truth is, I am just as happy listening to those tubes even if the GEC 6AS7G offers a little more.
And while I am it, maybe try the Bendix 6080WB with the Fotons. A carbon plate tube developed for inter continental missiles got to be good......
 

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