[smellster]

I have a colleague with a couple of EL3N tubes which he rates highly in his DIY projects.
 
Does anyone know if these would these work in my Ember I guess by way of a dual EL3N to 6SN7 adapter? Or is the heater current draw going to be too high for the Ember?
 
Loving the Ember by the way, I have the ZMF X VIBRO MK II arriving today so looking forward to trying them out with the Ember.

 

[DecentLevi]

@sneaky415 has snuck in a way to make this happen:
(borrowed from the Elise thread, where this tube is king)

Dual EL3N's would be required in order to get a stereo signal and the voltage draw exceeds the capacity of the Ember, so he's using a socket saver and an external power supply. I'm using my EL3N on the Elise with an EL3N to 6SN7 adapter on a 6AS7 to 6BL7 adapter, but I'm not sure which adapter he's using.

 

[DecentLevi]

On second glance, he's clearly using:
6DJ8 to 6SN7 adapter
6SN7 octal saver (with external wire to power supply)
6SN7 to dual EL3N adapter
  All findable on eBay

 

[smellster]

  On second glance, he's clearly using:
6DJ8 to 6SN7 adapter
6SN7 octal saver (with external wire to power supply)
6SN7 to dual EL3N adapter
  All findable on eBay

Thanks so much for the rapid reply.
I didn't even realise such adapters with a wire to an external power supply existed. Sounds like an exotic thing to try so I found the required adapters on ebay with XulingMrs, I guess the external wire to a 6 volt 2 amp power supply will do the trick.
 
Thanks again.

 

[sneaky415]

  Thanks so much for the rapid reply.
I didn't even realise such adapters with a wire to an external power supply existed. Sounds like an exotic thing to try so I found the required adapters on ebay with XulingMrs, I guess the external wire to a 6 volt 2 amp power supply will do the trick.
 
Thanks again.

Hi, DecentLevi is correct, those are the adapters Im using. I bought a variable power supply at that auction site. Link is here. You will also need a copper wire to ground the power supply to the ground on the rca inputs. I also bought some thicker power cables for it since the ones that came with the power supply got quite hot.
 
Its now my favourite setup for the Ember, I am really curious how it compares to the Elise. If the Elise is clearly better then I would like to purchase one.

 

[db003206]

  I have a colleague with a couple of EL3N tubes which he rates highly in his DIY projects.
 
Does anyone know if these would these work in my Ember I guess by way of a dual EL3N to 6SN7 adapter? Or is the heater current draw going to be too high for the Ember?
 
Loving the Ember by the way, I have the ZMF X VIBRO MK II arriving today so looking forward to trying them out with the Ember.

I'm running the same Ember -> ZMF x Vibro Mk II setup and loving it. The ZMFs could have more subbass but that's my only complaint and it's a small one.

 

[DecentLevi]

For anybody who is considering going the above EL3N route in the Ember, I HIGHLY suggest the below option instead. It costs only a little more, but gives much better sound and greatly improved tube rolling versatility.
 
EL3N + 6BL7

Photo of this in my Elise - except for the Ember you would also need the octal saver and 6SN7 adapter below it.
 
For this you would need:
6DJ8 or 12AT7 to 6SN7 adapter
6SN7 octal saver with external power supply (or battery P/S for reducing possible humm)
6AS7 to 6SN7 / 6BL7 dual dapter
EL3N to 6AS7 adapter (quantity 1-2 depending on you)
  + 1-2 EL3N and 1-2 6BL7 tubes
 
This adapter gives vast tube rolling possibilities and the above combo specifically gives absolutely exquisite sound and by far the best home audio I have ever heard in my entire life (with the Elise anyway)! With this versatile adapter, you can now mix & match 1-2 of any of the following: 6SN7, 6BL7, 6BX7 and EL3N - all except for the later are very cheap tubes! May the first one to try this marvel at the best sound ever from the Ember to date!!! 

 

 

[dpump]

I would check with Jeremy at Garage 1217 before using 6BL7 or 6BX7. Both of these tubes draw 1.5 amps and will cause the Ember to run very hot and could cause eventual breakdown. I asked Jeremy a while back about these tubes and he ended up using them in a Solstice (if I am remembering correctly) but he had to modify the amp to handle the heater current. I tried each of them in my Ember1 with Supercharger, but the Supercharger module was very hot after a short time, so I took them out.
 
I also don't know why you would want to use a 6BL7/6BX7,which are dual triodes, and then another tube on an adaptor in the Ember when the Ember needs either a dual triode or 2 single triodes. The Ember is nothing like the Elise, so thinking you can duplicate a tube combination that works on the Elise on the Ember may not be advisable.

 

[DecentLevi]

I have extensive experience from owning both amps, and have successfully duplicated 5-10 instances of combinations from one to the other and visa-versa. The Ember uses a 6DJ8 which, with a 6SN7 adapter is exactly identical to the 6SN7 circuitry the Elise uses as driver tubes. The photo at the very top of the page with dual EL3N's was actually a concept somebody borrowed from the Elise thread which it uses in the power tube position; which according to his results, works also in the Ember. However that is a tube combo that was used in the power slots of the Elise, it works on the Ember by running on an external power supply to give the required 6v / 2ah voltage, which bypasses the heat current of the Ember. The dual EL3N combo shown on top has been successfully tested in both amps (if using the external P/S method for the Ember as shown), likewise the 2nd proposed combo with the 6AS7 adapter uses the same connecting adapters and circuitry below each respective dual adapter, hence it is basically guaranteed to also work in the Ember.
 
Jeremy will likely not endorse either of the above combos because as a manufacturer he tends to stay on the safe side of caution, just like the Elise owner. But nonetheless, outstanding results have been achieved from the ingenuity of fellow Head-Fi'ers who dare to take a small risk and think outside the box. I personally don't own the Ember anymore, but just thought I'd post the above concepts so I can watch in admiration of just how far my fellow Ember tube rollers can take this thing. It's a very versatile adapter that can finally give you the chance to try the likes of two 6SN7's, etc. etc. and can really make it "soar to great new heights", LOL 

 

 

[DavidA]

Stupid question here, can you use 6DJ8 tubes in the Elise with an adapter?

 

[DecentLevi]

Hi again David, you most certainly should be able to, as the front driver tubes, if such a 6SN7 to 6DJ8 adapter (big --> small) exists - but the general consensus is that the larger 6SN7 and especially 6J5 have better audio properties than the smaller ones

 

[DavidA]

  Hi again David, you most certainly should be able to, as the front driver tubes, if such a 6SN7 to 6DJ8 adapter (big --> small) exists - but the general consensus is that the larger 6SN7 and especially 6J5 have better audio properties than the smaller ones

Hi DL, thanks for the info, only reason I asked is I have some really good 6DJ8/6922 tubes for my Lyr2 and I actually liked the 12XXX tubes in the Ember better than the 6SN7 (3) tubes that I tried.  I was thinking that if I got the Elise I would like to make use of the investment in tubes that I currently have, the 6DJ8/6922 (42 pairs) and the 2 sets of TS-5998, 1 pair of WE421A and 1 pair Bendix 6080

 

[HOWIE13]

 
Hi DL, thanks for the info, only reason I asked is I have some really good 6DJ8/6922 tubes for my Lyr2 and I actually liked the 12XXX tubes in the Ember better than the 6SN7 (3) tubes that I tried.  I was thinking that if I got the Elise I would like to make use of the investment in tubes that I currently have, the 6DJ8/6922 (42 pairs) and the 2 sets of TS-5998, 1 pair of WE421A and 1 pair Bendix 6080

This might be what you are looking for?:
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1pc-ECC88-6DJ8-6922-6N11-TO-6SN7-6N8P-VT231-B65-Tube-converter-adapter-/201042793753?hash=item2ecf159519:g:b8gAAOSwNsdXSsJ~

 

[Lohb]

Quick non-tube question to Ember 2 users, would you be able to run IEMs off your unit at low gain or is it too powerful to do that or would have a background noise etc ?

 

[HOWIE13]

Well, interestingly for me it is a question of the tube because, at least with my SoundMagic IEM's, the only way to reduce background hiss with my Ember2 is either to use a lower gain tube, or to increase the output impedance, the latter usually adversely affecting the sound quality.
 
There is hiss with most tubes I use with my IEM's, even those tubes with an amplification factor of about 17-20.(ECC82, 6SN7, dual 6J5), though with this amplification the hiss is very quiet and not intrusive on the music and my IEM's sound fine. Above this amplification though, the hiss becomes progressively intrusive and I can only use some ECC88 tubes with my IEM's, not all.
 
The hiss with ECC81 and ECC83 tubes universally precludes their use with my IEM's, but, of course, I wouldn't normally want to use such high gain tubes with low impedance, high sensitivity cans anyway.
 
The gain module on Ember2 affects the input, not the output, and has no affect on this noise though invoking its use will of course allow  greater rotational use of the volume control and is usually necessary with my low impedance, high sensitive cans.
 
Different IEM's would perhaps yield different results.