henry4841

Not everyone here frequents technical sites so share what you find here on a social forum as well. I am sure there is interest among electronic novices like myself.

Guys a tube is just a device to generate a current flow of electrons. If it produces a good even stream of electrons one should sound very much like another type of the same family. Comparing say just EL-34's for example. Just my opinion after a decade or more playing with tube technology. What really matters to me now is how well the tube is made and how many hours I can expect from it. Those old tubes of yesterday were quality built that one can expect long tube life from. They were made by the giants of tube builders and not some small factory as they are these days. Most talk of sounding better is just subjective which should be considered in that context, subjective.

This came up on another thread so I was thinking the subject may be worth more discussion. After years of not believing they do improve after a breaking in period I am of the opinion now they do improve after some breaking in. Not really sure about speakers but electronics, yes. Lets hear what other here think on this subject. Please no conflicts or verbal fights. Respect others opinion. Everyone is entitled to their opinion as it is almost impossible to actually prove the topic one way or the other. Unless one can see improvement on test equipment the subject is pure subjective and not fact.

I do not think it is crap being there are a lot of gasses released the first 100 hours which the getter catches before the tube settles down. But what do I know. Never done any testing, only what most have said on technical forums that I have read which we all know does not make it a fact. I was not a believer in SS sand devices, transistors, sounding better with some hours on them until I actually heard bass improve after a short while on a class D amplifier. Heard this twice on two I built. Pass Labs, Nelson Pass' company, recommends his preamp being left on for 24 hours straight before listening to it. Never supposed to turn it off but if one does the 24 hour wait period is recommended again. Go figure. I consider him smarter than most if not all on this forum so that makes me believe there may be some truth in a tube sounding better after some hours on it as well as SS devices. I would like to hear more on why you consider this not true spinner because I am sure it would be a good topic to discuss with as many in one camp as the other. I honestly do not care one way or the other, others opinions on a social media forum. Only stating my limited understanding of electronics over the last 50 years and from my participation on technical forums and what I have heard and read there.

I admire a tech that can do such, design and have a board made. I am not good enough on the software programs to design a board myself. Played around with programs some but found out just not my thing. Nice having you as a member here. Nice work.

Look forward to results, opinion.

I recently built two SE KT88 amplifiers. One has Electro-Harmonix KT-88's and the other JJ's. Slight edge goes to the JJ's in my book.

Whats best, hours and hours of enjoying lovely music the way it is supposed to sound.

General consensus is 100 hours on tubes before thye sound best. Probably just broke in.

Hang on to that RM-10. I am a big follower of Roger Modjeski.

In our PM I saw on the website the amp only takes 350mv to clip. For example the amp I sent you picture of clips at 1.6V. Most sources will send more than 2 V's so I knew the amp is designed for low efficiency 85db speakers or around that number. As far as swapping out the KT-150 for EL34, do not waste your money. I have never played with the KT-150 but in my experience the bigger the tube the better the sound. The KT-88, which I am very familiar with, sounds better than any EL34. Nothing wrong with EL34 sound it is just better sound with KT-88 and I am sure the same will hold true for the much bigger KT150. When you talk Paul I bet one will only have to remove a couple of capacitors to lower the gain on the input tube, tubes. I use what is called an active buffer to control volume which enables me to use a sub as well. An inexpensive passive pre for volume control along with adjusting the volume control of the amp, maybe half way, will give you the range you are looking for with our efficient speakers as well. If the passive pre has two outputs you can then use a sub as well much as I do.

I noticed when we PM'd the Ayon has high gain on the input. As I thought it has nothing do with being quite. Good to hear.

Do not let one bad apple determine your choice. The secret is "Tubes still rule when it comes to sound." Last count I have 24 amps, I believe or possible more both SS and tubes and all are quite on my LaScala's. Tube amps are just as quite as SS amps if designed and working correctly My choice of reproduction is SET's tube amps. A loud hard rocker will be better off with SS but for purist that can appreciate fine music SET tube is the way to go. Mostly only horn speakers can be used with a SET which makes our speakers so desirable. I can shake walls with just 5 watts of SET amplification and it makes music fill your whole room at any level. Holographic is the word often used. Not everyone's taste reason for so many different types of amplification but single ended triode amplification is the purist form. No manipulation of the audio signal in a SET as other forms do. This being said there are some SS amps that come really close to the tube sound but the word is really close. Slight edge still goes to a quality SET amplifier. Detail, singer in the room with you, room filling. Spooky is the word some use to described the sound. Not everyone can appreciate the advantages in sound though. One of my builds is below. Pentode being run single ended.

The tech probably did not use high efficiency speakers to test for hum. On 85db speakers the amp is probably quite enough. The tech would have to use an harmonic distortion analyzer to see the noise level. I've found 60db to 70db below signal to be quite enough on our speakers when searching for hum which is shown with all amps on a distortion analyzer. Makes no sense all the other amps you use are quite. It tells me that the amp truly is not quite enough for your speakers. No Ghost in your room.

Subtle differences possible if hearing is good enough. Doubtful most can tell difference in truly blind A/B test. Major builders of tubes want to do their best to sell more tubes like any other business. I have always read one must hear an original Western Electric 300B to truly know what a 300B should sound like. Always thought it to be true but doubt that statement now. Probably more hype than anything else but at the price of those old tubes I will never know. Statement sure raised the price. Looking at the modern 300B tubes one can see how the cathode is much differently made than most other tubes. Impressive looking when you look at the details of design. One thing for sure the original WE tubes last and last. I would not expect that with modern made 300B tubes.

Tube sellers will love you. 🙂 Serious though, tube rolling is popular because everyone can do it. I would not expect a real noticeable difference if both brands are quality built. But it can be fun.

I have many tube amplifiers, 10 or more, and I turn the volume on the tube amp wide open and control volume froman active buffer. Enables me to use sub doing it this way. If I have a hum I start finding the culprit and fix it. Even wide open the amp should be quite if working correctly.

My understanding is most want, build, their amps for 5,000 hr. tube life. That being said though many do not. The amount of current being run in the tube determines tube life.

If you do not have hum with the SS amp the problem is going to be the amp itself. Could very be too much gain being you can only turn to 9:00 but it could be elsewhere in the amp. A properly designed, operating correctly, tube amp should not hum with Cornwalls. Pass on the purchase is my advise.

It is all in their curves. What I am talking about is in the data sheets. Mosfets have curves like a pentode tube hence tube sounding. There are those that prefer the sound of the BJT's. No perfect amplifier for everyone. Personally I like the sound of both but my choice of amplification is triode tubes and yes their curves are different. But there is nothing wrong with any of them if utilized properly.

A lot depends on how they are biased. Run them hard and it will shorten their life.

Do you mean Viva tubes? They are made in Slovakia apparently. If so not actually Telefunken. Telefunken's are, were, made in Germany. On their site at Ebay. "Please note, this is a new production tube, made in Slovakia and NOT an original / vintage Telefunken. These are considered reissues." https://www.ebay.com/itm/123983799789?hash=item1cde02a5ed:g:POoAAOSw2B1d1u08&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4C7anEC470%2BYfPHCWg4mVZ%2FBjusIQ2%2BxjeEKvY03CUvG%2FY48W7CTpuPQgSmF6GlNE9nyrbsMLjFh5Wj%2B4YwI4oqWYozin%2Bt7k6T1Ww3sJ0h%2Bvn9gtxTRXsgmXUU%2BFH2NAze7xiutGRh7MSOg4mRlYy5OpW1eg1XmD%2FN%2BRVvq8cu9%2FpXRDoaJSgEsxb%2FydpGEPDDgtX2tuZ980gv%2Fbp69nOWfbKJRLzSfmrtFZOhh9oVYys7DoYxGueqcRECjTm5iJY8Tj6TLAWiyzeFjQwUTqRG9HnOI%2F2ME7dVlETW2cPCo|tkp%3ABFBM0qXA29dh

NOS tubes are going to be hard to beat for durability and long life but very pricey as all tubes these days. Too much emphasis is put on a particular brand of new tubes. All are capable of running decent current and really comes down to how well they are made rather than the sound they make. Technically that is all a tube is, a device that develops an electron stream inside them and all of them do a good job of doing that. I do not think you will find any that do not sound really good. It really comes down how well they are made. Of course there are those that like to nit pick the difference in sound between them but I would not put too much into that unless you really know how good the person is saying so. They well could have an agenda. You left out JJ tubes and from what I hear they are well made along with some of the other new production tubes. I have a Gold Lion that failed so I would will not pay extra for a set of them again. I like the Electro Harmonics KT-88's for price and performance along with JJ's. About to forget, congratulations on your new amp. From all that I have heard it is a quality built Chinese amp.

There are products that will hide scratches some but do not expect miracles. One has to be extremely careful sanding them out. The veneer is really thin on modern sheets. If you break through the veneer it will look worse than when you started. But that is the only proper way of getting rid of scratches. One can always veneer them again if appearance really is a concern.

Best if all 4 are matched but at least the two for each channel to be matched. The thing is though most Co. do not use the proper procedure matching tubes. There is usually an adjustment in your amp for matching a specific channel but not the two channels unless you have a balance control. The difference between channels will more than likely never be noticed if not matched. One channel will be slightly more powerful than the other and unless you have test equipment you will never know. Any 2A3 should work. Others will need to answer the other two questions being I have no 2A3 amp.