I’m a bit off topic but if I wanted to gets tube into my setup should I get then in the DAC, amp or both?
Yeah, it has no stamp on the base, I think it is a knock off but was not expensive and sounds really really good.
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If anyone wants more of the personal touch when buying tubes, as opposed to clicking on a button, then in addition to Brent Jessee, who everyone already knows about, I had a very good experience with http://vintagetubeservices.com/.
Andy, the owner, is one of those proverbial guys who’s forgotten more about tubes than you’ll ever learn, and he was happy to spend as much time as I needed to educate me. He’s very down to earth and steered me towards cheaper tubes whenever he thought they offered the same level of quality as the ones I mentioned to him.
Andy likes talking on the phone and is very open about not getting around to returning emails for a week or so. Just be aware that if you call the number and get a busy signal, he’s talking to another customer, so just keep trying.
And don’t expect anything “modern” like Paypal. From what I read about him, he used to ask his customers to mail him a check, so I was pleasantly surprised that I could use my credit card.
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There are many more expert than me, but I am going to say amplifier, or if it works in your system, pre-amplifier. For headphones, most of this crowd advocate for tube amplifiers with their favorite headphones.
I have never heard a tube DAC but I know they exist but personally I would not want a second place to have to trouble shoot a noisy tube!
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Thanks for the tip @PaisleyUnderground. Jesse has been really generous to me, but good to have an honest alternative to be trusted and sharing of info…
I see. Those are the gems and great finds.
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Thx. I have the Cayin hybrid DAC, Liquid platinum amp.
Good to know. I tried calling and leaving messages for him for an entire week and never connected. I proceeded to buy from Brent.
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I did not know about that DAC. Interesting.
I’ve never tried a tube DAC. I would think a tube amp would be more effective, but this may be system and sonic goal dependent.
As for tube preamp vs power amp which applies more to speaker listening, the conventional advice is tube pre. Based on my experience, I don’t believe that is an absolute. While I also fly the tube over solid state flag sky high, I don’t have more tubes in my system than I need to - ground loop and hum issues might make some less determined listeners tap out.
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Yes, I can sympathize. It took me about 5 attempts before I got through, so I suppose I should feel fortunate.
I generally move on if I haven’t heard back from a company within a week. Off topic comment: it’s been a week since I sent some questions to Kitsune about their Holo DACs, so I’ll send them a follow-up on Monday, and they will disappear from my short list a week later.
On the other hand, Brent has been very responsive with email (he told me that was better for him than phone).
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I’m glad it worked out for you.
Same. This was a somewhat sizeable order so I was more patient in order to do my diligence.
Holo. Also on my radar.
I agree that Brent is very responsive. For him, I keep track of when his suggestions between multiple alternatives are the cheaper alternative, which is more rare (less frequent).
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Thats the vibe I get from the interwebs as well. Not the most prominent email communication.
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Well my Baldwin yellow label (Raytheon) 12au7 started crackling yesterday. I tried removing it and putting it back in, and it’s still noisy, so I’m guessing it’s done.
My only other spare was a 12ax7 so I put that in. I happened to be using my Stellia at the time, and the consequence of changing from ‘u’ to ‘x’ was that the amp became completely impractical for sensitive headphones. The volume control has ‘clicks’ as you increase the volume, and I had about 4 clicks with the 12au7 and only 1 with the 12ax7.
So I cannibalized my Pendant and “stole” my Baldwin green label (Sylvania) 12au7 from that amp. It’s not as warm as the yellow label, but has a little more clarity. Using this tube gives me a sense of familiarity, as it reminds me of the Pendant a little (relying on memory, which is unreliable, but I didn’t get this reaction with the other tube in place).
Anyway, I called Vintage Tubes this morning and got straight through to Andy on my first try, which I’m guessing is like winning the lottery twice in a row. I’d originally ordered a 5751 tube from him, which has a little less gain than a 12ax7, but Andy thought I would have the same volume issues, and recommended that I switch my order to a 12au7.
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Ride that hot hand.
Brent J offers some guidance here for tube noise/microphonics, where tube tapping sometimes helps: http://www.audiotubes.com/tubetap.htm.
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Thanks, that link was very helpful. This was his advice to cure a noisy tube.
Take that tube out of your unit and tap it on its side firmly on a table top. Then, hold it upright and tap it firmly with a wooden pencil. This will nearly always knock the offending flake of material out of the grid where it will cause no more noise. Reseat the tube and give it a good 12 to 48 hours of burn in time and the noise should be gone for good.
I’d normally be terrified of trying that, but since the offending tube was free, I’ll give it a go.
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I hear you. Perhaps try it on a mousepad. It worked for me on Telefunken diamonds. Good luck.
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Repair it or dump it?
My Tung-Sol 6SN7 GTB has a broken locator plug/key:
It’s only a $25 to $30 tube (new). Unfortunately not all pieces are present, so it’s not a simple glue-on job.
Has anyone dealt with this before? How?
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Does your amp take two 6SN7 tubes or one tube?
Never. I’d be concerned with a faulty repair potentially resulting in damage to your other gear, where the replacement cost of the tube may not be worth the risk. Good luck.
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