AnalOg

Well ya got a point there. Tom

nt.

I remember you saying something to that affect, when I told you I wanted to run IL34's in the Marks. I wonder wy Triodes rebuild manual says it's O.K. to running plug and play. Tom

Eric said: "I hate messing with the stuff even when making power and output connections." Ya, try wiring a whole preamp & two Dynaco amps, you get really good at flowing solder after that. Tom

Check out the door to the right, that will give you a better perception of what you're looking at. Tom

Dylani Fr instance I had a tube fail, at this point I have the option of buying just one tube and bias it to match the tube that has many more hours on it. On the other hand, even if tubes are so called matched this feature allows you more control by biasing them indevidually therefore more accurately. Tom

Thanks Marvel Tom

Ya, it played out like one of those sappy predictable sports flicks![] Tom

I currently bias my kt88's at 70ma, what do I bias the el34's at. Tom

I have a Quad of EH EL34's that I bought about 2 years ago with the intent of running them through the Marks. I was detered because I was told that I would have to do some mods in order to use them. Can anyone give me a little insight on what has to be done or checked for that matter? Tom

The reason I decided to rebuild and mod these on my own was two fold, first being a chance to learn something new and the other being the pride of saying I did it myself and I didn't fry myself or burn down the house.[<)]LOL Although I did get zapped once, it was kind of refreshing![] Tom

The reason I decided to rebuild and mod these on my own was two fold, first being a chance to learn something new and the other being the pride of saying I did it myself and I didn't fry myself or burn down the house.[<)]LOL Although I did get zapped once, it was kind of refreshing![] Tom

"Something about the bass dynamics really sounds good about the Mark III's. They sound good all the way around, but the headroom is nice." That somes it up in a nutshell! Tom

Daddy Dee, You went from Paramours 2a3 based tube to MarkIII's, what gives. Did you sell the Puppies, those were a fun project. Tom

Oh so many choices, it's mind boggling. The only true way to decide what to like is unfortunately a very expensive indever, order them all and have a shoot out. Ok that ain't gonna happen, but it sure would be fun. Tom

Mark, It's funny you say that about the JJ's being the most affordable out there back then, now there the most expensive as far as current production tubes on the market. Tom

Dylani, I almost forgot, I also did the dual bias mod so you can bias each tube individually. Tom

Mark, Ya, I don't mid the tube failing as much as the fact that it started to fry my amp, lucky I'm only slightly dangerous with a soldering iron and VOM in my hand, otherwise I'd be shipping my stuff out to Craig and I'd be out tunes. Tom

Mark, The tube issues I had with JJ were a few years back when they first started surfacing on the market, I'm to assume quaility control has improved since. Tom

Yes it was!! Tom

Dylani, The MarkIII's are a keeper. It's been a few years since I rebuilt and modded them, so I'll fill you in as best my memory will allow. I ordered Triode Electronics front end boards, rebuild kit which includes all the resistors, caps, and replacement of the selenium rectifier to a diode design (correct me if I'm wrong here guys). They also have a power supply board that replaces the can on top which you install internally, with Craig's guidance he suggested that I can increase the power supply even more by replacing the can on top with another and incorporate it in, adding to the power supply. That made a big improvement in way of better controlled bass and imaging also improved slightly. I installed Hovland caps on the front end board, that sweetened the sound up a bit, strapped it in triode mode again by Craigs suggestion, this has turned into one very nice sounding amp. If I had to do anything differently it would be to not have used magnet wire as I used in my Foreplay project. Very hard to work with, and I did acquire a short on the case when I finished building it. I would also have changed out the original tube sockets that house the power tubes, I notice the tubes are wobbly when installed, for a couple of extra bucks go with new. Just for kicks I would install higher quality (boutique) parts internally, what the heck for an extra maybe $100.00. Craig also mentioned a mod were you can get a slower start up when you turn on the amp, I guess so it doesn't beat up your rectifier tube, this I haven't done, because I couldn't figure out the parts list he emailed me to do the mod. Tom

Craig, I kinda have a bad taste in my mouth about that tube going bad on me, and how it went bad to the point of taking out a resistor in my amp. Honestly I don't use my system everyday, or leave it on when I'm not around for obvious reasons. I think that tube should have lasted longer. I've also had some other new stock Russian tubes fail, one that comes to mind was JJ 12ax7's in my Scott 299, I'm sure you don't remember you and I discussed it at the time. I've gotta get me a tube tester, at this point it would be beneficial to test out these other three tubes and see what sort of life is left in them, and even test the bad one to see what transpires. Tom

I had one of my Svetlana KT88's go south on me this weekend. Needless to say it took out a 10ohm resistor, replacing it and installing some no name Russian 6550's that came with the amps when I bought them put me back in business. The problem is I lost some of that lush sound that I enjoyed with the Svetlana's. Craig recommended the Valve Arts and another made by Penta Labs, I heard and read good things about these tubes, but before I take the plunge I came across the reissued Tung Sol and was interested on how they stack up by comparison. Anyone out there give this reissue a try and how does it compare to say other KT88's? Tom

Craig, You didn't offend me at all, it sort of felt like the teasings you get when your a kid, I'm use to it. In all honesty I regretted using that magnet wire during and after rebuilding the Marks. What a ***** it is to strip the varnish and work with it through the chassis being so stiff and all. After the rebuild, I had a situation of one of the wires shorting against the metal body of the chassis, at that point was the regret after rebuild. I'm really not looking forward to changing out all the wiring at this point, for two reasons, one is patience the other being I won't have tunes with my main system. The tubes I have in place of the Svetlana's which just read Russian 6550 are so sterile and uninvolving by comparison. They do everything right, just not with the warmth and tone that I enjoyed from the Svetlana's. Which of the to KT88 brands you refered would you edge to first place in way of what I want back in my system. Tom

Changed out those resistors, put in some Russian 6550's in place of the Svetlana tubes. Back in business. Would it be ok to just order one tube to replace the bad one, since I hev bias adjustment pots for each tube? Thanks again, Tom