|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
24.15.35.211
In Reply to: RE: Good news (I hope)... posted by Vinyl Valet on June 29, 2015 at 12:06:17
"About the same price as the good sounding but terribly unreliable Gold Lions"
Again, my experience contradicts this. I have had ZERO returns or inquiries about issues with the tube in the last two or three months. I rejected TWO tubes in the same time period as a result of my pre-sale testing. If it wasn't a solid performer I wouldn't carry it - that's why I don't carry the JJs.
I KNOW personally a good number of people who run Genalex 6922s and have tubes with a lot of time on them that still perform well. There ARE applications where I don't recommend them, mostly in gear that is known to beat up 6922s badly. Some c-j gear now falls into that category BTW. And simply looking at the steady state plate current and/or dissipation is not adequate - turn on/turn off transients, etc. can really impact tube life, yet no steady state measurement will show the existence of other factors.
The idea that if I don't agree with your assessment of the 6922 that I'm not speaking the truth leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I don't doubt that you had some act up on you - but that does NOT match my broad base of experience as we've discussed before. If the Genalex 6922 was experiencing widespread across the board failures it would be HIGHLY unlikely I would not be aware of it since I handle hundreds and hundreds per year.
I would just caution the reader of this thread to note that the opinions expressed regarding durability are NOT universally held, and many users get long happy lives from their GL 6922s. Some don't, undoubtedly. That's the way it has always been with tubes.
Incidentally, while I have begun, I have not been able to complete the evaluation of the tubes you sent me as yet. I do intend to, but it'll be a bit longer and when I can post specifics I'll do so.
Follow Ups:
nowhere in any public forum have I mentioned where I purchased my bad eleven Gold Lion 6922s. Second of all, did I ever mention you by name as a vendor that does not agree with my assessment? No. When have I ever publicly or privately said that you are not speaking the truth? Never. Then why the attack? What have I done to you that would leave a "bad taste in my (your) mouth"? You publicly and kindly offered to look at my first six failures four months ago and I sent them to you. We had some pleasant personal correspondence at that time. That's it. Nothing has happened since.
Since my Gold Lions started going bad, I have seen elsewhere in other threads and reviews that other folks are experiencing the same kind of failures in roughly the same amount of time. Now today, I spoke with one of the larger tube vendors and he confirmed exactly what I'm talking about; about a six month life in most any application. He does sell these Gold Lions. Why would he make that up?
The majority of my Gold Lions have failed in my Herron VTSP-2A, running Ip at roughly 1mA; extremely easy on tubes. I've put 1000s of hours on Tungsram, Sovtek and EH 6922s with no fallout for noise. As far as the on/off transient theory goes, it does not apply to my Herron as I keep it on all the time except when I'm going to be out of town for more than a few days. Keith Herron has said that you can expect up to 10,000 hours of trouble free life from a good set of 6922s in his VTSP line stages.
Am I a little upset? Sure, I wasted good money on fairly expensive tubes that went very noisy rather quickly. Am I wrong to post my experience and what I've heard from other reliable sources in a public forum? I don't think so.
But apparently I have upset you. For that I'm sorry. It was not my intent.
"he confirmed what the other vendors I've talked to are denying"
Since I'm one of the "other vendors", and what I and the other "deniers" are saying about the tubes differs from what this particular vendor you refer to asserts, it appears to say that what I/we say about the tubes is either incompetent or untrue. What other conclusion could be reached?
Why would the other vendor "make it up?" I don't know, there is no need to if indeed he did (I doubt he made it up). But apply the same logic to those of use who are NOT experiencing a lot of failures - why would WE make it up?
If you leave your pre on all the time that would mean that tube failures occurring from 100 to 700 hours (as you mentioned in another post) meant tubes failed in 4 days to 28 days. Even if you turned the unit off 1/3rd of the time the tubes would have failed well within the 90 day warranty period it would seem to me. I do confess that seems odd to me.
Tom, you didn't really upset me - nor am I saying that you aren't being truthful. But to me it just seems there is something more happening than I can put my finger on. The tubes you sent me that I've checked so far are simply worn out which is something I wouldn't have expected in the first 100 to 700 hours (about 5 to 40 days if the unit is on 66% of the time). But you mentioned that the unit is on all the time with a few exceptions before so that makes things even more interesting. I've never - not even with JJs - had 11 of 12 new tubes fail. The odds against that happening (especially occurring in the first 40 days of use) are huge, considering the tubes were very well tested before sale. I can't help but think something else is impacting the situation. Otherwise I'd have had over 900(!) 6922 Genalex returns last year.
Finally, two things - feel free to mention my name if you like. I have no problem being held accountable for what I do. Second, if you feel you are entitled to replacement tubes in exchange for the tubes you sent me just let me know and I'll take care of it.
My fault for not being clear about this. The 100 to 700 hours is under dynamic, signal conditions; in other words playing music. Of course, if they had failed in the first week or two, I would have sent them back for replacement and probably would have asked for a refund after the second set failed. In my main system the average is about two to four hours a day under dynamic conditions. This seems to be what others are experiencing as well.
I've mentioned this several times before but one more time: I've owned the Herron, considered about as easy on tubes as they get, for about thirteen years. It's been in my main system non-stop during this time. I've not experienced this problem with any other tube brand, new production or NOS. But many others have and a vendor that sells as many or more than you, sees it a lot. Believe me, I'm as confounded as you are.
I'm sorry you took "denying" the wrong way. In hindsight, I should have used a better phrase, like "are not experiencing". Why you aren't seeing this and a significant number of others are is as confusing to me as it is to you.
There are so many classic NOS and good testing OS 6dj8/6922 floating around I can't figure why people even bother with new production tubes. I can see the argument with costly power tubes but 9 pin tubes? The NOS tubes sound better and last longer. What's not to like?
I have tried the EH in my ARC preamp (phono section) and it is my least favorite by a long shot. Grainy is right. Not familiar with the JJ or Genelex.
Those using lesser tubes in multi thousand dollar preamps are doing themselves a big disservice IMO.
The Genalex is a superb tube, that's why. It's also available in quantity and in matched and/or low noise selected sets which is a real advantage over old stock. Quite often I get feedback that the Genalex is better than the OS that were in use prior to obtaining the Genalex.
The EH (aka 6H23P-EV) is not as good sounding (not that it sounds bad!), but it is extremely rugged which makes it quite useful. It is also a very good value since it is quite inexpensive.
IMHO those are good reasons for people to consider the new production Russian tubes.
Hi Jim!
As I mentioned, I have not heard the Genelex reissue so I can't argue as to how it would compare to a good Amperex or Telefunken or Siemens. I use those exclusively in my ARC and they sound great (but each is different) and I have never had one go noisy on me although I roll them regularly.
Quite often I find these for the same or less than the Genelex.
If people with megabuck preamps like the CJ Art don't try some NOS tubes how will they really know if the Genelex is that good? Try different tubes that's all I say. Maybe I will even try the Genelex if you think it is that good.
I agree - if the budget allows check out as many as you can - both new and old stock.
I do get a lot of positive comments on the Genalex. It has significantly more warmth than any of the other current production 6922 tubes which is a welcome improvement for many. That warmth and lack of harshness was often the reason the Amperex/Mullard tubes were so well liked. You might want to give the GLs a try - I suspect you'll enjoy them.
Thanks for the post!
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: