[L0rdGwyn]

I've owned them all at some point or another, the whole family is a great pairing with tubes. I prefer the HD650, I find it a bit more refined than the HD600, not veiled when paired with a good amplifier but YMMV, they are more similar than different. I picked up a HD58X when it was first released just to see how it compared, its good for the price but it isn't a HD600/650. Also tried the HD660S when it came out, was pretty high on it at first and it is a nice headphone, but over time I felt the HD650 still bested it and it doesn't scale with upstream gear like the HD650 does. You really can't go wrong with any of them though! The fact that they are still so popular says something about the design and its staying power.

 

[johnjen]

Check this out @Xcalibur255 snip
So I popped them in my Jackson 648-R AND...on one tube, only half the filament lit up and it was sort of pulsing. Turned it off right away - I didn't need to use the function on the tester to know this was a short, and given the structure of these tubes, likely filament to grid, confirmed with a DMM. That's okay! We can work with that, I was more worried the filaments would be broken.

I have fixed shorts in valuable tubes in the past, it is a very scientific and calculated process...you WHACK the tube until the short is broken ever so lovingly, of course. What is there to lose? Its already non-functional.

So I proceded to WHACK this tube against my hand, checking the short every 4-5 whacks. First in one direction without change, then the other. AND ITS FIXED!!! Eff that short, it is gone.

Threw the tubes back in my Jackson tester, and they both test over 100% emission 105-110% more specifically, well matched too.

So lady luck was on my side after all, with the assistance of brute force.

And so as it is written 'When in need, though shalt whack thine tubes with deliberacy and intent.'
Fore sooth if the proper supplication is made unto the deity of THE TUBE, and it did not causeth the collection plate to overload and glow red, thou shalt find you're good to go…

Words to live and die by for our beloved tubular collection.
hahahahahahaha

JJ

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Couldn't have said it better @johnjen LOL scripture to live by.

As I was staying up all night in preparation for night shift, took a nice little long-exposure of the Visseaux 6A5G which have a very pretty glow



Despite the high cost of these rare tubes, operation R120 is underway. After some testing, I am also planning someting of an overhaul of the 6A5 amp - I will be making some changes to the power supply. If the R120 tubes pan out and I decide to keep them, I will feed their heaters from a single center-tapped filament winding - the 6A5 tubes each have their own. With another winding freed up, I would add in the DC voltage regulators that I had originally planned to use in this amp, not necessarily for any benefit from the DC, but for another reason - some of these 4V tubes take 0.65A on the heaters rather than 1A, so having a voltage regulator is advantageous such that these tubes are not being run over voltage. Many of these 4V 0.65A tubes are quite rare and it will help me sleep soundly at night. For example, the Mullard NR52 takes 0.65A, it might be the best driver tube I have laid ears on, but I am wary to use as the amp is built right now.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Out of curiosity how do you come to find out about tubes like the R120 in the first place? Just tube talk with sellers you have come to know?

 

[L0rdGwyn]

@Xcalibur255 yep exactly, I have a French tube seller I have bought some old 4V tubes from in the past (those very old metallized Marconi MH4). We have discussed tubes over email, he is hip to some very obscure models, many of French manufacture, PTT-series postal tubes, and he has many of them in large quantities. For example, another interesting tube that I have considered experimenting with is the French-made PTT100. It is another MH4/REN904 equivalent, but they use the 7-pin postal tube base, like below.

I know it seems crazy to use such old tubes, but they are the best I have heard.

 

[2359glenn]

@Xcalibur255 yep exactly, I have a French tube seller I have bought some old 4V tubes from in the past (those very old metallized Marconi MH4). We have discussed tubes over email, he is hip to some very obscure models, many of French manufacture, PTT-series postal tubes, and he has many of them in large quantities. For example, another interesting tube that I have considered experimenting with is the French-made PTT100. It is another MH4/REN904 equivalent, but they use the 7-pin postal tube base, like below.

I know it seems crazy to use such old tubes, but they are the best I have heard.

With tubes the older the better they sound.
But they were originally in circuits that sounded like crap like telephone amplifiers.
Still sounded better then a modern cell phone that you are lucky to understand anything.

 

[Zachik]

With tubes the older the better they sound.

I always knew tubes and red wine have a lot in common...

 

[johnjen]

With tubes the older the better they sound.
But they were originally in circuits that sounded like crap like telephone amplifiers.
Still sounded better then a modern cell phone that you are lucky to understand anything.

Back in the day they codified the SQ of the telephone service using the plosives and consonants of speech as the 'markers' of Intelligibility.

This practice has been abandoned with modern day telephony.
Such that when I ask for a cell phone that has excellent speech SQ the 'sales associate' has no idea what I'm asking for, let alone what it means.
And it always surprises me when I tell someone that it is, 1st and foremost, a cellPHONE, and this fact seems to surprise them.

However the Kyocera Dura XV cell phone I now have actually does have really good SQ which was a pleasant surprise indeed.

I have adopted this idea of Intelligibility and use it as a descriptor in my lexicon of terms to denote what is 'better' in terms of SQ, as mods and changes are made to my system.
I use it specifically as a way of being able to determine the ease of understanding the lyrics in songs.
It has always amazed me how garbled some singers voices can be in some songs, and by some bands, etc.
And it always is a delight when I instantly 'know' exactly what is being sung and can hear the inflection and intonation as it adds much more insight into the song itself.

JJ

 

[2359glenn]

Back in the day they codified the SQ of the telephone service using the plosives and consonants of speech as the 'markers' of Intelligibility.

This practice has been abandoned with modern day telephony.
Such that when I ask for a cell phone that has excellent speech SQ the 'sales associate' has no idea what I'm asking for, let alone what it means.
And it always surprises me when I tell someone that it is, 1st and foremost, a cellPHONE, and this fact seems to surprise them.

However the Kyocera Dura XV cell phone I now have actually does have really good SQ which was a pleasant surprise indeed.

I have adopted this idea of Intelligibility and use it as a descriptor in my lexicon of terms to denote what is 'better' in terms of SQ, as mods and changes are made to my system.
I use it specifically as a way of being able to determine the ease of understanding the lyrics in songs.
It has always amazed me how garbled some singers voices can be in some songs, and by some bands, etc.
And it always is a delight when I instantly 'know' exactly what is being sung and can hear the inflection and intonation as it adds much more insight into the song itself.

JJ

Modern cell phones are mini computers and do everything but work as a phone. People just put up with this and pay $1000 for it.
I had a analog phone in the past that sounded good and drove through 4 states with my lady on the phone and it never dropped the call.
I guess all that matters now is texting nobody can communicate with each other anymore.

 

[Xcalibur255]

Some phones and carriers have an option to send your voice over the network as streaming audio data instead of using the legacy voice only telephony. It will chew through your data but the quality is much higher. Since nobody actually does voice calls anymore it's not pushed or talked about.

 

[leftside]

I guess all that matters now is texting nobody can communicate with each other anymore.

Not quite true:
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/23/...s-pandemic-security-privacy-concerns-response
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21241972/microsoft-teams-75-million-daily-active-users-stats

If this pandemic was a few years ago, I would have been let go from my current contract for sure. Microsoft Teams has been indispensable for us remote/wfh folks to be able to communicate with our co-workers. I've also had regular chats with family in Europe over Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Zoom. We communicate more than ever because of modern technology.

But hey, on a related subject I have a tube amp for one of my mobile device
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/acce...tube-tubes-for-dx150-dx200-dx220-p-13983.html

 

[chrisdrop]

Not quite true:
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/23/...s-pandemic-security-privacy-concerns-response
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21241972/microsoft-teams-75-million-daily-active-users-stats

If this pandemic was a few years ago, I would have been let go from my current contract for sure. Microsoft Teams has been indispensable for us remote/wfh folks to be able to communicate with our co-workers. I've also had regular chats with family in Europe over Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Zoom. We communicate more than ever because of modern technology.

But hey, on a related subject I have a tube amp for one of my mobile device
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/acce...tube-tubes-for-dx150-dx200-dx220-p-13983.html

I have felt like a Z-grade film star; on video all day, talking virtual-face-to-face with everyone needed. "Chat" like those apps, has been important, but the video has been essential. Our company is accustomed to having everyone physically together in one location. I can't believe how easily we have acclimatised - due in large part to those sorts of tools.

 

[leftside]

I have felt like a Z-grade film star; on video all day, talking virtual-face-to-face with everyone needed. "Chat" like those apps, has been important, but the video has been essential. Our company is accustomed to having everyone physically together in one location. I can't believe how easily we have acclimatised - due in large part to those sorts of tools.

Same. This will change the world forever. I imagine many business owners and CEO's now asking "do we really need so many expensive offices now..." Office conversions to condos will be picking up soon. Sorry @L0rdGwyn for getting so OT

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Same. This will change the world forever. I imagine many business owners and CEO's now asking "do we really need so many expensive offices now..." Office conversions to condos will be picking up soon. Sorry @L0rdGwyn for getting so OT

Doesn't bother me in the slightest! Feel free to discuss whatever you please.

 

[2359glenn]

Not quite true:
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/23/...s-pandemic-security-privacy-concerns-response
https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21241972/microsoft-teams-75-million-daily-active-users-stats

If this pandemic was a few years ago, I would have been let go from my current contract for sure. Microsoft Teams has been indispensable for us remote/wfh folks to be able to communicate with our co-workers. I've also had regular chats with family in Europe over Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and Zoom. We communicate more than ever because of modern technology.

But hey, on a related subject I have a tube amp for one of my mobile device
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/acce...tube-tubes-for-dx150-dx200-dx220-p-13983.html