[Interceptor69]

When speaking of tubes: NOS = New Old Stock

Ah. Thanks. So these are tubes that were made years ago and just now sold?

 

[Varejao17]

Yes. The tubes are from the late 50s and early 60s

 

[Interceptor69]

Yes. The tubes are from the late 50s and early 60s

Then they must be in short supply and very expensive.

 

[Varejao17]

Then they must be in short supply and very expensive.

Some are, some aren’t. The ones I bought were not any more expensive than decent new production tubes. And there are decent new production tubes.

But others are indeed quite expensive as they are known to sound very good.

 

[Interceptor69]

Sounds like a long and winding road to financial ruin! But I'm probably going to ease my way down that road a bit once I get my Freya+ in this week.

 

[Varejao17]

Sounds like a long and winding road to financial ruin! But I'm probably going to ease my way down that road a bit once I get my Freya+ in this week.

For reasonable and affordable new production tubes, I am having good success with Electro Harmonix 6SN7 Gold Pins. They are made in the same factory as Tung Sol, and appear identical, but they sound better than the Tung Sols I’ve tried. Perhaps they are picked from the better performing tubes off the line?

There are also Sophia (made in Europe) and some high end Chinese made tubes (eg Shuguang Treasures, etc), but those are stupid expensive (a full set will set you back more than the Freya+).

Also, search for the ”reference 6sn7” thread here on head-fi.

Finally, @bcowen helped me discover that two of the NOS tubes marked GE that I received are probably relabeled tubes from some other company and might not be bad...

 

[Interceptor69]

For reasonable and affordable new production tubes, I am having good success with Electro Harmonix 6SN7 Gold Pins. They are made in the same factory as Tung Sol, and appear identical, but they sound better than the Tung Sols I’ve tried. Perhaps they are picked from the better performing tubes off the line?

There are also Sophia (made in Europe) and some high end Chinese made tubes (eg Shuguang Treasures, etc), but those are stupid expensive (a full set will set you back more than the Freya+).

Also, search for the ”reference 6sn7” thread here on head-fi.

Finally, @bcowen helped me discover that two of the NOS tubes marked GE that I received are probably relabeled tubes from some other company and might not be bad...

Thank you for that. I will check that thread out.

 

[renault4]

Hello all,

I am exploring the addition of a pair of Magnepan DWMs (4 Ohm magneplanar panels) to augment my Magnepan 1.7i's being driven by mono Vidars. Though 4 ohm, I've had no issues all with the Vidars going into protection when driving the Maggie mains, however the DWMs will need to be wired in parallel with the speaker outputs from the Vidars--has anyone here done this? I figure it will place an additional strain on the Vidars and I will eventually have to install a separate power amp for the DWM panels; I'm just wondering if I can live with the configuration while I wait (and save for!) the separate amp?

thx

 

[Interceptor69]

Freya+ came in today. Haven't had a chance to set it up yet tho. It's a lot heavier than I expected.

 

[Varejao17]

Hello all,

I am exploring the addition of a pair of Magnepan DWMs (4 Ohm magneplanar panels) to augment my Magnepan 1.7i's being driven by mono Vidars. Though 4 ohm, I've had no issues all with the Vidars going into protection when driving the Maggie mains, however the DWMs will need to be wired in parallel with the speaker outputs from the Vidars--has anyone here done this? I figure it will place an additional strain on the Vidars and I will eventually have to install a separate power amp for the DWM panels; I'm just wondering if I can live with the configuration while I wait (and save for!) the separate amp?

thx

Unfortunately wiring the DWMs in parallel will cause the amp to see even lower effective speaker impedance. You may not be able to play very loud if at all.

 

[renault4]

Unfortunately wiring the DWMs in parallel will cause the amp to see even lower effective speaker impedance. You may not be able to play very loud if at all.

Thanks, yes the Vidars could be seeing 2 Ohms a lot which could give them heartburn. I would rather tease apart the purchase of the woofer panels and an amp, both for budgetary reasons as well as giving me more time to research a good amp for the woofer panels.

I also realize that I have an interim failsafe in that I can use one Vidar in stereo to drive the 1.7i mains and the other to drive the woofer panels—that should tide me over.

Anyone here have a recommendation for an amp to drive the DWMs?

Thanks!

 

[Mr Rick]

So, my Vault 2I, that I ordered in December finally arrived. So far so good. Nice to no longer have to have the laptop in the chain. Now the real work begins. Loading all my CDs.

My only gripe, so far, is that instructions on the unit and BluOS are sadly lacking.

 

[renault4]

Unfortunately wiring the DWMs in parallel will cause the amp to see even lower effective speaker impedance. You may not be able to play very loud if at all.

Thanks. A follow-up question; if I need a separate amp for the DWMs to spare the Vidars, is it a requirement that I use an amp that has the same power envelope as the Vidars, ie something at 400W@8ohm?

 

[433521]

Then they must be in short supply and very expensive.

I suspect the supply of tubes is greater in the back rooms and 'short supply' is the name of a box on their desk. I've noticed the prices seem to be going up ever since I got my first Vali 2.

 

[433521]

Ah. Thanks. So these are tubes that were made years ago and just now sold?

Test as NOS, which is not the same as 'new'. Basically refurbished but tested.