Tjj226 Angel
1000+ Head-Fier
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Dont forget the uranium paint.
Between the asbestosis and the lead poisoning I'll be dead in 10 years, but I'll die with a smile on my face listening to pure class A
Im curious. What changes did these make? Glenn mentioned them as a possible upgrade to do on my GOTL when it goes in for surgery.Kiwame carbon film resistors - these are widely used in the DIY community, relatively inexpensive, they are actually rebranded KOA Speer resistors under the Japanese Kiwame brand. Regardless, I replaced the driver plate resistors in my Glenn OTL with these and A/B'd them against some Audio Note tantalum resistors. To my surprise, there was a significant change in sound and I much preferred the Kiwame's, so I've committed to using them in this build where applicable.
Im curious. What changes did these make? Glenn mentioned them as a possible upgrade to do on my GOTL when it goes in for surgery.
Hey D - I only compared them to the other resistor I had on hand that I was planning to put in, the Audio Note tantalums. I talk about it in this post:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/2359glenn-studio.600110/post-15291953
My impressions aligned very closely with what I found here, quite an old post but the point is the same: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/carbon-film-vs-metal-film-revisited.121104/
BTW, try NOS allen bradley resistors. You have to buy a handful of the values you need and match the right resistances, but for what ever reason they have always sounded the best to me and I have a small bin of both kimwame and audio note resistors at my disposal.
I have a feeling its because carbon comp resistors have really low (pretty much 0) series inductance, but that's a complete shot in the dark.
All of the parts for this build have been ordered and they are starting to arrive. Unfortunately, Lundahl's US dealer does not have my LL1620 output transformers on hand, so they are being ordered and will arrive in late Feb. The rest of the build can continue and they will be dropped in at the end. I've had several delays with the chassis which was ordered in late November, hopefully will arrive next week. Otherwise, I am going to post the parts as they come in here to show what is going into this build and why.
Yamamoto sockets - I posted these before, but going to consolidate here. These are excellent sockets, B4 for the MH4 driver tubes, octal for the 6A5G output tubes, and an interesting UX4-B4 combo socket that will allow the use of European 4-volt rectifiers (U18/20, AZ50, RGN2504, FW4/500, etc.) and 5-volt rectifiers (5Z3). Figuring out the optimum wiring for the rectifier socket has been...interesting, we'll see if I can hear the magic when I roll rectifier tubes.
Goldpoint V47 stereo stepped attenuator - I added one of these to my Glenn OTL and really like it, so this amp is getting one as well.
Kiwame carbon film resistors - these are widely used in the DIY community, relatively inexpensive, they are actually rebranded KOA Speer resistors under the Japanese Kiwame brand. Regardless, I replaced the driver plate resistors in my Glenn OTL with these and A/B'd them against some Audio Note tantalum resistors. To my surprise, there was a significant change in sound and I much preferred the Kiwames, so I've committed to using them in this build where applicable.
Clarity Cap TC series filter capacitors - using a 10uF 800V cap as the resevoir capacitor in the power supply (the first cap after the rectifier) and 130uF 600V caps in the last position of the power supply. The 130uF caps will be in the signal path of the output stage, so these high-quality film caps were used. The 130uF are also four-pole AKA Kelvin lead capacitors, which offer extended high-frequency noise suppression (see Morgan Jones Valve Amplifiers). The middle PS cap is a 100uF 600V Nichicon which is on the way.
Miflex KPCU-02 copper foil poly/paper in oil capacitors - these are the coupling caps I am using between the input and output stages. These Polish capacitors are not very well known, but testimonials I have come across say they are a step above the Jupiter copper foil coupling capacitors sonically. Who knows if that's true, but it helps they are also 1/3 of the price and radial-leaded, so much easier to mount in the chassis with a capacitor clamp. Physically, they certainly exude quality.
Audio Note Kaisei non-polar electrolytics - these are what Audio Note has come up with on their quest to re-engineer the famous Black Gate capacitors with the help of Rubycon. These are the cathode resistor bypass capacitors for the output tubes. The driver tubes will not have bypass caps. They are non-polar for reduced distortion.
WBT RCA sockets and speaker binding posts - not much to say on these, they are high-quality German-made sockets and binding posts. A nice feature of the bindings posts is they come with a "puzzle plate system" that locks them in place so they do not twist when being tightened. Noice.
Apex Jr. mil-spec silver-plated copper PTFE wire - Steve at Apex Jr. has been supplying this copper wire to DIYers for a long time. It is good quality, inexpensive, and I didn't want to pay the audiophile markup for boutique wire. Have some shielded single-conductor wire on the way to for the inputs. This will do nicely.
AMR gold fuse - that's right, I bought an audiophile fuse LOL but I didn't feel like going to the hardware store, and it wasn't expensive. I am certain this fuse will be transformative and take me to the audiophile promised land.
The Lundahl mains transformer, chokes, and CCS kits should be here later this week, then the chassis next week, then the fun begins
Very nice....those sockets will last forever.
Is this National Union 6A5G a Sylvania rebrand?At $50 each, they better!
Some more 6A5G tubes arrived today, of different construction. From all of the digging I have done, I have only seen these tubes in three different versions.
The early Sylvania black plate foil getter versions I have posted earlier in the thread (analogous to the "spring top" Sylvania 2A3)
The French-made black plate version manufactured by Visseaux, which I do not have yet
And the ribbed plate D getter version that I received today, made in 1953 (analogous to the "dual mono plate" Sylvania 2A3)
From the short time I have been hunting these tubes, this "dual mono plate" version seem to be much less common. It will be interesting to see how they compare, I'd imagine the differences in sound would be nearly identical to the differences between their 2A3 cousins.
Is this National Union 6A5G a Sylvania rebrand?
http://vinylsavor.blogspot.com/2019/12/tube-of-month-6a5.html
At $50 each, they better!
Some more 6A5G tubes arrived today, of different construction. From all of the digging I have done, I have only seen these tubes in three different versions.
The early Sylvania black plate foil getter versions I have posted earlier in the thread (analogous to the "spring top" Sylvania 2A3)
The French-made black plate version manufactured by Visseaux, which I do not have yet
And the ribbed plate D getter version that I received today, made in 1953 (analogous to the "dual mono plate" Sylvania 2A3)
From the short time I have been hunting these tubes, this "dual mono plate" version seem to be much less common. It will be interesting to see how they compare, I'd imagine the differences in sound would be nearly identical to the differences between their 2A3 cousins.