[JGreen08]

Broke down and decided I have to at least try tube rolling once to see how much of a difference I can hear over my stock tubes. Picked a pair of NOS 1967 orange globes as my gateway tube. I'll be running it with my HE 560s + Lyr 2 + Bifrost Uber. I'm both hoping and fearing these make a difference. My wallet is afraid.

 

[ejwiles]

  Just secured a pair of '74 Reflektors SWGP Grays. 
 
First upgrade from Lyr stock. I'm excited. 

 
Unfortunately my PC's mobo just went up so I'm without a source atm. My poor wallet.

 
I'm running those tubes right now.  In fact, they've hardly left my Lyr since I got them back in August.  I think you're going to be a happy camper!

 

[jexby]

  Broke down and decided I have to at least try tube rolling once to see how much of a difference I can hear over my stock tubes. Picked a pair of NOS 1967 orange globes as my gateway tube. I'll be running it with my HE 560s + Lyr 2 + Bifrost Uber. I'm both hoping and fearing these make a difference. My wallet is afraid.

 
ya know, I'll provide a bid of "good wallet news" opinion, in that tube rolling need not go on forever.
 
if you are satisfied with having a "few great pairs" leave em on your shelf, roll a pair in each month and simply enjoy.
the constant chase of super-rare NOS tubes, or finding the eBay deal of the century from Bulgaria who has a true tube tester may be fun for a bit, but need not continue once your ears pick out some good tubes.
 
 
my family of tubes such as:
warmer midrange group:  Amperex 7308 / RTC / Philips Miniwatt
and
holographic detail group:  Siemens CCa / Telefunken E88CC / 75 SWGP rob's Holy Grail
 
are complete enough, no desire to chase $50 budget tubes or look for Lorenz CCa that break the bank.
 
just saying, there can be an end to rube rolling once your ears find the right flavor, and your backup pairs provide a safety net of a few years.
 
who knows, by 2021 - cloud computers might be simulating tube harmonics for our streaming devices.

 

[rb2013]

  who knows, by 2021 - cloud computers might be simulating tube harmonics for our streaming devices.

+1  One can only hope!  At one time it was widely discussed here why these vintage tubes sound so much better then the new production?
 
Some theories were the materials available during tubes heyday is just available now at reasonable cost.  That the knowledgeable craftsmen, who knew how to make these tubes are gone, in other words a lost art.
 
I just don't know why they sound so good - but they do.  The problem is they're not making anymore '50s, '60s, 70's tubes so as time goes along the price will continue to rise.
 
I remember buying the Siemens early '60s CCa gray shields for $200/pr - now they're $400/pr.
 
I also remember when CD's launched - 'it was the end for vinyl records'.  30 yrs later - vinyl sales just hit a recent high - 8 million in 2014.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biggest-music-comeback-of-2014-vinyl-records-1418323133

 

[sfo1972]

 
+1  One can only hope!  At one time it was widely discussed here why these vintage tubes sound so much better then the new production?
 
Some theories were the materials available during tubes heyday is just available now at reasonable cost.  That the knowledgeable craftsmen, who knew how to make these tubes are gone, in other words a lost art.
 
I just don't know why they sound so good - but they do.  The problem is they're not making anymore '50s, '60s, 70's tubes so as time goes along the price will continue to rise.
 
I remember buying the Siemens early '60s CCa gray shields for $200/pr - now they're $400/pr.
 
I also remember when CD's launched - 'it was the end for vinyl records'.  30 yrs later - vinyl sales just hit a recent high - 8 million in 2014.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biggest-music-comeback-of-2014-vinyl-records-1418323133

rb2013, do you own a record player? if yes, what brand? Are there players you would recommend that are reasonably priced?

 

[ThurstonX]

 
ya know, I'll provide a bid of "good wallet news" opinion, in that tube rolling need not go on forever.
 
if you are satisfied with having a "few great pairs" leave em on your shelf, roll a pair in each month and simply enjoy.
the constant chase of super-rare NOS tubes, or finding the eBay deal of the century from Bulgaria who has a true tube tester may be fun for a bit, but need not continue once your ears pick out some good tubes.
 
 
my family of tubes such as:
warmer midrange group:  Amperex 7308 / RTC / Philips Miniwatt
and
holographic detail group:  Siemens CCa / Telefunken E88CC / 75 SWGP rob's Holy Grail
 
are complete enough, no desire to chase $50 budget tubes or look for Lorenz CCa that break the bank.
 
just saying, there can be an end to rube rolling once your ears find the right flavor, and your backup pairs provide a safety net of a few years.
 
who knows, by 2021 - cloud computers might be simulating tube harmonics for our streaming devices.

 
re: tube chasing, it's true.  I've filled my boxes with lots of variety, and now I'm done.  Honest, honey! I'm done! (Sure you are, dear. Now buy me that Louis Vuitton bag).  Yes, dear.
 
re: Clouds o' Simulated Tubes, see how vinyl is coming back?  Well, I never let go of my vinyl, though I don't buy it anymore.  It'll be the same with tubes.  Someone will consumerize all those fancy digital effects that musicians and studios use, and they'll be up in the Cloud and on your Holographic Thumbdrive Projector With Isolated 3D Surround Sound (suck it, Gates, that's © & ® me).  Then people will start up with physical tubes (again!), and it'll be the Third Coming of the Holy Valve.  And I'll still have mine 

  And yes, I'll have a quantum computer by that point, too.  Ya gotta keep your bases covered.
 
Moral of the story?  Roll on, brothers!

 

[sfo1972]

   
re: tube chasing, it's true.  I've filled my boxes with lots of variety, and now I'm done.  Honest, honey! I'm done! (Sure you are, dear. Now buy me that Louis Vuitton bag).  Yes, dear.
 
re: Clouds o' Simulated Tubes, see how vinyl is coming back?  Well, I never let go of my vinyl, though I don't buy it anymore.  It'll be the same with tubes.  Someone will consumerize all those fancy digital effects that musicians and studios use, and they'll be up in the Cloud and on your Holographic Thumbdrive Projector With Isolated 3D Surround Sound (suck it, Gates, that's © & ® me).  Then people will start up with physical tubes (again!), and it'll be the Third Coming of the Holy Valve.  And I'll still have mine 

  And yes, I'll have a quantum computer by that point, too.  Ya gotta keep your bases covered.
 
Moral of the story?  Roll on, brothers!

Lol...that's way too funny Thurston.
 
So, I will pose the same question to you: what turn table setup do you have? What brand and do you have any preferences? I assume you have the turntable > phono stage > Lyr2 > HPs or Integ Amp.?
 
And I fee your pain bro, may god help us with the non-stop demands for LV shoes and bags; drives me insane - but I am sure my wife feels the same way about my new found passion with tubes and amps 

 

[ThurstonX]

  Lol...that's way too funny Thurston.
 
So, I will pose the same question to you: what turn table setup do you have? What brand and do you have any preferences? I assume you have the turntable > phono stage > Lyr2 > HPs or Integ Amp.?
 
And I fee your pain bro, may god help us with the non-stop demands for LV shoes and bags; drives me insane - but I am sure my wife feels the same way about my new found passion with tubes and amps 

 
It's late and I'm feelin' punchy 

 
Turntable is an old JVC AL-FQ5 (recently added it to my gear profile herein, fortunately, as I can never remember the model) with a new "AT92DSH AT92E Cartridge w/Shibata JICO Brand Needle" from turntableneedles.com.  It's a custom refit they do, apparently.  I was impatient for the lower priced one to come back in stock, so I got the nicer one.  I like it much better than the Grado Green I had and returned.  At least Grado was nice about it.  I tried the Schiit Mani, but the AC adapter didn't play nice in The Laboratory (you can read all about it in the Schiit Owners thread; even got Mike Moffat to chime in; he's funny and smart), so I returned it and got an Emotiva XPS-1, which works very well, esp. given how infrequently I listen to vinyl.
 
I use a Schiit SYS as a switch for the XPS-1 and Bifrost Uber, with the SYS's out going into the Lyr (not '2'; wasn't out yet when I bought mine).  I've also got a Schiit Wyrd in there, too, with a stand I whipped up for some scrap wood I had.  Photos in the Schiit Owners thread.  Seems I'm a total Schiit Head, except for the XPS-1 

 
I'd love to rewire or just extend the JVC's L/R out cables, as it's usually on a table about eight or nine feet from the XPS-1.  I'm not sure what affect such a long run would have on the sound.  I suppose I could try with a couple extension cables (bought or made).  Rewiring seems like too much of a PITA, at the moment anyway.  I'd hate to jack up the JVC.
 
My wife is actually really supportive, not being into it at all, and we have a nice balance.  Gotta have that balance 

 

[sfo1972]

   
It's late and I'm feelin' punchy 

 
Turntable is an old JVC AL-FQ5 (recently added it to my gear profile herein, fortunately, as I can never remember the model) with a new "AT92DSH AT92E Cartridge w/Shibata JICO Brand Needle" from turntableneedles.com.  It's a custom refit they do, apparently.  I was impatient for the lower priced one to come back in stock, so I got the nicer one.  I like it much better than the Grado Green I had and returned.  At least Grado was nice about it.  I tried the Schiit Mani, but the AC adapter didn't play nice in The Laboratory (you can read all about it in the Schiit Owners thread; even got Mike Moffat to chime in; he's funny and smart), so I returned it and got an Emotiva XPS-1, which works very well, esp. given how infrequently I listen to vinyl.
 
I use a Schiit SYS as a switch for the XPS-1 and Bifrost Uber, with the SYS's out going into the Lyr (not '2'; wasn't out yet when I bought mine).  I've also got a Schiit Wyrd in there, too, with a stand I whipped up for some scrap wood I had.  Photos in the Schiit Owners thread.  Seems I'm a total Schiit Head, except for the XPS-1 

 
I'd love to rewire or just extend the JVC's L/R out cables, as it's usually on a table about eight or nine feet from the XPS-1.  I'm not sure what affect such a long run would have on the sound.  I suppose I could try with a couple extension cables (bought or made).  Rewiring seems like too much of a PITA, at the moment anyway.  I'd hate to jack up the JVC.
 
My wife is actually really supportive, not being into it at all, and we have a nice balance.  Gotta have that balance 

Great info. But oh man, this seems like a whole new slew of purchases to get into Vinyl. I have to pace myself here and allow my poor wallet some breathing room.
 
The XPS1 looks really good by the way, looks like it gives you good control over the signal on its way downstream. 

 

 

[rb2013]

 
rb2013, do you own a record player? if yes, what brand? Are there players you would recommend that are reasonably priced?

Well at one point, several years ago I had a near sota analog set-up.  VPI Super Scout Master Signature, VPI speed controller, Dynavector XVS1, etc...
 
And have a large collection of LPs both new (200gm and 180gm pressings) and old.
 
The process of playing an LP was tedious with that setup so I decided to digitalize the collection at ultra hi res.  I'm very meticulous when I do serious listening - so here was the process to listen to one LP - take the LP destat, demag, clean, place on table, outter ring clamp, center weight, VTA height adjustment, etc... Crazy, but sounded glorious.  Now I just click my mouse or select with my tablet in Foobar!  I run playlists of albums I've digitalized (at 32bit 176K).
 
I did keep a reasonably good system for new LP purchases (just got Spoon's new 'They Want My Soul' and Arctic Monkey's 'AM').
 
My new rig is a vintage Dual 721 with an Ortofon 2M Black - feeding a modded (Mundorf Silver/Oil caps) Jolida JD9.  It's pretty good - and I still digitalize every LP when purchased.
 
Old rig:

 
New rig

 
PS And for amps in my two speaker driven systems - heavily modded (by me) Bada Purer SE 3.3 class A intrgrateds.  Modded with Mundorf Silver/Gold/Oil caps
 
After mods:

 
 
PS: Link to my DAC Mod Project thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/740362/lite-dac60-pcm1704-r2r-tubed-dac-mod-project

 

[korzena]

I'm considering buying Reflektors/Voskhod Rockets 6n23p tubes instead of Amperex Golden Globes as an upgrade for my Lyr to optimize its sound quality for my phones which are LCD-2s.
 
Amperex tubes seem to become more and more expensive, so getting the Russian 6n23p tubes instead sounds like a good idea both price-wise and sound quality-wise. 
Is my thinking correct and if so, which Reflektors/Voskhod Rockets tubes would bring the biggest 'value' [size=12.8000001907349px]([/size]sound quality improvement for the price) to my LCD-2s ?

 

[satwilson]

   
ya know, I'll provide a bid of "good wallet news" opinion, in that tube rolling need not go on forever.
 
if you are satisfied with having a "few great pairs" leave em on your shelf, roll a pair in each month and simply enjoy.
the constant chase of super-rare NOS tubes, or finding the eBay deal of the century from Bulgaria who has a true tube tester may be fun for a bit, but need not continue once your ears pick out some good tubes.
 
 
my family of tubes such as:
warmer midrange group:  Amperex 7308 / RTC / Philips Miniwatt
and
holographic detail group:  Siemens CCa / Telefunken E88CC / 75 SWGP rob's Holy Grail
 
are complete enough, no desire to chase $50 budget tubes or look for Lorenz CCa that break the bank.
 
just saying, there can be an end to rube rolling once your ears find the right flavor, and your backup pairs provide a safety net of a few years.
 
who knows, by 2021 - cloud computers might be simulating tube harmonics for our streaming devices.

+1!!!!!!!! Some of my faves too. There are "tube", speaker and enclosure digital emulators, "boxes", for guitars and amps. The technology is there.

 

[billerb1]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sfo1972 View Post

@htr2d2
- I see from your sig that you have the 74 Reflektor SWGPs - How has your experience been with the tubes?

I know they are @rb2013
holly grails biggrin.gif

rb2013's response:
Just to set the record straight the '75 Reflektor SWGP silvers are my #1 HGs, the '74's I rate #2. But some like them better!

Cheers!


I may consider selling my '74 Reflector SWGP's for the price I bought them from Bob. They have about 150 hours on them so are pretty well burned in. As above noted I had the '75 HG's and preferred the '74 SWGP's...better bass on my system and a bit more resonant instrument timbre. Of course this varies from system to system. The tubes are in perfect shape. I just got a pair of Amperex Pinched Waist 6922's and my beloved Philips Miniwatt 188CC's are now my #2's. The Reflektors just aren't getting any headtime and they deserve to be used and enjoyed.

PM me if interested. Shipping to CONUS only. They will be available until I mark "SOLD" on this post. ******** S O L D ********

 

[rb2013]

  +1!!!!!!!! Some of my faves too. There are "tube", speaker and enclosure digital emulators, "boxes", for guitars and amps. The technology is there.

VST plugins for tube emulated sound:
 
http://www.voxengo.com/product/tubeamp/
 
http://philaudio.wordpress.com/research/tube-preamp/
 
http://www.silverspike.com/?Products:RubyTube

 

[rb2013]

  I'm considering buying Reflektors/Voskhod Rockets 6n23p tubes instead of Amperex Golden Globes as an upgrade for my Lyr to optimize its sound quality for my phones which are LCD-2s.
 
Amperex tubes seem to become more and more expensive, so getting the Russian 6n23p tubes instead sounds like a good idea both price-wise and sound quality-wise. 
Is my thinking correct and if so, which Reflektors/Voskhod Rockets tubes would bring the biggest 'value' [size=12.8000001907349px]([/size]sound quality improvement for the price) to my LCD-2s ?

Here is a link to my review comparing the 6N23P's to the Amperex - including the legendary '59 D getter USN pinched waists
 
Cheers!
 
Page 149 - post #2229
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/673709/schiit-lyr-tube-rollers/2220
 
PS The best vintage 6N23p's are getting harder to find.