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Tubecube 7


steelgtr

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I bought this by mistake, just thought I was checking shipping charges. Might be fun with the La Scalas to get my feet wet. Great reviews, no tax, free shipping and 12ax7 based.

 

https://www.tubedepot.com/products/tubecube-7-stereo-vacuum-tube-amplifier?fbclid=IwAR0mPJNJoLq34t42WXhnb30SR2BgrB4Q0be03-zRN7Vu-pvlekDJ2x3e3SY

 

 

Looking for upgrade ideas, opinions, etc?

 

thx

 

bob

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Many suggest rolling in some higher quality EL84 and 12AX7 tubes in (Ampex, RCA, Sylvania come up on ePay regularly for a reasonable price) and you have a pretty good starter tube unit. 

 

I used mine with a CD player input, no pre-amp required. 

 

Gobs of advice out there on the interweb about which tubes/mods to try.

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I'm that guy from Europe... :-))

I upgraded the tubes to Sovtek longplates. EL84M and so for the preamp tube. 

Main reason for the upgrade was aesthetic: the original tubes didn't glow up with the same intensity. I still use them with my RP160M speakers. 

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8 minutes ago, AndreG. said:

MeloManiac, i always wanted to ask how that little amp sounds. I think it would be a great way to delve into tubes without spending a fortune.

It's exactly that: a good introduction to tubes. Also with my Heresies in combination with CD player and streamer, they sound good and loud enough. 

OH yeah, I bought a mechanical switch in order to connect several input devices. 

 

 

PSX_20210416_192754.jpg

PSX_20210416_192838.jpg

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7 hours ago, MeloManiac said:

I'm that guy from Europe... :-))

I upgraded the tubes to Sovtek longplates. EL84M and so for the preamp tube. 

Main reason for the upgrade was aesthetic: the original tubes didn't glow up with the same intensity. I still use them with my RP160M speakers. 

 

Thanks, What is a Long plate? Is that the preamp tube?

 

bob

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I have a Tubecube 7 that has NOS Mullard EL84s and 12AX7. Playing through a pair of Heresy speakers and a subwoofer it sounds pretty amazing. Has a great 3D sound stage and good cymbal coverage. The sub picks up the lower frequencies  as the Tubecube is 3.5 watts per channel. Using a iFi DAC and iPhone for tunes. Have taken this setup on vacation with RB51ii bookshelf speakers, fits in a medium size bin. Really is a nice sounding amp and not a fan of the SINO tubes that come with it, amp really came alive when NOS Mullards installed.

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1 hour ago, Ole Dollar said:

I have a Tubecube 7 that has NOS Mullard EL84s and 12AX7. Playing through a pair of Heresy speakers and a subwoofer it sounds pretty amazing. Has a great 3D sound stage and good cymbal coverage. The sub picks up the lower frequencies  as the Tubecube is 3.5 watts per channel. Using a iFi DAC and iPhone for tunes. Have taken this setup on vacation with RB51ii bookshelf speakers, fits in a medium size bin. Really is a nice sounding amp and not a fan of the SINO tubes that come with it, amp really came alive when NOS Mullards installed.

How do you connect a sub to the Tubecube? 

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1 hour ago, hanksjim1 said:

Preamp with two outputs?

Most subs have two inputs and two outputs. If it is a newer sub, it will have an LFE input which bypasses the crossover.That would be used for the main system, the other input/output could be used for the small amp. In my system I am using the LFE input for the home theater. The other input is used for my McIntosh integrated amp for two-channel listening and uses the crossover in the sub. If you have only one sub, since bass is nondirectional and in pre/pros the bass is summed, use of a Y connector is generally the method used.

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8 minutes ago, steelgtr said:

Is this little guy a true single end amp? EL84 is a pentode so it can't be a SET right?  (still learning)

 

bob


Right. When designed as such it is a SEP,  single ended pentode, much the same as an EL34.The 2a3, 300b, 211, 845, 6c33, etc. are “true” triodes and with the proper design/transformers can be run single ended. As well as push/pull. 

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35 minutes ago, steelgtr said:

Is this little guy a true single end amp? EL84 is a pentode so it can't be a SET right?  (still learning)

 

bob


Any pentode can be wired to operate as a triode, and there are many wonderful SETs which use pentodes wired that way.  Some pentodes, when “triode strapped”, have more linear characteristics (less distortion) than some popular triodes.  Triode purists may disagree.......

 

Maynard

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On 4/16/2021 at 7:35 PM, MeloManiac said:

Compared to my Leben CS300

Oh, i´m sure Your Leben sounds better, but then it also cost more – a lot. On the plus side, some "tuning " can be done by buying other tubes, wich con conviniently be bought on the same site. I always thought about pairing my Heresys to a small tube-amp and i´ve seen this one mentioned somewhere before. Good to read that it´s usable, even though it doesn´t cost a fortune. So Cube 7 reallly might be a good way to start with tubes.

By the way, what height is the amp?

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