Dec 13, 2024 at 10:15 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 14
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Hi all,

We are excited to unveil the newest addition to The Ray Tubes collection: the Ray Tubes EL34 RESERVE Vacuum Tube. You could gamble on NOS tubes that have been stored for sixty years, or you could get this set, which is brand new, tested by a sound engineer, ships fast and free, and comes with a 12-month warranty.

Ray Tubes EL34 RESERVE 1.jpg

The Best of the Best
The RESERVE Collection of Ray vacuum tubes are artfully designed and carefully manufactured solely for hifi audiophile devices. With the RESERVE, vocals are a revelation: smooth, lifelike, and beautifully present. They convey a sense of realism and immediacy without any bloat, offering a gentle yet compelling delivery with superior decay. The treble is crisp yet laid-back, carefully balanced to avoid sibilance or harshness. This balanced sound signature extends to the low-end as well: full and commanding, contributing to an overall superbly realistic imaging that is brain-scratchingly good.

Ray Tubes EL34 RESERVE 2.jpg

Product highlights 
  • Hand-selected and tested
  • Gold pins for corrosion resistance and excellent conduction
  • A substantial upgrade from standard NOS tubes
  • Magic Coating: Monocrystalline carbon coating enhances sound by
  • cooling, blocking noise, and allowing for quicker electron transmission
  • Low noise and microphonics
  • Matched quad (4 tubes) or pair (2 tubes) or single tube (1 tube)
  • Fewer than 5% of the tubes commissioned for production meet our voltage, current, and sound signature standards
  • 12-month warranty against manufacturing defects

Ray Tubes EL34 RESERVE 3.jpg
 
Apos Audio Free Shipping, Lowest Price Guarantee, Apos 2nd Year Warranty and 45-Day Return Policy on all carried products. Check out Apos Ensembles, Apos Specials, and Apos Certified products. Stay updated on Apos Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
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Dec 16, 2024 at 9:37 AM Post #2 of 14
I'm interested in any BHSE owners impressions of these.

The 6SN7 Reserve are quite nice. 300B when?
 
Dec 16, 2024 at 9:55 AM Post #3 of 14
I’m with Thanatos, the 6SN7 is quite nice. I’m looking forward to the KT170 Ray Reserve!
 
Dec 16, 2024 at 6:09 PM Post #4 of 14
Slightly expensive but wish the release the best. NOS Mullard XF2's (dual halo) are similarly priced. I hope the warranty on Apos is on par with something like Western Electric because contrary to what is written, new production tubes have more failure rate than "stored somewhere for 60 years" ones. So, warranty is the differentiating factor for new production tubes in my book. I never buy 300B-s without a good warranty. Wish Apos Ray success with this release.
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 12:16 AM Post #5 of 14
Slightly expensive but wish the release the best. NOS Mullard XF2's (dual halo) are similarly priced. I hope the warranty on Apos is on par with something like Western Electric because contrary to what is written, new production tubes have more failure rate than "stored somewhere for 60 years" ones. So, warranty is the differentiating factor for new production tubes in my book. I never buy 300B-s without a good warranty. Wish Apos Ray success with this release.
I think this kind of slides into the lightbulb fallacy; plenty of NOS tubes have poor matching and wild-card life-spans (the reject rate from crate digging you'll never hear about). The old WW2 MILSPEC tubes were built like tanks, but there's nothing inherently special about their QC in the 1940's/50's. The prices are prohibitive as well.

Sliding into today, WE is selling matched pairs/quads for a kidney/your firstborn child with new processes as a phoenix brand continually passed around telecom mergers but maintaining its outward facing audiophile assets. At least they still operate out of their Chicago facility which you can take the METRA to if one was curious enough to visit. I believe it's right past the Ravenswood stop.
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 12:29 AM Post #6 of 14
I think this kind of slides into the lightbulb fallacy; plenty of NOS tubes have poor matching and wild-card life-spans (the reject rate from crate digging you'll never hear about). The old WW2 MILSPEC tubes were built like tanks, but there's nothing inherently special about their QC in the 1940's/50's. The prices are prohibitive as well.

Sliding into today, WE is selling matched pairs/quads for a kidney/your firstborn child with new processes as a phoenix brand continually passed around telecom mergers but maintaining its outward facing audiophile assets. At least they still operate out of their Chicago facility which you can take the METRA to if one was curious enough to visit. I believe it's right past the Ravenswood stop.

Not sure if I somehow came across negative. If so, that was not my intent. I only wished the brand and release success and emphasized that warranty is very important.

On a funny note, please check my location - cause I have indeed visited the place you are referring to.

PS. I do not want to debate your crate reject point because as you are completely correct but isn't the claim here very similar that only around 5% meet the criteria?
 
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Dec 17, 2024 at 12:40 AM Post #7 of 14
Not sure if I somehow came across negative. If so, that was not my intent. I only wished the brand and release success and emphasized that warranty is very important.

On a funny note, please check my location - cause I have indeed visited the place you are referring to.

PS. I do not want to debate your crate reject point because as you are completely correct but isn't the claim here very similar that only around 5% meet the criteria?
Nice! About a 2 hour drive to Chicago.

I was only commenting on the myth of NOS (which drives up the prices) But that goes hand in hand with their hidden reject rates and pricing/scarcity.

At least in this case the 5% pass rate, which also drives up the price, is done on the manufacturer end so we already know there's a large waste/reject rate at the factory not in the boxes we hope to buy ;)
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 9:54 AM Post #8 of 14
@Apos Audio Can I get a quad for testing and reviewing?

Here's my offer:
  • Curve tracing, determine tube parameters
  • Assess matching quality
  • Sound / listening impressions using Blue Hawaii SE + Stax X9000
  • Compare both measurements and sound impressions with other NOS EL34 I have at hand (NOS, new manufacture Sovtek),
  • Publication of results (here on Head Fi)
Let me know.
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 2:17 PM Post #9 of 14
I was going to pick some up for my Blue Hawaii(BJT not the SE) then I saw the price............not sure I can justify that cost over other EL34s.
 
Dec 17, 2024 at 3:04 PM Post #10 of 14
@Apos Audio Can I get a quad for testing and reviewing?

Here's my offer:
  • Curve tracing, determine tube parameters
  • Assess matching quality
  • Sound / listening impressions using Blue Hawaii SE + Stax X9000
  • Compare both measurements and sound impressions with other NOS EL34 I have at hand (NOS, new manufacture Sovtek),
  • Publication of results (here on Head Fi)
Let me know.
Hi There,

Thanks for your interest in reviewing the Quad Ray Tubes EL34 RESERVE Vacuum Tube. You can contact Ray Tubes directly and they can assist you with your request.
 
Apos Audio Free Shipping, Lowest Price Guarantee, Apos 2nd Year Warranty and 45-Day Return Policy on all carried products. Check out Apos Ensembles, Apos Specials, and Apos Certified products. Stay updated on Apos Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/aposaudio https://www.instagram.com/aposaudio/ https://apos.audio/ contact@apos.audio
Dec 18, 2024 at 12:29 PM Post #11 of 14
@Apos Audio Can I get a quad for testing and reviewing?

Here's my offer:
  • Curve tracing, determine tube parameters
  • Assess matching quality
  • Sound / listening impressions using Blue Hawaii SE + Stax X9000
  • Compare both measurements and sound impressions with other NOS EL34 I have at hand (NOS, new manufacture Sovtek),
  • Publication of results (here on Head Fi)
Let me know.
Why not offer Ray to test the tubes in your own designed Open Source DHT Estat Headphone Amp -- OSDEHA ?
 
Dec 19, 2024 at 12:21 AM Post #13 of 14
The OSDEHA uses 801 or 10Y tubes. The EL34 is not compatible.
I might get hold of a T2, though. That would be another amp that uses EL34 tubes, and could be included in the test.
@Apos Audio Are you interested?
Hi @mbrennwa

The tests and deliverables you mentioned are fascinating. You can contact Ray Tubes directly for review requests.
 
Apos Audio Free Shipping, Lowest Price Guarantee, Apos 2nd Year Warranty and 45-Day Return Policy on all carried products. Check out Apos Ensembles, Apos Specials, and Apos Certified products. Stay updated on Apos Audio at their sponsor profile on Head-Fi.
 
https://www.facebook.com/aposaudio https://www.instagram.com/aposaudio/ https://apos.audio/ contact@apos.audio
Dec 19, 2024 at 3:34 PM Post #14 of 14
The response from Ray Tubes was something along the lines that they first need to produce the tubes but will come back to me once they are ready "after the holidays". Not sure what to make of this, but maybe they'll send some tubes my way at some point.
 

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