1st ever tube amp

brianle

Love it so far :cheesygrin:

chumlie

Nice. Congrats. Whats the make & model ?

heiney9

Pic's are great, but more info. I can't say I've ever seen (3) EL34's per side.

I just bought one of these to add to my collection. It uses 6L6's or EL34's





Do tell us more????

janmike

Congrats.

brianle

Thanks everyone! Like DSkip already posted, it's a Unison Research S6 integrated amp.

brianle

heiney9 wrote: »

Pic's are great, but more info. I can't say I've ever seen (3) EL34's per side.

I just bought one of these to add to my collection. It uses 6L6's or EL34's





Do tell us more????

Congrats heiney9. That's a good looking amp.

brianle

More pics

heiney9

I love the look of that amp. It's slightly different with the tranny's mounted down the center tunnel. What tubes are you running in it? If you want an excellent quality, sweet EL34 I tend to favor the SED Winged C. Very sweet and balanced tube for a modern EL34.

I am assuming the driver tube is a 12AX7. Try Heerlen (Holland) made 12AX7's from Valvo or Mullard. They have a nice sound when paired with the Winged C's. Or if you prefer a slightly (very slightly darker, creamier midrange) the RCA 2 or 3 mica long black plate 12AX7's from the 50's won't break the bank.

Have fun, enjoy and definitely do some tube rolling as time goes on. That's the fun of tubes, IMO.

H9

brianle

Thanks for your tubes recommendation, Heiney9. I just got the amp last weekend and still running the stock tubes. I have heard good things about the SED Winged C.

steveinaz

Very cool Brian.

tonyb

Pretty cool lookin'.....makes me want to change spark plugs in the thing. Congrats Brian, tube rollin' is going to be your next addiction.

brianle

tonyb wrote: »

Pretty cool lookin'.....makes me want to change spark plugs in the thing. Congrats Brian, tube rollin' is going to be your next addiction.

Hopefully it won't get too expensive

cnh

That's ONLY 12 watts a side and it's 55 pounds? Seriously?

Why is that? Is it because it's a pure class A design or something else? Certainly a nice looking piece!

While we're on power! Hey Brock, watt kind of wattage does your amp put out. Is it also, lower power?

cnh

heiney9

brianle wrote: »

Hopefully it won't get too expensive

What's too expensive??? :cheesygrin:

A sextet of NOS matched Winged C's will run you about $215. 12AX7's (if that's what they are) are the most expensive signal tube as far as old stock because it's the most popular and demand is out pacing supply. That's one of the reasons I was hesitant buy the Dared i30. I don't care for current production small signal tubes at all so I have to source old stock 12AU7's and 12AX7's. I have been buying 12AX7's for another amp so those are covered. I am probably going to get a quad of Winged C 6L6's eventually and those are about $150. I currently have a quad of slightly used Winged C EL34's I can use in the meantime.

This is for a secondary rig so I like to stay as ecomonical as I can for the computer/office rig.

H9

heiney9

cnh wrote: »

That's ONLY 12 watts a side and it's 55 pounds? Seriously?

Why is that? Is it because it's a pure class A design or something else? Certainly a nice looking piece!

While we're on power! Hey Brock, watt kind of wattage does your amp put out. Is it also, lower power?

cnh

His amp is 30wpc - single ended, parallel class A

Technical Characteristics
◦Type: Stereo Integrated Valve Amplifier
◦Output Stage: single-ended parallel, ultraliner
◦Classe: pure A class
◦Output Power: 30/35 Watt/channel
◦Frequency Response: 20 ? 50000 Hz
◦Output Impedance: 6 Ohm
◦Input Impedance: 47 kOhm
◦Inputs: 5 line
◦Outputs: 1 tape, loudspeakers
◦Power Consumption: 265VA max
◦Dimensioni : 35 cm x 21cm x 49 cm (L x H x P )
◦Net Weight: 55 lbs

My new Dared I30 is 30wpc but it's Push/Pull (Ultralinear) My current EL34 integrated is 9wpc single ended class A and I just wanted a little more juice and it's sexy as hell and uses EL34's or 6L6's.

There maybe a tube amp for sale in the future. One thing I think I'm going to miss is my current integrated uses the wonderful 5AR4 tube rectifier. The new one is soild state and I have grown to love the sound of a tube rectified amp. So we'll see...........

H9

brianle

H9, where do you usually buy tubes from?

heiney9

brianle wrote: »

H9, where do you usually buy tubes from?

I have been getting them off Ebay for a long time. Only had 2 issues and the seller took care of it right away on one, the other went through dispute and I won. Keep in mind I buy mostly small signal tubes and if they have a problem they usually don't do damage if they go out. Power tubes are a different animal. Also most of my tube gear is relatively inexpensive $<500 so I don't worry about buying used tubes too much.

I think for power tubes for a very nice piece like you have I'd either go with Brent Jesse or Jim McShane or Upscale Audio or Tube Depot for power tubes because they usually test all their tubes and reject the bad ones and they will stand behind the tubes they sell. When you are compemplating spending over $200 on power tubes, best to get them from a solid dealer that has tested them for you.

Signal tubes, I have no problem buying them on Ebay and usually it's the only source for scarce Old Stock tubes. When I buy power tubes for my new amp I'll use either Jim McShane or Upscale Audio.

janmike

Purchased my last tubes (8 matched K120's) from Upscale Audio. Not problems.

brianle

Thanks H9 and janmike!

organ

Congrats on the new unit. Just becareful buying tubes from ebay. I bought some current production Tung Sol 6SL7 and there was no "OTK2" stamp on any of the tubes which means they did not pass quality control. The seller was buying rejects and selling them. Just make sure you're buying from good sellers.

Midnite Mick

Very nice looking amp! No problem driving those Ushers with it? Just curious the kind of job it does relative to some other amps you've had for them.

Thanks,
Mike

brianle

It has no problem driving the Usher md 2 in my room. Comparing to the other solid state amps that I tried, the bass is not powerful as the Musical Fidelity m3 and not as tight as the Ayre ax7e. In exchange, it gives better midrange and highs. The vocal is fuller. String instruments have more bodies. Soundstage is bigger and presentation is more realistics to my liking.

heiney9

If you use different EL34's you will most likely get better bass. I have found the Winged C to give really good bass w/ the JJ E34L having the most thunderous bass. I have older E34L's from the late 80's early 90's. Not sure if current JJ tubes are having issues or not so be aware but the JJ E34L (which is based on the KT77) are really nice. Buy those from a dealer like Jim McShane who will test them and stand behind them.

H9

brianle

Thanks H9

Midnite Mick

Went through the thread but not sure what the stock tubes that you are running are.

Thanks,
Mike

brianle

Midnite Mick wrote: »

Went through the thread but not sure what the stock tubes that you are running are.

Thanks,
Mike

6 Unison Research EL34B
2 Electro-Harmonix 12AU7A

organ

brianle wrote: »

6 Unison Research EL34B
2 Electro-Harmonix 12AU7A

Those Unison Research EL34B is most likely the Shuguang EL34B. The only other current production EL34B would be the Tung-Sol. Here's a link with both tubes. It's hard to tell from your pic if you have the Shuguang or Tung Sol. Both are excellent tubes.
The EH 12AU7 are also very good.

brianle

organ wrote: »

Those Unison Research EL34B is most likely the Shuguang EL34B. The only other current production EL34B would be the Tung-Sol. Here's a link with both tubes. It's hard to tell from your pic if you have the Shuguang or Tung Sol. Both are excellent tubes.
The EH 12AU7 are also very good.

They are Tung-sol 34b

organ

Very nice. No need to upgrade anytime soon, imo. You already have one of the higher end one from New Sensor (they also make EH, Gold Lion, Mullard, Sovtek). An upgrade from that would probably be the 6CA7 and KT77.
Like the one H9 recm'd, the SED are super. It has the richest and most liquid mid-range out of all the current offerings. I've experienced this in several amps. Most eurphoric of them all imo, which is the complete opposite of the Tung-Sol you're currently running. Just a heads up incase you want to go that direction in the future.
So there's no need to be changing your power tubes yet, imo.

It's a lot cheaper to experiement with the driver tubes. EH has a "house sound" which is neutral and dynamic with great extension on both ends. If you want a warmer sound, the JJ ECC82 would be it (cheap too).

But you don't have to worry about tubes yet. Just enjoy the new gear.

brianle

Thanks, organ! What you said has been very informative for me

heiney9

organ wrote: »

Very nice. No need to upgrade anytime soon, imo. You already have one of the higher end one from New Sensor (they also make EH, Gold Lion, Mullard, Sovtek). An upgrade from that would probably be the 6CA7 and KT77.
Like the one H9 recm'd, the SED are super. It has the richest and most liquid mid-range out of all the current offerings. I've experienced this in several amps. Most eurphoric of them all imo, which is the complete opposite of the Tung-Sol you're currently running. Just a heads up incase you want to go that direction in the future.
So there's no need to be changing your power tubes yet, imo.

It's a lot cheaper to experiement with the driver tubes. EH has a "house sound" which is neutral and dynamic with great extension on both ends. If you want a warmer sound, the JJ ECC82 would be it (cheap too).

But you don't have to worry about tubes yet. Just enjoy the new gear.

I have to disagree. While there isn't a "need" to roll tubes he will get a lot better sound with better driver tubes. The EH EL34's are decent, the Winged C's are better IMO but they did jump a lot in price over the past year. But he could do much better at the 12AU7 spot and the nice thing is 12AU7''s are relatively inexpensive compared to 12AX7's. I have no use for current production driver tubes and for the cost of 12AU7's, you can buy some nice OS tubes and they will sound better, IMO. Just bought a quad of these for the 12AU7 spot. http://www.ebay.com/itm/130686487286?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 Direct replacement for 12AU7's. I love long plate tubes.

Either way enjoy but do experiment atleast at the 12AU7 position. My new amp has all Ruby tubes as stock tubes (6L6, 12AX7, 12UA7). Can't wait to get those mediocre performers out of there. Should have some new tubes arriving today.

H9