Learned my lesson real hard !!!
Sumerian
Posts: 490
I had this bad habit of not reading the user manual when i buy any electronic equipment.
Recently I bought a Cary SLP05 obviously i didnt read the manual just installed everything and started listening to it.
As per the fellow polkers suggestion i started looking in to Tube rolling, that is when i realised the concept of pairing the tubes for a optimum output.
That raised a question why isnt there any indication of that on the tubes that came with my SLP05.
So i checked the packets in which the tubes came in which has numbering on them clearly indicating where each tube has to be placed.
I contacted cary if they can help me re numbering them but they are asking me to ship the entire unit and pay 125$ + shipping for both ways.
Looks like i am better of buying a new set paired tubes than asking their help....
The thought that it would have sounded better if i had the tubes plugged in correct, is really killing me.
Damn me!
Serioulsy though, i almost paid a used car price for this and they are not willing to use the tube tester or what ever schematics, just to put the numbering back ..... anyways it is still my arrogance i should have been little carefull.
Anyways i have to start looking into tube rolling.
Recently I bought a Cary SLP05 obviously i didnt read the manual just installed everything and started listening to it.
As per the fellow polkers suggestion i started looking in to Tube rolling, that is when i realised the concept of pairing the tubes for a optimum output.
That raised a question why isnt there any indication of that on the tubes that came with my SLP05.
So i checked the packets in which the tubes came in which has numbering on them clearly indicating where each tube has to be placed.
I contacted cary if they can help me re numbering them but they are asking me to ship the entire unit and pay 125$ + shipping for both ways.
Looks like i am better of buying a new set paired tubes than asking their help....
The thought that it would have sounded better if i had the tubes plugged in correct, is really killing me.
Damn me!
Serioulsy though, i almost paid a used car price for this and they are not willing to use the tube tester or what ever schematics, just to put the numbering back ..... anyways it is still my arrogance i should have been little carefull.
Anyways i have to start looking into tube rolling.
Post edited by Sumerian on
Comments
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That isn't very nice of them, IMO. All that needs to be done is put them on a tube tester. Maybe a fellow Polkie with a tester would be willing to help you out.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 -
That isn't very nice of them, IMO. All that needs to be done is put them on a tube tester. Maybe a fellow Polkie with a tester would be willing to help you out.
Yup didnt want to complain about it since it was my mistake but it did leave a bad taste the way they want to handle it.
Actually there was a screw in the power unit that came off and was making noise when i was installing the pre amp...which i have to fix it by my self they actaully wanted to be ship the unit so that they can fix it. -
Any polker in and around NJ with tube tester?
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Many feel that actually getting a matched pair is an impossible task. You can get them to test close, but how they operate under stress and all that good mess is much harder to predict.
And also i am thinking to really hear the difference one should have a trained ear? -
It's like I said before, using matched pairs in a line stage pre amp doesn't make much sense to me.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 -
What makes sense, and I've said it a million times, Read the darn manual....twice. Especially with receivers, and especially since it's your first time owning a particular piece.
Well, you kicked yourself for that already so I won't harp on you. It is possible to buy a tube tester if you look used for maybe a few hundies. In any event, I wouldn't stress too much about the matched pair thing. You have to be careful and know what your doing as I also stated before, because shipping that puppy with insurance isn't going to be cheap....as you just found out.HT SYSTEM-
Sony 850c 4k
Pioneer elite vhx 21
Sony 4k BRP
SVS SB-2000
Polk Sig. 20's
Polk FX500 surrounds
Cables-
Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable
Kitchen
Sonos zp90
Grant Fidelity tube dac
B&k 1420
lsi 9's -
If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money. -
Not sure why Cary would say to send the whole unit back just for tube matching as it would imply they might think you'd have to send the whole unit in every time you wanted to install a new tube so it's matched and balanced with the circuits in the unit. Doesn't make sense to me, so maybe there was a miscommunication. As it is, the Cary in stock form uses inexpensive Electro Harmonix tubes which are widely available. You could just get in touch with a seller like Tube Depot, Tube Store, or another and explain what you need and they'd probably provide you with good advice on what to use based on their experience as the SLP 05 has been on the market for quite a long time now. They'd be able to set you up for around $200 with new matched and balanced tubes unless you wanted to go with more expensive tubes.
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Since you installed them in a random order I would just develop a plan that allows you to rotate them in a known order, and then choose whichever pattern sounds best. That gives you an inexpensive way to practice tube rolling, and if you hear no difference then you can feel better about its performance.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
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Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
because shipping that puppy with insurance isn't going to be cheap....as you just found out.
Yup... For that price I can get a new set.
They agreed to do it for 25$ but I am not confident if they will fix and return it in timely manner.
they haven't replied on how many days would it take for them to get it done. -
Yup I got that loud and clear this time.
I bought far more sophisticated systems than this pre amp but never had this issue before. -
Not sure why Cary would say to send the whole unit back just for tube matching as it would imply they might think you'd have to send the whole unit in every time you wanted to install a new tube so it's matched and balanced with the circuits in the unit. Doesn't make sense to me, so maybe there was a miscommunication.
It seems they will optimize the placement of the tubes particular for a given unit...
yes they used cheap tubes for a 9 Grand pre amp though it sounds great I still think they should have at least used the gold base version of the same tubes.
I am totally impressed how the pre amp sounded but this will be my last Cary product.
I don't like their business model. -
It's like I said before, using matched pairs in a line stage pre amp doesn't make much sense to me.
Bingo! Overrated and overpriced. Get a pair that's close within 10-15%, even 20% of each other.
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! -
Why should Cary pay to ship and insure a piece like that both ways for your incompetence? You are lucky you didn't do some damage by using tubes in the wrong places. And HELL YES it will sound better with the correct tubes in the correct spots.
Good Luck
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! -
Why should Cary pay to ship and insure a piece like that both ways for your incompetence? You are lucky you didn't do some damage by using tubes in the wrong places. And HELL YES it will sound better with the correct tubes in the correct spots.
Good Luck
H9
Where did I say that cary has to pay for the shipping ??? And who asked them to pay for the insurance??? -
For what you are trying to do with a tube tester you will need something better than my Mighty Mite which basically tells you a tube is good or bad. You will need something better for matching that does MUTUAL CONDUCTANCE .
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-HICKOK-MODEL-800-MUTUAL-CONDUCTANCE-TUBE-TRANSISTOR-TESTER-/310931775526?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4864fa6026Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs
