[robboffard]

The 6BQ5 will not work in the LD4. See below for compatible tubes.

http://littledot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=820&sid=0e615810f969d644902c79770bea6e8d

Ugh. So much for good recommendations! Thanks mate.

 

[Bryce.E]

The brightness of these stock 6J1's in conjunction with my new pair of grado sr325e's makes my ears bleed. I can't wait for my Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV to get here.

 

[dobigstuff]

Recently purchased a Little Dot MKIII through Massdrop and have been experimenting with various tubes--from suggestions from this thread. A big thank you for all the contributors--I have no clue about this stuff and am happy to get any advice.
I have a set of Fostex TH 900 with the Silver Dragon cord from Moon Audio--hoping to tamp down the excessive high end.
Really want to know if there is a good tube to match to these headphones that will tame the high end--
I really love the bass and sound of these headphones but---damn, the high end can get really piercing and frankly unlistenable with certain tracks.
If anyone has any knowledge and experience with this I would be grateful for any advice--
thanks!

Scottsays:

See below on what I finally settled on:

Happy Rolling

 

[MIKELAP]

The brightness of these stock 6J1's in conjunction with my new pair of grado sr325e's makes my ears bleed. I can't wait for my Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV to get here.

Dont think there gonna help your ear bleed

 

[Tony51]

The brightness of these stock 6J1's in conjunction with my new pair of grado sr325e's makes my ears bleed. I can't wait for my Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV to get here.

I found the Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV to be on the bright side on my LD mk2 and less bass than my jan5654w drivers. So far the Jan5654w and the blue glass by siemen are my best tubes. You may want to try the Mullard RTC 5654RT
Tony

 

[mordy]

The brightness of these stock 6J1's in conjunction with my new pair of grado sr325e's makes my ears bleed. I can't wait for my Voshkod 6ZH1P-EV to get here.

Hi Bryce.E,

The Voskhod tubes are bright sounding - don't think that they will help. In addition, they need a very long time to burn in - around 120 hours (compared to 20-50 hours for most tubes).

In my LD MKIII days we rolled tons of tubes, and one of the best driver tubes was the Yugoslavian Ei 6HM5. It is not very expensive at all, and is a good recommendation.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EI-6HM5-EC9...051561&hash=item5d4fdb1092:g:prcAAOSwDk5UEhHk

Be aware that they have a quick heat-up feature that looks like a fiery flash when you turn on the tubes - nothing to be concerned about.

 

[Whelkie D]

Hi Bryce.E,

The Voskhod tubes are bright sounding - don't think that they will help. In addition, they need a very long time to burn in - around 120 hours (compared to 20-50 hours for most tubes).

In my LD MKIII days we rolled tons of tubes, and one of the best driver tubes was the Yugoslavian Ei 6HM5. It is not very expensive at all, and is a good recommendation.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EI-6HM5-EC9...051561&hash=item5d4fdb1092:g:prcAAOSwDk5UEhHk

Be aware that they have a quick heat-up feature that looks like a fiery flash when you turn on the tubes - nothing to be concerned about.

Yep.I'd second that about the Yugoslavian 6HM5s - really nice, detailed & rounded sound ( almost like a mix between the best bits of the Mullards and the Voskhods).

 

[shepperd]

I've been meaning to add to the discussion for some time but haven't gotten to the end of my tube rolling or reached any definitive opinion. First a big thanks to Mordy who started me off with his original post and second a disclaimer; I dont use head phones but I do have a very good system and because I bought a tube buffer/pre with those awful chinese tubes, I found this discussion and it set me off on a long NOS journey. Not counting the dead tubes and a few I haven't tried, I've been thru about 14 variants of the ef95 family, including some that have never been mentioned as far as I know.. I have been pleasantly surprised by the efficient honest and reactive service provided by 99% of the ebay sellers, especially Russian and Ukrainian. A few even sent me extra tubes or ones I didn't ask for!
The reason I'm jumping in is because I have 4 different variants of the Voskhod and while they do take time to break in, none have been bright. The first pair were marked 83, the second were the gold pin variety followed by a very early set (73') which do not have the ribbed glass, finally a set dated 88' To my surprise the last sound the best and have blossomed at around the 50 hour mark.
Granted head phones offer a different sound than speakers and what I hear is no doubt different than what others do. Each tube has a slightly different perspective/sound and it is hard to grade them with any degree of certainty (which hasn't stopped me from trying!) Some tubes just are not as musical and satisfying as others and this is not just audiophilia nitpicking. But I have to say, having spent many hours breaking in each and every set and listening carefully, I always return to the Voskhod as being the best all round tube, especially the 88' variant. I had high hopes for the older variety but they are a bit too polite. Anyway none of this will help anyone who has different ears and equipment. Just my tale and it has been fun (and rather expensive) ordering NOS tubes from far off lands, waiting for days by the mail box, unpacking, inserting, listening...serious fun.

 

[mordy]

I've been meaning to add to the discussion for some time but haven't gotten to the end of my tube rolling or reached any definitive opinion. First a big thanks to Mordy who started me off with his original post and second a disclaimer; I dont use head phones but I do have a very good system and because I bought a tube buffer/pre with those awful chinese tubes, I found this discussion and it set me off on a long NOS journey. Not counting the dead tubes and a few I haven't tried, I've been thru about 14 variants of the ef95 family, including some that have never been mentioned as far as I know.. I have been pleasantly surprised by the efficient honest and reactive service provided by 99% of the ebay sellers, especially Russian and Ukrainian. A few even sent me extra tubes or ones I didn't ask for!
The reason I'm jumping in is because I have 4 different variants of the Voskhod and while they do take time to break in, none have been bright. The first pair were marked 83, the second were the gold pin variety followed by a very early set (73') which do not have the ribbed glass, finally a set dated 88' To my surprise the last sound the best and have blossomed at around the 50 hour mark.
Granted head phones offer a different sound than speakers and what I hear is no doubt different than what others do. Each tube has a slightly different perspective/sound and it is hard to grade them with any degree of certainty (which hasn't stopped me from trying!) Some tubes just are not as musical and satisfying as others and this is not just audiophilia nitpicking. But I have to say, having spent many hours breaking in each and every set and listening carefully, I always return to the Voskhod as being the best all round tube, especially the 88' variant. I had high hopes for the older variety but they are a bit too polite. Anyway none of this will help anyone who has different ears and equipment. Just my tale and it has been fun (and rather expensive) ordering NOS tubes from far off lands, waiting for days by the mail box, unpacking, inserting, listening...serious fun.

Hi shepperd,

Thanks for your thoughtful post. As you say, everybody has different gear and different tastes, and the main thing is to find what you like. Even though there seemed to be some consensus that the Voskhods were on the bright side, it does not mean that they will sound like that to everybody and in every system.
As regards Russian tubes, and tubes in general, it seems that the older tubes were made to higher quality standards than later ones, but there are always exceptions.
The main thing is to derive enjoyment from your system. For me part of the tube mystique is to search for tubes (especially bargains) and to roll different ones.
The Little Dot MKIII came with 6N6P type power tubes. A simple and inexpensive plug in upgrade is the 6SN7(or variants) with an adapter.

 

[shepperd]

My tube buffer/pre has only the two driver tubes, so no power tubes to play with. Regarding old vs new (er), my oldest ones were some 44' Tungsols that neither sounded special nor lasted long. One just went dead. I have had a few nos tubes just die...after searching for weeks I got a set of Tesla (the ones with the white tip) They lasted all of a week. I totally get why older tubes should sound better but unless I'm going deaf, the youngest of the bunch, these 88' Voskhods are my favorites. For the adventurous among you, there are some interesting tubes that may have escaped your attention; namely Melz, svetlana, fryazino, anod, novosibirsk, refrector. I am partial to the anod. There may be yet more discover. I have not tried Mullard or Telefunken.

 

[Tony51]

I've been meaning to add to the discussion for some time but haven't gotten to the end of my tube rolling or reached any definitive opinion. First a big thanks to Mordy who started me off with his original post and second a disclaimer; I dont use head phones but I do have a very good system and because I bought a tube buffer/pre with those awful chinese tubes, I found this discussion and it set me off on a long NOS journey. Not counting the dead tubes and a few I haven't tried, I've been thru about 14 variants of the ef95 family, including some that have never been mentioned as far as I know.. I have been pleasantly surprised by the efficient honest and reactive service provided by 99% of the ebay sellers, especially Russian and Ukrainian. A few even sent me extra tubes or ones I didn't ask for!
The reason I'm jumping in is because I have 4 different variants of the Voskhod and while they do take time to break in, none have been bright. The first pair were marked 83, the second were the gold pin variety followed by a very early set (73') which do not have the ribbed glass, finally a set dated 88' To my surprise the last sound the best and have blossomed at around the 50 hour mark.
Granted head phones offer a different sound than speakers and what I hear is no doubt different than what others do. Each tube has a slightly different perspective/sound and it is hard to grade them with any degree of certainty (which hasn't stopped me from trying!) Some tubes just are not as musical and satisfying as others and this is not just audiophilia nitpicking. But I have to say, having spent many hours breaking in each and every set and listening carefully, I always return to the Voskhod as being the best all round tube, especially the 88' variant. I had high hopes for the older variety but they are a bit too polite. Anyway none of this will help anyone who has different ears and equipment. Just my tale and it has been fun (and rather expensive) ordering NOS tubes from far off lands, waiting for days by the mail box, unpacking, inserting, listening...serious fun.

Perhaps, I need to burn my Voshkod EV some more. I know they are not at the 50 hour mark. Mine are ribbed and while at the moment are on the brighter side, they are indeed very good sounding in fact pretty darn clear. The ebayer I purchased from sells 4 at a time for a whopping 4.51plus 3 something for shipping. Can you tell me exactly the eBayer you purchased the 1988 from? I am also tube rolling and having fun with it. Thanks
Tony

 

[shepperd]

I will get back with the link. This is the seller who send this pair unasked and had previously sold me the older, non-ribbed variety. I want to stress that this could be a fluke. By rights 1988 must have been at the very end of production. I have never seen any later ones. Likewise, one can assume that the people making these must have been packing their bags and not very motivated! By then the whole system was falling apart, the most skilled workers looking for other jobs, the machines aging...
I dont have a paypal account so I have a neighbor order for me and he has no doubt erased his browser history and paypal orders because hew is fed up with my obsession! I do have a mailing address though. Anyway they are cheap so in the worse case you can say my ears are unreliable. What I did notice was that the boxes were original and obviously never opened. The pins on the tubes were shiny and the lettering perfect, showing exact date, the rocket logo and batch number which were identical, none of which I have seen before. Some tubes I have bought had no indication of what they were anymore so I just took it on faith!

 

[Tony51]

so why such a different

"2.3 Mullard CV131/6CQ6

These are very nice sounding tubes with a laid back character that feels like you’re sitting a few rows back from the center of a concert hall. Keeping with the typical Mullard family sound, these tubes emphasize warmth and fullness, a characteristic I find very complimentary for my collection of Grado headphones. Bass quality is excellent in terms of texture and nuance, this is toe-tapping bass without being overpowering. Overall these are very nice tubes with no obvious faults and much to love.
Bass: 17
Mid: 18
Treble: 16
Detail: 14
Soundstage: 16
Total: 81/100

2.4 Mullard M8161/CV401

Focus is the word. This mil-spec version of the Mullard CV131 is one of the best sounding EF92 tubes around. It brings to the table all of the fine qualities of the Mullard CV131 and adds to it a background so extraordinarily quiet you will actually notice the silence between notes. A low noise floor lets details stand out, and music with female vocals in particular is presented with a magical sense of focused intimacy that draws you in and makes you feel as if the singer is standing right next to you, singing into your ears with all the inflections and emotions preserved. Overall this tube is well balanced and ‘audiophile’ sounding and is one of my personal favorites.
Bass: 19
Mid: 18
Treble: 19
Detail: 20
Soundstage: 19
Total: 95/100
"

??

Where can one purchase these Mullard? i cant find them with these exact numbers Mullard M8161/CV401?

 

[Tony51]

I will get back with the link. This is the seller who send this pair unasked and had previously sold me the older, non-ribbed variety. I want to stress that this could be a fluke. By rights 1988 must have been at the very end of production. I have never seen any later ones. Likewise, one can assume that the people making these must have been packing their bags and not very motivated! By then the whole system was falling apart, the most skilled workers looking for other jobs, the machines aging...
I dont have a paypal account so I have a neighbor order for me and he has no doubt erased his browser history and paypal orders because hew is fed up with my obsession! I do have a mailing address though. Anyway they are cheap so in the worse case you can say my ears are unreliable. What I did notice was that the boxes were original and obviously never opened. The pins on the tubes were shiny and the lettering perfect, showing exact date, the rocket logo and batch number which were identical, none of which I have seen before. Some tubes I have bought had no indication of what they were anymore so I just took it on faith!

Ok, thanks, i am standing by for the link.

 

[gibosi]

Where can one purchase these Mullard? i cant find them with these exact numbers Mullard M8161/CV401?

It should be CV4015. However, the Common Valve number, CV4015, is not at all important. It is simply an old British military inventory number for this kind of tube. And in fact, the British military considers the CV4015 and CV131 to be identical. CV4015 is the older number and CV13 is the newer.

The number that matters is M8161 (or 6065). This tube number indicates that it was considered to be somewhat better than the consumer grade EF92. Here, "better" typically means a longer lifetime, more resistance to shock and vibration and so forth. That is, it was designed to be used in more severe environments, such as a military setting or on a factor floor. And this does not mean it will sound better. After all, these pentodes were never designed for use in audio circuits.

IMO, when comparing tubes as above, it is most important to know in which factory and in what year the tubes were manufactured. Without these facts, the above comparison is relatively meaningless. Again, in my opinion.