[Trance_Gott]

I cleaned the pins.

 

[dailydoseofdaly]

I cleaned the pins with something like detoxit but result is the same.

Darn

 

[Sort]

Have a birthday coming up and would love a few recs for tubes with the unfortunate high-end amount of money being 150. I already blew through my yearly allotment of audiophile gear when I bought the Lyr and Hifiman 500.
 
I'm still learning the sound of the 500. When I'm only half listening or half awake, I don't get the imaging intuitively or even accept how some of my older MP3's  are just going to sound subpar.
 
Anyway, for tubes what I'd like is more sound separation, a little more defined bass even with the cost of less bass, of course the blisses of clarity. I'm still with the stock tubes, so shouldn't be too hard to make a mini-leap here. Thanks....

 

[W0lfd0g]

It sounds like you need some telefunken ECC189s.  Until recently I had been using them withmy HE-500 and they have all the characteristics you describe. 

 

[Fearless1]

Quote:

Have a birthday coming up and would love a few recs for tubes with the unfortunate high-end amount of money being 150. I already blew through my yearly allotment of audiophile gear when I bought the Lyr and Hifiman 500.
 
I'm still learning the sound of the 500. When I'm only half listening or half awake, I don't get the imaging intuitively or even accept how some of my older MP3's  are just going to sound subpar.
 
Anyway, for tubes what I'd like is more sound separation, a little more defined bass even with the cost of less bass, of course the blisses of clarity. I'm still with the stock tubes, so shouldn't be too hard to make a mini-leap here. Thanks....

Mininwatt 6BQ7A has the best separation of all my tubes and a major bass increase over the stock tubes.

 

[jsplice]

Quote:

Doh! I must be doing something wrong or my hearing is off.  After spending hundreds on tubes, I like the stock GE tubes the best.

 

Here's what I have:

 

• GE 6BZ7 (mv Stock - 2 Pairs)
• Amperex 6DJ8 / ECC88 - A-Frame, PQ label
• Matsu****a E88CC 6922 Japan - MINT NOS NIB Mullard Tooling
• Mullard CV2492 E88CC 6922 - 1969-1978 Dimple Disc Getter 
 
Should I try some PCC88?

 
I used a new pair of Gold Lion 6922s for a few weeks, and in the meantime received a replacement set of stock GE's from Schiit, as the ones that came with my Lyr were putting out a high pitch noise in one channel.  I popped the GE's back in tonight, and I too for some reason seem to prefer them over the Gold Lions.  Kind of disappointing, as the matched set of Gold Lions were about $90 shipped.  I think the GE's provide a bit more of that "tube sound" which sounds good through the LCD-2s.  I think the Gold Lion 6922s are good if you're looking for nothing but transparency, although the Gold Lions could be a bit more extended as well.  I will have to try another tube eventually, but after spending the money on the Gold Lions, I'm afraid to sink a lot more money for other tubes that don't give much of an improvement (if any) over the stock GE's.

 

[MickeyVee]

I think I'm just going to stick with the stock GE's.  Was looking for some Telefunken and other German tubes but I'm not willing to drop $200 on another set of tubes.  I heard the LCD2 through my system and they're absolutely awesome!  That's probably my next step.
Quote:

 
I used a new pair of Gold Lion 6922s for a few weeks, and in the meantime received a replacement set of stock GE's from Schiit, as the ones that came with my Lyr were putting out a high pitch noise in one channel.  I popped the GE's back in tonight, and I too for some reason seem to prefer them over the Gold Lions.  Kind of disappointing, as the matched set of Gold Lions were about $90 shipped.  I think the GE's provide a bit more of that "tube sound" which sounds good through the LCD-2s.  I think the Gold Lion 6922s are good if you're looking for nothing but transparency, although the Gold Lions could be a bit more extended as well.  I will have to try another tube eventually, but after spending the money on the Gold Lions, I'm afraid to sink a lot more money for other tubes that don't give much of an improvement (if any) over the stock GE's.

 

[jsplice]

Quote:

I think I'm just going to stick with the stock GE's.  Was looking for some Telefunken and other German tubes but I'm not willing to drop $200 on another set of tubes.  I heard the LCD2 through my system and they're absolutely awesome!  That's probably my next step.

Yea man I'm actually very surprised by these stock GE's.  I was almost sure the Gold Lion's would blow them away.  I have a matched quad of the Gold Lion KT88's in my PrimaLuna ProLogue Two integrated speaker amp, and those were a HUGE improvement over the stock KT88s, so I was just assuming the Gold Lion 6922's would give me the same boost over the stock GE's in the Lyr.....wrong.  But like you, I'm reluctant to spend $200+ on tubes for the Lyr only to find out they only provide a marginal improvement over the GE's, especially after spending $90 on the Gold Lions and finding out I prefer the stock ones anyhow.

 

[tokendog]

Quote:

Yea man I'm actually very surprised by these stock GE's.  I was almost sure the Gold Lion's would blow them away.  I have a matched quad of the Gold Lion KT88's in my PrimaLuna ProLogue Two integrated speaker amp, and those were a HUGE improvement over the stock KT88s, so I was just assuming the Gold Lion 6922's would give me the same boost over the stock GE's in the Lyr.....wrong.  But like you, I'm reluctant to spend $200+ on tubes for the Lyr only to find out they only provide a marginal improvement over the GE's, especially after spending $90 on the Gold Lions and finding out I prefer the stock ones anyhow.

 
The 61NP are better in terms of bass for the Lyr with LCD-2 - if that is something that interest you.
The Matsu 6922s clean up the sound a bit, but seem to lose a little bit of the bass.  Out of the GEs, the 61NPs, and the Matsus, I found the 61NP to be the ones I prefer for the type of music I listen to.
 
The 61NP also seemed to remove the veil that the GE put on the sound.  Plus, the 61NP only cost $20 for a pair from Schiit.

 

[DougofTheAbaci]

Sorry to hijack a bit, but what would you guys suggest for a Lyr and HE-500 pairing, in terms of tubes to try? I have the JJ ones form Schiit currently installed. I would be interested in something that might have a bit more low-end bass than the current tubes, but I'd hate to sacrifice anything on the high end, or the soundstage. Any suggestions?
 

 

[333jeffery]

Not to sound like a broken record, but the best tubes for the Lyr are the Telefunken E288cc's. Expensive, but they are rated for 10,000 hours of operation. Until you try them, you are only hearing part of what the Lyr is capable of.

 

[SeaHawk]

Quote:

Not to sound like a broken record, but the best tubes for the Lyr are the Telefunken E288cc's. Expensive, but they are rated for 10,000 hours of operation. Until you try them, you are only hearing part of what the Lyr is capable of.

 
Rut roh...

 

[paradoxper]

I think the argument would be made that the best tubes for Lyr are Lorenz and Siemen's. I didn't really care for the Telefunkens. Mullard CV2493 were my fav tube with Lyr though.

 

[Sort]

270 pages of tube rolling to land at what came with the Lyr. Sigh. Maybe I'll hang onto my money to save up for something else. Thanks though for the recs. I will most likely still splurge. dBtubes.com Has anyone bought from them?

 

[jsplice]

Quote:

 
The 61NP are better in terms of bass for the Lyr with LCD-2 - if that is something that interest you.
The Matsu 6922s clean up the sound a bit, but seem to lose a little bit of the bass.  Out of the GEs, the 61NPs, and the Matsus, I found the 61NP to be the ones I prefer for the type of music I listen to.
 
The 61NP also seemed to remove the veil that the GE put on the sound.  Plus, the 61NP only cost $20 for a pair from Schiit.

Interesting.  I may have to pick up a pair of the 61NP just cause they are so cheap.  I would not want to lose any of the bass that I currently have in the GE's, so the 61NP would be a good choice probably.  I'm surprised though that you say the GE's have a "viel".  I don't really notice this.  In fact, I hear a very euphonic and engaging midrange, with fairly decent treble extension (though not the best).  The mids on these tubes is better than the Gold Lions, but it is probably a coloration.  But hey, if we didn't want coloration of some type, we wouldn't own tube amps 

 
I think I may have to grab the Mullards for my birthday, but that isn't until December.  Until then, the GE's sound great with the LCD-2s.