[Scutey]

Sounds like these are doing just fine for you, but it is kind of hard to tell, do you like these?

Love them! .

 

[connieflyer]

I have run mine in for about 12 hours today, and have not been listening, just put them phones back on, and more change. The treble range has increased more, things like triangles are almost crystaline, in their structure such a pure tone. Tried some mp3's and you were right, even recordings that are not that great before are more than acceptable now. Have to do this routine for the next week and see how it works out. I usually burn,connected to an old phone, with music playing, for about 7-8 hours, rest it for a half hour and begin again. Seems to work for me.

 

[DecentLevi]

OK I just can't take it anymore! While you guys are basking in your darn new heights and I'm in Bangladesh for now, a country that has infrastructure like this and the term "audiophile" simply isn't known.


SHAME be upon thy EL38 debauchery, shame I say!!!

.

Actually it sounds like a job well done indeed.

 

[leftside]

In regards to the EL38, do you prefer the double 'OO', single cup, or double cup getter versions? Grey plates or black plates? Thanks.

 

[hypnos1]

Slowly getting there CJ, 29 hours and counting!. Btw is this what tube "fairy dust" looks like? .

Ooohhh, S....could well be!! ...

 

[hypnos1]

In regards to the EL38, do you prefer the double 'OO', single cup, or double cup getter versions? Grey plates or black plates? Thanks.

Hi leftside.

A bit early for definite conclusions I'm afraid...only 3 of us seem to have been lucky enough so far to enjoy these tubes. And this is with the later, CV450-type version, that have the double 'OO' getters and grey plates. And, as you may have already gathered, are simply superb lol!

I myself am still testing the older, larger 'balloon' version (with internal coating), which doesn't actually look quite as well made as the later one, but is increasingly looking like it could actually sound even better...but more time is needed yet for proper evaluation, of course. And I now have three of them - two that I've managed to transform from 'grotty' looking ones on ebay (UK) to tubes that now look as good as my NOS one...(more in my next post, after dinner!...). And these all have single cup getter with black plates (those which seem to command the highest prices for its similar sibling, the EL37).

Hope this gives you a bit more idea on this tube that as far as I'm concerned - in Euforia and Elise, at least - has just got to be the find of the millenium, never mind the century lol! ...

 

[leftside]

@hypnos1 Thanks. I see you are in Suffolk. My Dad used to live in Southwold by the sea.

 

[hypnos1]

I have run mine in for about 12 hours today, and have not been listening, just put them phones back on, and more change. The treble range has increased more, things like triangles are almost crystaline, in their structure such a pure tone. Tried some mp3's and you were right, even recordings that are not that great before are more than acceptable now. Have to do this routine for the next week and see how it works out. I usually burn,connected to an old phone, with music playing, for about 7-8 hours, rest it for a half hour and begin again. Seems to work for me.

Yo cf...changes (good ones!) come thick and fast - more so even than with the EL32 IMHO!!

And yes again, 5 to 8 hrs' playing then 30 to 45 mins cooling seems the best method for burn-in...

 

[connieflyer]

The changes certainly come faster than they did with the e l 32s. If you don't listen for 10 or 12 hours and then put the phones on you get a welcome new surprise of sounds that you didn't hear 10 hours previous! This is just getting bizarre. I wonder if anybody believes us or if they think we're all bloody crazy! I kind of wonder if I was on the outside reading this thread if I would believe all that I'm reading as well. If I wouldn't have heard it from you I probably would not have believed it myself. Trust does funny things, and so glad it did El 38s are fantastic.

 

[hypnos1]

@hypnos1 Thanks. I see you are in Suffolk. My Dad used to live in Southwold by the sea.

Ah, lucky man your Dad, leftside. We try to escape from the outskirts of downtown Lowestoft to places like Southwold as often as we can...usually out of the holiday season, mind you! . Especially since the morons running this place decided to totally destroy our once semi-rural area of Carlton Colville...and still are!!! ...

Now then, as promised before chow time, here's my update on the 2x 'grotty' EL38 old timers I managed to snaffle...viz...
How to turn these :



Into these :



In other words................................................................ AN ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO HEALTHY TUBES ........................................................

Just as I managed to achieve with these badly presented tubes on ebay, so can - and should - anyone do the same with similar old tubes, even if not this unappealing lol!
So my advice would be to :

1. First off, glue down the top caps (if present!) and the bases, even if not (yet!) loose.

2. Clean off any dirt etc. from the glass, cap and pins with such as white spirit (Edit : as reminded by leftside, be careful not to remove any paint markings!)...water may well not be enough. This is advisable even with pins on NOS tubes, as sometimes there's a grease-like coating that you do not want preventing the ideal clean metal-to-metal contact.

3. Then try to get as good a shine as possible on those pins...the back of a blade may do the trick, but I find it often needs careful scraping with a sharp edge, such as a utility knife. Then finish off with fine emery paper.The goal is to remove all deposits/corrosion, and achieve the smoothest surface possible before any possible treatment such as Deoxit, if one wishes.

4. Once all this has been done...make sure to keep things this way lol!!

And just one more thing. If these steps have been omitted in the past, I highly recommend cleaning out the sockets themselves - perhaps with something like Isopropyl alcohol on a tiny, made up 'cotton bud' that will fit! But watch out for any little bits left behind!! It's surprising how much dirt/old corrosion/dust can accumulate inside those pin sockets, and can easily degrade performance over time...

ps. Now if that ebayer had just taken a bit of trouble - as mentioned - and presented them better, I'm sure those tubes would have gone MUCH quicker, and for a lot more than I paid. Still...his loss is my (lucky) gain lol ...CHEERS!...CJ

 

[leftside]

You would have to be very careful about not removing any markings/print on the glass when using white spirit. I agree with you in regards to the pins. I use very fine sand or emery paper.

 

[hypnos1]

You would have to be very careful about not removing any markings/print on the glass when using white spirit. I agree with you in regards to the pins. I use very fine sand or emery paper.

Good point l, for those possibly thinking of moving their tubes on at a later date...(or as reminder of just which tube it is lol!! )...

 

[Scutey]

I have run mine in for about 12 hours today, and have not been listening, just put them phones back on, and more change. The treble range has increased more, things like triangles are almost crystaline, in their structure such a pure tone. Tried some mp3's and you were right, even recordings that are not that great before are more than acceptable now. Have to do this routine for the next week and see how it works out. I usually burn,connected to an old phone, with music playing, for about 7-8 hours, rest it for a half hour and begin again. Seems to work for me.

The changes certainly come faster than they did with the e l 32s. If you don't listen for 10 or 12 hours and then put the phones on you get a welcome new surprise of sounds that you didn't hear 10 hours previous! This is just getting bizarre. I wonder if anybody believes us or if they think we're all bloody crazy! I kind of wonder if I was on the outside reading this thread if I would believe all that I'm reading as well. If I wouldn't have heard it from you I probably would not have believed it myself. Trust does funny things, and so glad it did El 38s are fantastic.

For the first time this week I've managed to get 10+ hours on them today, 42 hours in total, did 8 hours straight, 1 hour rest and now 2 hours into the 2nd stint of day. Cf your experience pretty much mirrors mine, first 8 hours just burn in no listening, now doing some listening. This is the biggest improvement I've noticed, especially in highs and lows, greater extension, with more detail, texture, cymbals and high hats in particular really stand out in a way I've not noticed before, the bass also seems to have deepened, filled out, the slam from drums with some more aggressive rock music is quite visceral, wonderful!. Also cf, regarding these tubes, if people reading this don't believe, I would say, buy some then you'll know exactly what we're talking about .

 

[JazzVinyl]

For the first time this week I've managed to get 10+ hours on them today, 42 hours in total, did 8 hours straight, 1 hour rest and now 2 hours into the 2nd stint of day. Cf your experience pretty much mirrors mine, first 8 hours just burn in no listening, now doing some listening. This is the biggest improvement I've noticed, especially in highs and lows, greater extension, with more detail, texture, cymbals and high hats in particular really stand out in a way I've not noticed before, the bass also seems to have deepened, filled out, the slam from drums with some more aggressive rock music is quite visceral, wonderful!. Also cf, regarding these tubes, if people reading this don't believe, I would say, buy some then you'll know exactly what we're talking about .

I have questions, Scutey...

How do they know WHEN to stop changing? Can you burn right past "ideal performance"?

Something must be physically changing, to make the tubes sound different, per hour of operation...do we know what that is?
What is changing, and in what way?

Appreciate your thoughts....

 

[connieflyer]

Number one thing is that there is no majic inteligence involved, other than the designers. It is just a slow settleing in of the various components. As the components of the tube burn in, tolerances change creating a different mathmatical condition. As for can it go past ideal performance, that is called aging, happens to everything in life. Noting attains the perfect balance between ying and yang and stops, one force or the other continues until destruction. Same with life, look around, good people, bad people, dumb people, smart people, they change through out their life span. Until they finally burn out aka die!