Tubes in the House!

cstmar01

So just got in yesterday some VTL 300 Deluxe mono blocks. Has all the mods that can be done by VTL done such as upgraded transformers, better caps, triode and tretrode switching and I can use either 6550 or KT88 tubes in them.

The seller included two full sets of tubes for the amps for 6550 but said he liked the KT88's in there.

Anyone got some recommendations for KT88's to try out?

I plan on using the stock for a while and get used to them but wanted to see what some people consider better. He said that KT88's in his system had better bass but he had to bias them more than the 6550.

I'll get some pictures up of my babies soon.

Oh and funny they are rated at 300 watts at 8 ohms but the bench test papers that came with them put them more at like 550 watts lol.

oh and the ones he sent me that are in the amps and spares are a Russian tube. The input tubes are a gold lion which he gave me a few of those as well.

leroyjr1

Congrats !!! Sounds like you put together a killer system.

steveinaz

Very cool (psssstttt bro....coming has 1 m in it. fix your sig brotha---I know, you're excited).

cstmar01

ops, didn't see the M thing my bad... I might have just tapped too hard on the keyboard.

hehe.

thsmith

I have tried original 3 hole ting sol 6550 and treasure kt88s and prefer the treasures only slightly. They seemed quieter

doctor r

Nice addition. I had the privilege to hear RT1s MG450s at Polkfest this past year. There are a great deal of reviews on the KT88s and 6550 on the web. The need to purchase 8 tubes per monoblock can make it difficult to experiment. I would look at some used tubes initially for characteristics and tone before necessarily purchasing. Some current reviews are lauding the Psvanes over the Treasures, but that is most likely very open for debate.

cstmar01

michaeljhsda2

Pretty cool. How do they sound?

Fongolio

Extremely sweet!!! Congrats!

heiney9

Schweet.................enjoy!!!

H9

cstmar01

Haven't been able to play them yet. We got dumped on the other night with about 9 inches of snow and our lights were going in and out. Had to work late last night and tonight so Friday I'm going to fire them up.

Hoping to have some tube magic from them. I just love their look.

heiney9

Those suckers are going to run so hottttttttttt in the Spring and Summer months prepare for your A/C bill to go up and to be running it all the time. It's just one of those side effects. My Aleph raises the room temp by 2-3* and your tube amps will put out a LOT more heat. One of the reason's I never pulled the trigger on a pair of Aleph 60 mono's is because of twice the heat. Even my little EL34 single ended integrated running a single pair of EL34's gets too hot in the Summer for my office unless I have the air on.

H9

cnh

You weren't kidding about tubes being in the house. You could probably heat your entire house with those.

If they're so high wattage wise? What does each unit "weigh". Must be pretty heavy, no?

Have fun!

cnh

Tony M

Congrats Chris.

They look very powerful indeed.:cool:

Enjoy...:cheesygrin:

MRHP

What are they sitting on. Wood, metal, rubber, vibration damping material, just curious.

cstmar01

75lb's per amp and they are sitting on some maple bases that I had painted black.

I am going to look at other amp stands. Also looking for some possible footers for them seeing the the inch tall feet they have are terrible. You can't get under the amp to pick it up to move it but they come with some bars that you can (not supposed to) use as handles to move them around.

I am going to have to change out my cables though as these are single ended and not balanced oh well gives me a reason to buy some MIT's lol.

heiney9

cstmar01 wrote: »

I am going to have to change out my cables though as these are single ended and not balanced oh well gives me a reason to buy some MIT's lol.

You can use cheaters. Cardas makes very nice adapters that take balanced to single ended and vice/versa.

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/2246/543

Something like the above. Cheaper than new cables. I think you can find less expensive ones. Last time I priced these I'd din't think they were that expensive. A Polkie gave me a pair a few years ago. They work well and are extremely well built.

H9

P.s. If you don't already have MIT's, then yes buy new cables

SCompRacer

Congrats on your new amps!

Here is another option for good quality XLR/RCA adapters that are reasonably priced. Using a pair of these myself right now.

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/467961

F1nut

Glass and chrome....purdy, ain't they!?!

reeltrouble1

With your Esoteric to BAT to VTL you can go fully balanced. Nice Rig, exceptional actually, without cutting corners. I figure you will eventually get the balanced MIT, Tributary put out some nice balanced cables that were reasonable and I enjoyed their sound with tube gear.

Good Job Chris.

RT1

cstmar01

Ted the VTL's don't have the XLR input so I would be running XLR out from the BAT into the VTL's. It looks like a XLR could be added as there is a black piece of plastic on the back covering a hole next to the single ended input. Figure this would be for XLR.

I have to get different cables as with the location of the amps my cables will be too short anyways. I have some spare cables I'll use for now and then see if I can get a 1.5M Shotgun S3 to go in the system.

Speaker cables however are right now way longer then need be. The way the amps sit I would only need like 4ft or so. Not sure what MIT would do, and it would be custom so the price would be higher. I can use longer cables but it loops out and back around into the speakers. I was tempted to get a pair of Signal Silver Ref for SC for now.

My current IC's have been Nordost but was looking at going MIT once I get the placement for everything figured out. Want to make sure my runs are not going to be too short.

reeltrouble1

my bad I thought they already had xlr, guess that was added to the 450's. No matter though.

RT1

cstmar01

Biasing wasn't bad. went smoothly.

Overall I will just good god, these things rock.

To me more natural in sound than what I had before. Vocals came out more and the sound staging was better. Bass was good and not flabby or anything, very deep and control. Not as hard as Krell bass however not as as harsh as highs either.

Overall I like what I hear and will say tubes do make a difference. However still will listen more but those are my first impressions.
Thanks again to this forum, I would never be at this place if I wasn't pushed and told there was something better out there. Its for sure not over yet, got a long way to go.

tonyb

Really nice there buddy boy, damn fine system your putting together.

BTW- Stick around any longer and we might have you dipping in the kids college funds.:cheesygrin:

heiney9

Krell bass is not like "real life" bass. Krell bass seems more mechanical and ultra controlled to the point it's artificial and not organic. It's dry and lifeless compared to what real, live bass sounds like. I will never own a Krell because of that characteristic.

You should enjoy tubes a lot Chris, rolling is where it's at to really get that "euphoria", but when you have that many tubes to roll it becomes very expensive which in turn can be a deterent if you aren't willing to spend. I'd concentrate more on the driver and phase splitter tubes than the power tubes at this point.

Enjoy and have fun

H9

polkfarmboy

heiney9 wrote: »

Krell bass is not like "real life" bass. Krell bass seems more mechanical and ultra controlled to the point it's artificial and not organic. It's dry and lifeless compared to what real, live bass sounds like. I will never own a Krell because of that characteristic.

You should enjoy tubes a lot Chris, rolling is where it's at to really get that "euphoria", but when you have that many tubes to roll it becomes very expensive which in turn can be a deterent if you aren't willing to spend. I'd concentrate more on the driver and phase splitter tubes than the power tubes at this point.

Enjoy and have fun

H9

Why then do krell amps cost alot of money and are regarded as the best in the business ?

heiney9

Have no idea. Why does anything cost anything. "Best in the business"???? They certainly get mentioned with a lot of other elite brands, etc. I don't they are the "best" in the business, why do you think they are? Because someone told you?

What a stupid question. I laid my opinion out, I don't care what it costs or who says it's the best in the business, not to me.

H9

heiney9

polkfarmboy wrote: »

Why then do krell amps cost alot of money and are regarded as the best in the business ?

Ask Krell and ask the people who state "they are the best in the business"

H9

W WALDECKER

Very Nice !

cstmar01

So more listening thoughts.

These things get hot, wow. I figured they would but holy crap with the weather here lately I had to turn the AC on for a little bit to cool the room down.

Even though they run hot I really like them. The only other issue is getting them up and running does take some time. Its not where you can go turn on the switch and listen in a few minutes. I let them come up for about 20 minutes and then start listening. Overall the sound just still remains to be more natural to me.

I did have some harmonics coming from a tube. not sure if this could be fixed or what to do. It was ringing at a very high pitch and could only notice when the amp was on with no music, but still annoying.

Overall the bass is great, midrange is nice and I don't feel the top end is rolled off. Details still do come thru. Bass seems to even have a little more tightness to it then before but still deep and good.

leroyjr1

Did you try these amps on the 703's?