A lucky "Tube" discovery.
pearsall001
Posts: 5,068
I recently purchased a CAL Alpha DAC cicra 1995 to give it a whirl in my systeml. I couldn't pass it up for the asking price. It came with a pair of Amperex 12AX7 tubes that were marked made in Holland. I asked on here if anyone might know more about them but without more info I was out of luck. I visited Stephen's store today to hang out & listen to the KEF Blade speakers again. Stephen just took on the Parasound line & had the A21 amp & matching pre powering the Blade's. It sounded "Incredible"...those speakers just make me drool. I took the tubes out of the DAC & brought them with me to have Stephen take a look. When I showed them to him he chuckled & laughed...what was wrong I asked. Nothing, nothing at all he replied back. Then he asked me if I had any idea of what tubes I had? I had no idea so he went on to tell me that they are Amperex "Bugle Boy" tubes. He pointed out to me how to identify them & he said they are the real deal, very old & worth well over $100.00 each. No wonder I love the way that DAC sounds. Needless to say I didn't leave with any other tubes to roll in. I'm sure I'll be quite happy with my present sound for some time to come. Damn...they're some nice sounding tubes.
"2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
Post edited by pearsall001 on
Comments
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yahtzee!"Everything I ever did in my life worthwhile I caught hell for"
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bobsauto49 wrote: »yahtzee!
Yes indeed!!!! Twas a good score."2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
Nice score. Go pick-up a lottery ticket. Enjoy the DAC!_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Ethernet Filter: GigaFOILv4 with Keces P3 LPS
Source: Roon via ethernet to DAC interface
DAC: Bricasti M1SE
Pre/Pro: Marantz AV8805
Tube Preamp Buffer: Tortuga TPB.V1
Amp1: Nord One NC1200DM Signature, Amp2: W4S MC-5, AMP3: W4S MMC-7
Front: Salk SoundScape 8's, Center: Salk SoundScape C7
Surround: Polk FXIA6, Surround Back: Polk RTIA9, Atmos: Polk 70-RT
Subs: 2 - Rythmik F25's
IC & Speaker Cables: Acoustic Zen, Wireworld, Signal Cable
Power Cables: Acoustic Zen, Wireworld, PS Audio
Room Treatments: GIK Acoustics -
That's great. I also own 6 Bugle Boy tubes but the 6DJ8 variation. They sound great. Do they act as buffer or amplification on your DAC? If they're used as buffers (most likely), you will get a looooong life out of them. I've been using some Mullard 12AU7 in my Original CD-A8T cd player as buffers and they've got thousands of hours on them already and still sound as good as when I first got them.
Just looked at your sig. You might want to try your system without the Yaqin. An extra buffer stage will add noise/distortion. -
I have a quad of amperex 12ax7 also. My favorite 12ax7 tubes. Nice score! Enjoy...
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That's great. I also own 6 Bugle Boy tubes but the 6DJ8 variation. They sound great. Do they act as buffer or amplification on your DAC? If they're used as buffers (most likely), you will get a looooong life out of them. I've been using some Mullard 12AU7 in my Original CD-A8T cd player as buffers and they've got thousands of hours on them already and still sound as good as when I first got them.
Just looked at your sig. You might want to try your system without the Yaqin. An extra buffer stage will add noise/distortion.
Since I've been using the Alpha DAC I don't use the Yagin tube buffer. I only use it now when I use the DacMagic DAC. The less in the chain the better for sure."2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
