Tube Rolling w/Crack

[Deluk]

I had a 6080 go ping after it had warmed up. Still carried on working fine but found that a small piece of glass had broken off a corner in the central section. Rattles around if I shake it but normally rests happily on the base.

[Gruss Gott]

Just ordered my Crack w/Speedball.  What are your thoughts on the stock tubes?
Also, if you had to pick one other set to pair with The Atticus, which would it be?

Hey Bull, once you get it built, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the synergy with the atticus - thanks!

[XforceVesa2]

For me Tube Rolling is also totally new to me. In honesty i always believed that Tube rolling doesn't change the sound that much.

But I was still curious, so I changed the Stock Powertube with a russian 6H13C and well I must say im really impressed by the change of the sound.

I also liked the sound of an 6AS7-GA Power Tube but my favourite is so far the 6H13C 

[Bullpride]

Hey Bull, once you get it built, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the synergy with the atticus - thanks!

Absolutely loving it.   I am slowing upgrading.  Added the first phase (small) of the speedball. Considering trying some different tubes.  Still getting a small amount of buzz/sound in the right ear.  I have redone all of the joints at least 3 times now.  I am thinking maybe there is somethings slightly off with one of the tubes (can't hurt to try something new anyways). I only hear it when the music is very quiet. 

I would say The BHC and The Atticus is a no-brainer pair.

[Joe Garfield]

Edit: Sorry, didn't mean to ask "what's the best..."

I just realized I have some 12AU7s for my guitar preamp, so I'm stoked to be able to try some of them out. Ultimately I'm after a "clean tube sound". I will try EH and Tung Sol 12AU7s to start, plus whatever comes in my kit.

[cddc]

Quick question on tube rolling. I just finished my crack about 2 months ago. Thought I'd give tube rolling a try and purchased a RU-6H13C from "thetubestore.com". Got it in today, and "rolled" it in. Powered my crack up and the tube crackled and I could see some arcing going on inside for a second. I thought Oh, SH$T, I mean, SHOOT, there goes $25 bucks.

Fed it some audio, and, well, good to go. Sounds great.

So, is that normal for a new tube to do that? Any concerns about tube life or reliability?

I've got a 5998 on order too, so want to make sure if I see that again, it's normal.


Thx.

When you fire up a tube for the first time, make sure you don't have your expensive headphones plugged in. Arcing from a tube could blow/kill your headphones or eardrums.

If you see arcing, as Doc said, there could be something in between internal components, or there could be some gas residuals inside the tube. Leave the tube on for 24+ hours, the getter inside tube will absorb the remaining gas.

Then you power off your amp, let it cool, and sometime later carefully examine if there is still arcing happening.

[Crackling]

Hi all! Been lurking around here for a few weeks. I am a recent and very proud owner of a Bottlehead Crack. Been experimenting with some tubes; without a doubt the best power tube I currently own is the Tung-Sol JAN-CTL 5998. So far I have not noticed much difference when using various pre-amp tubes though, but more on that to follow in my future posts. For now, I just wanted to see what's the best recommended practice when it comes to actually swapping the tubes. Obviously, I need to turn the amp off first, but beyond that must I wait until the tubes have reached room temp first? I don't want to burn my hands but I was thinking I can use some cloth to remove the hot tubes, but I'm not too sure if that can damage the tube, the socket, or anything else. Do I need to unplug the power, headphone jack, RCA cables, etc.? As you can tell, I'm no electrical engineer--or any kind of engineer for that matter : ) I have read a lot of the posts in this thread and many on the Head-Fi forum threads, but clearly there's well over a decade worth of posts and I'm sure I missed the answer I'm looking for somewhere along the way. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Paul Birkeland]

Just turn the amp off first.  A silicone oven mitt would let you pull out hot tubes without burning your fingers.

[Crackling]

Thank you, Paul!

Now on to the main subject of this thread, been doing some reading on the 6SN7 tube and I'd like to try it on my Crack. I understand it's not compatible and I'd need an adapter. Any particular recommendation on the adapter? Does the 6SN7 tube to 12AU7 socket adapter Garage1217.com sell work? (according to their site, it is compatible with the Crack)

[Paul Birkeland]

I think the Garage 1217 one might be the only one that's not noisy.

[Crackling]

Thanks again! Any recommendation on a reliable tube supplier that's not eBay and also any decent 6SN7 variant that won't break the bank? I see a lot of 6SN7GT/B around. Will these work?

[Paul Birkeland]

I tend to use Vacuum Tubes Inc., but he isn't the kind of seller that will go pick through his stash to find the exact brand and construction that you're looking for.  Personally I just buy them on eBay.

Any of the suffixes of 6SN7 will work provided the adapter works.

[adeep42]

If you want to be assured that the tubes are good, try Brent Jesse. Just google him.

[Crackling]

Thank you, PB & @adeep42! For now I went ahead and ordered an adapter from garage and a very reasonably priced NOS 6SN7 from a vendor on reverb with lots of reviews.

On a somewhat related note, I saw this https://www.ebay.ca/itm/312213040699 and wondered if it's worth the investment to add even more adapters and tubes! Someone on head fi made a post about it but can't find it at the moment. A ton of 6J5 tubes on the cheap sides on eBay would be my only motivation for now but of course I prefer to hear others who have tried this and their thoughts on the sound change. I always prefer more warmth, brightness, bass, less treble, and wider sound stage. I have a variety of headphones such as DT 1990 Pro (my absolute favorite right now), HD 650, Modhouse Argon MK3, and a few other, less noteworthy, ones...

[Paul Birkeland]

A 6J5 and a 6SN7 are identical other than the 6J5 only having half of what's inside a 6SN7.  The tremendous downside of that adapter is that you need to find construction matched pairs of 6J5s.  This is already done for you with 6SN7s.