Tubes for Shenda (Jolida) SD100S CD Player

adcomcyclone

Just reassembled the SDA SRS I bought after some major refurbishing. They sound great, but I am using a Sony DVD player (single disc) and a Sony 400 disc changer (really old one) as my source units. Therefore, I bought this Shenda (Jolida) SD100S CD Player on Audiogon:

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....lay&1306682875

Has anyone had experience with it, and are the tubes mentioned as replacements any good?

They are JJ Tesla 12AX7 and 12AU7. I haven't even received the CD player yet, but wonder what thoughts some you may have regarding the tubes. Should I look to get some Telefunken or Mullard tubes? Never owned a tubed product, so any guidance would be appreciated.
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heiney9

Link doesn't work for me.

JJ Tesla tubes are pretty mediocre and average. Telefunken or Mullards would be great, but be ready to pay since the 12AX and 12AU are the most popular.

H9

adcomcyclone

Thanks for the input, hope this link works:

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?dgtlplay&1306682875&/Jolida-/-Shenda-SD100s-cd-play

heiney9

My favorite (2) 12AX7 tubes are 1950's Valvo Hamburg short plate and 1950's RCA long black plates.

The long plate Valvo's go for about 20-30% more.

I buy all my tubes used and I paid about $125/pr for the Valvo's and $75/pr for the RCA's.

H9

adcomcyclone

Heiney, thanks again. I will start looking to see what I can find. Considering I got the CD player for a very good price, I have no issue spending a little more on the tubes if they make it sound even better.

heiney9

I'm sure others will chime in with recommendations. I know many here think the Ei tubes from Yugoslavia are nice. I have a pair of those as well, but I like the RCA and Valvo better.

H9

doctor r

I agree with H9 that Mullards, Teles, or Valvos could be a nice upgrade. You may want to listen to the unit a little first to decide what way you may want to go. The mullards can be a little "lush" with a full warm midrange while the Teles a little more extended at the extremes and having a flatter response in the middle. Possibly a little more air in the Tele IMHO. You may want to listen in your system and get a feel for the players synergy with your other componenets before you make a purchase of additional tubes. Check out "Joes Tube Lore" on audio asylum for a comparison of many different brands and types of tubes for additional insight. Interesting read.
Joe's Tube Lore

zingo

I like the Shuguang Treasure 12AX and 12AU tubes. They are more expensive than standard new tubes, but less expensive than the favored NOS tubes.

thsmith

treasure AX and AU

Sylvania 5751 BP 3 mica D getter (12AX7)

Amperex 7318 D getter short or long plate for 12AU7

Jetmaker737

Nice snag on that CDP. I use Shuguang Psvane 12AX7's in my Jolida player and love them. My player came with JJ Teslas which were not impressive.

RuSsMaN

12AX7LPS - from Sovtek, get the LPS designation. Get mil spec JAN nos for the AU - 5963, 5814, etc, and you're golden.

Cheers,
Russ

Obsession18

Jetmaker737 wrote: »

Nice snag on that CDP. I use Shuguang Psvane 12AX7's in my Jolida player and love them. My player came with JJ Teslas which were not impressive.

I'll second the Psvane 12AX7's, nice improvement over the stock tubes that came in my Jolida JD-100.

adcomcyclone

Wow, I have a lot to consider with so many varied suggestions. I think I will heed the advice to listen to the player as is for a while, and then make some selections based on the feedback here, and the other tube "tests" I have been looking at (including the Joe's Tube Lore posting on AA).

Thanks for all the input!

Stew

I have TJ Full Music 12AX7's in my JD-100A and love them. They manage to sound transparent, detailed, and neutral with fast/tight/punchy bass while still sounding smooth and liquid. Check out some reviews for these as well.

adcomcyclone

okay, I think I have the tubes I am going to start with, but have a question I hope you all can chime in on before I buy em.

One set has ratings of 49/47 & 44/46 on a TV-7 tester, where the minimum good is 30. Can't seem to find the high rating (I guess maybe 50). Are these tubes close enough on the scoring scale to make sense of buying them? I assume the only major effect would be that one would potentially wear out a little sooner than the other. They are costly tubes, so I just want to make sure this makes sense.

Looking at Sylvania GB 5751 and RCA Clear Tops for 12au7 (at least for now).

adcomcyclone

I changed the tubes yesterday, after spending a little over a week listening to the player with the Tesla tubes in it. It sounded pretty good prior to the tube swap, and obviously a huge improvement over my other options. That said, I ended up going with the Sylvania (Gold Brand) 5751 tubes, dated from 1957 along with Amperex (Holland) orange globe 12au7, NOS. The difference is quite obvious right from the start. I managed to get about 2 hours of listening in yesterday, and was really happy with what I heard.

I won't pretend to be an expert, and my room is way to small for the SDA SRS to work properly, but the difference is huge in the sound quality. The mid range is much smoother and more detailed. The sound of individual instruments is also much clearer and seperated. When multiple instruments are playing from different areas on the percieved soundstage, they don't blend together like they did with the Tesla tubes in the Shenda, or with my DVD/Sony CD Changer previously. I didn't imagine there would be as much difference as there is, but to say the least, despite the ridiculous cost of the Sylvania tubes, I feel like it was worth it.

heiney9

adcomcyclone wrote: »

I changed the tubes yesterday, after spending a little over a week listening to the player with the Tesla tubes in it. It sounded pretty good prior to the tube swap, and obviously a huge improvement over my other options. That said, I ended up going with the Sylvania (Gold Brand) 5751 tubes, dated from 1957 along with Amperex (Holland) orange globe 12au7, NOS. The difference is quite obvious right from the start. I managed to get about 2 hours of listening in yesterday, and was really happy with what I heard.

I won't pretend to be an expert, and my room is way to small for the SDA SRS to work properly, but the difference is huge in the sound quality. The mid range is much smoother and more detailed. The sound of individual instruments is also much clearer and seperated. When multiple instruments are playing from different areas on the percieved soundstage, they don't blend together like they did with the Tesla tubes in the Shenda, or with my DVD/Sony CD Changer previously. I didn't imagine there would be as much difference as there is, but to say the least, despite the ridiculous cost of the Sylvania tubes, I feel like it was worth it.

Welcome to the world of tubes............I still believe very, very strongly that nothing new compares to the better Old Stock tubes from the 50s' and 60's. Not to say every tube type made back then is the best, but you made excellent choices and it shows in the end sound you achieved.

Tube rolling is fun and the changes, many times, are not subtle.

H9

thsmith

A nice 12AU7 are RCA cleartops and feel they are overlooked. Very reasonable price I think I sold a nice pair here for $35.

adcomcyclone

thsmith wrote: »

A nice 12AU7 are RCA cleartops and feel they are overlooked. Very reasonable price I think I sold a nice pair here for $35.

This is great, because I also bought a set of the RCA Cleartop 12au7 and am going to try them in place of the Amperex tubes currently in the player after a while to see how they compare. This could be bad for the wallet!

adcomcyclone

heiney9 wrote: »

Welcome to the world of tubes............I still believe very, very strongly that nothing new compares to the better Old Stock tubes from the 50s' and 60's. Not to say every tube type made back then is the best, but you made excellent choices and it shows in the end sound you achieved.

Tube rolling is fun and the changes, many times, are not subtle.

H9

Yes, this is going to be interesting. I have already decided to visit a hamfest next month and see if there are any bargains to be had on other vintage tubes. I am scared to think where this leads in years to come...tube pre, amps, etc, just cause I am going to want to know.

george daniel

adcomcyclone wrote: »

Yes, this is going to be interesting. I have already decided to visit a hamfest next month and see if there are any bargains to be had on other vintage tubes. I am scared to think where this leads in years to come...tube pre, amps, etc, just cause I am going to want to know.

If you're going to a hamfest--poke around,, you never know when you might be staring at some old recitifiers,,5AR4's,,and such,,have fun and keep your eyes open,,BTW-- it's been my experience to make an effort to get there early--good luck and have fun.