[markkr]

Quote:

 
Here is a seller with a low starting price if you are interested in these tubes:
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-MATCHED-TUBES-6J1P-EV-GOLD-GRID-6J1P-EF95-6F32-6AK5-NOS-80s-/250898160881?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item3a6ab21cf1

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[donluca]

Hey mordy, I can say that my Voskhods from the '73 didn't change sound signature after more than 100 hours of burn in... now I'm burning in some Voskhods gold/platinum grid from the '87 and sound a bit more tamed on the highs... will report back when they'll have at least 50 hours on them.
 
BTW, today arrived my french EF91 tubes! Maybe tomorrow I'll give them a go to see how they perform.
 
EDIT: hey, it turned out that a pair of the french tube are military grade! They have the top shielded and the navy logo on them (the anchor)!

At first they are sounding less harsh on the highs but the sound seems a bit veiled... lets see if after some burn in they get better!

 

[dadong]

okay so my m8100, 80's voshkods, mullard ef92's. all came in one go. I will post impressions as I try out these diffrent tubes.
 
So far M8100's sound extremely smooth very nice. great seperation, good mids and fair highs. I like these already. it's very musical. 
 
The 80's voshkods are simply amazing. before burn in they have just the right amount of treble the soundstage isn't nearly as wide as the burned in 70's voshkods. otherwise they are the same as the 70's version except a lot cheaper
 
the mullard ef92's are quite bright but extremely detailed. the soundstage so far is around the same as the voshkods I think i'll let these burn in since i feel they have the potential to turn into somehting great.

 

[Impulsive]

dadong, thats pretty much the same experience I have because i have the same tubes as you do, but instead of EF92 i have Mullards EF91 and these are very bright.
I think I still didnt passed 120 hours burn-in time with Voskhods, because I havent been listening to music lately very much. But we will see.

 

[dadong]

hmm it turns out that the ef92's i got were the 6CQC variation by mullard. no wonder it didn't sound as good as the mullard ef95's now i went back and got the proper tubes. damn it more waiting. 
 
now i think the mullard m8100 might be my favorite tubes of the bunch. XD damn the separation and the tight bass impact is just mouth watering. 

 

[mordy]

Hi Dadong,

You are pointing out an amazing aspect of the Mullard M8100 tubes: separation and delineation of individual instruments in the sound stage. No other tube that I have tried does this as well as the M8100. In addition, on some old mono recordings (20's), these tubes will portray a limited sound stage as well. On certain recordings you can place the players right, left and center, even though it is a mono recording.
In addition, the mid range of these tubes is beautifully warm with the glorious tube sound.
So far in my experience, the best power tube combination with the M8100s has been the OEM 6N6P-i tubes.

 

[dadong]

really now the 6n6p-i.. i might have to look into getting a few of those. I'm runninng the MKIV so stock tubes are the 6n30ps which are too damn expensive. Anyone with hands on experience on how the 6n6p-i holds up against the 6n30p in a mkiv?

 

[mordy]

I should have pointed out that I only have experience with the Little Dot MkIII. However, looking at pictures it seems that the MkIV basically is the same with higher quality components. I am not aware of a comparison regarding how the two models sound relative to each other.

 

[dadong]

Cool my EF91's came as well as 1955 raytheon ef95s
 
so far initial impressions of of the raytheon's is that it sounds very similar to the m8100's but it has heavier bass and more recessed mids. The instrument seperation isn't nearly as good as the mullards (i've been spoiled by it) however, the highs are brighter. The tubes have a slightly v shaped curve. These are fun little tubes which will be loved by bass heads. 
 
ah god these mullard ef91's are amazing.. just needs a bit of eqing to tame the lows (77hz area) and they become fantastic. everyone needs to check these out. they go for pretty cheap too.

 

[donluca]

hey dadong,
I'm really interested in these ef91 mullards, the problem is that I cannot find them for cheap on the bay.
The cheapest I've found are 6 euros each + 6 euro shipment, which breaks my valve spending rule.
Do you get them anywhere for cheaper?

 

[dadong]

hmm when i got it i was able to win a bid for 3 of them for around 10 bucks or so, however from the looks of it there arn't any deals right now. you might have to wait a bit for them then i guess. 

 

[mordy]

Hi DonLuca,
 
dadong is absolutely right - if you want a good deal you have to be patient. If you take your time, you will find somebody who has the tubes you want and does not try to get a fortune for them.
 
Another valuable point is: Communicate. Ask questions from the seller. Some of these people do it as a sideline and hobby and like to hear from people. In several instances the seller threw in extra tubes in the sale after I told him that I have this little amp that only takes the 6AK5 "peanut" tubes and that I cannot really use the other 200 tubes he has for sale.
 
One gentleman that sold me several tubes told me that he restores old tube equipment and suggested that I try a tube that is an equivalent to the 6AK5. (A friend of his had told him that it would give better bass than the 6AK5.) This tube is called 6AJ5 which is an older tube than the 6AK5.
I asked David Zhe Zhe of Little Dot about it, but he said that he has no experience with it and cannot recommend it.
I kept on looking at the specs, which were almost identical to the 6AK5 with the same pin out. Another friend (a retired electronics engineer) thought that it would work, but based on the specs the gain would be a little lower, which just would mean that I would have to turn it up a little more. (Correct assessment)
 
I decided on looking for Tung Sol tubes since I only have good experiences with them. After a couple of weeks I found a seller that  met my buying criteria; $8 for two tubes, including shipping. I popped in the tubes. Would the thing work? Explode? Don't worry, everything is fine.
 
The gold grid 6N6P sounded a little soft with these tubes, so I put in the OEM 6N6P-i power tubes. First impression is very positive: Nice fat bass, very good mid range and crystal highs. The sound is very nice and very listenable - will let you know further impressions when I have more time on these tubes.
 
So if the tube rolling bug bites you, you may want to give these a try. There are many US manufacturers that made these tubes. No $68 tubes here, because there is almost no market for these tubes.
 

 

[donluca]

Thank you mordy, I'll definitely look after your suggestions!

 

[dadong]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mullard-EF91-vintage-valve-tube-x-2-International-postage-available-/180735805195?pt=UK_Consumer_VintageAudio_RL&hash=item2a14b1870b#ht_500wt_1413
 
yo donluca check this out...
 
Edit: btw anyone heard of the mullard stc ef91 valves??? i got a pair along with my normal ef91's and they are pretty amazing too. 

 

[donluca]

hey thank you dadong, I added them to the list under observation! I hope I can get them!