[mordy]

Hi Jolfr,
 
Welcome to the forum!
 
Here is a recipe for sound that it is at least three levels better than stock for the MKIII for a small cost:
 
A pair of Ei 6HM5 tubes for drivers.
 
A pair of inexpensive Sylvania 6SN7 tubes for power tubes. In addition you need a pair of socket adapters to use the octal tubes as well as a pair of socket extenders since the adapters are too wide to fit into the socket opening for the power tubes.
 
Everything is plug and play.
 
So there you are - what it took us several years to figure out you can benefit from right away - no need to wade through all the possibilities that were explored in a couple of hundred posts....

 

[jaywillin]

  Hi Jolfr,
 
Welcome to the forum!
 
Here is a recipe for sound that it is at least three levels better than stock for the MKIII for a small cost:
 
A pair of Ei 6HM5 tubes for drivers.
 
A pair of inexpensive Sylvania 6SN7 tubes for power tubes. In addition you need a pair of socket adapters to use the octal tubes as well as a pair of socket extenders since the adapters are too wide to fit into the socket opening for the power tubes.
 
Everything is plug and play.
 
So there you are - what it took us several years to figure out you can benefit from right away - no need to wade through all the possibilities that were explored in a couple of hundred posts....

 
would these be available on ebay or another supplier, or would they need to be made ? , i've got some yugo 6hm5's already

 

[stvn758]

Someone please tell me there's an easy way to switch the jumpers so I can finally listen to my Yugoslav tubes. Pulled both the little bastards out but no matter which tweezers I use cannot get them back in. Looks like they upgraded the new MK3 to something a little easier.
 
Is there a helpful guide on here to pulling apart the amp without destroying it so I'm not poking through a hole in the bottom for hours on end. I unscrewed the rear and top screws but only some of the rear end guts came out, the odd looking black ones on the front panel gave me pause for thought - do they require a special bit or are they just black washers?
 
What happens if I play the amp without the jumpers in, nothing untoward I read, only need them for the other family of tubes.
 
Could have made the whole on the bottom a bit bigger, maybe a nice flap you could unclip, nothing too grand.
 
 
Managed it in the end, lots of shaking the thing about to get the jumper back out. Bloody newbies eh!!
 
Guess it would help if I actually had the right set of tubes, the Yugoslav ones I have are the same as the previous ones and don't need the jumpers changed - hence the silence. What was I thinking, obviously wasn't.

 

[gibosi]

Received an US-made Amperex E182CC/7119 today.
 
US on the left and Heerlen on the right.
 

 
I have been searching for a US-made E182CC for several months now. Frankly, I find most Heerlen-made tubes to be a bit too lush for my taste. This is likely somewhat due to the fact that my HD700s are pretty bright, as many others love, love, love the Heerlen sound.
 
Since I prefer US-made E88CC over the Heerlen-made tubes, I thought it was worth trying a US-made E182CC. However, US-made E182CC appear to be quite rare. Further most I have seen were manufactured in the 1970s and into the 1980s. I have yet to see one manufactured in the early to mid 1960s, which is my preference. In the end, this 1972 tube (ID8 *2F) was the earliest I could find. For comparison purposes, the Heerlen tube on the right was manufactured in 1962 (ID2 ⊿2A1). Interestingly I cannot detect any construction differences in these tubes even though manufactured 10 years apart in different factories.
 
I am pleased to report this tube lights up and plays. Will have more to say after burn in.

 

[mordy]

Hi jaywillin,
 
Here is a link to a pair of socket extenders:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-9-PIN-TUBE-SOCKET-SAVER-FOR-12AX7-12AU7-ECC82-ECC83-tube-amp-audio-DIY-part-/161584664637?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item259f32503d
 
Here is a link to the octal to 9pin adapters:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191082280257?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
$4.29 + $18.31x2 - $2 combined shipping = $38.91
 
Here is a starter pair of Sylvania 6SN7 tubes with the bidding starting on $7. (There are a lots of choices - this is just one example)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-6SN7-GTA-Sylvania-Tubes-Used-/141564857510?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f5ec4ca6

 

[jaywillin]

  Hi jaywillin,
 
Here is a link to a pair of socket extenders:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-9-PIN-TUBE-SOCKET-SAVER-FOR-12AX7-12AU7-ECC82-ECC83-tube-amp-audio-DIY-part-/161584664637?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item259f32503d
 
Here is a link to the octal to 9pin adapters:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191082280257?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
 
$4.29 + $18.31x2 - $2 combined shipping = $38.91
 
Here is a starter pair of Sylvania 6SN7 tubes with the bidding starting on $7. (There are a lots of choices - this is just one example)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-6SN7-GTA-Sylvania-Tubes-Used-/141564857510?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f5ec4ca6

thanks, the octal the 9-pin adapter was the the main think i was having trouble finding 

 

[MIKELAP]

  Someone please tell me there's an easy way to switch the jumpers so I can finally listen to my Yugoslav tubes. Pulled both the little bastards out but no matter which tweezers I use cannot get them back in. Looks like they upgraded the new MK3 to something a little easier.
 
Is there a helpful guide on here to pulling apart the amp without destroying it so I'm not poking through a hole in the bottom for hours on end. I unscrewed the rear and top screws but only some of the rear end guts came out, the odd looking black ones on the front panel gave me pause for thought - do they require a special bit or are they just black washers?
 
What happens if I play the amp without the jumpers in, nothing untoward I read, only need them for the other family of tubes.
 
Could have made the whole on the bottom a bit bigger, maybe a nice flap you could unclip, nothing too grand.
 
 
Managed it in the end, lots of shaking the thing about to get the jumper back out. Bloody newbies eh!!
 
Guess it would help if I actually had the right set of tubes, the Yugoslav ones I have are the same as the previous ones and don't need the jumpers changed - hence the silence. What was I thinking, obviously wasn't.

   I use these extended jumpers with a pair of needle nose pliers no more panic attack lol  .mordy made a pair of jumpers with an extension  on them page 220  post #3297 .                                                                                                                                                                   

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

Where did you buy those extended jumpers?

 

[MIKELAP]

  Where did you buy those extended jumpers?

Check out Ebay

 

[stvn758]

Now that is ingenious.

 

[WilliamLeonhart]

  Check out Ebay

Sometimes I forgot the obvious (___-_____!)

 

[stvn758]

These 6HM5 EC900 EI Yugoslavia tubes I was recommended on here are quite feisty, aren't they. Like someone has turned the gain setting up. Always amazed when you swear you can hear things you never heard before on a CD with a new bit of kit added - tried my go to slice of audio heaven ( ) and dauðalogn by Sigur Ros for testing purposes, not sure if it's the placebo effect but wow!
 
They are very precise and detailed once you get over the initial 'boom', my gain setting is at it 4 at the moment, not sure if dropping it all the way down will add something else to the mix.
 
What's the burn in time on these, not the hundred hours for the Matched Voskhod Gold pins Gold grid 6ZH1P-EV 6AK5 EF95 403B 5654 6J1 1975 NIB I just took out.

 

[buldogge]

I don't have the Yugo 6HM5s, but I do have equivalent GE 6HQ5s and I have found the same thing.  I really like this tube family!  
 
Having said that, for the past few days, I have been rolling Mullard M8083s (70's, blue glass) and I think I like the slightly less boomy gain...seems like maybe it is a little more revealing...a little smoother.
 
Need to do a quick back-to-back...have to deal with the jumpers of course.
 
-Mark in St. Louis
 
Quote:

  These 6HM5 EC900 EI Yugoslavia tubes I was recommended on here are quite feisty, aren't they. Like someone has turned the gain setting up. Always amazed when you swear you can hear things you never heard before on a CD with a new bit of kit added - tried my go to slice of audio heaven ( ) and dauðalogn by Sigur Ros for testing purposes, not sure if it's the placebo effect but wow!
 
They are very precise and detailed once you get over the initial 'boom', my gain setting is at it 4 at the moment, not sure if dropping it all the way down will add something else to the mix.
 
What's the burn in time on these, not the hundred hours for the Matched Voskhod Gold pins Gold grid 6ZH1P-EV 6AK5 EF95 403B 5654 6J1 1975 NIB I just took out.

 

[buldogge]

Do you guys ever buy tube lots off eBay that are untested?
 
Obviously it's a gamble...but I'm thinking $10 for 3-4-or-5 tubes might be worth a play...???
 
Also, for you guys that know something about tube testers...
 
I recently bought a couple TS Mouse Ears 6SN7GTs off eBay...2 different sellers.  I also bought a pair of Sylvania GTBs.  I have an old Pacific 'Dial Junior' tester...it uses a simple 0-100 meter scale.  I tested all the tubes I bought, against the sellers numbers.  Their numbers are always xx/yy...My number (amp setting) doesn't necessarily match either of their numbers...but...4 of the 5 tested as good, and were in a similar range to these sellers 2nd number.  One of the TSs tested only 59 on my tester ("replace").  
 
Of course, I can't real world test it yet, because I don't have the sockets to finish my adaptors.
 
Thoughts???
 
TIA
-Mark

 

[lagigia]

Hello!
I have LD MkIII. I am testing Mullard M8100 and Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV with power tubes Electro-Harmonix 6H30Pi Gold.
 
I can decide which one is better, M8100 and 6ZH1P-EV sounds really similar to me.
 
Thoughts?