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In Reply to: RE: tube cooler posted by geezerrocket on November 17, 2014 at 08:27:05
... I got smart :-)
Follow Ups:
Good for you! Big bummer about the lost tubes, though. Sorry to hear that. (I can relate to that, for sure; see below.)
I have been using the Mapleshade tube damper/coolers for well over a decade, and they are very effective, even more so than the PEARL coolers (which I had been using since their introduction a LONG time ago.) The older variety of the Mapleshade tube damper/coolers were initially a problem, but only with the very first tube I mounted it on (a 5687 GE 9-pin) did I crack the glass. I learned immediately that you simply slide the tube in the brass sleeve back and forth, very gently, tightening ever so slowly, one tiny bit at a time. When the tube starts to want to stop sliding freely, you're almost there. Then simply position the brass sleeve where you want it to be, and give one more 1/16th turn to fix the cooler on the tubes glass envelope and you should be good to go. If it slides down with use, simply remove and reset the cooler where you want it and give another tiny tightening. Never had a failure since, and the tubes so damped have sounded fabulous and lasted significantly longer than non-dampered tubes, despite basically 24/7 constant usage.
Properly grounding the cooler will quiet things down a wee bit, but make sure you choose the proper ground plane to use, or you will pick up some nasty hum from a loop. I always use the earth safety ground of the component the tube is in, and have had no problems, only benefits.
With the newest Mapleshade tube damper/coolers, they are even easier to mount, just eyeball the three set screws to insure uniform depth of threading into the damper body, then place atop the tube. Assuming the damper is initially properly seated riding atop the tube rather than sliding down the sides, back off each set screw a tiny bit but exactly the same distance until they just barely allow the tube to slide but still sort of touch the glass, then position the damper so that a very tiny tightening of each set screw allows the cooler to rest just below the top of the tubes' 'shoulder', but above where the tube narrows to its smallest diameter where the damper would slide down the sides. Very nice effect, and grounding works well here, too (but not as well as with the full length Mapleshade dampers from years ago.) YMMV, as always, but they have always worked quite well, at least in my systems.
Best of luck!
Cheers,
WS
Well, I WAS able to mount them without breaking any more tubes. Then one day I figured I'd really feel better if I checked to see whether they actually did anything (including the ribbon grounds). So I went back and forth -- on, off, on, off. Couldn't tell the slightest difference, and this was back when my ears worked :-)
Feel free to check out my system (Inmate Systems) if you think it might not be up to the challenge of detecting subtle improvements.
In my big rigs, these devices were incredibly effective. No problem whatsoever hearing what they did to improve playback.
Every system, and set of ears, are different, of course.
To each his own, I say. Go with what works, shit-can what doesn't. Easy as that.
But I was glad to hear there were no more broken tubes for you. Because broken tubes suck!
Cheers,
WS
It would help put things in perspective -- help me at least -- if you published the components in your big rigs in Inmate Systems. There are 29 tubes currently in mine. A group of mostly DIY audiobuddies and I listen to each other's systems frequently, several times a month, so we're not relying on our own judgments and reactions. And incidentally, because we're all "tube people," the loss of a tube or three is no particular big deal, albeit definitely an annoyance.Again incidentally, a higher-up at one of the manufacturers of tube equipment in my system has told me, off the record, that they (or at least he) have found no after-market tube damper/cooler thingie worth recommending. After I've tried several, I tend to agree. They made me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile -- I'm an inveterate tweaker -- but none has stood the test of time. That's IMHO, YMMV and so on.
Edits: 11/19/14
and then the pressure equalizes and they suck no more.
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