Tube Compatability

jabrax

Took 1st baby step into tubes with mh 25.3 dac

Tube is EH 6922 - I'm looking for an upgrade and thought it would be simple as looking for other 6922's. What I have noticed is that the tube is grouped with "preamp tube" with different numbers and letters. IE E88cc and 6djb etc.

All this to ask, is it as simple and searching for Preamp tubes to determine if compatible?

Scary part, very wiiiide price range. I see the tube listed above for 12.95 with some over 150. :eek:

SCompRacer

Congrats on the Music Hall 25.3 DAC. I have one in my system fed by a Squeezebox Touch and like it very much. It is a great DAC for the money.

Yes, it is as simple as using pre amp tubes that are compatible with the 6922 family. You can use a E88CC or 6DJ8 pre amp tube. Substituting or "rolling" in a different brand tube within the same family or from a compatible tube family can result in a different rating along with associated performance. This can make the sonics more or less desirable to you. NOS (New Old Stock) tubes will cost you more. Folks will argue that NOS sound better than current production tubes, but IMO that depends on the gear and the tube. IMO spending more money on a tube doesn?t necessarily mean it will sound better to you in your system. But that is the kewl thing about tubes, we can tailor the sound to our liking and argue about it.:biggrin:

An economical and slight upgrade over the supplied tube would be a JJ E88CC Gold pin (~$25). I currently use a Mullard 6DJ8 that was purchased for a very reasonable price here in our Flea Market from CP member doctorcilantro. That tube sells for ~$60 from some of the popular tube outlets. It was a major upgrade to me and I like it so much I am done rolling tubes in my DAC. You can also check with Music Hall as they have some good recommendations that are both reasonable and very pricey.

EDIT: You probably know that the tube output is only on the RCA outs, not the balanced, correct?

jabrax

Thx SComp, yes on RCA out question. Thx for looking out

Your comments on the tubes help a great deal. Think I will just grab a few to play with. Probably wont mess with the 100 dollar plus tubes.

I assume the higher price of the NOS tubes are due to them being rare. If one every pops up anywhere on the cheap, i will check it up

zingo

My favorite 6922 varient tube to date is the new production Gold Lion 6922. They run about $45 for a single tube and are extremely well made with long life and a great sound. NOS tubes can sound very good, but you will also pay a lot for the popular tubes.

jabrax

Thx Zingo, 50 bucks is about as high as I want to go per tube. I'm guessing i will need to go through a few to hit what I'm looking for. Looking for a fuller bottom end.

I'm amazed at the difference in sound after only about 5 hours of constant play with the original tube.