Totally Tubular: The Tube Thread

Quick update after listening for a few hours this morning..

Tube compliment change did two obvious things.. First, the noise floor dropped to near silent levels. With the old tubes, I was getting a slight hum that was noticeable from about 4 feet but not from my chair. Now, I can't hear anything from 2 ft.. it ain't ever gonna be silent so this is great. Also have a new Deckert power cord and RCA's coming so that could have an effect here as well. Second, an obvious increase in atmosphere and airiness. Also gone is any hint of grain, if it was ever there at all.

I'm very impressed.. its different than the Luxman for sure.. not as "warm" maybe, but seemingly more expressive so far. Tubes and speakers are new so could be either of those in combination as well.

Good stuff.. more to come.
 
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Slimwhit33 said:
Quick update after listening for a few hours this morning..

Tube compliment change did two obvious things.. First, the noise floor dropped to near silent levels. With the old tubes, I was getting a slight hum that was noticeable from about 4 feet but not from my chair. Now, I can't hear anything from 2 ft.. it ain't ever gonna be silent so this is great. Also have a new Deckert power cord and RCA's coming so that could have an effect here as well. Second, an obvious increase in atmosphere and airiness. Also gone is any hint of grain, if it was ever there at all.

I'm very impressed.. its different than the Luxman for sure.. not as "warm" maybe, but seemingly more expressive so far. Tubes and speakers are new so could be either of those in combination as well.

Good stuff.. more to come.
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Yeah a bit of very mild hum and/or graininess usually happens on my PL a day or two before the little red light comes on to say the tube is dead. I’m guessing your power tubes, if not gone, had past their best and needed a refresh!
 
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Joe Mac said:
Yeah a bit of mild hum and/or graininess usually happens on my PL a day or two before the little red light comes on to say the tube is dead. I’m guessing your power tubes had past their best and needed a refresh!
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At some point I might reverse engineer it and add one type of tube back in at a time to see which one(s) were causing the hum. It dropped slightly when I replaced the 274B with the 5U4G and the OA3's with GE's. But the most significant change was with the power and input tubes for sure..
 
I was pleasantly surprised with my DHC2 power cords. I also have a DHC-3, it accentuated the highs too much for my liking. Put that one on an old Denon AVR in the garage and it does well there. Haven’t tried the Decware interconnects, I made my own with Mogami 2497.
 
Slimwhit33 said:
Really looking forward to seeing what the RP-1 brings to the table tomorrow.. my wife is thrilled I'll have remote controlled volume.. lol.
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I went a more analog route for a remote...older pic with the JD9...and my wife HATES it! Her desk is in the corner to the left and if I fall asleep at night and forget to put it away she gets upset. She doesn't want to touch anything audio related in the house.
00-fT3Ub783ZEUEhbG-fviL8e9I5MRx8sV5jmIVZe4upuxDD8uoFKz1rJsZDb91gGic5cYdfB3jRoL_VZILaXEufg
 
scorpio333 said:
I went a more analog route for a remote...older pic with the JD9...and my wife HATES it! Her desk is in the corner to the left and if I fall asleep at night and forget to put it away she gets upset. She doesn't want to touch anything audio related in the house.
00-fT3Ub783ZEUEhbG-fviL8e9I5MRx8sV5jmIVZe4upuxDD8uoFKz1rJsZDb91gGic5cYdfB3jRoL_VZILaXEufg
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That. Is. Awesome. 😂
 
New EVO 100 phono stage officially launched

D09501E1-43E3-4779-A420-F92F26B68030.jpeg

General
Max. Output Voltage26.3dBV/20.6Vrms
RIAA-curve deviation< 0.5dB (20Hz to 20kHz)
Bandwidth0–20kHz (+0/-3 dB)
Phase response error<1°
THD+N (A-Weighted) MM/MC<0.40% @ 2V
Output Impedance100Ω@1kHz
Rumble filterNone
MM StageMC Stage
Gain40dB60dB/56dB/52dB (H/M/L)
Input Impedance47kΩ50/100/200/500/1000Ω (selectable)
Input Capacitance (Selectable)47pF/100pFn/a
Input Sensitivity2.5mV (200mVrms@1kHz)0.104mVrms (200mVrms@1kHz)
Maximum permissible input (@0,1%THD)180mVrms14mVrms
Channel separation (@1Khz)>75dB>60dB
S/N Ratio (A-Weighted)@ 23.8dBV>90dB>90dB
S/N Ratio (A-Weighted)@ 6.0dBV>75dB>75dB




www.primaluna.nl

PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube Phono Preamplifier

www.primaluna.nl www.primaluna.nl
 
Joe Mac said:
New EVO 100 phono stage officially launched

View attachment 164261

General
Max. Output Voltage26.3dBV/20.6Vrms
RIAA-curve deviation< 0.5dB (20Hz to 20kHz)
Bandwidth0–20kHz (+0/-3 dB)
Phase response error<1°
THD+N (A-Weighted) MM/MC<0.40% @ 2V
Output Impedance100Ω@1kHz
Rumble filterNone
MM StageMC Stage
Gain40dB60dB/56dB/52dB (H/M/L)
Input Impedance47kΩ50/100/200/500/1000Ω (selectable)
Input Capacitance (Selectable)47pF/100pFn/a
Input Sensitivity2.5mV (200mVrms@1kHz)0.104mVrms (200mVrms@1kHz)
Maximum permissible input (@0,1%THD)180mVrms14mVrms
Channel separation (@1Khz)>75dB>60dB
S/N Ratio (A-Weighted)@ 23.8dBV>90dB>90dB
S/N Ratio (A-Weighted)@ 6.0dBV>75dB>75dB



www.primaluna.nl

PrimaLuna EVO 100 Tube Phono Preamplifier

www.primaluna.nl www.primaluna.nl
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Big fail- can’t select high gain and 47k ohms loading for low output Grados.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Big fail- can’t select high gain and 47k ohms loading for low output Grados.
Click to expand...

Kinda niche market though. If it gets good enough reviews I’d definitely be interested down the line, think I’ll be playing with MCs for the forseeable.
 
theflattire said:
Interesting though I'd like to see under the cover.
Doesn't say if pure tube or hybrid, or whether the MC side is active or SUT.
Click to expand...

I’d guess pure tube given the brand. They only do one Hybrid product in their range. Prima Luna are usually pretty transparent. I’d expect upscale to do an open bottom video in the near future. There are two further 6992 tubes behind a cover for the MC stage.
 
Does anyone have any experience with 6550 tubes?

I’m coming up to the second anniversary and am due a retube. Still trying to avoid new production Russian tubes because ethics.

The shop I buy my tubes from has NOS Svetlana Winged C 6550 for the same price as they do KT120 which I’d be experimenting with if not for the Russia thing. My plan is.

4x those NOS 6550
2x NOS Telfunken 12AU7 for gain (approx same £ I paid for the GL in 2021).
4x JJ Gold Pin 12AU7 for driver (approx same price I paid for the EH gold pin in 2021).

Any thoughts/opinions?
 
Just noticed- this is a very early one with the balance control. The input selection is on the back panel to keep the signal path short. A bit of a hassle depending on one’s layout. Still not bad considering new ones are over $5k.
 
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