1st ever tube amp

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Comments

  • audiocr381ve
    audiocr381ve Posts: 2,588
    edited June 2012
    timrhu wrote: »
    Gonna chime in here.
    I use a Unison Unico, it's a hybrid and only uses tubes (12AU7s) in the input stage, fairly early version. When I first got the amp it had Mullard CV4003s installed but one of them didn't survive shipping. As I had to replace them anyway I went a bit crazy with tube rolling. What I ended up liking best are a pair of mil spec Sylvania 12AU7WAs (new old stock). I'm sure they're mil spec as they came in the original boxes the military used with FSNs (federal stock numbers) printed on the boxes.
    One of these days I'll graduate to a full tube amp but I do enjoy the sound of this Unico.

    Reported...

    I'm kidding, just busting your balls on your first post. Welcome to CP!
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  • brianle
    brianle Posts: 572
    edited June 2012
    Thanks for your input, timrhu
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited June 2012
    And I have hit tube nirvana with the Dared I-30.....

    1960 Sylvania Gold JHS 5751 3 mica gray plates and 1955 Sylvania JHS 2 mica black plate 12AU7 (yes JHS in a 12AU7) and SED =C= 6L6GC.

    Holy crap does this thing sound fantastic. Pretty much perfection. I do have some 1959 Sylvania Gold JHS 5814 3 mica gray plates to try yet in the 12AU7 position.

    I have a BIG smile on my face. The 5B's sound frickin' fantastic.

    H9

    P.s Brian, they look the same as the other Sylvania 12AU7 we discussed, but they are more focused and seem to have more air. Look identical, but sound a little different. Still have to roll in the '59 Sylvania JHS Gold 5814's
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • brianle
    brianle Posts: 572
    edited June 2012
    Thanks H9. I'll give them a try sometimes in the future. I have the cbs hytron 5814 coming to my house this week. Will try to compare with the Ratheon 5814a first :)
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited June 2012
    I found out tonight that a low gain 5751 (12AX7) mated with a low gain, high filament voltage Raytheon 5814 (12AU7) is a pretty sub par combo. A little flat with suppressed dynamics, not a lot of bass extension. I could be experimenting for quite awhile. :biggrin:

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited June 2012
    Ok brianle,

    You must, must try an early Mullard short plate ECC82 (12AU7) made at the Mitcham plant Gf1 R0L1 or similar. Wowza, another great combo with 1962 Valvo labeled Heerlen Holland ECC83 (12AX7). Puts you right in the middle of the music, thunderously tight bass, dynamic and an extremely fast, lively midrange, very 3-D (real life sounding) but not syrupy at all. Very clean highs with great depth and decay. I could literally stop here as this is just magic.

    H9

    P.s. even better than the combo in post #65
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • brianle
    brianle Posts: 572
    edited July 2012
    Swapped the stock output tubes with SED Winged C EL34 from Upscale Audio but so far I still prefer the stock tubes with a little bit more high frequency extensions in my setup. Will give these a try for a couple of weeks
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  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 10,009
    edited July 2012
    Heiney9, I sent you a PM
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