[replytoken]

Any EAR owners had the pleasure of listening to a Line 2A SE from Dr. Peppard?  I was curious to hear your thoughts.
 
--Ken

 

[replytoken]

Has anybody rolled a 12AY7 into their EAR?  If so, what brand, and what did you think?
 
--Ken

 

[rehabitat]

Red labeled GE 12B4A:
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-VINTAGE-NOS-GE-12B4A-TUBE-MADE-USA-/180512061245?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2
 
This guy only sells to the US so one of you guys should pick this up.  I'll have to keep looking.

 

[replytoken]

Quote:

Red labeled GE 12B4A:
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-VINTAGE-NOS-GE-12B4A-TUBE-MADE-USA-/180512061245?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2
 
This guy only sells to the US so one of you guys should pick this up.  I'll have to keep looking.

If you are having trouble finding a pair of 12B4A's why not contact Dr. Peppard?  I am not certain what is special about this seller.  There is almost no information, and the tubes are sold "as is".  I am guessing you can do better.
 
--Ken

 

[rehabitat]

It's the more desirable one with red print, which seems to be rare.  I have plenty of other types, just none of these.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/239485/mad-ear-purist-hd-appreciation-thread/645#post_6754976

 

[spahn_ranch]

My Purist HD has gone bass anemic in the right channel. Tried both inputs 1 and 2, same result. It does however work nicely as a pre-amp, so I guess the problem is somewhere in the guts/wiring and not the tubes.
 
Any suggestions?

 

[replytoken]

Quote:

My Purist HD has gone bass anemic in the right channel. Tried both inputs 1 and 2, same result. It does however work nicely as a pre-amp, so I guess the problem is somewhere in the guts/wiring and not the tubes.
 
Any suggestions?

I would start with a quick e-mail to Lloyd.  He is good at suggesting diagnostics to try before taking the amp apart.
 
--Ken
 

 

[M0T0XGUY]

Quote:

My Purist HD has gone bass anemic in the right channel. Tried both inputs 1 and 2, same result. It does however work nicely as a pre-amp, so I guess the problem is somewhere in the guts/wiring and not the tubes.
 
Any suggestions?

You could try swapping the left and right tubes and see if things change, just in case it is a tube issue.

 

[BigAmish]

Keeping the wonky-tube discussion going...(cheap bump)
 
I am ashamed to say that up until several days ago I was considering selling my MAD Ear+ HD, but thankfully that has all changed.  For the last several months I have been thinking that I needed an upgrade from my MAD Ear+ HD as I was disappointed that its performance was not really all that better than my Clip+ --> CMoyBB 2.02 --> RS-1 combo.  However, when recently listening in dim light conditions I saw purple haze flare-ups in both of my 12B4As that I never noticed before, and began to think that the batch of Sylvania 12B4A tubes I bought for a song on eBay may not have been as strong as advertised.  I went through all of those suspect eBay tubes & had issues with all but one of them.  I then dug up a little used pair of white labeled GE 12B4As & they fired up without issue.  I listened again, and all of the air, detail, & intimacy that I remembered upon first buying my MAD Ear+ HD several years ago returned in spades.
 
Point being, tube decline can be so gradual as to be nearly unnoticeable unless directly compared against known strong tubes. I am now reconstituting my 12B4A collection with tubes from less dubious sources.  MAD Ear+HD...I could never quit you!

 

[hentai]

Quote:

Thread dying... must ... keep alive...
 
No seriously, I've got a couple things I'd like to discuss in this thread, so please bear with me:
 
1. I've tried my HD-600s with the Ear+ HD these last couple of days and the results were... disappointing. I read pretty much everywhere that the amp was voiced with the HD-600 so I guess my expectations were high, but I feel there's something off with the pairing. With my 5751s*, they sound dull and detail-shy ; with my 12AX7s**, they get their bite back, but they have a bright and somewhat "glassy / hollow" presentation. It might not be a fair comparison, but I feel the Cayin HA-1A makes them sound much more natural/musical.
 
Anyone who has experience with the 600/650 and Ear+ HD combo can comment on this? What tubes do you use, and what presentation do you get? Maybe I just dont have the right tubes. I'd really love for my HD-600 to work just right with this amp... I don't want to get rid of either! ... (OTOH, nothing to say about the RS1i's with this amp.... everything is fine and dandy there!)
 
2. It says on the Mapletree website that the power output of the regular Ear+ HD is only 100mW. (link: http://hollowstate.netfirms.com/HD.htm) How can that be right? This seems really low for a mains powered amplifier. And If the 100mW thing is not right, why would Dr. Lloyd put that on his own website? Pardon my ignorance, I'm not very knowledgeable of electrics and I'm just trying to understand if and how this can be right.
 
Food for thought...
 
 
 
(* Tubes used: GE JG-5751WA TMBP + RCA JRC-5751 DMBP)
(** Tubes used: Raytheon 12AX7 Black plates + GE 12AX7 Grey plates)

I remember when i had the MAD and the hd600 , only telefunken ecc83 suits the headphone , the others like 5751 or 12AX7 are not really good for sennheisers. That may indicate that MAD is not an ideal amp for the sennheiser

 

[Twinster]

Hello
 
Can someone confirm if I can rolled a GE 5965 12AV7 clear top tube in place of my 5751 in my MAD EAR+ purist HD?
 
Thank you!
 
Simon

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Hello
 
Can someone confirm if I can rolled a GE 5965 12AV7 clear top tube in place of my 5751 in my MAD EAR+ purist HD?
 
Thank you!
 
Simon

 
I'm thinking no. But to be sure, you can always email Dr. Peppard. He usually responds within a day or so.
 

 

[Twinster]

I did and here he`s answer:
 
"The heater current is 0.225 A which is higher than the 12AX7 0.15 A. I think the power transformers are OK with this but the heater and plate voltages may fall a bit as a result. It is safe to try. The biasing won't be optimal so I would be surprised of it sounds better but you never know.
 
Lloyd"
 
I'm asking because I saw this post http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/249451/tubes-for-the-mapletree-ear#post_3125938 and  Frihed89 talked about using the12AV7 family with his MAD amplifier. I will try it (I've got 4x 5965 very cheap coming) and report back the result.  his MADww.

 

[Twinster]

Ok, I received the 4x GE 5965 Clear Top that I won on eBay this week and I just want to share with everyone that it sound FANTASTICS!!!!! I'm not kidding. I was not expecting much after I received the message back from Dr. Lloyd at MAD but WOW! soundstage is amazing and the music got a 3D effect that I don't seem to get from my other tubes. The bass is fast and tight (not flabby) and the male/female voices are to die for. I've tried it with my SR225 and DT990/600 and only had to raise the volume from 9 to 10 with my Grado compare to GE 5751 5 Stars. Knowing this tube has a lower MU of 48 compare to 70 for 5751 it's not bad. The only negative I found so far is while no music play if I raise the volume I can hear some noise (microphonic??) that with my other tubes is completely black. Not noticable with music playing.
 
Anyway if someone is interested on trying one in their EAR+ amplifier just send me a PM. I've got the four tubes for only $25 shipped. Much cheaper then my other tubes that average $50 each.
 

CHEERS!

 

[BigAmish]

Quote:

Ok, I received the 4x GE 5965 Clear Top that I won on eBay this week and I just want to share with everyone that it sound FANTASTICS!!!!! I'm not kidding. I was not expecting much after I received the message back from Dr. Lloyd at MAD but WOW! soundstage is amazing and the music got a 3D effect that I don't seem to get from my other tubes. The bass is fast and tight (not flabby) and the male/female voices are to die for. I've tried it with my SR225 and DT990/600 and only had to raise the volume from 9 to 10 with my Grado compare to GE 5751 5 Stars. Knowing this tube has a lower MU of 48 compare to 70 for 5751 it's not bad. The only negative I found so far is while no music play if I raise the volume I can hear some noise (microphonic??) that with my other tubes is completely black. Not noticable with music playing.

Congrats on the find!  Let us know your long-term impressions if you can. 
 
I am enjoying a brand-new pair of red-label GE 12B4As that just arrived today & I love their dynamic range.  Very slightly better than my heavily used white-label GEs (without the microphonics), and considerably better than my green-label JAN GEs whose dynamic range is comparatively poor.
 
Happy listening!