Tube upgrades

madmax
madmax Posts: 12,434
edited August 2003 in 2 Channel Audio
Don't forget shuguang tubes. China tubes. They will be the next upgrade to my manley amps. Not the highest price but from what I've read they are really cool sounding tubes. Far far from svets and tesla's.

http://www.thetubestore.com/shuguangel34b.html

madmax
Vinyl, the final frontier...

Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited August 2003
    Please let me know how they sound on your amp. If they're really good, I'll have to add them to my tube list. So far I've got the Ei Big Bottle EL34 and JJ/Tesla E34L on my EL list. I order my tubes from the tubestore too. Fast shipping.

    So far I'm still thinking if I should get a pair of Mullard 12AU7 for the pre amp or a Mullard 5AR4 for the ST-70. I hear Svetlana started making 12AU7's but the tubestore doesn't have them yet.

    Maurice
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited August 2003
    I forget which 12au7's I use. I think I have the newer mullards, not the good ones. It's good to build up a little selection so that you can tweak the sound to your liking. Will the rectifier tube make that much difference?
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited August 2003
    I use Mullards in my DAC. they have tube dampers on the top of each tube.. what the hell do dampers do ? and can they be removed when the tubes die? they look to be like a small donut and are solid metal.

    thanks, AL
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited August 2003
    madmax, even the newer Mullards are suppose to be very good. I've been doing a lot of reading on rectifier tubes and just about everyone says there's a difference. They all agree that the Mullard is the best. A good rectifier tube should give you more dynamics and faster transients. IMO, they're very important because the rectifier tube changes your AC voltage to DC. The other tubes in the amp are fed by the rectifier tube. I guess I'll have to wait and see.

    danger boy,
    Some people use dampers for small tubes because all tubes are microphonic. For a home 2ch set up, I don't think a damper is necessary becase there's enough space between the tubes and speakers. The only people who really need to worry are guitar players who have a single box amp/speaker combo. The vibrations by the speaker can easily be picked up by the tubes. I've never seen metal dampers but you should be able to take them off unless the previous owner somehow glued the dampers onto the tubes.
    Hmmmmmm....a tube DAC:). I'll have to look into that:D.

    Maurice
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