NOSValves Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Mobile, I have some HF-81 tube Questions 1) what is the very best 12AU7 to use ? Would NOS RCA's be any good ? Would they be worth $20 each ? Or would 6189 $10 each , 5963 $5 each or 5814 $5 each be a better option. Or finally should I hold out for BB , Tele's or Mullards will it be worth it ? 2)6CA4 are GE's or Sylvania any good ?? I can get them for $10 each. I could alway's just have them as backups I already won a auction for 1 NOS Mullard but who knows about the next. The seller you stole the set from me has another set up but isn't willing to just put a price on them . 6BQ5's I have a set of mullard , GE and JJ's so I'm set there. 12AX7's I have 8 good Mullards and about 24 Tele's so all set there also. Oh and I'm positve I can fix this Fire trap. Its really not all that bad at worst I might have to replace the Power transformer and rewire the 6CA4 sockets back to stock. Which I already found a trashed (Damaged) HF-81 as a donor. This HF-81 cosmetically is really nice. The rest of the wiring is really well done. I'm going to have a keeper and it better be worth all the trouble if you know what I mean Thanks Craig ------------------ HH Scott 299 Amp HH Scott LT-110B Tuner HH Scott P-87 Turn Table JVC JL-F50 Turn Table Sony CDP-CA7ES CD Drive 1985 Walnut Heresey I W/Layne Audio Woofers KSW-15 Subs>c> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazman Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Craig, Here's the setup on my HF-81. 12AU7's-Mullards. Telefunken and Brimar would be my second choices. This can be a matter of preference. I use Telefunkens in my Cary. My 12AU7 backup for my HF-81 and Cary after the above brands is the 1958 RCA 5963 black plates. A good tube for the money but not as full bodied or extended as Mullard, Telefunken, or Brimar. BTW the '58 RCA 5963 black plates should go for about $12 each if you can find them. 6CA4/EZ81-Mullards. Phillips"Miniwatt",(made by Mullard in Great Britan)and Brimars are my second choice, but Phillips Holland and Amperex(BB)work well also. Another good tube is the AMV, made in Austrailia, not well known by many, but very good and can be a real bargain when you can find them. 12AX7's-Mullards(long plates). Second options here are Brimars and Amperex(BB). I have not been lucky enough to roll in Tele's here, so I can't offer anything on them. 6BQ5/EL84-Mullards. Brimars are second along with Tele's for NOS. I prefer the Ei's to the JJ's if not going NOS. Some RCA's were made by Mullard(will have "made in Great Britain" printed). I have a new quad of EICO EL84s made in Holland(by Phillips is suspect) that I've never tried. Too many tubes, not enough time. Have fun. Klipsch out. This message has been edited by jazman on 09-19-2002 at 07:50 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Craig, good luck! I know Jeff (Turbo) is licking his chops waiting for his Scott to whomp my Eico ... Just a note to the masses ... "Phillips" is spelled with one "L", unless you're talking Milk of Magnesia (which is sometimes a good thing). Hugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted September 19, 2002 Author Share Posted September 19, 2002 Jazzman thanks for the info !! Chris I love your Phillips joke to funny. Now I need you to spill the beans on all none factory work done to your EICO I have to know what I'm up against here also let me know what tubes your using in that beauty of yours. Give us a fighting chance. I just started changing all his filter caps tonight what a pain desoldering all those connections and then wiggleling the Cap from its fastener. This is getting to be to much like work LOL !! When I get done with that all the tweaking starts. It will be at least the end of next week before I'm ready to send it back. I will not send a amp out period until I've listened to it for at least a few evenings if it sounds good maybe more . Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Craig, By all means take your time on it-I have an old Sony integrated amp to hold me over till either the Yamaha or the Scott is finished.Besides,I'd rather have it "turn key" so all I have to do is sit back and watch the faint glow of the tubes warm the cockles of my heart. Plus it'll keep me warm this Winter with my drafty Anderson windows. Chris, Maybe when the Scott is finally finished I'll drop it off with you for a couple days to compare sound-wise with that beautiful Eico of yours-You'll probably hear the subtle differences a lot easier than my "metal" trained ears. On a side note...heard not a word from the owner about those K-horns we had talked about earlier-I'll try again tonite. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radiohead Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 I am really glad you posted this question Craig. It is quite ironic because I emailed Kelly this afternoon asking him the exact same thing. I am curious to see what his input is. BTW how did you manage to score the 24 12AX7 Tele's? You been saving them for awhile? Ryan ------------------ Eico HF-81 1975 Walnut Klipschorns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
No Disc Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Craig - Good luck with that Eico. Glad you got another one and are going to give it another try. I'm crossing my fingers for you this time. FYI - Pland should be able to you give you some ideas of tube choices. I believe he favored the Telefunkens and Mullards. I am currently running NOS Amerex BBs on the pre and JJ Tesla for the 6BQ5. I'm very happy with that setup. - tb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted September 19, 2002 Author Share Posted September 19, 2002 Jeff, I've been thinking and we should modify are tube choices for your amp. Instead of putting JJ in for the 2 bad original 12AX7's I think I'm going to have to dig thru my personal stash and put in Tele's. I can do this for a extra $20 just to give the old Scott every fighting chance. How's that sound ?? If you don't mind. I'm really going to have to give this every effort and see just what I can do with this baby. I know that if you both come out of this test saying the EICO sounds better I'll never live it down with old Mobile and I might not be able to live with myself either !!!!!! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 OOPS! This message has been edited by JCturboT on 09-19-2002 at 09:34 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 The amp's pretty stock (some Spraque caps is about it) but all the tubes are Mullard which was what was appealing to me when I bid on it ($350), which seemed high then but in retrospect was probably a pretty good deal. I know that the nuances of an amp are revealed by good tubes, but I think it would be a pretty fair fight to stack the Scott / Eico up against each other with decent NOS of any brand. Frankly, I'm looking forward to hearing Jeff's Scott ... Think it will be fun. I'm actually developing an affinity for that head bangin' stuff Jeff, thanks for the Khorn update. I hope it works out for you ... if not, I'll fly it by bro who won't have a clue what hit him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 quote: Originally posted by NOS440: Jeff, I've been thinking and we should modify are tube choices for your amp. Instead of putting JJ in for the 2 bad original 12AX7's I think I'm going to have to dig thru my personal stash and put in Tele's. I can do this for a extra $20 just to give the old Scott every fighting chance. How's that sound ?? If you don't mind. I'm really going to have to give this every effort and see just what I can do with this baby. I know that if you both come out of this test saying the EICO sounds better I'll never live it down with old Mobile and I might not be able to live with myself either !!!!!! Craig Craig, Sounds like a plan-Lets do it. Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted September 19, 2002 Author Share Posted September 19, 2002 Jeff, Do you have a multi meter ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 quote: Originally posted by NOS440: Jeff, Do you have a multi meter ?? Yes I do-why? Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCturboT Posted September 19, 2002 Share Posted September 19, 2002 Damn double posts!!! This message has been edited by JCturboT on 09-19-2002 at 10:06 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazman Posted September 20, 2002 Share Posted September 20, 2002 Chris, Thanks for the Philips correction. I had two 6CA4 Philips Miniwatt boxes almost in front of my face and never paid attention to my spelling. I guess I'm just a damn yankee, but do not mistake me as being a Yankee fan. GO A's! BTW, I used Mullards more as an attempt to be true to what was offered as OEM tubes. I think any of the quality NOS tubes will yield great sonic results as long as they have strong readings. It requires many weeks of listening and rolling to detect very subtle differences. Each person listens with their own bias. I might be shot for saying this, but I feel Brimars seem to offer the best characterics of both the Mullard and Telefunken. I'm sure both amplifiers will provide endearing sonics. Isn't that the bottom line? Klipsch out. This message has been edited by jazman on 09-20-2002 at 05:15 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted September 20, 2002 Author Share Posted September 20, 2002 Radiohead, Missed your post earlier. I scored all the Telefunkens from the 6 Scott amps I've purchased. Seems like I have gotten real lucky when buying all my Amps when I did. Everything these day's on Ebay seems to have all the NOS tubes taken out of them and the prices have risen a good bit also. I also scored 6 at a Ham fest this summer bought them as is and 4 out of 6 were good. Not bad for $30 LOL !! That's what I love about Tele's the dang things seem to last forever . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted September 20, 2002 Author Share Posted September 20, 2002 Jeff, I was thinking about loaning you a set of NOS 7189's for the shootout. But this would mean you would have to rebias the output's when you put your new set in after the shootout. Just a thought. I personally don't think they make a big if any difference just thought you guys could see what you think and also have some fun tube rolling. But I will have to have them back !!!! I save all my NOS tubes as a investment I figure its better than the stock market LOL !!! Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BryanJ Posted September 20, 2002 Share Posted September 20, 2002 Craig, it's me Ishmael!!! Got the 222's refurb kit from vacuumtube.com. I'm sure you saw my trial with the goofed up UPS delivery on another post. Ready to go, but missing the variac. No rush though. Santa came with the kit and the EICO!! Not Mint as the seller said but not bad at all. Nothing is burned, nothing looks out of the ordinary. Smells like my dads old set Top 4 output tubes are not the EL84's but 7581's or something like that. A subsitute? Only real things that are not on, are, missing the two ground screws on the back, acc plug in the back has a cracked border but functional, various ~4-5mm rust spots on the upper chassis. Nothing major though. Took the bottom cover off and looks immaculate. I was kind of wondering why there were 3 nuts and bolts loose in the upper and lower chassis? Screws were about and inch and 1/2 long with the accompanying bolt, all separte and rattling around!!!!. This was not right. It almost looks like some sort of sabotage to short out the unit? They had no purpose there. The package was only insured for 300 bucks! US! Guess who is going to get some neg feedback unless my note is answered! Live and learn I guess. Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSValves Posted September 20, 2002 Author Share Posted September 20, 2002 Bryan (Ishmael) Email me your phone number I'm not clear on this at all ! craigostby@comcast.net Craig This message has been edited by NOS440 on 09-20-2002 at 02:22 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lindsey Posted September 20, 2002 Share Posted September 20, 2002 18 replies and mobile hasn't chimed in yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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