[billerb1]

Spent about 3 hours listening to TK’s 1952/53 pair of JW WE’s last night. Appreciate the loaners my friend. They are truly beautiful tubes and I certainly get these being the absolute favorites of many on this thread. Big creamy smooth sound on my Yggy/Woo WA2/HD800S rig. I miss some of the high end extension, especially on cymbals and drum nuance when compared to the TS’s, but it really depended on the song I was listening to. On some selections that usually sound hot to me, the WE’s showed me their glory for the first time...Bill Evans’ “Peace Piece” and Herbie Hancock’s “Court and Spark” for example. Just a touch of roll-off brought about a blackness, separation and a thick timbre I hadn’t heard before. All in all it was a neat adventure to see what the WE’s did on some of my most familiar tunes. Certainly the lower regions are highlighted whereas I feel the TS’s feature the highs. You might sacrifice a touch of detail with the Westerns but their smooth, non-fatiguing signature are a great trade-off. One of the top tubes I’ve heard for sure.

 

[Phantaminum]

Spent about 3 hours listening to TK’s 1952/53 pair of JW WE’s last night. Appreciate the loaners my friend. They are truly beautiful tubes and I certainly get these being the absolute favorites of many on this thread. Big creamy smooth sound on my Yggy/Woo WA2/HD800S rig. I miss some of the high end extension, especially on cymbals and drum nuance when compared to the TS’s, but it really depended on the song I was listening to. On some selections that usually sound hot to me, the WE’s showed me their glory for the first time...Bill Evans’ “Peace Piece” and Herbie Hancock’s “Court and Spark” for example. Just a touch of roll-off brought about a blackness, separation and a thick timbre I hadn’t heard before. All in all it was a neat adventure to see what the WE’s did on some of my most familiar tunes. Certainly the lower regions are highlighted whereas I feel the TS’s feature the highs. You might sacrifice a touch of detail with the Westerns but their smooth, non-fatiguing signature are a great trade-off. One of the top tubes I’ve heard for sure.

Great review Bill! That’s how I feel about the WEs and they do work extremely well with headphones that have more treble.

I wonder if you’d enjoy the gold pin LM Ercissons. They have a bit more air on top and while keeping everything else the WEs offer.

 

[Autostart]

Has anyone tried these gems?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/380151677912

 

[billerb1]

Great review Bill! That’s how I feel about the WEs and they do work extremely well with headphones that have more treble.

I wonder if you’d enjoy the gold pin LM Ercissons. They have a bit more air on top and while keeping everything else the WEs offer.

You’re killin’ me. I’ll keep that in mind but all my spare change is going toward the Yggy upgrade. I will keep that in mind tho for down the road bro.

 

[Autostart]

You’re killin’ me. I’ll keep that in mind but all my spare change is going toward the Yggy upgrade. I will keep that in mind tho for down the road bro.

Once I get my 2C51 to 6SN7 adapters and get a pair of LM Ericsson's burnt in I'll send you my set as loaners if you'd like. No pressure to buy them, but you'd definitely get a good listening session in before you commit.

 

[TK16]

@billerb1, no problem bro, keep em for a while bro, no rush sending them back.

 

[TK16]

Got to RMA my Gumby. My tube dac seems to be a substantial down grade vs the Gumby, even with top notch tubes. Can live with it for a few weeks though. Steel pin L M E1s in the dac and 59 Foton`s in the MJ2.

 

[AuditoryCanvas]

Got to RMA my Gumby. My tube dac seems to be a substantial down grade vs the Gumby, even with top notch tubes. Can live with it for a few weeks though. Steel pin L M E1s in the dac and 59 Foton`s in the MJ2.

What's wrong with the Gumby?

 

[koover]

Really. Your Gumby and the Phatoms Mjolnir. Hoping my L2 doesn’t decide to act up.
What’s going on bro with the Gumby? Upgrade?

 

[TK16]

Drop outs over USB, tiny ones. Going to do more troubleshooting over the weekend.

 

[billerb1]

Drop outs over USB, tiny ones. Going to do more troubleshooting over the weekend.

Nooooooooooooooo

 

[bb rodriquez]

So I just got my Massdrop x Cavalli Tube Hybrid in today and setup. I set it up with the stock electro harmonix 6922 and it sounded alright, it had decent soundstage but not seemed a little too neutral. Definitely not as dynamic as I would like when listening to rock. Anyway so I decided to turn in off and swap the stock 6922 for the WE 396a and holy cow! These tubes help anything shine. For a $250 amp plus a ~$50 tube this thing is killer. I'd need to a/b it against my Lyr 1, but it's close enough for me to think they're close in sound.

 

[Phantaminum]

So I just got my Massdrop x Cavalli Tube Hybrid in today and setup. I set it up with the stock electro harmonix 6922 and it sounded alright, it had decent soundstage but not seemed a little too neutral. Definitely not as dynamic as I would like when listening to rock. Anyway so I decided to turn in off and swap the stock 6922 for the WE 396a and holy cow! These tubes help anything shine. For a $250 amp plus a ~$50 tube this thing is killer. I'd need to a/b it against my Lyr 1, but it's close enough for me to think they're close in sound.

Brave man!

I asked Cavalli in the Massdrop CTH thread if it was fine to use an adapter with 2c51/396A tubes and he said that it was not really rated for those tubes. He did mention that it's possible for it to work or could cause an issue and kill the amp. I have a feeling it would be fine but I'll let some other people test it out first.

 

[bb rodriquez]

Haha well so far so good, though maybe I should take them out and not take the risk killing the amp prematurely. I guess I have plenty of alternatives at the moment

So did he say it was pretty much only rated for the 6922 and that family of tubes?

 

[Phantaminum]

Haha well so far so good, though maybe I should take them out and not take the risk killing the amp prematurely. I guess I have plenty of alternatives at the moment

So did he say it was pretty much only rated for the 6922 and that family of tubes?

Along those lines:

Would a 5670/2C51 adapter to 6922 work on this amp? I was hoping to try out the Western Electric 2c51 on the CTH.

His response:

Looking at the plate curves I would guess that the amp cannot compensate for just how different the operating points are between the 6922 and 5670. Also the 5670 takes 350mA heater current instead of 330mA. The heater supply can absorb this difference.

You might be able to get this to work, but you might find that the front end cannot operate properly and possibly cause damage.

This is why we recommend only 6922 or equivalents.

And:

The amp is definitely designed for the 6922 operating conditions. But it's not tuned in any way for a particular 6922 such as the stock EH. Without speaking for MD I believe they tried several 6922s that they thought would be suitable for stock and found that the EH seemed to be the best performer.

If you want a real tube rolling amp you might have to find a used Liquid Glass somewhere for sale.

I'd love to roll the WEs and other 2c51 equivalent tubes.