First of all, I am jealous that you listen 8 hours per day. That aside, the tubes apparently sound less lively as they age. Some tubes have a lifespan of 10000 hours. These would include the 7308, ECC188. 7dj8 should also last that long as the cathode is being run 15% undervoltage in Valhalla.
Reporting back that these socket savers are EXCELLENT quality, and they have made an immediate difference in the temperature of my Valhalla 2 chassis. It seems like putting socket savers in the rear power tubes has made a huge difference, as I already had the front input tubes lifted with 12A*7 adapters. Before getting the rear power tubes elevated, the VH2 chassis would be burning hot within 20-30 minutes of turning on. Today, I listened for over an hour, and the chassis was only lukewarm.
Highly recommend for anyone with heat issues with their VH2!
Excellent tube lifter/socket saver. I've used them for years as you've described with my VH2 power tubes, and on the driver tubes when using native/unadapted tubes (6DJ8/6922, etc). VH2 is just a tad warm now where before it was downright and uncomfortably hot!!!
Folks, don't let the fact they are in India deter a purchase. Pulse Tube Store is/was the direct supplier to Tubemonger. The poor folks at Tubemonger had so many packages stolen by porch pirates it was causing extreme stock availability issues and they now just point folks directly to their supplier - Pulse Tube Store.
Got the Rebel, dont know what to think. No personal burn in yet outside the factory's claimed 50 hours. It's not doing anything overly complimentary to the sound from what I can tell. If anything it might be harsher but I need to give it more time.
So right now as a pre it mostly feels like a volume knob - which is nice since its not scalding and has more range (and no noise when i touch it without being grounded). Small things.
Is there any reason to test for higher or lower gain? (does that impact tonal qualities usually?) Max out Valhalla volume or not?
So far the Brimars made the biggest upgrade to sound, more than the Bifrost 2 ($700) and Rebel pre amp ($500). Maybe the tube life is the best life.
Got the Rebel, dont know what to think. No personal burn in yet outside the factory's claimed 50 hours. It's not doing anything overly complimentary to the sound from what I can tell. If anything it might be harsher but I need to give it more time.
So right now as a pre it mostly feels like a volume knob - which is nice since its not scalding and has more range (and no noise when i touch it without being grounded). Small things.
Is there any reason to test for higher or lower gain? (does that impact tonal qualities usually?) Max out Valhalla volume or not?
So far the Brimars made the biggest upgrade to sound, more than the Bifrost 2 ($700) and Rebel pre amp ($500). Maybe the tube life is the best life.
Agree that the Brimar tubes make the VH2 excellent. I don't use the Rebelamp as a preamp, but right now just serving as an alternative SS option when I don't want to warm up my tubes. Before the Brimar tubes, I thought the Rebelamp was a pretty good alternative to the VH2. But now...to be honest, my Rebelamp isn't used very often. Might as well wait a few minutes for warm up, and the VH2 with Brimar tubes sounds so much better.
Agree that the Brimar tubes make the VH2 excellent. I don't use the Rebelamp as a preamp, but right now just serving as an alternative SS option when I don't want to warm up my tubes. Before the Brimar tubes, I thought the Rebelamp was a pretty good alternative to the VH2. But now...to be honest, my Rebelamp isn't used very often. Might as well wait a few minutes for warm up, and the VH2 with Brimar tubes sounds so much better.
actually this is why I need to just let things burn in before coming to any conclusions, much better today. Cant speak for the pairing as a pre-amp (yet) but it might be a keeper. Reminds me of when I hit the 50hr mark on the Brimars and pulled one of these
actually this is why I need to just let things burn in before coming to any conclusions, much better today. Cant speak for the pairing as a pre-amp (yet) but it might be a keeper. Reminds me of when I hit the 50hr mark on the Brimars and pulled one of these
I used RCA 6CG7s in my Valhalla 2 before I moved on to the Lyr 3 and I liked them a lot. Electrically they're similar to the 6SN7 tube and they're inexpensive enough tubes (you should be able to find them for less than the price on the site you linked to in your post) that there's little risk in trying them to see if they do what you want them to.
I used RCA 6CG7s in my Valhalla 2 before I moved on to the Lyr 3 and I liked them a lot. Electrically they're similar to the 6SN7 tube and they're inexpensive enough tubes (you should be able to find them for less than the price on the site you linked to in your post) that there's little risk in trying them to see if they do what you want them to.
What headphones will you be pairing? It's pretty tough to beat VH2 with ZMF or even the Senn. HD6XX. I own the VH2 and Lyr 3 and VH2 with my HD6XX and nice tubes is noticeably better sounding than the Lyr 3 with the HD6XX, IMHO.
Don't get me wrong, Lyr 3 is a great hybrid, but the sound of an all tube OTL with the right cans is sublime.
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