[ShortBtwnHdset]

Hey Gumisb!

Not yet! I've bought a pair of 10 uF's that will bypass the 1000uf caps, need to buy 2 more. And I still need to buy a single 6.8 uF for the 680uF. Those will replace the yellow and white caps in the pics posted previously. Been stocking up on tubes as of late, as they are getting scarcer, plus really liking my sound once I changed VO pads, so hate to have the system down.

There are still some caps I need to get for the balanced pre-outs, as well as some PS rail bypass caps for those 10,000uF ones. I've already bought the 22Kohm silver Audio Note resisters to replace the thru-hole ones at the tube stage. And I need to get another variac, so I'm a ways from stage 2 mods.

 

[bcowen]

Actually, all kidding aside, how many different tubes do you stock for, Bcowan??? Does your knowledge reflect that you've had a lot of different tube equipment over the years, or is what's in your sig only a small representation of the gear you use? It seems when anyone asks about a particular brand or socket type, you've got experience, and from some of your exchanges on the Schiit sponsor page, it seems you have helped friends with a particular juicy pick on occasion. So, I infer you have a good stockpile of tubes, but maybe that's just a dumb assumption.

Most of my knowledge (and stash) comes from having a lot of different pieces of tube equipment over the years and buying tubes to roll in them. I've been at this for a while now ('cause I'm old ), and while I've continued to buy tubes over the years the majority of the stash came from purchases 20-30 years ago. Back when you could still find a brick-and-mortar store that stocked some tubes. Back when you could go to a Hamfest and see more tubes for sale than radios. And back when you could pick up nice tubes on Ebay for 1/10th (or less) of what they go for now. Just wish I'd put more money into tubes back then instead of my 401k. LOL!

What's in my sig is what I'm using now, and while I still have some pieces in the closet, I've finally grown up enough to actually sell components when I move on rather than "collect" them.

Just the small tubes...kind of semi-un disorganized.

 

[ShortBtwnHdset]

Wow, nice stash of small signal tubes! Sighhh... wish I had collected years ago when I was both into Conrad Johnson stereo gear and Fender guitar amps!!! But I was spending money on the gear, not the support equipment! Still have a Conrad PV-9A
and one set of replacement tubes in storage.

Oh, by the way, I'm pretty old too!

 

[ShortBtwnHdset]

Hey, quick question for you Bcowan and others with experience. I have an offer on a matched quad of nos GE 5 star 5670's for $200. Do you feel the 5 stars are better than JAN GE's? Are they close to the GE 396A's? You think this is a good deal?

 

[jonathan c]

Wow, nice stash of small signal tubes! Sighhh... wish I had collected years ago when I was both into Conrad Johnson stereo gear and Fender guitar amps!!! But I was spending money on the gear, not the support equipment! Still have a Conrad PV-9A
and one set of replacement tubes in storage.

Oh, by the way, I'm pretty old too!

Are you ‘New Old Stock’…?

 

[bcowen]

Hey, quick question for you Bcowan and others with experience. I have an offer on a matched quad of nos GE 5 star 5670's for $200. Do you feel the 5 stars are better than JAN GE's? Are they close to the GE 396A's? You think this is a good deal?

I'm not a fan of GE tubes so my comments should be taken with a large grain of salt. I only have the JAN and haven't ever had or heard the 5 star. The WE 396A is in an entirely different league in comparison to the JAN though (IMO). Regardless, $200 for a quad of 5 stars is very high. Unless you specifically need a matched quad, you can easily find matched pairs for $40 - $50.

 

[ShortBtwnHdset]

Thanks for the reply! Are the 396A's all that?

 

[bcowen]

Thanks for the reply! Are the 396A's all that?

Depends on the amp, most likely. Not my favorite in my Incubus amp, but sounded very nice in the Lyr 3.

 

[gumisb]

Hey Gumisb!

Not yet! I've bought a pair of 10 uF's that will bypass the 1000uf caps, need to buy 2 more. And I still need to buy a single 6.8 uF for the 680uF. Those will replace the yellow and white caps in the pics posted previously. Been stocking up on tubes as of late, as they are getting scarcer, plus really liking my sound once I changed VO pads, so hate to have the system down.

There are still some caps I need to get for the balanced pre-outs, as well as some PS rail bypass caps for those 10,000uF ones. I've already bought the 22Kohm silver Audio Note resisters to replace the thru-hole ones at the tube stage. And I need to get another variac, so I'm a ways from stage 2 mods.

Thanks.
I was thinking about ODAMs only in signal path as replacement of 0.47uF Wimas because they are extremely expensive. 1000uF I already replaced wit Elna Silmic II. I also discovered that lowering temperature of heater bridge rectifier and using snubber eliminate problem of amp long run sound change.
Resistors is another rabbit hole

 

[ShortBtwnHdset]

Thanks.
I was thinking about ODAMs only in signal path as replacement of 0.47uF Wimas because they are extremely expensive. 1000uF I already replaced wit Elna Silmic II. I also discovered that lowering temperature of heater bridge rectifier and using snubber eliminate problem of amp long run sound change.
Resistors is another rabbit hole

Now I did replace the Wima films with Mundorfs, Evo Supreme Silver/Golds, mainly because they were compact. Looking at the V-Cap site, they should be similar sized, so you should be able to get them to fit. I would also replace the .1 Wima’s on the R/H side of the board.

If you want to save some cash, you can get 90% or better of the improvement going with Auricap XO’s. I have used them before with impressive results, just wanted to try the Mundorfs. Would have rather saved the cash to buy several Odams for the 1000 uF bypasses , in hindsight.

Mind elaborating on the filament supply improvements? Are We talking heat sinks and snubber caps? Pics and values would be appreciated!

 

[gumisb]

On this picture you can see heat sinks for all bridge rectifiers. I also use passive radiators on enclosure. Unfortunately I don't have now picture of the bottom of board where across bridge rectifiers input I put caps. I ended with 0.220-0.270uF film caps only without resistor, but it is my preference. Proper RC snubbers can eliminate almost completely diode noise.
Edit: image of bottom added.

 

[ShortBtwnHdset]

Edit: image of bottom added.

Thanks for that Gumisb! Just noticed you added Pic! Are those film caps (silver), and whats the multi colored one? What values?

Hi All! Tubes and adapters arrived, I think we have a daily driver on our hands for cheap! The JAN GE-5670W's sound great, palpable lows and mids kinda like Telefunkens, but I can tell they burn hotter/brighter so won't last as long. Spec sheet shows the 6922 at 300 mA heater current, the 5670W's at 350 mA, It's noticable just looking at the tube! but at $20 a pair you can't go wrong. Think I'll order 3 more pair and be done!

Hope everyone has a great night!

 

[gumisb]

Thanks for that Gumisb! Just noticed you added Pic! Are those film caps (silver), and whats the multi colored one? What values?

All caps are film caps. You can use anything what suits you and fit small space (maybe WIMA would be better). Multicolor cap is 0.270uF 600V for HV, all others are 0.220uF.

 

[ShortBtwnHdset]

Wow, got to say, these 5670W's are wonderful! Playing "Concierto De Aranjuez" album, Paco De Lucia and orchestra, and it is beautifully rendered! I unfortunately can't speak on how extended or not the high's are (I'm not hearing much above 11500 Hz these days), but the low treble down is niiice! Orchestra wonderfully laid out!

 

[Drummer Boy]

Just blew something in my MJ2. Stepped away from my HP rig for about an hour last night and accidentally left the MJ2 on. Came back into my office and smelled that burning electric smell. Uh oh. Sat down, put on my LCD-5 and there was a low vibration hum in the left channel. Went to touch the volume knob on the MJ2 and it was scalding hot, and not the usual MJ2 hot. I literally could not touch the amp for more than a few seconds without burning myself.

So I turned it off, let it cool, turned it back on. Low hum was still there in left channel and anytime I turned up the volume beyond quiet, static hits in the same channel during dynamic DB increases (kick drum, snare). Swapped the tubes in each other's sockets, still there. Introduced another set of tubes still there. So it's not the tubes. Oh well.......back to Schiit it will go. Anyone else experience anything like this with their MJ2?