Tube Dampers

drewh1 · 3460

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Offline drewh1

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on: October 28, 2015, 03:05:49 PM
This audiophile stuff is so confusing. I am a total skeptic about most of the tweaks that are discussed online and believe there is a lot of voodoo and hype. I researched tube dampers. Tube Dampers make some sense to me because of the physical properties of tubes. Of course, the research was all over the place, with some making wild claims about improvements and others debunking them. I also don't play music at very high levels (considering I have 3 watts and 91 db speakers) It is a smallish room though.

 I decided to buy some inexpensive teflon coated o-rings and try them out (which some reports said worked and others said were useless).  The difference was immediate and not very subtle. I won't go into all of the audiophile jargon, but I will say it opened everything up in a pretty dramatic way. Was it the dampers? or some coincidence, maybe my new caps suddenly broke in or that the tubes made a better connection after re-inserting them. 

The only issue is the o-rings tend to slip down the JJ-2a3's due to the shape.  I may try something more elegant like the Herbies. It is just so interesting how this stuff works. If it is placebo, it was worth the extra couple of bucks.

Anyone have positive feedback on Herbies or other options.

J-River on Custom built Music Server in Silverstone Case
Ayre QB-9 USB DAC
Kaiju
Stereoumour
Diy Cotton wrapped wire interconnects and speaker cab!es
Green Mountain Audio EOS HDx speakers
Crack with Beyerdynamic T1
Shunyata Diamond Back Power Cable
DIY Sub with Seas L26Roy Driver


Offline coca

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Reply #1 on: October 28, 2015, 03:53:18 PM
I swear by Herbies. I will not go into a lot of audiophile jargon either, but in every case I used them, the sound was more focused through out.

Bernie.



Offline Paul Joppa

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Reply #2 on: October 28, 2015, 05:48:28 PM
See the BeePre section for information on damping "coke-bottle" shaped tubes. Dan's lead chem-lab weight rings are applicable in the right size (edit: but see Dan's post below about melting vinyl!) to 2A3s. I have found giant industrial washers of the same weight, for a cheap option.
« Last Edit: October 29, 2015, 09:34:03 AM by Paul Joppa »

Paul Joppa


Offline maryc27182

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Reply #3 on: October 28, 2015, 06:02:45 PM
I have Herbie's. They seem well-made. Not the cheapest option, but what the hell...

Mary

DIY 2-ways (TAD TD-2002, AE TD15M), Stereomour 45
Fostex TH-500RP, S.E.X. 2.1
Eros Phono


Offline mcandmar

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Reply #4 on: October 29, 2015, 04:31:21 AM
At least tube dampers exist in the real world, and its not difficult to find a tangible difference.  E.g. find a microphonic tube, put pressure on the glass and nine times out of ten they go quite.

It is amusing now different forums around the internet have different levels of nonsense toleration.  For example on DIYAudio everybody claims that capacitors, resistors, and tubes all sound the same, any difference is due to flaws in the circuit design.  Where as other forums will tell you to align your speaker cables with the earths magnetic field for the best PRAT.  ....whatever that is :)

M.McCandless


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #5 on: October 29, 2015, 05:16:42 AM
See the BeePre section for information on damping "coke-bottle" shaped tubes. Dan's lead chem-lab weight rings are applicable (in the right size) to 2A3s. I have found giant industrial washers of the same weight, for a cheap option.

Just a reminder that the rings I used are temperature sensitive and in the application I used them for (BeePre preamp) the tubes don't get very hot. The PVC coating of the rings will melt if used on a 300B running at typical amp operating points. I would assume a 2A3 in an amp circuit would get hot enough to be a no-no too.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.


Offline drewh1

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Reply #6 on: October 29, 2015, 07:03:23 AM
Well when my system starts to sound not as good. I find that changing anything "brings it back to life" so I have a box of diy interconnects and speaker Cables that I rotate in and out. Voila.  In this case I think the tube in my right channel was very sensitive and putting dampening helped. That made the whole system sound better.  BTW. I have never purchased or used magic pebbles nor have I demagnetized my cd's  8)

I was bumbed to read a whole forum about it being impossible to hear audible differences in modern DACs having just spent $$$ getting m Ayre upgraded  :-X
« Last Edit: October 29, 2015, 07:12:48 AM by drewh1 »

J-River on Custom built Music Server in Silverstone Case
Ayre QB-9 USB DAC
Kaiju
Stereoumour
Diy Cotton wrapped wire interconnects and speaker cab!es
Green Mountain Audio EOS HDx speakers
Crack with Beyerdynamic T1
Shunyata Diamond Back Power Cable
DIY Sub with Seas L26Roy Driver


Offline johnsonad

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Reply #7 on: October 29, 2015, 07:29:37 AM


I was bumbed to read a whole forum about it being impossible to hear audible differences in modern DACs having just spent $$$ getting m Ayre upgraded  :-X

Trust your ears before others opinions. DAC's sound significantly different when used in my system and to my ears. Surprisingly the program used to interface and stream to the DAC makes equally or even greater difference to me. I wish DAC's had less variables. It's like setting up a TT all over again....

Aaron Johnson


Offline Doc B.

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Reply #8 on: October 29, 2015, 08:27:39 AM
If you heard the differences I would suggest that you can immediately and without prejudice dismiss the opinion of one who can't hear them. If you can't hear a difference be happy and move on to some other aspect of the hobby that you can enjoy.

Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President For Life
Bottlehead Corp.


Offline drewh1

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Reply #9 on: October 29, 2015, 08:47:06 AM
Great advice, Doc.  Every few years I get caught up in trying to fix what isn't broken.  Then I settle in and enjoy things again.  In any case, I still love my Stereomour and other than spending silly money on upgrades have had no urge to move on to something new.

J-River on Custom built Music Server in Silverstone Case
Ayre QB-9 USB DAC
Kaiju
Stereoumour
Diy Cotton wrapped wire interconnects and speaker cab!es
Green Mountain Audio EOS HDx speakers
Crack with Beyerdynamic T1
Shunyata Diamond Back Power Cable
DIY Sub with Seas L26Roy Driver


Offline drewh1

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Reply #10 on: November 05, 2015, 11:02:14 AM
Well I got my DAC back and you would have to be deaf to not hear the improvements.  I feel like all of the minor tweaks I have done, although, individually not significant are contributing.  I am VERY happy with the sound of my system now and even happier with the Crack and the Stereomour. 

now I am waiting for my Raal 70-20xr upgrade and I should be cookin with gas!

Thanks again all of you at Bottlehead!  gotta figure out what to build next . . .

J-River on Custom built Music Server in Silverstone Case
Ayre QB-9 USB DAC
Kaiju
Stereoumour
Diy Cotton wrapped wire interconnects and speaker cab!es
Green Mountain Audio EOS HDx speakers
Crack with Beyerdynamic T1
Shunyata Diamond Back Power Cable
DIY Sub with Seas L26Roy Driver