|
Welborne Labs Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share you ideas and experiences. |
|
|
|
Welborne Labs Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share you ideas and experiences. |
|
In Reply to: Milkman Dan has my interest whetted on tube rolling posted by Randy Bey on January 1, 2001 at 07:44:20:
Randy wonders: So, Les sent me some tubes and I tried 'em, but maybe it's my setup or maybe it's my tin ear but I didn't notice startling changes. Of course, I am still recovering from the startling change of using Laurels in the first place, so maybe I need to adjust for a while.
Well Randy, I do feel your pain here (although not THAT much pain - At least you have some speakers - we should TRADE!). I can imagine the 300B tube from what I remember as being so nice in the midrange that it might not be as see-through a quality as a 2A3. Still, even so, you should be hearing very discernable differences here, depending on the type of tube used.
With the 6SN7s and 5692s, I heard very clear differences via the Moondog; indeed, as I said, I was able to improve upon the "stock" Philips 6SN7s by mixing and matching the inputs. Great results were obtained using a 6SN7, such as the Sylvania 6SN7WGT (yellow lettering) feeding into a CBS or Sylvania 5692 into the RCA(Black Plate) 2A3 or Sovtek 2A3. I will report all my results in an upcoming post.
One thing I found, SET amps, especially the 2A3 variety, are even MORE sensitive to preamp selection. I have a Creek Passive you see at right that, while transparent, does not seem to offer as much drive and midrange warmth via the Moondog. A passive would probably work much better via the Laurels, however. especially into your horns. They are very inexpensive and might allow you to hear your tube rolling results. Regardless, I think your NAD preamp is a definite weak link in your system. I dont think this unit has the resolution of the rest of your system and is probably providing a big bottleneck.
I still prefer the RCA 2A3 Black Plates to the Sovtek 2A3, as they provide a more palpable, organic, and refined quality. That being said, the Sovtek 2A3s are helped with the addition of the 5692 as a driver (paired with a 6SN7). One interesting note, after attempting quite a few 6SN7 alternatives, I reinstalled my original JAN Philips 6SN7WGTA and was shocked to hear the difference! In my system, there was simply no contest as the Philips sounded far less refined! Once again, others may obtain different results here, but in my application with the equipment you see at right, I was shocked to hear just how much of an improvement was obtained by the switch. Indeed, I don't think I can go back to the Philips tubes (NOTE: As noted elsewhere in the Asylum, mixing the 6SN7s seems to offer a better result than two of the same type).
I'll keep you posted...Getting ready to attempt a coupling cap change as well.- Kelly
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Laurel and Moondog tube rolling: 6SN7 Improvements - mobile homeless 07:15:21 01/02/01 (2)
- Re: Laurel and Moondog tube rolling: 6SN7 Improvements - Randy Bey 13:31:05 01/02/01 (1)
- Re: Preamp choice - mobile homeless 21:07:14 01/02/01 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
