I’ve been writing this offline over the past few days so you can share in my journey.
With PSVaneTreasure MKI 6CA7 and Stock Chinese 5U4G RectifierListening to various Sun Ra and also Branford Marsalis, Eternal
Mullard 2493: Very clean and clear. Sparkly highs. Exciting. Lively. These are great tubes.
6N1P-EV (shiny pins). Definitely more laid back than the Mullard 2493s. Softer rounder.
6N2P EV (shiny pins). Yup, it’s louder. Big powerful full. Wow, the soundstage is huge. What a cool special experience of the music. Wish I could get these speakers to lock in the center of the soundstage, I’d have it all. Maybe I need dual volume on the amp.
6N2P (grey pins) 6N2P's made at the Voshod factory, 1981 grey's same as 2p regular but maybe cleaner, brighter, more lively? So hard to tell. More sparkle and liveliness. May be artificial but it is interesting. I like them also for sure.
Reviewing the above input tubes again with JJ EL43s this time
JJ 34s are more laid back, smoother, sweet, but slow, like I find myself waiting for the notes to come out. So weird. Hmmmm???
PVane Treasures 6CA7: Louder, more powerful, more up front, better base, punchy more authoritative. Might need a cryo cooling to smoothen it out a bit.. Hmmmm…..
But I’m still not getting the lushness and warmth and real power/authority I seek and have heard before on a push-pull integrated with EL-34 output tubes, (2) 12AU7 driver tubes, (2)12AX7 input tubes. Granted this amp had 30+ and it was played loud in a totally dead treated room with standard front facing towers vs. my Radial ERRs.
Maybe I need a preamp. Maybe I’m seeking a different animal.
Now, with New Cryoed Philips 5U4G Rectifier made in 1972 in HollandPutting it in now and listening to Patricia Barber Blue Café, Morning Grace….
Wwwwoooooowwwwww. Ok, I am floored. Right out of the box, even just as I heard the power going in to it and the volume picking up I could tell the difference. This is a Game Changer!!!! This nailed it. The rectifier just makes everything right. So round, so rich, so live. Bass is soooo much more deep than I have ever heard from these speakers and very detailed. The only thing I haven’t liked about these speakers ERRs is the missing midrange presence; well, there speakers have midrange presence now -- so real and so present. Absolutely rich and lush and absolutely not syrupy. ….I’m totally blown away. Layers and depth too. And it is fast at the same time. It is so amazingly live. You can hear the hands of the hands hitting the hand drums with amazing precision as if they were here. Her breath and the acoustic guitar on whatever track that was…. Nothing missing, everything gained. I’m in blissful sensory overload. Damn it!!! How am I going to get any more work done today. Maybe I’ll just celebrate.
Now for syrupy. I can’t believe how much love and appreciation I feel for my fellow geeky obsessive compulsive audiophile tube rollers. I’m absolutely a newbie and totally new to tubes. I feel like a little brother to you guys. Thank you Steve Deckard for your esthetically gorgeous and sonically memorizing masterpieces and all the conversations. And to his faithful, probably sick in the head like me cult-like followers, thank you for your input. Also, Ron at Cryoset.com – what a mench. Seriously, you all have given me a beautiful gift this week.
And, thank you to whoever wrote this thing and led me to my 1972 Phillips rectifier that I think a few of you also read. http://www.head-fi.org/t/694525/dubstep-girls-massive-5ar4-5r4-5u4g-rectifier-re...
No, didn’t get any more work done today, BTW.
FANTASTIC!!!!
The winners are:The Linchpin and Gamechanger- Rectifier:
New NOS Cryoed Philips 5U4G Rectifier made in 1972 in Holland
Input: These 3 are great. All different.
Cryoed 6N2P-EV or 6N2Ps (grey pins)Voshod factory, 1981 - Bought them from
Ron @ cryoset.com. . 6N1P also great. But different. Ron, is awesome.
Output:
PSVaneTreasure MKI 6CA7 (from Decware I think).
I know I should listen to all the combinations again, now with the new rectifier, but it sounds so good I just don’t want to. You know what I mean? I’m sure I will. But not today.
Also, to get the ERRs to step up in the bass and mids (comparatively speaking), I have been running them with fast 10 ohm resisters in the tweeter
Private message me if I need to edit this for clarity or errors. You guys are the best.
- Matthew