Ok Tube guys...need some help

heiney9

Sometime in the future I'm going to looking at upgrading and possibly getting some tubes in the mix. I will always probably have a sand amp and the idea is to add some tubes in the pre-amp and Dac area. I found a product, which does both, I like very much just based on what I've seen. Here are some photo's

My big question is can you tell by looking at the photo's if the tubes can be rolled in/out of this particular piece? 2 tubes in the pre section and 2 tubes in the Dac section. I know some AMC products have tubes that are more or less permanent. I want to avoid that with this Monarchy. Just wondering and doing some research.

H9

BlueMDPicker

The tubes shown certainly look socketed (versus hard wired). What the hell are they? I can find nothing in tube database lookups with the numbers shown on the tubes. Which leads me to guess that, yes, the tubes could be rolled -- but, there may be a very limited range of substitutes.

Edit: From their website "*Military Grade 6DJ8 used in both the DAC and Line Amp sections (4 pcs)"

scottyf

I don't know that particular piece of equipment, but those look like normal tube sockets which means you can remove them. I can't imagine a piece of equipment that you couldn't remove the tubes since they go bad and need replacement (just like light bulbs!).

If you can remove the tube, you can roll tubes. You need to find out what kind of tubes (they look like 6DJ8's) they are and try others of that type made by different manufacturers and from different time periods. Each peice of equipment will have a couple of tubes that make it really sing.

It's kind of like listening to different cables to find the ones that match up best with your system.

Have fun!

SCompRacer

6DJ8 were originally made for cascode TV tuners. It was not originally intended for audio applications. They are low noise and can do a good job provided they are powered properly. IIRC, they have lower plate voltage but higher current requirements, like around 15ma. If tubes don't get the proper voltage or current they need, the sound will suffer. 6EF8, 6DJ8, 6922 and 7308 are all frame grid tubes, but I have no idea what you could roll in it or what the results would be.

If I ever get my new tube pre, it might have 6EF8's in it.

F1nut

scottyf wrote:

I can't imagine a piece of equipment that you couldn't remove the tubes since they go bad and need replacement (just like light bulbs!).

Some companies use tubes that are hardwired (soldered) to the board. They tend to have very long life spans (100,000 hrs.), so replacement isn't that big of a deal.

reeltrouble1

F1nut wrote:

Some companies use tubes that are hardwired (soldered) to the board. They tend to have very long life spans (100,000 hrs.), so replacement isn't that big of a deal.

Oh yea, those companies gear are used by audio snobs!!:p

No reason the gear pictured cant have the tubes swapped. I rolled for a while but once you find the one you like, well, I pretty much just stick with that.

RT1

dorokusai

Make sure you use pliers when removing those tubes....Vice Grips work great.

madmax

There sure is a lot of sand all around those tubes...
madmax