gafacaode
Well-Known Member
Yup, they were at 37mV, so I adjusted them to 40 mV as you suggested.
Totally Tubular: The Tube Thread
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Glad you like it, and now you see that setting bias (with some amps anyway) isn’t difficult.
gafacaode
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it was really straight forward, directions on the manual were clear.
The new tubes arrived today. The amp arrives tomorrow. A friend is coming over tomorrow to sign for it as I’ll be at work. Then dinner tomorrow night with the same friend along with some others, so I won’t get home to set it up until sometime between 8 and 9.
The new tubes look good. Date codes on the input tubes are from this year. The output tubes are dated 2021. Kudos to the Tube Store matching- all are perfectly matched. The Tube Store doesn’t test the TADs as that’s supposedly done in Germany.
The new tubes look good. Date codes on the input tubes are from this year. The output tubes are dated 2021. Kudos to the Tube Store matching- all are perfectly matched. The Tube Store doesn’t test the TADs as that’s supposedly done in Germany.
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Anticipation! I knew you’d make your way back to tubes once you got the Fortes. Look forward to hearing your updates!
I didn’t. I could have easily lived with the NAD long term. But the Stingray is one of my favorite amps of all time. It should be my forever amp.
It’s a funny amp. On the test bench, it measures quite poorly. It sounds amazing though.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Has arrived yet? How is it sounding?
A friend’s parents collected it for me as I was at work. Just now moving things around on my rack to make room.
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
I think we all could live with what we have long term… we just don’t. Tubes and Klipsch are the way to go. It was inevitable.
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Love the looks of the Manley stuff.. have never heard any though. Look forward to your updates! Enjoy the ride!
Well, it’s been up and running for 5 hours or so. I’ve died and gone to Heaven. I did get the tubes biased perfectly- right now I’m using the tubes it came with. The input tubes appear to be ‘70s-80s GE. Not sure what the driver tubes are. The output tubes are Sovtek EL84M. The bias was a touch high on 7 of the 8 output tubes. It’s super easy to set the bias and Manley even includes a nice digital meter in the box.
20 watts of triode power is working out beautifully. A friend was here tonight and she was amazed- not a hi fi buff at all but loves music. The NAD was good, but this is definitely a level or 3 above. This is a keeper for sure. She heard the difference right away.
Again, specs and bench tests are pretty bad. And I don’t care. My ears are happy.
I’ll also never misplace the remote.
20 watts of triode power is working out beautifully. A friend was here tonight and she was amazed- not a hi fi buff at all but loves music. The NAD was good, but this is definitely a level or 3 above. This is a keeper for sure. She heard the difference right away.
Again, specs and bench tests are pretty bad. And I don’t care. My ears are happy.
I’ll also never misplace the remote.
Following up here. I totally love the Stingray II. Get a deal on a used one and I can’t imagine someone would be disappointed in the least, assuming they have the appropriate speakers.
I’ve decided triode is the way to go for me. But I had the wattage wrong- the output of the Stingray II is optimized for a 5 ohm load, but 3-10 ohms are acceptable.
My Klipsch are rated at 8 ohms. Because the Stingray II is optimized for a 5 ohm load it means the amp actually puts out 14 watts per channel into 8 ohms in triode mode. Because the Klipsch are so efficient, 14 watts per channel will play LOUD.
I’ve decided triode is the way to go for me. But I had the wattage wrong- the output of the Stingray II is optimized for a 5 ohm load, but 3-10 ohms are acceptable.
My Klipsch are rated at 8 ohms. Because the Stingray II is optimized for a 5 ohm load it means the amp actually puts out 14 watts per channel into 8 ohms in triode mode. Because the Klipsch are so efficient, 14 watts per channel will play LOUD.
I got home late last night and decided to get the system fine tuned. This is now by far the best system I’ve ever owned.
First, there was some hum when using the turntable at ridiculously high volume levels with the arm lifted. Not audible at any reasonable volume level but I know it’s there. It finally dawned on me. The amp was next to the turntable with a Grado on the arm. Could the Grado be picking up interference from the Stingray’s transformers? It couldn’t be that simple. It was. I moved the amp as far away from the turntable as possible. The hum disappeared, although there was still some residual noise. A big improvement.
Then I started thinking about the tubes. Especially the driver tubes. The output tubes all biased well and I had to turn down the voltage to set them. Likely they have plenty of life in them, especially being mil spec heavy duty tubes. When you have to keep turning the voltage up is when you know the output tubes are on their way out. Not the case here. While there was some hiss and grunge with the gain cranked to stupid levels, it wasn’t “noisy tube” noise, so I suspected the input tubes were fine.
But the driver tubes? I couldn’t even tell what they were. The Stingray used to ship with 6414 tubes. Now they ship with 12BT7 tubes. I had a new pair of the 12BT7s. I checked with Manley’s parts department and they said you can drop in the upgrades with no other changes to the amp and that they are better performing as well. I pulled a tube this morning and very faintly on the glass, I saw that they were 6414s, so I replaced them. The new tubes are a bit quieter. I rebiased the output tubes and had to turn down the voltage yet again. All were 7-10 mV high.
I listened for a couple of hours. It’s substantially better, but I wonder if there’s more musical enjoyment to be extracted. I swapped the hotrod Gold3 for the Grado Reference3. I aligned the Grado with the Vinyl Source protractor- it was off just a smidge from the Geo Disc. With the thought that I probably have enough gain and don’t listen loudly, I left the gain setting the same- 46dB- which is low. I’d normally go for 50-52 dB. I was surprised. Yep. Even with a 1mV cartridge, I’ve got sufficient gain.
I then cranked the volume up with the arm lifted. Silence. CD level silence. The Grado Woody is so much quieter, it’s silly stupid.
And listening, bass is substantially better- even more important when running in triode mode. The sound has more body. It sounds crazy good.
So a couple of hours of time got everything sorted for free, right? Not exactly. It’ll cost a grand to exchange the Reference3 when the time comes. And I won’t even flinch. It’s worth every penny. The Gold3 is now my backup.
First, there was some hum when using the turntable at ridiculously high volume levels with the arm lifted. Not audible at any reasonable volume level but I know it’s there. It finally dawned on me. The amp was next to the turntable with a Grado on the arm. Could the Grado be picking up interference from the Stingray’s transformers? It couldn’t be that simple. It was. I moved the amp as far away from the turntable as possible. The hum disappeared, although there was still some residual noise. A big improvement.
Then I started thinking about the tubes. Especially the driver tubes. The output tubes all biased well and I had to turn down the voltage to set them. Likely they have plenty of life in them, especially being mil spec heavy duty tubes. When you have to keep turning the voltage up is when you know the output tubes are on their way out. Not the case here. While there was some hiss and grunge with the gain cranked to stupid levels, it wasn’t “noisy tube” noise, so I suspected the input tubes were fine.
But the driver tubes? I couldn’t even tell what they were. The Stingray used to ship with 6414 tubes. Now they ship with 12BT7 tubes. I had a new pair of the 12BT7s. I checked with Manley’s parts department and they said you can drop in the upgrades with no other changes to the amp and that they are better performing as well. I pulled a tube this morning and very faintly on the glass, I saw that they were 6414s, so I replaced them. The new tubes are a bit quieter. I rebiased the output tubes and had to turn down the voltage yet again. All were 7-10 mV high.
I listened for a couple of hours. It’s substantially better, but I wonder if there’s more musical enjoyment to be extracted. I swapped the hotrod Gold3 for the Grado Reference3. I aligned the Grado with the Vinyl Source protractor- it was off just a smidge from the Geo Disc. With the thought that I probably have enough gain and don’t listen loudly, I left the gain setting the same- 46dB- which is low. I’d normally go for 50-52 dB. I was surprised. Yep. Even with a 1mV cartridge, I’ve got sufficient gain.
I then cranked the volume up with the arm lifted. Silence. CD level silence. The Grado Woody is so much quieter, it’s silly stupid.
And listening, bass is substantially better- even more important when running in triode mode. The sound has more body. It sounds crazy good.
So a couple of hours of time got everything sorted for free, right? Not exactly. It’ll cost a grand to exchange the Reference3 when the time comes. And I won’t even flinch. It’s worth every penny. The Gold3 is now my backup.
Ok, final update- it sounds better with the gain set at 52db. More bass drive and better tonal balance from bottom to top.
The Stingray II sounds noticeably better after it’s been on for an hour. It’s a bit lean until then, but does loads of things right (and nothing really wrong) once it’s warmed up.
The Stingray II sounds noticeably better after it’s been on for an hour. It’s a bit lean until then, but does loads of things right (and nothing really wrong) once it’s warmed up.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Ah shit! Sorry man, never had their own brand ones, just NOS I bought from them, but they were failing left right and centre! I went back to my pals at Watford Valves who are a bit more expensive, especially since brexit, but as the main supplier to uk touring acts they are at least very reliable.