[bcowen]

I don't 3rd.

Best to skip the 12AU7 meh zone... sure there are some good ones... but far more blah ones to fill a dozen wooden boxes. (Good ones: CV491, CV4003, G-73R)

Instead, I suggest getting the best 12AU7s ever created. Single section predecessors, 6C4/EC90/CV133/M8080 and more. These little twins will win your ears and your wallet. They're like 6J5s/L63 are to the 6SN7.

The under $20 a pair RCA 6C4s offer a bigger, more detailed presentation than most $200+ ECC82s.



You could stop right there, save space for Deyan's custom 6C4 to 5670 adapter and be happy.

But you won't.

Tube rolling isn't about ultimate happiness or even ultimate sonics... it's about rolin' rollin', rollin' - until the hide of your wallet is raw.

So... you'll want to explore the higher end of the family. Mullard M8080s are great step into the house of thermionic upper class twinning.



While the cheap RCAs best most every 12AU7, the M8080s best them all. More details, more 3D soundstage, just more enjoyable. To my greedy ears, at least.

Anyhow, I take it back... go buy many meh 12AU7s... enjoy them for what meh they bring... then when you grow restless of mehAU7, spend some more and roll twice as many!

Shame on me....I haven't even tried 6C4's in Vali 3. I'm a slacker. Totally agree though that they are excellent sounding tubes. Haven't tried any Mullards, but the Brimars and Lansdales are very nice.

Lansdale:

Brimar:

 

[bcowen]

Good idea... Floor-to-Ceiling edition. Needs more shelves... for the tube hoard stash.

I sent the painstakingly measured exact dimensions I needed to @Paladin79 several months ago. Seems like 9' tall by 18' long wouldn't be that big a deal. But....as you might guess, the rack is still conspicuous by its absence. Sigh.

 

[Paladin79]

I sent the painstakingly measured exact dimensions I needed to @Paladin79 several months ago. Seems like 9' tall by 18' long wouldn't be that big a deal. But....as you might guess, the rack is still conspicuous by its absence. Sigh.

I am still waiting for lumberjacks to fell enough trees to make your rack. In the meantime I had to buy redbud trees cause you were too lazy to steal them from your neighbors yards.

 

[Hofy]

.... .... the only six pack kept around for rolling chez cowen is ....

Blatz for the Splatz!

 

[JamminVMI]

Blatz for the Splatz!

right up there with Lone Star and Iron City, right? No offense to Texans and folks in Pittsburghians.

 

[jonathan c]

right up there with Lone Star and Iron City, right? No offense to Texans and folks in Pittsburghians.

.... then .... there's Naragansett ....

 

[DrMorbius]

.... then .... there's Naragansett ....

And don’t forget Sam Adam's.

 

[jonathan c]

And don’t forget Sam Adam's.

.... early on, Boston Beer Company contracted Pittsburgh Brewing Company to brew Samuel Adams .... until BBC's production capability came on line.

 

[ThEvil0nE]

I was expecting something that would match the Vali 3’s grey color side and bottom panel

turned out to be silver instead

 

[jonathan c]

I was expecting something that would match the Vali 3’s grey color side and bottom panel

turned out to be silver instead

.... first world problem ....

 

[ThEvil0nE]

.... first world problem ....

My ocd itches

 

[ThEvil0nE]

Pre-amp mode.
wires purely decorative

 

[jonathan c]

• Vali 3, with Brimar CV4003 (cryo treated), is back to centre stage of the amphitheatre. Fronted by Grado GH-1, Vali 3 is truly convincing & thrilling in its music delivery. It is right there -- at 1/6th the price -- with another hybrid SS/VT headphone amp that own.

 

[Quadrangulator]

Will a Vali 3 provide a noticeable upgrade to a Vali 2++ with a GE 5760 5-Star? How about with a WE 396A? I already have a Vali 2++ and 5760 but am intereted in a warmer, more tubey sound either as a standalone amp or as a pre for my Jotenhiem 2.

 

[HWB3]

The Vali 3 provides 100 volts to the tube. The Vali 2++ sends 60. So, the Vali 3 is going to make the tube sound better. I have both the Vali 2++ and Vali 3 and the two tubes that you mentioned. There is quite an improvement.