[rawheadjim]

I never knew about those shiny knobs until I just compared pics on their site, the Freya+ was my first piece of Schiit! I also bought the Lokius later and those black anodized knobs do look pretty good actually. I guess if I go ahead and order the Valhalla, at least I know the matt knobs will match my Freya+!

 

[1kHz]

I never knew about those shiny knobs until I just compared pics on their site, the Freya+ was my first piece of Schiit! I also bought the Lokius later and those black anodized knobs do look pretty good actually. I guess if I go ahead and order the Valhalla, at least I know the matt knobs will match my Freya+!

That is true. I like to match things up, makes it classy lol

 

[AstronomerXI]

Woot! I scored a pair of matched Telefunken ECC88’s for my N. I have a pair that are the best that I’ve heard in my stack and I wanted a backup pair. The seller dropped the price US$10 and included shipping. That’s a CDN$40-$50 total saving. I jumped on it as soon as eBay emailed me with the price drop.

 

[emorrison33]

I have a Freya N. Been buying some tubes (like the Telefunken E88CC-TK) and a few that were suggested to me. There is some discussion going on at the main Schiit thread about heater currents. Is there any disadvantage to running, say 6922's with the 300mA current, over the 6N1P 600mA current? Like, am I reducing the gain or something like that?

 

[sam6550a]

I have a Freya N. Been buying some tubes (like the Telefunken E88CC-TK) and a few that were suggested to me. There is some discussion going on at the main Schiit thread about heater currents. Is there any disadvantage to running, say 6922's with the 300mA current, over the 6N1P 600mA current? Like, am I reducing the gain or something like that?

No. It is just a characteristic of how the heater is wound within the tube.

 

[emorrison33]

No. It is just a characteristic of how the heater is wound within the tube.

Thanks for the reply! Much appreciated.

 

[OhHeyItsLou]

I returned the PSVANE CV181 and ordered two new ones in the hope that they would make less noise.
I also ordered two PSVANE 6SN7-SE GLOBE and two Shuguang CV181-Z.
My impressions in GAIN-section:
Shuguang CV181-Z
Very pleasant highs, good bass, stage is bigger and i feel a little distance to it, hard to explain
PSVANE CV181-T
As expected, very detailed, close and emotional, but again with a little hiss in muting or silent moments.
PSVANE 6SN7-SE GLOBE
Very similar to the CV181-T but noticeable more dynamic and lively

I heard all tubes many times in all combinations.
But everytime i hear this combination it catches me:
GAIN: PSVANE 6SN7-SE GLOBE
BUFFER: Shuguang CV181-Z

So, this is my clearly winner. And also it looks nice.

Just pulled the trigger on all of these tubes. Do any of them need socket savers to fit?

 

[Matthias0421]

The PSVANE CV181 and Linlai E-6SN7 fits only to 40-50%.
I hear no difference with or without socket savers, but i think better to use with socket savers.

The Shuguang CV181-Z and PSVANE 6SN7-SE GLOBE fits perfectly, fully inserted. (see the picture)

 

[OhHeyItsLou]

The PSVANE CV181 and Linlai E-6SN7 fits only to 40-50%.
I hear no difference with or without socket savers, but i think better to use with socket savers.

The Shuguang CV181-Z and PSVANE 6SN7-SE GLOBE fits perfectly, fully inserted. (see the picture)

I’m only 50hrs into the burn-in process and I really like this combo, thanks!

 

[OhHeyItsLou]

Delete

 

[Matthias0421]

I’m only 50hrs into the burn-in process and I really like this combo, thanks!

Good to hear, I'm not the only one who has this impression.
I like this combination everyday a little more...

 

[AstronomerXI]

At @Paladin79's recommendation over a year ago, he recommended to me some Soviet Reflektor ECC88 tubes for the cathode follower sockets for my Freya N. They are inexpensive, readily available, and made a positive difference over the stock tubes that came with my Freya. For the past couple of weeks I've had my new set of Telefunken's in the differential gain sockets. A couple of weeks ago I started hearing some random hissing noise while listening to music. I traced it to one of the follower tubes, thankfully, so I pulled them and replaced with the stock tubes or similar spares that I have on hand. In the meantime, I soaked the Rockets in Deoxit for over 24 hours, gave them a thorough cleaning, and brushed them with Deoxit Gold.

Anyhoo, with the non-Reflektors the music was lacking something or rather, I was missing something that was there before, some ingredient that gave the sauce that extra thing that kicks it over the line from good to very good. Last evening I put the Reflektors back in and settled in for more of Apple Music's Jam Band playlist while I read some more of Tolkien's "The Silmarillion" (great book, BTW, not at all the slog I was warned that it would be). The good news is that there was no hissing or other unwanted noise. The music sounded amazing. Detailed, warm, and oh-so-tubey! The chain was M1 Mac Mini->Gumby->Freya N->Lokius->Sys->Magni Piety>HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite headphones.

For those of you with Freya N's, what tubes are you using in the follower sockets? Any other recommendations?

<Edited to correct socket type>

 

[Smoothstereo]

I’m only 50hrs into the burn-in process and I really like this combo, thanks!

Hi, can you let me know what are the names and models of the tubes? How do they sound? Thanks.

 

[jlemaster1957]

In the meantime, I soaked the Rockets in Deoxit for over 24 hours, gave them a thorough cleaning, and brushed them with Deoxit Gold.

Pls can you elaborate on this process, ie what are the benefits, risks, up and downsides of doing it? This was the first time I’d heard of doing it, though I did find this short thread on it, but it’s more “how to do it” than why or why not do it, thanks…

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/do-you-clean-the-feet-on-nos-tubes.444361/#post-5998200

 

[AstronomerXI]

Pls can you elaborate on this process, ie what are the benefits, risks, up and downsides of doing it? This was the first time I’d heard of doing it, though I did find this short thread on it, but it’s more “how to do it” than why or why not do it, thanks…

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/do-you-clean-the-feet-on-nos-tubes.444361/#post-5998200

I bought this kit from Amazon. I poured some Deoxit D into the 2 cups provided, and stood a tube upright on its leads in each of them. Once they soaked overnight or for 24 hours, I dried the leads on a paper towel and/or the pads they supplied. I used a sponge-tipped stick provided in the kit to wipe off any easily removed oxidation and liquid. I then used one of the wire brushes to further remove oxidation, then gave it a last-pass scraping with a glass-fibre pen. Both the kit and pen are available from Amazon. I then lightly brushed the leads with Deoxit Gold to prevent corrosion in the future. There are basic cleaning process instructions on the back of the kit.

Some folks recommend a good cleaning with 99% alcohol and/or a simple household Magic Eraser instead. Certainly, Deoxit D is good for removing oxidation from the leads. There's lots of discussion on tube-lead cleaning on many forums around the 'net.