Beardog`s Birthday Present....To Himself !!

beardog03

I bought 3 sets of 6sn7 tubes for my Cary F1 Pre Amp...
Keven @ UpScale Audio is a great guy to deal with....
I can tell he loves what he does, and is always there when I have a question, or when I need help with something.

Anyway, I race home today after work to see if they had arrived.....
Yeah Man !!!:D
There`s the package waiting for me....:cool:

I get up stairs put on my little white cloth glove, and try to decide which ones to try first.
I turned her on when I got home so she would be ready for play when it was time to swap tubes.

I asked for as closely matched as possible and this is what I got;

Pope (Philips Holland 6SN7GT)
2EA (matched pair)

T1:26400 T2:29100 noise A microphonics A
T1:29900 T2:29900 noise A microphonics A


Type JAN CHY (Hytron-6SN7GT)
accepted 10-51
2EA (matched pair)

T1:26100 T2:25500 noise A microphonics A3
T1:26400 T2:24800 noise A microphonics A


Electro-Harmonix (Platinum Private Stash) 6SN7
2EA (matched pair)
T1:24600 T2:24300 noise A microphonics A
T1:24900 T2:24500 noise A microphonics A


So I leave the original Tubes in the Follower spot (driver kinda),and can`t decide which to try 1st....

I go with #2...the Hytrons


I let her warm up for about 10 min, and flip the switch


Muddy...crap...awww man..!

The stock Chinese ones that cary matched to the pre when they made it an F1 sounded way better..

How long does it take a tube to bloom into it total maturity ?

As i Type this she seems tobe getting alittle better, but not as clear as the tubes that were in there (about 100-150 hrs...maybe)

Sometimes I leave the pre on for a day or two in standby mode with the tubes not getting full juice, and the amp off....

These are supposed to be more Dynamic and Detailed over the Popes, which are supposed to have great 3dD dementionality, outstanding mid-range, and imaging...yada-yada-yada


I got the Platinum EH-6sn7`s to run in the follower spot so I could swap the Line stage tubes and get a good idea of how they all sound, but decided to run the stock ones and swap all of the new ones out in rotation to see what I hear and which ones I like best..
I would have gotten quads of these tubes but that was out of budget for now...and when I find the ones that work best for me , I will get a matching pair of them to have all four the same..


Question...
How long should I let them play before they have had a fair chance to do thier best , before I rotate in the next pair ?

It seems the tube is settling in somewhat, as I post this...

Great Detail, but the bass seems kinda flat.

I still wonder how much the follower tubes effect the sound ?

I Maybe I will try the Hytrons in the back, and the Popes up front..
Or maybe the Electro`s in the follower spot and the Popes up front..


I dig rolling tubes , as It has such a major impact on the total "Harmony" of the sound / Rig.
I was happy with how she sounded before I even changed a tube, but thought " if these sound this good stock, then these should sound even better ."
That is not always the case, but sometimes it works out ..

It is definately hard not to just swap out the tubes right now, and go right to the next pair.....I realize they need time to settle in, but....

Whadaya think ?
How long should I let them play before I go to the next set ?

Ricardo

Let them play 50 hours. That should take them close to where they will stay sonically, or so I've heard.

This is one of the reasons I am now "tubeless". Too many variables, too many risks of having the sound degraded without even noticing it.... I'm SS all the way now, and you know what, it sounds good.

treitz3

...And you thought I was on a roll! Enjoy Beardog.

beardog03

Thanks for the help Ricardo..
Maybe I will put the Popes up front and the Hytrons in the back , so they have the same amount of time on them....then start switching them out

hoosier21

Ricardo wrote: »

This is one of the reasons I am now "tubeless". Too many variables, too many risks of having the sound degraded without even noticing it.... I'm SS all the way now, and you know what, it sounds good.

I will second that, once I questioned "is it a bad tube, wonder if it a mismatched pair did it go bad, I would have to buy a whole new set, repeat, I said the hell with tubes, I love the sound, but the mind games took away from the fun of listening

well I did let some tubes sneak in in my DAC,

polkatese

And here I am with the third "hell, yeah"

tube output stage I can deal with, ....the rest? I have to take a pass for the reasons above. I am sure it's a fun thing to do for some, but not (yet) for me.

beardog03

Well, I put the Popes up front and the Hytrons in the rear...

Very wide soundstage, great imaging....but I seem to have lost the bass slam, somewhat..

I will keep her playing nonstop for the rest of the week to see what happens

When the new Gold Pins show up for the CDP, I will let ya know how it turns out.

Once all the tubes have a chance to settle in and get to thier best , I will swap them arround until I find the best combo....

I can always go back to where I started if it doesn`t turn out to be what I want...

That`s what it`s all about.....having fun, and enjoying the music !!

madmax

New tubes sound like ****. Most of mine took around 50 hours to start sounding good enough to listen to. Hang in there. Better to sound great most of the time than consistantly just ok...
madmax

tonyb

My Butler amp has the 6sn7gt tubes and gotta say I really like "em.Not that I have a choice,can't tube roll in this one.

beardog03

You got that right,Max...

I agree....

I left them on all night real low, and all day..

I just got home, and man is my office warm !!!


They do sound alittle better though

janmike

Nothing better than rewarding yourself. Congrats Robert and enjoy. My tube days will be in 2008.