[nwavesailor]

  Alright, so I've only been able to listen for a few hours so these are very early impressions. The only tube I've tried so far is the GE black plate 5670, and for the most part it sounds great! Good detail and soundstage, and no channel imbalance. The drawbacks for me so far with this tube in the Ember v2 (w/LCD-X) is that there seems to be a bit of peakyness or zing to the treble, maybe around 12kHz or so. This works great with some recordings back can be a bit harsh with others. Also it's quite microphonic, as even touching the volume knob results in a sound. Neither the treble peak nor the microphonics were an issue for me with the Mjolnir 2, so either the Ember just doesn't play quite as well with this tube or they need some time to settle in. Time will tell. For the time being I do have some other 6DJ8/6922's to try, and have a Telefunken 12AU7 on the way to compare. 

I think you will find a lot to like with 6DJ8 / 6922's, particularly if they are Ampererx/Philips 'Made in Holland' production. The 12AU7 should be nice as well although I have not heard a real Tele.
 
What I read, regarding the 5670's, was it was very difficult to find 1 that was NOT quite microphonic. What 5670 are you using?

 

[DavidA]

 
I think you will find a lot to like with 6DJ8 / 6922's, particularly if they are Ampererx/Philips 'Made in Holland' production. The 12AU7 should be nice as well although I have not heard a real Tele.
 
What I read, regarding the 5670's, was it was very difficult to find 1 that was NOT quite microphonic. What 5670 are you using?

I had a lot of channel imbalance with 6dj8/6922 tubes (tried the many pairs I have for my Lyr2) but none were microphonic and haven't had any problems with 12AU7/12AX7 so far out of the 40 or so that I have.

 

[westermac]

  I had a lot of channel imbalance with 6dj8/6922 tubes (tried the many pairs I have for my Lyr2) but none were microphonic and haven't had any problems with 12AU7/12AX7 so far out of the 40 or so that I have.

Yeah, unfortunately that seems to be the case with all of my 6DJ8/6922's as well... with my 5670's the center image is perfect but with every single 6DJ8/6922 I've tried it skews to the right... not terribly, but enough to bother me. It's a shame because I was hoping to be all set with my tubes on hand, and it looks like I'll need to stick with my 5670's until I've acquired some 12AU7/12AX7. Any recommendations on more affordable ones (less than $50/each)? I have a Telefunken 12AU7 that should keep me happy for the time being.

 

[DavidA]

 
Yeah, unfortunately that seems to be the case with all of my 6DJ8/6922's as well... with my 5670's the center image is perfect but with every single 6DJ8/6922 I've tried it skews to the right... not terribly, but enough to bother me. It's a shame because I was hoping to be all set with my tubes on hand, and it looks like I'll need to stick with my 5670's until I've acquired some 12AU7/12AX7. Any recommendations on more affordable ones (less than $50/each)? I have a Telefunken 12AU7 that should keep me happy for the time being.

I haven't bought tubes for a while now, probably due to the fact that I have too many and the current prices are so high these days, more so for the 6jd8/6922 family but the 12XXX has also gone up a lot over the last few years.
 
As for recommendations, try a Bugle Boy, or some of the new Electro Harmonix, Gold Lion, or Mullard, they will be a nice compliment to the Telefunken.

 

[nwavesailor]

 
Yeah, unfortunately that seems to be the case with all of my 6DJ8/6922's as well... with my 5670's the center image is perfect but with every single 6DJ8/6922 I've tried it skews to the right... not terribly, but enough to bother me.

YIKES!
 
I now need to listen to see if I hear an imbalance using my 6DJ8 / 6922 / 7308. If it is there, I suppose I will hear it, unless it is very subtle and my 'less than golden ears' can't detect it.
 Most of the 6DJ8 family of tubes I own test pretty closely plate to plate so I will see.
 
I do have some Amperex 12AU7 that sound very good as well as 6SN7, 6F8G, 6J5G and 6C5G w/ adapters. Too many tubes...............too little time!

 

[westermac]

  YIKES!
 
I now need to listen to see if I hear an imbalance using my 6DJ8 / 6922 / 7308. If it is there, I suppose I will hear it, unless it is very subtle and my 'less than golden ears' can't detect it.
 Most of the 6DJ8 family of tubes I own test pretty closely plate to plate so I will see.
 
I do have some Amperex 12AU7 that sound very good as well as 6SN7, 6F8G, 6J5G and 6C5G w/ adapters. Too many tubes...............too little time!

Haha too true. I do have a 6SN7 adapter coming for a pair of Sylvania 6SN7WGTA that I have; very curious to hear those. Will try to keep my focus narrowed down to a few tube types for the forseeable future; just looked at the manual and was absolutely overwhelmed with the list of supported tubes 

 

[Astral Abyss]

 
Haha too true. I do have a 6SN7 adapter coming for a pair of Sylvania 6SN7WGTA that I have; very curious to hear those. Will try to keep my focus narrowed down to a few tube types for the forseeable future; just looked at the manual and was absolutely overwhelmed with the list of supported tubes 

 
and that list doesn't even have them all... there's quite a few more with adapters.  It's madness.

 

[nwavesailor]

 
Haha too true. I do have a 6SN7 adapter coming for a pair of Sylvania 6SN7WGTA that I have; very curious to hear those. Will try to keep my focus narrowed down to a few tube types for the forseeable future; just looked at the manual and was absolutely overwhelmed with the list of supported tubes 

That's a good idea to limit the madness.

 
Truth be told I have found most tubes I tried to be OK with some mo' betta than the others. A lot of personal preferences as well.

 

[mapotofu]

Let the tube rolling begin!
 

 

[nwavesailor]

  Let the tube rolling begin!
 

 
 
NICE.................That's a good selection of 12A flavors you have there, mapotufu!
 
We'll be waiting for your updates and impressions

 

[DavidA]

  Let the tube rolling begin!
 

​Might want to get some Deoxit for cleaning the pins if you haven't already done so

 

 

[nwavesailor]

 
​Might want to get some Deoxit for cleaning the pins if you haven't already done so

 

Yep on Deoxit, but go light on anything applied to tube pins............a little is good, a lot is not!
 

 

[mapotofu]

Thanks, guys, for the suggestion.  I recently got introduced to deoxit for cleaning my mmcx connectors which did wonders for my Shure IEMs and cables.  I never thought I would need them for tubes.
 
This is my first go at tube headphone amps but I have never had to deoxidize the pins for my guitar amps. Will give it a try.  

 

[westermac]

Just to clarify (I'm still new to this) the Ember II does NOT require an adapter for 12AU7/ECC82's correct? I was excited to receive a strong-testing Tektronics Telefunken 12AU7 from a well rated seller and low and behold all I get with it is a ground hum, with no music (the tube isn't lighting up either). Other tubes I've tried (6DJ8, 6922, 6FQ7, 5670) have all functioned properly, is this just a dud or is there something wrong with with my amp?
 
Thanks!

 

[nwavesailor]

  Just to clarify (I'm still new to this) the Ember II does NOT require an adapter for 12AU7/ECC82's correct? I was excited to receive a strong-testing Tektronics Telefunken 12AU7 from a well rated seller and low and behold all I get with it is a ground hum, with no music (the tube isn't lighting up either). Other tubes I've tried (6DJ8, 6922, 6FQ7, 5670) have all functioned properly, is this just a dud or is there something wrong with with my amp?
 
Thanks!

Yes, 12AU7 is fine w/o an adapter. Your photo shows other 12A versions. Did they light up and work?. No tube 'glow' (heaters) is a bad tube.