AnalOg Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 Hey all, My best sounding preamp tubes, RCA vt-231 are also my most microphonic. They actually create feed back noise like a mic close to an amp. I've rolled Sylvania's, Tung-sol, EH, yet nothing that sounds as musical & tonally balanced as the RCA's. Any recs or sellers of something comparable to the RCA vt-231? I know Dean in the past has mentioned a few of his favorites. Thankx, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 I think it's just a tube trait of 6SN7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted September 30, 2004 Author Share Posted September 30, 2004 ---------------- On 9/30/2004 12:28:24 PM mdeneen wrote: Have you tried simpy better isolation of the preamp? mdeneen ---------------- I'll give that a try, thanks Mark. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Landau Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 http://home.att.net/~chimeraone/6sn7sound.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 I just had this issue with my preamp. The sovtek 6sn7's for lack of a technical term lost their mind. I could tap on the floor or tap on the preamp and it would come through the belle's. I replaced the sovteks with sylvanias and no problem so far dead quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted September 30, 2004 Author Share Posted September 30, 2004 ---------------- On 9/30/2004 1:07:21 PM Guy Landau wrote: http://home.att.net/~chimeraone/6sn7sound.html ---------------- Nice read Guy, I'll give some of the suggestions a try. Thankx, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben. Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 A good sheet of this stuff under your pre may be a good thing, too, if your main problem is not airborne. Go to http://www.mcmaster.com/ page 3299. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number 9 Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 I once owned a tube-amp with 6Sn7s and indeed, many of the tubes I tried were microphonic. What worked for me, were Herbie's tube dampers. Made a big difference. There are now many knock-offs available that actually cost more, but probably don't do much better. As for tubes, i rolled quite a few, and had a rare Sylvania 1942 one. But you know, the one that sounded "the best" to me was a 1959 Hitachi. Extremly rare and hard to find, but cheap, because no one really thinks much of Japanese tubes. But in my humble experience this one sounded the best: quieter, tightest bass, clear midrange. If you can find one, they typically go for $10. A lot, cheaper than some of the exotics out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 I second Herbie's tube dampers. Tey worked quite effectively on my former AE-1. Wolfram Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnysal Posted September 30, 2004 Share Posted September 30, 2004 BUT start by isolating a bit the preamp itself from vibration. any number of feet or platforms can help with that. then you can move into tube socks and finally tube rolling to vibration insensitive tubes. by doing things in that order you give yourself the best chance of using your favorite sounding tubes (the vt-231). tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted September 30, 2004 Author Share Posted September 30, 2004 Isolation is what I will work on at this point for obvious reasons. Tube dampeners left me unimpressed in the past. They seem to make the tubes there dampening sound sterile. This may not hold true with these type of tubes,but the 12ax7's in my Scott suffered. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 1, 2004 Author Share Posted October 1, 2004 IT WORKED!! I put vibrapods under the feet of the Rogue and whatta ya know, much better. I don't experience that howling any longer, the only microphonics I expereience is tapping sound I hear when I'm switching from one input to another or if I tap on the body of the pre itself. I'll listen for a while and change out with other tubes for comparison. Sometimes the answer is right infront of you but ya can't see it. Thanks for the flash light guys. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 ---------------- On 10/1/2004 8:53:34 AM rf3iicrazy wrote: IT WORKED!! I put vibrapods under the feet of the Rogue and whatta ya know, much better. I don't experience that howling any longer, the only microphonics I expereience is tapping sound I hear when I'm switching from one input to another or if I tap on the body of the pre itself. I'll listen for a while and change out with other tubes for comparison. Sometimes the answer is right infront of you but ya can't see it. Thanks for the flash light guys. Tom ---------------- Shouldn't preamps be silent? Try another set of 6sn7's just for the hell of it and I bet you don't even hear the tap tap tap on the preamp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 1, 2004 Author Share Posted October 1, 2004 ---------------- On 10/1/2004 9:58:59 AM seti wrote: ---------------- On 10/1/2004 8:53:34 AM rf3iicrazy wrote: IT WORKED!! I put vibrapods under the feet of the Rogue and whatta ya know, much better. I don't experience that howling any longer, the only microphonics I expereience is tapping sound I hear when I'm switching from one input to another or if I tap on the body of the pre itself. I'll listen for a while and change out with other tubes for comparison. Sometimes the answer is right infront of you but ya can't see it. Thanks for the flash light guys. Tom ---------------- Shouldn't preamps be silent? Try another set of 6sn7's just for the hell of it and I bet you don't even hear the tap tap tap on the preamp. ---------------- Yes, with the other tubes mentioned in the first post it is silent when tapping, but those tubes are not as musical and tonally balanced as the RCA's. I'll accept the trade off for now, until I find a better replacement. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seti Posted October 1, 2004 Share Posted October 1, 2004 Shouldn't preamps be silent? Try another set of 6sn7's just for the hell of it and I bet you don't even hear the tap tap tap on the preamp. ---------------- Yes, with the other tubes mentioned in the first post it is silent when tapping, but those tubes are not as musical and tonally balanced as the RCA's. I'll accept the trade off for now, until I find a better replacement. Tom ---------------- I see.... I think I'll pick up some vibrapods and dampeners for my pre and give those other 6sn7's another shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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