Not necessary, but get the matching.OK, that's what I thought.Good to go with the 24 hour burn in, or not necessary?
Totally Tubular: The Tube Thread
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Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
Cool, thanks!
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
You’ll love them. KT88s sound so good, a lot fuller sound than the EL34, and the EH is a brilliant sounding KT88!
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
I was leaning toward buying some soon to try, just didn't plan on being forced to do it so quickly! Looking forward to seeing the difference.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Their website says to balance to 50 mA
Matt M
Santa Extraordinaire
Yeah, that's what I was seeing. Guess I was trying to understand what the 34 bias on the tube meant. And trying to make sure I didn't screw anything upTheir website says to balance to 50 mA
Here’s a tip:
Due to a heavy work load, I haven’t been listening to much music lately. There’s another reason. My vinyl rig hasn’t been sounding good as of late.
My system was suffering from a lack of highs. It was noticeable and pretty severe. Music just wasn’t enjoyable. TV and movies seemed ok, but they are bandwidth limited for the most part. My car stereo sounded ok (Bose system in the Fiat 124) but ok is about all it will do. As a standard feature on the Lusso trim level, it’s fine. I certainly wouldn’t pay extra for it. Still my vinyl rig sounded blah. I actually started wondering about my hearing.
Last week it dawned on me. I’m on my 3rd set of output tubes. Prima Lina estimates a set of output tubes are good for 2,500 hours, so I’m figuring I’ve got over 5,000 hours on the amp. The small tubes are good for 5,000 hours at the maximum. I had a fresh pair of Electroharmonix 12AU7s in my stash. Out with the Gold Lion input tubes, in with the Electros.
Problem solved! I hear just fine and my system sounds great again. Don’t forget to change your small signal tubes every once in a while.
Due to a heavy work load, I haven’t been listening to much music lately. There’s another reason. My vinyl rig hasn’t been sounding good as of late.
My system was suffering from a lack of highs. It was noticeable and pretty severe. Music just wasn’t enjoyable. TV and movies seemed ok, but they are bandwidth limited for the most part. My car stereo sounded ok (Bose system in the Fiat 124) but ok is about all it will do. As a standard feature on the Lusso trim level, it’s fine. I certainly wouldn’t pay extra for it. Still my vinyl rig sounded blah. I actually started wondering about my hearing.
Last week it dawned on me. I’m on my 3rd set of output tubes. Prima Lina estimates a set of output tubes are good for 2,500 hours, so I’m figuring I’ve got over 5,000 hours on the amp. The small tubes are good for 5,000 hours at the maximum. I had a fresh pair of Electroharmonix 12AU7s in my stash. Out with the Gold Lion input tubes, in with the Electros.
Problem solved! I hear just fine and my system sounds great again. Don’t forget to change your small signal tubes every once in a while.
34 is just the value given by the seller’s tube tester.
LiamGallaghersBucketHat
Go on, geezer.
Thinking about ordering some RCA Clear Tops for my Rogue. Is TubeDepot a good place and do I need to get the extras such as Balanced Triodes etc? Thanks.
I love Tube Depot. Get a matched pair, balanced triodes and low noise or low microphonics (can’t remember which they test for.)
LiamGallaghersBucketHat
Go on, geezer.
Looks like they test for both. What about the high gain?
I wouldn’t bother with high gain, but low noise and microphonics are important for preamp tubes.
Splunders
Well-Known Member
I've been working on some updates to my 2nd system, which is in the basement laundry room. I just received this used Aric Audio 'Limitless' preamp today. Point to point wired by a man named Aric somewhere in the US. Has adjustable, on the fly gain (0-17db) which is fun to play with. Hooked up to a Van Alstine modified Dynaco ST 150 amp into some brawny 20 year old B&W bookshelf speakers. Fed with Technics SL 1200/Grado Gold 3 (8mz). The preamp definitely adds air and space. Fairly lush and warm without losing itself in it.
displayname
Well-Known Member
This was a good watch. I wish it could have been done 3rd party vs via the Prima Luna distributor, but Kev did do a very balanced job.
Also, I’ve only heard Raven once at an audio show. Their gear paired with their speakers. Didn’t care for the lead guy, and was only impressed with their entry level system. I did get to hear their top end amps with Volti speakers, and that was great, but BIG bucks. But overall I wasn’t overly impressed. This video just kind of continues to support that.
91X
Member
This is a great article...very illuminating. It was interesting to learn that class AB amps don't actually run in class A initially before going to AB, as is often thought.
