[tonykaz]

Dear Mr.connieflyer and all y'all Ember folks I've been reading these last few days.  
 
Earlier this year I had a look at a Bottlehead at the Ann Arbor headphone meet, I was impressed.  I was even more impressed with the Valhala 2 on which I was listening to various headphones.  I bought a pair of Audeze 8 Open based on that listen ( only to be disappointed later ).  I was having hearing issues from an explosion I was in close proximity to.  I subsequently had a ear examination at the UofM Medical facility to reveal and to correct, so much so that my home system of Asgard 2 - Sennheiser HD580s seem transformed into a great system.  
 I'm back looking at interesting gear.
Atomicbob, in Seattle, displayed a Sunrise 3 at a Bottlehead Meet and caught my interest. I've ( since ) been sort-of following-along on tube rolling, which took me to this site and all the doings you lads have been up to.  It seems a Curious thing that I find these old tubes interesting, I can't imagine them able to outperform my solid-state gear yet I'm drawn to them, reading all these posts with the excitement of hunting down 6L5s from France seems a fascinating adventure. 
So, I'm pondering the purchase of a Valhalla 2 or Garage1217 Ember or Sunrise or one of those Polish Amps.  
My history began with Glass Tubes ( even WW11 metal tubes ), octal sockets and miniature tubes, building things, solder, volt meters and all that's involved with hobby electronics and sound.  I kinda wish I still had my RCA Tube manuals, maybe I'll find one on Ebay.
Anyway, I'm reading your mail, hope y'all don't mind.  You lads have me leaning in the Ember Direction.  I haven't contacted the Garage folks about anything, yet, although I do see them actively responding to folk's issues.  Seems like a nice outfit to buy products from.  
 I find it surprising that all these Tubes are still out there somewhere, finding their way onto Ebay and into interested parties hands for a useful life of playing music in this 21st Century after long decades of forgotten storage.   Amazing!
 
Tony in Michigan
 
ps.  going Tubes gives new meaning to the term "Old-School"

 

[connieflyer]

Welcome fellow Michigander, I have had quite a journey with the Ember, thought of leaving for a "bigger" better" amp a couple of times, then someone like Howie13 or DecentLevi come up with a new combination, try it and stay with the Ember.  The amp is very versatile well supported and plenty of folks here an around the forums for help or info.  Hard for one person to try everything, so it helps when there are alot of us that will throw down a few bucks to try something else with the Ember.  I have an Ember original number 042 so have been around abit, Got the supercharger installed, tried lots of the small 9pin tubes, like most of them, then Jeremy at 1217 builds an adapter to use 6sn7 tubes with it.  Had to buy one tried it and loved it. Then I got myself a black glass Ken-Rad 6SN7 VT231 and I was in heaven, about that time another member here comes up with the dual tube FrankenEmber (we name the builds to be able to refer to them) these use the 7193 tubes, look cool. then someone comes up with and adapter for 6j5's and the race is on again, some I believe it was Howie13 finds these French tubes Visseaux 6j5's and swears by them, at the same time I found the6L5gt's and these are smooth and holographic love em.  Decentlevi gets the Visseaux 6j5's and I weaken.  Just got those and I think they are probably the best of all I have heard.  The really nice thng with the Ember it can roll so many different tubes it gives you equipment a slightly different sound, flavor just changing the tubes.  the other equipment while it is good it does not have the versatiliy that the Ember has.  What ever you decide and enjoy the company.  Just missed you at Ann Arbor they just had a meet over by the zoo a few months back also.  Farmington is not far from them nice to hear before you buy.

 

[connieflyer]

Howie 13, these Visseaux 6j5's are really great with female vocals  try this one   Then try it wih a celtic harp
 
 
 
Catrin Finch looks a little roufh around the edges but looking at her face you can see the emotion.

 

[tonykaz]

Catrin Finch is wonderful, especially for Harp music lovers like me, yet I own only one of her Albums "Crossing the Stone". 
 
This video prompts me to invest in her music, I kinda forgot about her, somehow.  
 
She's Welch which explains her appearance, Indigenous Welch are a different breed, she does have amazing diction if you hear any of her interviews.  
 
Good Stuff here.
 
Tony in Michigan

 

[HOWIE13]

 
Catrin Finch is wonderful, especially for Harp music lovers like me, yet I own only one of her Albums "Crossing the Stone". 
 
This video prompts me to invest in her music, I kinda forgot about her, somehow.  
 
She's Welch which explains her appearance, Indigenous Welch are a different breed, she does have amazing diction if you hear any of her interviews.  
 
Good Stuff here.
 
Tony in Michigan

Hi Tony and welcome too!
Hope we can help in your quest for your ideal sound.
G1217 is great to deal with-it's not like a commercial mass producing, profit orientated company. Jeremy and Frans do this because they are so enthusiastic about their hobby and when you purchase from them that's just the beginning-they continue to support you all the way on your personal musical appreciation journey. They are also very active on the DIYAH website for more general technical issues.
Ember is so easy to use because it does everything for you-just push in the tube and everything is automated to obtain the best possible performance from a mind blowing variety of tubes. 
I regularly holiday in Wales-the harp is their national musical instrument.

 

[HOWIE13]

@connieflyer
 
'Howie 13, these Visseaux 6j5's are really great with female vocals  try this one'
 
Thanks Connieflyer, that was a lovely way to start my day.
Gorgeous music. It sounds excellent with both 6J5 and 6L5.  Pointless comparing the two- I just submerged myself into the atmosphere and the amp became superfluous to my consciousness.
My daughter often stays with her friend who lives very close to where the sun is shining over the hill in the photo. It's only a very short flight from where we live in Scotland.

 

[Tunkejazz]

Guys I have got lost with so many tubes discussed. I may order the 6J5 adapter after Christmas. Besides the Visseaux, is there a concensus on the "second" best all-rounder for jazz, blues and rock? the Visseaux are a bit steep.

I understood that the Pinnacle are good. What about those beauties that connieflyer showed some days ago (Sylvania?)?

Thanks!

 

[amigastar]

The Project Ember became so musical that i catch myself increasing the volume when listening to music.
To me that's one of the biggest compliments for a musical device (automatically increasing volume because it's awesome)

 

[connieflyer]

Having used the Visseaux 6J5 now for a little while, the jury is still out as to whether it is worth the price.  It is an excellent tube for the Ember but the 6L5,s hold their own  here.  Like Howie13, I have a hard time saying which I enjoy more.  The first 6l5's I have are the Sylvania's and now just received my NOS National Union 6L5's from another supplier.  These were never used and a match to both date and tube measurements.  The Sylvania's were used, still had good stats, but were already burned in, so I will have to wait to see how the newer tubes burn in.  I picked up the newest pair for $16.50 for the pair and free shipping from Ebay, so they are a good place to start, if you want to go down that path.  The adapter was around $25.00, but you will have to have that for any of those tubes anyway.  The Viss's cost me a little over $100 with shipping for the pair.  So before I buy a backup pair, I want to be sure I like them that much. The Pinnacle are Russian and I think it depends on the factory from what I have read.

 

[connieflyer]

Howie 13  Try this to compare Vill's with Nat UNion and see if you prefer one over the other......

 

[HOWIE13]

'Try this to compare Vill's with Nat UNion and see if you prefer one over the other'
 
Hi Don
That sounds like one for later tonight with the lights dimmed. Will try both tubes and post in the early hours.
Cheers.
PS. Am looking forward to your comparison of the two 6l5's.

 

[Mechans1]

  The Project Ember became so musical that i catch myself increasing the volume when listening to music.
To me that's one of the biggest compliments for a musical device (automatically increasing volume because it's awesome)

I am wondering about changing the  resistance on your amp? It think mine is r-low or whatever the default is possibly r- mid, to r-high.  That should also change  the gain.  The reason is that I am working the 12 o'clock region of the vol. pot and I assume the higher power down the line .  The problem would manifest as noise if you work the tube and other components harder than necessary. Has anybody found the best 'r' in your Ember?
You know with that adapter you could use a wide range of triodes.  Anybody want to set up your Ember for dual 300Bs.   

 

[amigastar]

 
I am wondering about changing the  resistance on your amp? It think mine is r-low or whatever the default is possibly r- mid, to r-high.  That should also change  the gain.  The reason is that I am working the 12 o'clock region of the vol. pot and I assume the higher power down the line .  The problem would manifest as noise if you work the tube and other components harder than necessary. Has anybody found the best 'r' in your Ember?
You know with that adapter you could use a wide range of triodes.  Anybody want to set up your Ember for dual 300Bs.   

Acutally what i wanted to say is that i already listening at a good loudness but the sound makes me wanna increase it to even more louder.
I just think the pace, rythm and timing is awesome on this amp and the music reaches you immediate because it's so clear and not veiled, all this makes it so damn enjoyable.

 

[Makiah S]

Jeeze stock tube  on the Starlight KICKS some freaking SUB bass 
 
listening with my TH X00 Alpha an holy crap, volume  knob can only go so high before the sub bass starts to get a little... distorted 
 
running the TH X00 outa my PB2 an I get a nice clean Sub response, with no higher volume distortion 
 
though my Bias Pots are... kinda going crazy lol, BOTH the High/Low LEDs are lighting up every time the bass drops [it's kinda funny to watch actually] 

 

[connieflyer]

 
I am wondering about changing the  resistance on your amp? It think mine is r-low or whatever the default is possibly r- mid, to r-high.  That should also change  the gain.  The reason is that I am working the 12 o'clock region of the vol. pot and I assume the higher power down the line .  The problem would manifest as noise if you work the tube and other components harder than necessary. Has anybody found the best 'r' in your Ember?
You know with that adapter you could use a wide range of triodes.  Anybody want to set up your Ember for dual 300Bs.   

I think it is dependant on the headphone you use, mine is on low r using hd 650's.  You can change the setting without turning off the pwr, I did this to find the adjustment I liked best.  Settled on low R setting.