[Pricklely Peete]

Thanks Sky......crap shoot basically.

Peete.

 

[Skylab]

Yeah - you have to be able to tell what you are getting from looking at photos of the tube construction or else you could overpay. I went ahead and bought the Zaerix EL84's because they were fairly priced for Russian tubes. But if they had been priced like UK EL84's, and I had gotten them and only then discovered they were Russian, I would have been really mad.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Well considering the sleeve of 6 is bin'ed at 20US, it's a safe bet they aren't anything special, although the Vendor seems completely upfront about the origin...as in he hasn't a clue. The tube in question has a close up shot, after careful study between the Zaerix and a Mullard CV (I have on hand), it's tough to make an uneducated guess

.....It does seem to me that the Zaerix construction seems a little sloppy when compared to the real deal....then again that may not be an indicator of overall SQ....However this turns out I thank you Sky, for the valuable info...

Peete.

 

[easycure]

Hi all,

i just bought three pairs of new tubes because of your recommendations. I think i have a new addiction and im doomed

I bought:
Mullard M8161 / CV4015 Mil. Spec
Tung-Sol 6AK5W 5654
GE Five Star 6AK5

Cant wait until they arrive.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easycure /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hi all, i just bought three pairs of new tubes because of your recommendations. I think i have a new addiction and im doomed I bought: Mullard M8161 / CV4015 Mil. Spec Tung-Sol 6AK5W 5654 GE Five Star 6AK5 Cant wait until they arrive.

DOH.....

Don't worry it's well worth the $$$$ spent

Peete.

 

[HeatFan12]

X2...



Peete, how do you like those 6H30PI-DR's...?

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeatFan12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif X2... Peete, how do you like those 6H30PI-DR's...?

Man are they something........expensive bastards though.....still getting used to them. They have about 85 hours on them so they are almost mature. They sure do extend the freq ranges and are smooooooooth from top to bottom. Nice tubes.

I'm really liking what they bring to the MK III. I imagine DR's are overkill cost wise for the MK III but what the hell, I'm an idiot with money to spend (at times)....This should be a good excuse for me to buy a MK IVSE, except I really want to get the MK VI....dang it all, decisions, decisions

Peete.

 

[HeatFan12]

Thanks Peete

My finger has been on the trigger many times, however, I have held off. I guess I'll wait just a bit more. Thanks again for the info, very helpful...

 

[One Fan To Another]

I just recently did the 120Ohm resistor mod and DAMN does my MKIII get hot now with these EH 6H30PI golds.

What does anyone think is the next best mod I should try?

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

double post.

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by One Fan To Another /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just recently did the 120Ohm resistor mod and DAMN does my MKIII get hot now with these EH 6H30PI golds. What does anyone think is the next best mod I should try?

I assume you've looked through the tube rolling options for the driver tubes? I especially like the sound of the EF91 (especially the blue-glass Mullard M8083) with the 6H30Pi, I think they synergize very well and the Mullard M8083 is quite an underrated tube around here in my opinion.

Speaking of upgrade, I'm planning on getting these gold-plated jumpers to use with my M8161, looks promising and solves my problem with the stock jumpers. Jumper Upgrade Little Dot Headphone Amp Gold Plated - eBay (item 280270773534 end time Oct-24-08 12:47:41 PDT)

 

[Penchum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I assume you've looked through the tube rolling options for the driver tubes? I especially like the sound of the EF91 (especially the blue-glass Mullard M8083) with the 6H30Pi, I think they synergize very well and the Mullard M8083 is quite an underrated tube around here in my opinion. Speaking of upgrade, I'm planning on getting these gold-plated jumpers to use with my M8161, looks promising and solves my problem with the stock jumpers. Jumper Upgrade Little Dot Headphone Amp Gold Plated - eBay (item 280270773534 end time Oct-24-08 12:47:41 PDT)

Those are pretty nice! I've been looking for a bulk seller on these, but haven't had any luck yet. Please let us know your impressions of them. Getting rid of hassles is almost always a good idea.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by One Fan To Another /img/forum/go_quote.gif I just recently did the 120Ohm resistor mod and DAMN does my MKIII get hot now with these EH 6H30PI golds. What does anyone think is the next best mod I should try?

That's a loaded question

Not sure how to answer that one other than upgrade the output coupling caps (WIMA 3.3 uf 63V) in it for better quality film and foil type then bypass those with small value .033uf or .015uf Teflons....

That's a pretty good upgrade over the stock parts.

My amp gets pretty hot too...I put large brass cone point footers on the bottom giving it a little better air flow underneath...seems to have helped it quite a bit to shed heat quicker and run a little bit cooler overall. I also needed the clearance for the huge .1uf 600V Teflon bypass caps (on the output coupling caps) that wouldn't fit inside

Peete.

 

[One Fan To Another]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dept_of_Alchemy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I assume you've looked through the tube rolling options for the driver tubes? I especially like the sound of the EF91 (especially the blue-glass Mullard M8083) with the 6H30Pi, I think they synergize very well and the Mullard M8083 is quite an underrated tube around here in my opinion. Speaking of upgrade, I'm planning on getting these gold-plated jumpers to use with my M8161, looks promising and solves my problem with the stock jumpers. Jumper Upgrade Little Dot Headphone Amp Gold Plated - eBay (item 280270773534 end time Oct-24-08 12:47:41 PDT)

I now have the EH 6H30Pi Golds to go with my Sylvania 6AK5 Gold tubes. I may try a couple Mullard M80XX tubes but I really liked the sound I was getting with these broken in Sylvanias.

I JUST put in the EH power tubes so I'll have to wait a bit for final judgement but as of right now I think I may have liked the stock power tubes that were in there better (again - can't judge 'till after burn in). Some of the bass I had seems to have tightened up, not for the better, but may loosen up after burn in.

 

[Shizdan]

I'm a noob at all this and what i have gatherd from this thread is
-Basically when order, i need to order 2 of the same tubes and put them in hte fron (driver tubes)
-Mullard M8100s are pretty popular
-The Stock Tubes are the EF95
-Matched Tubes are better / More stable / More comforting...I Don't know how to put it

Great Comparison of Tubes from ethebull......

"Stock GE's vs. Mullard M8100 vs. Amperex 5654

I use my amp purely for CD and LP listening. The system I own and used for this tube comparison is as follows: Marantz DR700 CD Player/recorder > Transparent Digital Link Plus Coax > Theta DS Pro Basic II D to A converter > Monster Cable M1000i interconnects > Melos MA-333 Preamp > Transparent Music Link interconnects > Little Dot MKIII HP amp > AKG K240 Sextett later production cans circa 1981

Some fave cuts from Cds that I love:

T Bone Burnett “River of Love” from self titled Dot release 1986
Great recording direct to two track. All acoustic. Exceptionally natural sound on a good system

Lou Reed “Hang on to Your Emotions” from Set the Twilight Reeling 1996
Lou used some awesome Soldano Custom tube guitar amps for this recording. Love Fernando Saunder’s fretless bass lines here.

Beck “Loser” from Mellow Gold 1994
Subterranean bass, interesting studio effects, a head banging demo piece.

Lucinda Williams “Fruits of My Labor” from World Without Tears 2003
The drummer uses brush sticks and the textures are quite a challenge to get just right. Rich bass.

I installed the original tubes and let the amp warm up for 20min., played the four songs, switched to the Mullards and waited 10 minutes, repeat, Amperex, repeat, then repeated the whole business a second time.

There are differences in the three tubes, but for every characteristic I’ll describe here, you could preface each adjective with the words “subtly” or “very subtly”. I wrote down notes while listening and what follows is a pretty simple laundry list.

The stock tubes. I thought the amp sounded darn good right out of the box. It did improve after break-in. Now, revisiting the stock tubes, I find I’d be happy to live with them indefinitely.

Great clarity, good balance, clean, acoustic guitar has sparkle, spacious air in the highs, very clean sound. You could mistake this amp as being solid state. Bass is a bit leaner than the others in weight and depth. Sound stage is flatter, vocals and instruments are more forward.

Mullards. Fuller bass, Beck intro goes deeper, Vocals less in face, full sounding in general. Slightly softened attack on tom/snare, fuzzier detail or slight veiling, textures not quite as clear.

Amperex. Vocal similar in depth to Mullard but cleaner, bass line very clear, Beck intro still deep, Beck’s voice less “canned” sounding, Highs have air but not forward sounding. Maybe a touch soft in a euphonic way. Great texture to brush drum sounds. Good warmth.

So for me the winner here is the Amperex. Between the stock GE’s and the Mullards, I’d call it a toss up. You give up some clarity for more bass with the Mullards. The Amperex seem to combine the other two’s strengths without their short comings.

Now I’d like to hear what others say about non-EF95 series options.

Enjoy the tunes,

E"