[Old Deaf Donkey]

I am enjoying the combination of aune T1SE DAC and Vali 2. Many combinations of tubes work well, Brimar + RCA Grey glass, even 2 Grey glass, however, as soon as I put in MELZ 6H8C anywhere (and I have several of them), the sound gets somewhat unpleasant to ears - same as when I was still using Mimby for a DAC. Foton 1951 works fine. Go figure. Apparently, my hearing is not made for MELZ tubes. Otherwise, I like the same as many on this thread.

 

[Paladin79]

I am enjoying the combination of aune T1SE DAC and Vali 2. Many combinations of tubes work well, Brimar + RCA Grey glass, even 2 Grey glass, however, as soon as I put in MELZ 6H8C anywhere (and I have several of them), the sound gets somewhat unpleasant to ears - same as when I was still using Mimby for a DAC. Foton 1951 works fine. Go figure. Apparently, my hearing is not made for MELZ tubes. Otherwise, I like the same as many on this thread.

Which version of the Melz tube do you have? Currently the 1578 is inching up toward the top with folks who are checking out my 8 6sn7 equivalents.

The Melz as well as Foton are tubes on which I replace all solder in the pins, that seems to help. Are you talking Melz like this:

I am not sure on Russian tubes if the terms 6n8s and 6h8c are interchangeable but they could be, I just do not have time to look it up right now lol.

There are some Fotons on Ebay that certainly appear to be the sought after 1953 versions:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6N8S-1578-6SN7-Ribbed-Anode-Matched-Pair-NEW-Photon-Same-Date-04-1953/173925293250?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=1&asc=57921&meid=48e028c0c904442cb8005293eeb6cf3a&pid=100005&rk=3&rkt=12&sd=323896807723&itm=173925293250&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

I will be changing out the pin solder first thing on these though, I am not a believer in 100 hours of burn in.

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

Which version of the Melz tube do you have? Currently the 1578 is inching up toward the top with folks who are checking out my 8 6sn7 equivalents.

The Melz as well as Foton are tubes on which I replace all solder in the pins, that seems to help. Are you talking Melz like this:

I am not sure on Russian tubes if the terms 6n8s and 6h8c are interchangeable but they could be, I just do not have time to look it up right now lol.

There are some Fotons on Ebay that certainly appear to be the sought after 1953 versions:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6N8S-1578-6SN7-Ribbed-Anode-Matched-Pair-NEW-Photon-Same-Date-04-1953/173925293250?_trkparms=aid=555018&algo=PL.SIM&ao=1&asc=57921&meid=48e028c0c904442cb8005293eeb6cf3a&pid=100005&rk=3&rkt=12&sd=323896807723&itm=173925293250&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

I will be changing out the pin solder first thing on these though, I am not a believer in 100 hours of burn in.

My MELZ tubes are like the one tagged as "original 1578" in the picture. There is nothing technically wrong with the sound - I just do not like the sound signature as we discussed before. I cannot quite grasp what it is. Everything is there: space, speed, balance, but sounds irritatingly thin. As said above, no such problem with my Foton 6H8C from 1951 (ladder plates). There are several structures of the Soviet 6H8C. I saw MELZ tubes branded as 1578 with a completely different structure, than in the picture. That is not the point, however. I wonder how come. I could try to reflow the solder.

 

[Paladin79]

My MELZ tubes are like the one tagged as "original 1578" in the picture. There is nothing technically wrong with the sound - I just do not like the sound signature as we discussed before. I cannot quite grasp what it is. Everything is there: space, speed, balance, but sounds irritatingly thin. As said above, no such problem with my Foton 6H8C from 1951 (ladder plates). There are several structures of the Soviet 6H8C. I saw MELZ tubes branded as 1578 with a completely different structure, than in the picture. That is not the point, however. I wonder how come. I could try to reflow the solder.

I will help with any soldering advice you need if you do decide to try it. I have mentioned most of that before but if need be call upon me and I will help you in PM.

 

[bcowen]

Ah Ha! There is more Yellow speaker wire...I knew there had to be more.
Bill, can you terminate the one end with bananas and the other small spades?

Well, I couldn't find any spades with a large enough barrel size, so I'll be using these instead. These are the gold-plated audiophile version:

Bananas were no problem...have them on order. These are from Chile which sound much better than anything sourced from South America.

 

[Ripper2860]

Nice!

 

[bcowen]

A friend got on to the Graphene train early on, when is was esoteric over on Audiogon... He said he could hear a difference. For $49 I am sure he could...

It's goopy and messy...like thick black oil paint that never dries. Even if it was the next audio holy grail, you won't find me using it on tube pins and RCA connectors...be a real PITA to clean out of there if wanted or needed. I can hear a difference when using it on the end caps of fuses, and on cartridge clips on the turntable. I have tried it in several other places and could not hear any difference at all, so IMO it is application specific. Snake Oil? Perhaps. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. I got the small $25 sample bottle, have tried it in a number of different spots, and still have half of it left. One of those things were using a little is better than using a lot.

 

[bcowen]

For $400 I will personally build you two such cables and throw in an ounce of unicorn sweat. But seriously I have experimented and can get decent distances beyond 15 feet using quality products I trust.

How much without the unicorn sweat?

I've tried several USB cables, from a "premium" Belden (very nice construction quality, gold plated connectors, around $8 on Amazon) to a mid-priced Pangea to a more expensive Shunyata to a more expensive Zu.....and then tried building a couple of my own, one leaving the 5v wire out (the EITR doesn't need power from the USB bus), and all I can say is that I'll be damned if I can hear much (if any) difference between them. I'm using a used Zu now not because of the sound, but because I got it cheap, it's nicely constructed, and most importantly it's very thin and flexible and works well in conjunction with my laptop and moving it around.

 

[Paladin79]

How much without the unicorn sweat?

I've tried several USB cables, from a "premium" Belden (very nice construction quality, gold plated connectors, around $8 on Amazon) to a mid-priced Pangea to a more expensive Shunyata to a more expensive Zu.....and then tried building a couple of my own, one leaving the 5v wire out (the EITR doesn't need power from the USB bus), and all I can say is that I'll be damned if I can hear much (if any) difference between them. I'm using a used Zu now not because of the sound, but because I got it cheap, it's nicely constructed, and most importantly it's very thin and flexible and works well in conjunction with my laptop and moving it around.

I have met one person who could hear much difference in cables, and many who said they could. The difference was between solid copper and solid silver wire. I go for bulk wire I can trust like Belden, Canare, and Mogami. Otherwise I do not pay a lot of attention to boutique cables.

 

[Mr Trev]

How much without the unicorn sweat?

I've tried several USB cables, from a "premium" Belden (very nice construction quality, gold plated connectors, around $8 on Amazon) to a mid-priced Pangea to a more expensive Shunyata to a more expensive Zu.....and then tried building a couple of my own, one leaving the 5v wire out (the EITR doesn't need power from the USB bus), and all I can say is that I'll be damned if I can hear much (if any) difference between them. I'm using a used Zu now not because of the sound, but because I got it cheap, it's nicely constructed, and most importantly it's very thin and flexible and works well in conjunction with my laptop and moving it around.

Since you bring USB cables up… I have a Topping D30, uses it's own power supply. I was thinking about making an USB cable minus the 5v, like you mentioned doing. Did you find it made any audible difference (compared to the same powered USB cable)?

 

[attmci]

I have met one person who could hear much difference in cables, and many who said they could. The difference was between solid copper and solid silver wire. I go for bulk wire I can trust like Belden, Canare, and Mogami. Otherwise I do not pay a lot of attention to boutique cables.

Funny we had discussed these many times before.

 

[bcowen]

Nope. I made 3 of the same length with the same wire and same connectors. One with all 4 wires, one with no 5v wire, and one with no 5v and no ground wire (only the + and - signal wires). That last one didn't work at all, and in fact I think it was @Paladin79 that backed that up over on the DIY cable forum quite a while back -- the ground wire has to be there for the cable to work at all (and apologies Tom if I'm confusing you with someone else). The cable with the ground wire but less the 5v wire worked fine, but I couldn't detect any meaningful sonic difference between it and the full 4-wire cable at all. But that was just one trial with one particular wire and one particular assembler (those USB pins are a supreme PITA to solder to even with a 22 gauge wire), so I won't rule out the possibility that a difference could exist with a different wire, construction, and/or assembly expertise.

 

[Ripper2860]

Tom made me 2x special USB cables, one with no 5v+ and the other with no 5v+ or -. The one with no 5v + or - works perfectly on my Topping D50, but would not work with my Modi MB or EITR. The one with only no 5v+ works with the Topping D50, or Modi MB and EITR.

Now can I hear a diff? With EITR - No. With the D50 - Maybe.

 

[bcowen]

Tom made me 2x special USB cables, one with no 5v+ and the other with no 5v+ or -. The one with no 5v + or - works perfectly on my Topping D50, but would not work with my Modi MB or EITR. The one with only no 5v+ works with the Topping D50, Modi MB and EITR.

Interesting. I only tried this through the EITR feeding the Cary DAC-100t, and the one without the ground wouldn't work -- no sound. I double checked continuity and all, so it wasn't a flaw in the cable itself.

More importantly, do you hear any difference in sound with either cable without the 5v connection compared to what else you were using?

 

[Ripper2860]

I'll double check my facts. Maybe even the no - didn't work with Mimby. Tom actually made me 3 if you include the NORMAL USB and my recall may be flawed.

I'll also A/B the cables and see if I can hear any diff. I added a linear PSU to the D50 about the same time so maybe that's what I heard. Now that I'm aclimated to the sound, I'll be better equipped to assess.