[kman1211]

I'm not sure how they could change the sound. They should be sonically inert.

They should be sonically inert but the difference is very obvious to my ears, I tried it with and without numerous times. Sometimes the difference is greater than changing tubes, especially in regards to what happens to the soundstage and imaging. Each tube reacts differently to the socket savers as well, some more favorably than others. But generally the sound becomes a little brighter overall and more spacious with the socket savers. 

 

[crixnet]

I've not heard that. I'd be curious to hear Bob's take on this, being that he is a master roller with decades of experience.

 

[kman1211]

I've not heard that. I'd be curious to hear Bob's take on this, being that he is a master roller with decades of experience.

I haven't really come heard about anyone else who has bothered to swap the socket savers in and out to see any sonic changes as they can be a pain to remove. The only reason I started testing this is because I immediately noticed a change in the sound when I first put the socket savers in. I use a tube I don't like(stock tube) or a bad tube to easily take the socket savers out. It would be interesting to hear his opinion of this.

 

[RedBull]

@Kman, you are not alone, my socket savers change the sounds of my tube. See my recent post in ember thread.
I even ask around if tube socket is easily damage or not otherwise i won't bother to use socket savers.
It could also possible i got a not so good quality socket savers.

 

[rb2013]

I've not heard that. I'd be curious to hear Bob's take on this, being that he is a master roller with decades of experience.

I did a long and very extensive comparison with and without the socket savers - I could not tell a difference good or bad.
 
PS Now on cables...Whoa!  A whole other matter.  But let's not go down that rabbit hole!

 

[rb2013]

I haven't really come heard about anyone else who has bothered to swap the socket savers in and out to see any sonic changes as they can be a pain to remove. The only reason I started testing this is because I immediately noticed a change in the sound when I first put the socket savers in. I use a tube I don't like(stock tube) or a bad tube to easily take the socket savers out. It would be interesting to hear his opinion of this.

Which socket savers are you using?

 

[kman1211]

Which socket savers are you using?

The novib ones, the older model. I found cables to really change things as well. Makes me wonder why I'm noticing such a difference with the socket savers. I did tests where I had only one socket saver in and each channel sounded different on the same tubes.

@RedBull - I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed a difference, I have two socket savers and they both impact the sound so who knows.

 

[Exacoustatowner]

The novib ones, the older model. I found cables to really change things as well. Makes me wonder why I'm noticing such a difference with the socket savers. I did tests where I had only one socket saver in and each channel sounded different on the same tubes.

@RedBull - I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed a difference, I have two socket savers and they both impact the sound so who knows.

Time to start Socket Savers Rolling!

 

[rb2013]

The novib ones, the older model. I found cables to really change things as well. Makes me wonder why I'm noticing such a difference with the socket savers. I did tests where I had only one socket saver in and each channel sounded different on the same tubes.

@RedBull - I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed a difference, I have two socket savers and they both impact the sound so who knows.

I had the older novib and they started to fail - began hearing noise.  I recently got the news ones and those issues are gone.  I roll an intense amount and just wore the old ones out.
 
My system is pretty refined - can hear differences in buffer size changes in Foobar - same for ASIO vs KS.  Small things like that.  And the HD800's are notorious for responding to slight SQ changes as well.
 
Well simple enough solution,if they don't work for you - just don't use them.

 

[kman1211]

 
I had the older novib and they started to fail - began hearing noise.  I recently got the news ones and those issues are gone.  I roll an intense amount and just wore the old ones out.
 
My system is pretty refined - can hear differences in buffer size changes in Foobar - same for ASIO vs KS.  Small things like that.  And the HD800's are notorious for responding to slight SQ changes as well.
 
Well simple enough solution,if they don't work for you - just don't use them.

So the pair of socket savers I have could possibly be defective? I don't dislike all the changes that it makes. But it does hurt the clarity a bit and there is a bit of a fuzz in the background with them.
 
I find my system fairly refined as well, subtle differences like that are noticeable. Though I don't think I have anything as sensitive as the HD 800. My most sensitive headphone to changes is the K712, though I find the HD 650 and HD 600 more sensitive to changes than they initially let on. 
 
True, I may try getting a newer pair of socket savers eventually, though I don't have trouble swapping tubes without them and I generally don't swap tubes a lot. 

 

[rb2013]

  So the pair of socket savers I have could possibly be defective? I don't dislike all the changes that it makes. But it does hurt the clarity a bit and there is a bit of a fuzz in the background with them.
 
I find my system fairly refined as well, subtle differences like that are noticeable. Though I don't think I have anything as sensitive as the HD 800. My most sensitive headphone to changes is the K712, though I find the HD 650 and HD 600 more sensitive to changes than they initially let on. 
 
True, I may try getting a newer pair of socket savers eventually, though I don't have trouble swapping tubes without them and I generally don't swap tubes a lot. 

Well my 1st pair of those novib did fail (the top plate began to drop and the little gold pins got out of alignment).  Tubemonger has excellent customer service and sent me a free replacement right away.  The second set lasted through hundreds (maybe thousands of rolls), so I can not fault them.  I do like the pin guidance molding on the new ones -highly recommended!

 

[kman1211]

 
Well my 1st pair of those novib did fail (the top plate began to drop and the little gold pins got out of alignment).  Tubemonger has excellent customer service and sent me a free replacement right away.  The send set lasted through hundreds (maybe thousands of rolls), so I can not fault them.  I do like the pin guidance molding on the new ones -highly recommended!

I may try getting some in the future. Not in a hurry though, I like the tubes deeper set as I don't have a lot of room on my desk and don't want to accidentally hit the tubes.
 
I'm still experimenting with tube rolling. I'm thinking these 63' GE red labels with foil plated o-getters I just got are my best pair yet, so much depth to the sound and the soundstage is wider than all my other tubes. Maybe a bit too lush with the HD 650 but I enjoy it regardless as things became smoother and more transparent and I do like my sound on the lush side. I'm getting that turn your head thinking the sound is really there effect a lot. Hopefully burn-in makes it even better. Still a bit of a novice with tube rolling, but I find it nice coming across tubes that surprise you with their sound, I can see why it's addicting.

 

[crixnet]

 

  So the pair of socket savers I have could possibly be defective? I don't dislike all the changes that it makes. But it does hurt the clarity a bit and there is a bit of a fuzz in the background with them.
 
I find my system fairly refined as well, subtle differences like that are noticeable. Though I don't think I have anything as sensitive as the HD 800. My most sensitive headphone to changes is the K712, though I find the HD 650 and HD 600 more sensitive to changes than they initially let on. 
 
True, I may try getting a newer pair of socket savers eventually, though I don't have trouble swapping tubes without them and I generally don't swap tubes a lot. 

Well my 1st pair of those novib did fail (the top plate began to drop and the little gold pins got out of alignment).  Tubemonger has excellent customer service and sent me a free replacement right away.  The send set lasted through hundreds (maybe thousands of rolls), so I can not fault them.  I do like the pin guidance molding on the new ones -highly recommended!

+1 on the new, most current Novib socket savers. There is no audible difference in sound, with them or without them. And I prefer having more grip on the tubes. Makes rolling super-simple.

 

[DavidA]

 
+1 on the new, most current Novib socket savers. There is no audible difference in sound, with them or without them. And I prefer having more grip on the tubes. Makes rolling super-simple.

I think I got these from your recommendation a while back in this thread, got 2 sets since the shipping to Hawaii kills me on some purchases.

 

[rb2013]

  I may try getting some in the future. Not in a hurry though, I like the tubes deeper set as I don't have a lot of room on my desk and don't want to accidentally hit the tubes.
 
I'm still experimenting with tube rolling. I'm thinking these 63' GE red labels with foil plated o-getters I just got are my best pair yet, so much depth to the sound and the soundstage is wider than all my other tubes. Maybe a bit too lush with the HD 650 but I enjoy it regardless as things became smoother and more transparent and I do like my sound on the lush side. I'm getting that turn your head thinking the sound is really there effect a lot. Hopefully burn-in makes it even better. Still a bit of a novice with tube rolling, but I find it nice coming across tubes that surprise you with their sound, I can see why it's addicting.

I had a pair of the rare '59 Sylvania Fat D Getter 7308's that were like that - really lush.  Very Euphonic, if not as detail as some.
 

 
+1 on the new, most current Novib socket savers. There is no audible difference in sound, with them or without them. And I prefer having more grip on the tubes. Makes rolling super-simple.

+1  I like the new ones better as well.  Never did try the Ebay - Chinese made ones.