[donunus]

Skylab,
I just actually sent a pm to leeperry earlier today letting him check out your impressions on the mp301 since he was looking for a tubey tube amp. I am actually also very interested in hearing that amp for myself one of these days.

Leeperry,
Those supposed groove tubes (6zh1p-ev) sound the most solid state among all the ld mk2 tubes Ive tried

 

[donunus]

If I were to actually rate the tubes Ive heard with my ld mk2... here are my rankings from top to bottom



1. WE403B Most balanced tube Ive had or heard for this amp so far. I believe that the leftover limitations of the amp is probably due to the circuitry itself and not because of this tube.


2. Tung-sol (unknown year/variant) My favorite before the WE just arrived. It is only a little brighter and thinner in the lower mids but other than that, it is more neutral than the other tubes Ive had.


3. Mullard EF92 Overall more dynamic and neutral than the stock 6ji. Much more neutral than the clone Mullard EF91 I had but they have less punch and aggressiveness than those. I only found out it was lacking some bass detail and sounded slightly artificially wide when my tung-sols were swapped in while using my new uDac.


4. Voshod 6zh1p-EV I think thats the right name Anyway, they are punchy but less aggressive than the ef92. The highs are relatively neutral but the bass has a little too much energy in the 100hz up region which made my cans a little boxy sounding with them. I still prefer them overall to the stock tubes though. The sound is more solid state than the stock 6ji so some might actually prefer the 6ji over them.


5. CV4010/EF91 Very punchy and dynamic sound but fatiguing because of its aggressiveness in the long term.


6. Stock 6ji they are okay but are no match for my top 3. In direct comparison with the tung-sol I did recently, they are noticeably grainier and also more uncontrolled and sloppy sounding.


7. Some generic 6ak5 tube I forgot the brand.... At first I thought they were more neutral than the 6ji because of the lack of the 6jis peak somewhere in the highs. I was wrong, these tubes did more wrong to the sound than the 6ji in the long term.


I listen to all the tubes using various segments from more than a dozen songs with different genres so that I can round up their flaws pretty accurately. Some of the tubes above are rated by memory but I have already taken notes and have written impressions of them before. Their sound relative to my latest tubes are still familiar to me through the comparison of my latest tubes to the stock 6ji and the mullard ef92. The new impressions are done with the tubes paired with the russian 6n6p power tubes.

The stock chinese 6n6 power tubes make the vocals more forward than the russian 6n6p tubes but are also more grainy and are less refined/slower sounding tubes. I actually remember preferring the stock power tubes with the mullard ef92 driver tubes because it made the mullards more musical. I guess it was just because the Russian power tubes showed the mullards wide sound more which I didn't like so much. It is sort of like a k701 sound added to my hd580s

 

[leeperry]

hah, I've decided to put an end to my opamp rolling fever...but tube rolling doesn't look any more sane

this one looks quite nice for 100 EUR shipped on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Xiang-Sheng-708B...mZ250578266112

4 tubes so better crosstalk specs I guess?

 

[David.M]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KMASCII /img/forum/go_quote.gif internethandle (and anyone else asking about the M8161's): I'd just gotten the Little Dot DAC_1 and an extra pair of Mullard M8161 (CV4015). Like your DAC, the LD DAC definitely cleans up the sound and introduces some really nice imaging to the MKIII. And the only way of describing it is, as you said, clean. I listen with HD650's and although the default EF95 tubes sounded good, they lacked a bit of the midrange detail that the M8161's have now brought out. The slight brightness, and bassyness, of the default EF95 tubes is also gone. I'm not sure what you might call a SS sound. But the EF92's (the Mullards at least) did tame the slight brightness for my ears, and smoothed the highs overall. Conversely, the highs seem to be better defined (better balanced?). On the bass end, the M8161's will bring a little more definition too, but not as full as with the default EF95's. Which for me is a big bonus. All-in-all, the sound is more balanced and nothing seems out of proportion. Now... whether this is SS sounding to you I'm not sure. But the M8161's will be smooth, but more defined and balanced. No frequencies are standing out now and they all seem to compliment each other nicely. Keep in mind that what I've described is when listening with the HD650's. The Little Dot DAC_1 has a digital filter setting. And this digital filter setting impacts the characteristics of the sound too. The HD650's and M8161's (EF92's) sound best to me with the LD DAC's digital filter set to sharp. Now, I've just plugged in my Grado 325is and compared to the HD650's the Grados sound thin (which they do anyway). For me, the Grado's aren't kind to the lower range frequencies at the best of times. However, when I switch my DAC's digital filter to slow, then the Grados become more listenable and the thinness is lessened. I need to find some good mellow tubes for these Grados. So... I don't believe the HD600's would be as bright as the Grado's. But I think that the HD600's will be more similar. The LD DAC is, I believe, very transparent (save the digital filter). Or, if not entirely transparent, at least presents a very, very clean sound. I think that you would enjoy the sound of the Mullard M8161's if those were the EF92's you ended up buying. They bring more midrange detail compared to the default EF95's. And they smooth the highs and lows which actually enhances the detail. I suppose the decay and imaging aren't as hidden. Nice tube for the Sennheisers, the Mullard M8161 I mean.

i wholeheartedly agree with this post.

MKIII + Mullard M8161+ LD DAC_1 = terrific combination.

They sound excellent with my Beyer's just as well as they do with your Senn's

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by leeperry /img/forum/go_quote.gif but you have to agree that there's a lot of biased reviews on headfi..

A review by nature is biased. Unless you are just reporting bench test statistics, a review is someone's opinion of something. An opinion is not a neutral thing.

If you mean that all reviews on Head-Fi tend to be positive I'd agree with that. If the equipment is a loaner from a manufacturer, the reviewer might feel obligated to say something positive, or if they didn't like the piece, to not post a review at all.

If the reviewer owns the equipment, they probably don't want to go into detail about a product they don't particularly like.

Negative criticisms tend to be short, one or two sentence posts, while positive reviews tend to be quite lengthy.

 

[leeperry]

well yeah, noone wants to kill the free review samples golden goose

 

[Shizdan]

Just wondering what happens if I have the jumpers set wrong?

Ex. Using Ef95 Tubes with Ef92 jumper settings

 

[donunus]

Im guessing it will destroy the ef95. If the other way around, you wont hear sound but it probably wont damage anything

 

[roky10]

Enjoying the Brimar cv138 as we speak very nice!

 

[theryaner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by page28 /img/forum/go_quote.gif @Shizdan I got some Groove tubes for my MKII from here Made by Russia , Voskhod, Kaluga: (X./1975).

I got these yesterday and I have about 10 hours on them. I love them! I have 6h30-PI gold pin power tubes and I was using mullard m8100 drivers before. It was good, but I felt it rolled off the sound waaaay too much. It made my grado 325is sound like a sennheiser. Now it retains that grado crunch while keeping the highs in check. Hopefully the bass will improve over time. For the price, these things are amazing. Tubes should never be rated by it's price.

 

[debitsohn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by theryaner /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got these yesterday and I have about 10 hours on them. I love them! I have 6h30-PI gold pin power tubes and I was using mullard m8100 drivers before. It was good, but I felt it rolled off the sound waaaay too much. It made my grado 325is sound like a sennheiser. Now it retains that grado crunch while keeping the highs in check. Hopefully the bass will improve over time. For the price, these things are amazing. Tubes should never be rated by it's price.

interesting. but i really shoudlnt!

 

[page28]

I have been given a box of valves by a neighbour, Mostly TV stuff but there were a couple of Brimar 6AM6 (cv138) (these give really solid Bass), some Zaerix 12au7's , some Marconi ECC804 (6/30l2) and a pair of Mullard E88CC 's both the latter look to be pin compatable with the 6N6 power tubes. Has anyone tried them out ?

 

[thebasso]

i got some RCA Command 5654 blacks and am totlally impressed. the sound stage is impressive as well as ballenced. These tubes rock for rock.
RCA 5654w sound great as well, very good sound stage.
I find that 6J1 tubes are the worst and probably the cheapest.
RCA or Sylvania 6AK5's are for a soft airy sound with all types of music.
These are with the jumper caps on.
So far this my contribution to cause.

 

[thebasso]

i got some RCA Command 5654 blacks and am totlally impressed. the sound stage is impressive as well as ballenced. These tubes rock for rock.
RCA 5654w sound great as well, very good sound stage.
I find that 6J1 tubes are the worst and probably the cheapest.
RCA or Sylvania 6AK5's are for a soft airy sound with all types of music.
These are with the jumper caps on.
So far this my contribution to cause.

 

[jjsoviet]

Hi. I'm fairly new to tube rolling and I would like my MKIII to have an ever more crisp, dynamic sound. Since I don't know all of the models of vacuum tubes, can anyone recommend me some good pairs? Also, please help me with the installation and jumper settings. Thanks!