tube bias question

laotzu61
laotzu61 Posts: 327
edited April 2014 in Electronics
I would appreciate it if someone could please explain to me what tube bias is, what it does, and hopefully, how I would bias a pair of mullard m8100 tubes for a yaqin cd2 tube buffer. thanks much.
"The symbol is not the reality"
Post edited by laotzu61 on
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,447
    edited April 2014
    laotzu61 wrote: »
    I would appreciate it if someone could please explain to me what tube bias is, what it does, and hopefully, how I would bias a pair of mullard m8100 tubes for a yaqin cd2 tube buffer. thanks much.

    you do not do that for Yaqin tube buffers. You would buy matched set of tubes for that. To be honest you'd have to have a tube at near end of life to be able to really tell a difference with the CD2 buffer. To bias tube the device will have some sort of screw hole or tool hole to stick something into to adjust a screw to allow for so many milliamps of current to the tube. You do not have that with Yaqins.
    I had two buffers the CD2 and now a CD3 that uses 6sn7 tubes.
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  • laotzu61
    laotzu61 Posts: 327
    edited April 2014
    thanks for the info, pittdog2. appreciate it.
    "The symbol is not the reality"
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  • laotzu61
    laotzu61 Posts: 327
    edited April 2014
    oops! forgot to ask--any sources you may be aware of for finding a matched pair?
    "The symbol is not the reality"
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited April 2014
    Any good tube seller can match them:

    http://tctubes.com/
    http://psvanetube.com/wordpress/
    http://www.upscaleaudio.com/
    https://www.tubedepot.com/
    Jake
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,447
    edited April 2014
    laotzu61 wrote: »
    oops! forgot to ask--any sources you may be aware of for finding a matched pair?

    I bought all mine off ebay and I have many left over from my old CD2
    PM me and I'll get with you on some 6ak5 tubes that I have
    Siemens
    Tung sol
    Voshkod
    GE JAN 5654w

    these are some I have.

    Jake(zingo) listed some good places
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,566
    edited April 2014
    Only power tubes require the bias to be set.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • laotzu61
    laotzu61 Posts: 327
    edited April 2014
    thanks for the links and other info. i'll p.m. you over the weekend, pitdogg2. I did pick up a matched pair of mullard m8100's, which is what I have in there now. made in England mullards, and they are awesome.
    "The symbol is not the reality"
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  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,321
    edited April 2014
    PM pit. Try the Voshkod. You will love them!. The have the same bass as the mullard but, a bit more in the top end and verry musical. Besides pitdogg is a great person to deal with.
    Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited April 2014
    I think many NOS Voskhod tubes are the best for the price.
    Jake
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,447
    edited April 2014
    zingo wrote: »
    I think many NOS Voskhod tubes are the best for the price.

    to bad they never made any 6sn7 tubes....If you know different I'm all ears
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  • laotzu61
    laotzu61 Posts: 327
    edited April 2014
    sent you a pm, pitdogg2.
    "The symbol is not the reality"
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited April 2014
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    to bad they never made any 6sn7 tubes....If you know different I'm all ears

    The Russians did make a close substitute for the 6SN7. If they are anything like the close sub for 6SL7's, you aren't missing much. Not a bad tube but pretty boring compared to it's classic American counterparts.

    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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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,447
    edited April 2014
    heiney9 wrote: »
    The Russians did make a close substitute for the 6SN7. If they are anything like the close sub for 6SL7's, you aren't missing much. Not a bad tube but pretty boring compared to it's classic American counterparts.

    H9

    yep I Know Brock. I was alluding to Voskhod factory as the 6ak5 tubes are pretty darn good. I do not think that factory made any of them though.
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