Tube Rolling w/Crack

[NightFlight]

Oh, you like clear tops!  That explains your taste for 'air'. Oy! Makes my teeth grind. Can't imagine the 421 with a cleartop.

[John EH]

Oh, you like clear tops!  That explains your taste for 'air'. Oy! Makes my teeth grind. Can't imagine the 421 with a cleartop.

I'm generally NOT a fan of the Clear Top however I'm telling you in this rig with the 421A it's the best to my ears.  I've run through my collection as well.  The only thing I have not tried yet is my 7316 tubes.  I have two and while both test okay on my TV-7 tester one of them blows stuff up.  I wasn't smart enough to mark it and am scared to play 50/50.  Or who knows maybe both were okay and there was some other factor at play.  I should pop a cheap 6080 in and try them both.

Anyway I have 5 clear tops and only the orange label one sounds awesome to my ears.

[kscwuzhere]

Received a 5687 Tungsol cryo treated with black plates from the 1950's and the results are extremely holographic. Comparing to my amperex 7119 PQ, the bass tones are not quite as tight but as a result it has a lot of air. Overall data/detail retrieval between the two tubes are pretty comparable and so is the soundstage size and instrument separation. The tung-sol definitely matched the beyerdynamic T1's better than the hd650s but it was still a tad bright (with the t1s) for my liking. I think I'll be sticking with my 7119s!

[i luvmusic 2]

 Hi,I just ordered my Crack kit with SB few days ago and i'am looking for any reasonable price upgrade tubes.These are the Tubes i have RCA 6AS7G's,Raytheon 6AS7G's,Sylvania 6AS7G's,Chatham 6AS7G's,RCA,Sylvania,GE 6080's,JJ,EH,Rogers 12AU7's and Various makers of 6SN7's.Can i use the 6SN7 with the Crack?Thank You!

[Lar]

Yes you can with adaptor.

[i luvmusic 2]

Yes you can with adaptor.

Thank You!No problem for the adapter i can make those actually i already made some for my other amps that i can used with the crack.The tube heater power is powered by desktop power supply.

[Strikkflypilot]

Anyone got an opinion as to what is the best input tube to match the GEC 6AS7G/ CV2523 brown base?

I find it hard to express what I want except I want the LIVE/ being there experience as close as it gets.

[JamieMcC]

I normally pair my GEC with either a Tungsram or Siemens E80cc   

[kscwuzhere]

Anyone got an opinion as to what is the best input tube to match the GEC 6AS7G/ CV2523 brown base?

I find it hard to express what I want except I want the LIVE/ being there experience as close as it gets.

For darker headphones like the hd650s I'd recommend going with the telefunken or tungsram e80cc. For brighter headphones like the T1s I'd recommend the 12bh7a.

If you want a holographic and concert like experience I recommend retrofitting for the 5687/7119!

[Strikkflypilot]

Thanks guys. Siemens E80cc ordered

[kscwuzhere]

Thanks guys. Siemens E80cc ordered

Now that you have your e80cc's, I highly recommend this mod to run it at the correct voltage:

http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php/topic,5989.30.html

I noticed significant sound improvements when running the tubes at the correct voltages and it also will increase the life of your tube!

[Strikkflypilot]

Thanks, I though it was a drop in replacement when the speedball is installed, ref first post.

[JamieMcC]

Thanks, I though it was a drop in replacement when the speedball is installed, ref first post.

It basically is and I used mine that way for six months before doing the above mod which tweaks the circuit to a better operating point for the tube so it performs a little better. The mod is easy enough and can be done for well under $10 and well worth the short time it takes to do.

[Strikkflypilot]

Sweet. Why stop modding now:)
By the way, it seems Your resistors are in parallell for E80CC mod and not in series.
Cool way of doing it! I probably would have found a switch between a 237 and 470ohms resistor that alternates between them.

Would this do as a switch? http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1633279.pdf
Planning on superglueing the base to each of the small speedball boards.

Oh, and these are the Resistors I am getting: http://no.farnell.com/multicomp/mf12-470r/resistor-0-125w-1-470r/dp/9343245
Those are metal film. Anyone prefer carbon composition?

[Paul Joppa]

Don't use carbon comp - they are noisy when DC current flows, and they drift in value. Metal film or bulk metal foil ($$) were recommended by the original designer, John Camille.