[Paladin79]

Come to think of it the guy kept saying his name was NOT Bill Cowen and could he please have all of his cables in Duke Blue. He was humming the duke fight song in the background, I believe he also had a talking parrot. After a while I just asked to talk to the parrot, it was easier.

 

[bcowen]

That would NOT be me. The nit-pickiness about shades of blue sounds like @bcowen and his aversion to Duke's basketball program and their winning ways.

Yeah, I'm guessing you'd be wishy-washy'n about different shades of pink.

 

[bcowen]

Come to think of it the guy kept saying his name was NOT Bill Cowen and could he please have all of his cables in Duke Blue. He was humming the duke fight song in the background, I believe he also had a talking parrot. After a while I just asked to talk to the parrot, it was easier.

You'd be seeing a minivan in my driveway long before you'd ever see a Duke Blue anything in my house. I'm not one of those fanatical Duke haters, I just hate them in a more normal and healthy way.

 

[bcowen]

Bought KR VT-231 BG. Now looking at
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ECC32-Mull...velope-brown-base-Extremely-Rare/123888888265

Wow. Those are up in 300B price territory. Did you buy them?

I couldn't figure out if this was a typo or intentional transposition:

Dead Quiet? Or Quite Dead? LOL!

 

[Ripper2860]

Yeah, I'm guessing you'd be wishy-washy'n about different shades of pink.

It's Fuschia, dammit! Not pink!

 

[Old Deaf Donkey]

Wow. Those are up in 300B price territory. Did you buy them?

I couldn't figure out if this was a typo or intentional transposition:



Dead Quiet? Or Quite Dead? LOL!

Yeah. I bought KR VT-231 BG from the same seller, noticed the description. I was pissed-off having lost an auction where I would have paid more, than I wanted, for the tubes that I do not need (same type KR VT-231), so I offered $75 for that KR and it was automatically accepted. Hothead. But no, not those Brimars. Generally, I have the tubes I need, just will stock up on NOS EC8010 and NOS 6J5 (plenty of 7A4 already in my stash) - just in case. I have enough great 6SN7 and 6C8G tubes to roll occasionally, and my mainstay is twin setups of 7A4, 6J5 and EC8010 - in various combinations. @Paladin79 lead me to a combination of equipment on which my music sounds wonderful to me. I am enjoying it in a completely new dimension. I just spent less than a year and only several thousand dollars in equipment and in tubes during my journey. I can replicate the setup for lest than a $1,000, everything included. I cannot wait to hear how you find it, @bcowen.

 

[Paladin79]

Yeah. I bought KR VT-231 BG from the same seller, noticed the description. I was pissed-off having lost an auction where I would have paid more, than I wanted, for the tubes that I do not need (same type KR VT-231), so I offered $75 for that KR and it was automatically accepted. Hothead. But no, not those Brimars. Generally, I have the tubes I need, just will stock up on NOS EC8010 and NOS 6J5 (plenty of 7A4 already in my stash) - just in case. I have enough great 6SN7 and 6C8G tubes to roll occasionally, and my mainstay is twin setups of 7A4, 6J5 and EC8010 - in various combinations. @Paladin79 lead me to a combination of equipment on which my music sounds wonderful to me. I am enjoying it in a completely new dimension. I just spent less than a year and only several thousand dollars in equipment and in tubes during my journey. I can replicate the setup for lest than a $1,000, everything included. I cannot wait to hear how you find it, @bcowen.

I am glad you like that setup so much @Old Deaf Donkey, and I like it as well of course. It is not easy to find an inexpensive tube DAC and luckily there are plenty of used Aunes out there so the expense is not that great. I was fortunate to be in a position to hear 20 very good DACS not too long ago and a big part of them is the power supply and output stage. Aune does some things very well, for its price. When you can change the tube and vary the sound a bit it is such a wonderful tool to have at your disposal. I do need to check out the EC8010's sometime, once I clear a few projects out of my way.

One final listen before these tubes go to Jason at Schiit.

 

[bcowen]

Ok here is a theory on tubes, and it is my theory and my opinion, nothing more.

I believe we like things that are out of the norm, that might be harder to obtain. I have been told that Russians do not consider the Melz 1578 that great of a tube, and would rather buy Sylvanias. Americans have a lot of access to Sylvania, RCA, Tung Sol etc. yet here we are looking for specific Russian tubes, or British tubes. Occasionally there are some US made tubes we think the world of but some recent tests are a prime example of my theory.

A friend thought most of the 8 tubes (6sn7 equivalent) I presented him in a blind test sounded similar, then he got to the Melz and it was so different, it stood out to him. He picked it as his favorite. Last Saturday I went through a bunch of Amperex from different periods and most all of them sounded harsh and raspy, I basically just plugged them all in without looking at the types very closely and my favorite was one that probably sounded the least like the others, but I liked the sound. It may have been the cheapest, and least sought after yet, it sounded so different to me, and I was not getting the harshness I disliked in the other tubes, with my amp and DAC setup.

Do I think the overall SQ of single triode tubes is better than some really nice dual triode 6sn7's, doubtful, but they sound different. The spacing is nice. Will a 7n7 rank towards the top in my testing? Or a Foton ribbed plate 1954? Possibly but once again, when you listen to a lot of RCA's and Sylvania's, they sound very different so to me that could be part of it. I like to do blind testing because you can eliminate some of the preformed ideas. That does not mean a tube like a GE would finish toward the top, there are tubes that can be stand out in a bad way.

If you have access to a lot of Brimars, is that your tube of choice if you are British? Just some thoughts, nothing else.

First, I agree with all your points. Only thing I would add is the synergy aspect. As I've mentioned before, the CBS/Hytron 5692 sounds fantastic in the Vali 2 (to my ears). But in the Lyr 3? Pretty meh. There are at least a half-dozen other tubes that sound better in the Lyr 3 than the CBS, and most of those are less expensive. Same tube, same ears, same personal preferences, but different components and a subsequently different synergy.

I haven't messed around with Amperex 6DJ8's enough to offer anything useful, but you like a version that some others consider less desirable. Could be very simply a synergy thing where that particular version just clicks with your setup better than most others. Just another worthless opinion, but when I want my opinion I'll give it to me.

 

[bcowen]

One final listen before these tubes go to Jason at Schiit.

Wait....I don't see any of those beautiful extensions in that picture. My day is ruined.

 

[Paladin79]

Wait....I don't see any of those beautiful extensions in that picture. My day is ruined.

Oh one was in the Vali 2 right now. I will make a little sign to go out with the adapters saying, parts and some labor were provided by Bill Cowen Esquire.

 

[Paladin79]

First, I agree with all your points. Only thing I would add is the synergy aspect. As I've mentioned before, the CBS/Hytron 5692 sounds fantastic in the Vali 2 (to my ears). But in the Lyr 3? Pretty meh. There are at least a half-dozen other tubes that sound better in the Lyr 3 than the CBS, and most of those are less expensive. Same tube, same ears, same personal preferences, but different components and a subsequently different synergy.

I haven't messed around with Amperex 6DJ8's enough to offer anything useful, but you like a version that some others consider less desirable. Could be very simply a synergy thing where that particular version just clicks with your setup better than most others. Just another worthless opinion, but when I want my opinion I'll give it to me.

In the case of my ears, my equipment, and my setup I do not pay a whole lot of attention to what others consider desirable, I am as objective as much as subjective listening allows me to be. The pinched waist version sounded ok but did not cause me to want to own one for $275, just not enough difference.

 

[bcowen]

Oh one was in the Vali 2 right now. I will make a little sign to go out with the adapters saying, parts and some labor were provided by Bill Cowen Esquire.

ROFL!!

 

[Robert Padgett]

. @Paladin79 lead me to a combination of equipment on which my music sounds wonderful to me. I am enjoying it in a completely new dimension. I just spent less than a year and only several thousand dollars in equipment and in tubes during my journey. I can replicate the setup for lest than a $1,000, everything included. I cannot wait to hear how you find it, @bcowen.

Likewise, my journey has been only since December, when the Vali 2 arrived. Almost a year, and look what we have learned...

 

[ScubaMan2017]

Only newbies think they have to plug it in.

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......................... Nah, no comment. BTW, I noticed in your signature, you have a MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed-Back pluged into your Lyr. Do you have any buyer's remorse about those cans (if compared to the Ether C.... or closed back versions of the Audeze LCD)?

 

[bcowen]

...
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......................... Nah, no comment. BTW, I noticed in your signature, you have a MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Closed-Back pluged into your Lyr. Do you have any buyer's remorse about those cans (if compared to the Ether C.... or closed back versions of the Audeze LCD)?

I haven't heard the Ethers or Audeze so can't offer any comparison. I will say that I loved the AFC's at first listen, and that hasn't changed a bit. I look at other 'phones every now and then, but the AFC's join a very short list of audio stuff I own (or have owned) that give me no real urge to think about upgrading.