JHoman Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I have ordered a ST-120 from Craig at NOS Valves, he took this newly assembled amp in on trade for a set of his mono blocks. Craig has gone through the amp and re-soldered all the connections and has installed the tubes I wanted in the unit and is going to burn it in. Hopefully it will be shipped the first of the week and I will get it towards the end of the week. I'm very excited about this as it will be my first tube amp. It will replace my Audio Dynamics B200 amp and drive my Cornwalls. I will probably sell one of the Audio Dynamics B200 in the future. Thanks for all the info on this amp that helped me make up my mind! Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I've got one of those driving a pair of La Scalas. Very nice amp. Mine gets played pretty much every day. Which tubes did you spec in yours? THANX! Jeff Hoak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHoman Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 Craig and I talked about it a lot. He said money is best spent on the front end tubes, we agreed on a NOS Mullard CV4024 for the front end. I was leaning towards the Genalex Golden Lion KT88s for the back end, he talked me out of them. He said he really likes the Ruby Tubes KT-88 SRT tubes, as he said it, best bang for the buck. He told me that if I wanted to change after I heard them we could. He was very confident about this choice. I deferred to his expertise as this is all new to me. He talked me out of the SS rectifier to start with. He told me that I shouldn't need the SS rectifier since I was not going to have to push the amp that hard driving the Cornwalls. Again I took his advice. I'm looking very forward to trying this! Thanks, Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 The CV4024s are what I have in mine. I've not heard it with anything else so I'm taking it on faith that they're "as good as it gets" for those sockets. Interesting take on the Genelex KT88s. Bob Latino swears by them. Mine has Valve Art KT-88s installed. They were in it when I bought it. I've been wanting to play a bit of "tube rolling" and was planning to spring the $200 (OUCH) for a set of the Genelex as soon as I could but at $139 for a quad of Ruby Tubes I may give them a try. The SS rectifier in mine was simply a reliability choice. It's doubtful that I'll ever have much of a stock of "spare" tubes here if rectifier ever cooks. I did a LOT of research on the subject of SS rectifiers and the general conclusion was that it did not harm. Call it $29 worth of piece of mind. I had read a few places about the CV4024 being a bit "microphonic" in some cases so I just proactively bought the O-Ring dampers. Again very cheap ($10) insurance. I had some trouble with vibration with my Dynaco MK4s in my installation. That was ultimately resolved using concrete isolation bases for them. All I can tell you is that if the ST-120 / Cornwall combo sounds as good as it does with a pair of La Scalas you're going to LOVE it. THANX! Jeff Hoak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinmi Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I'm running the Mullard 4024's in mine also. I started out with some Jan 12AT7's, and the Mullards were a big improvement. I'm running Sovtek KT88's, and plan on trying the Gold Lion reissues some day. I had a Ruby rectifier tube, but it only lasted about 2 days before it went haywire and I couldn't bias the tubes. I don't know if it was a bad tube, or if all the extra capacatence upgrades took it's toll on it. I'm now running the Weber coppercap ss rectifier with great results. You are gonna love your new amp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHoman Posted January 2, 2010 Author Share Posted January 2, 2010 Yes, it was great to get someones opinion on the tubes. Craig said that you won't see a tremendous amount of difference from swapping the brands of KT88s, he said on the back end most of the sound difference is already done from the front end, that the 88s only really push the power. He told me to change the type of tubes if I really wanted to see a difference. I'm excited and want to learn as much as I can about the tube amps. I'm going to order me a copper cap rectifier to have as a back up. jh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gartenman Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Try some Amperex Bugle Boys, they are a cross between Telefunken and Mullard. Sweet tone, almost holographic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhoak Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Try some Amperex Bugle Boys, they are a cross between Telefunken and Mullard. Sweet tone, almost holographic. Driver or output? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I believe he means driver tubes. That would be my experience, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 The Amperex/Philips/Holland from the mid '60s and prior are quite possibly the best overall line of 12A-7 ever. Open and balanced from top to bottom, yet sweet and organic without getting too syrupy. Very transparent. I LOVE these in the front end of my VRDs, my favorite vintage being the 1959-1962 with the large O getters - more bass slam than the earlier D getters, yet with that holographic 3D quality that is just PHENOMENAL. They are sooooo gooood... For best results with these tubes, let run for one hour before making any judgements on them. Worth the wait[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nailbender Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 I'm the one who originally bought and built this amp. I'm sure Craig fixed all my solder connections. I've learned my lesson to stay in my lane and leave the electronics work to the pros. I used a Weber Copper cap in that amp with great results. Really clean sound. I drove my Cornscalas with this amp. The volume knob was rarely above 1/4 on my Blueberry. This amp has some serious iron in it! The amp is worth every penny you're spending on it. Enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHoman Posted January 3, 2010 Author Share Posted January 3, 2010 Great to hear from you nailbender, I thought this was the amp you built, I'm like you, thats why I am getting this amp pre-built. I look forward to getting it next week. Do you have your mono blocks? Craig is a great guy to deal with. He said you did a good job on the amp, all he found was some cold solder joints and a few joints that needed more solder. Did you do all the upgrades to the amp when you built it? Thanks, Jeff PS, thanks for doing what you do for all of us![Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nailbender Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 JHoman, I can't wait till April to get my VRDs. I just built your amp with upgraded caps. I'm sure Craig tweaked it to get the most out of it. I ran it with Genelex KT88s. I have a little bit extra money since I'm on vacation till April[:S]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gartenman Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Try some Amperex Bugle Boys, they are a cross between Telefunken and Mullard. Sweet tone, almost holographic. Driver or output? preamp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gartenman Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 The Amperex/Philips/Holland from the mid '60s and prior are quite possibly the best overall line of 12A-7 ever. Open and balanced from top to bottom, yet sweet and organic without getting too syrupy. Very transparent. I LOVE these in the front end of my VRDs, my favorite vintage being the 1959-1962 with the large O getters - more bass slam than the earlier D getters, yet with that holographic 3D quality that is just PHENOMENAL. They are sooooo gooood... For best results with these tubes, let run for one hour before making any judgements on them. Worth the wait well said!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHoman Posted January 9, 2010 Author Share Posted January 9, 2010 Well, FedEx drove up today, fired me up! Went to the door, very small package. It was the copper cap rectifier I ordered from Webber, dadgumit! I guess I will have to wait till Monday............................................. crap![:'(] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHoman Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Brian, I got it today................. Sweet, Craig did tweak it, he said he made a few adjustments knowing my preamp and my Cornwall's. I'm very impressed, really sings, very nice, sweet sound. The Ruby's coupled with the Mullard 4024s sound very nice and I know it still has to break in. Stay safe, and let me know when you get you NOS Valves amp. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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