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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Calling on SE34 users for tube advice and review
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Message started by Hajj on 09/08/10 at 11:21:04

Title: Calling on SE34 users for tube advice and review
Post by Hajj on 09/08/10 at 11:21:04

After having set up my system, and found that everything was going just fine.
I started having that itch, you know the one that comes with the little voice in your head telling you that it's time for the next upgrade, insinuating that tube rolling might not be a bad idea after all. ;)
So here I am, Looking all over the net for tubes.
Acting on one of Lon's posts (IIRC), I went and checked Cryoset.com, while they might not have the biggest choice, prices are definitely good, so i started filling my cart with an assortment of Electro harmonix EL34s quads, KT77 gold lion quads, some nice EH 6922's, a couple of 6n1-p EVs etc....
Then just when i was about to checkout, disaster! the Gold lion KT77 are out of stock!! :(
So I'm gonna try and make a good thing out of the wait, and ask around here for some advice on tube selection.
I do not have the budget for high $$ NOS tubes, so i'm stuck with the new production ones or NOS tubes with prices close to the new production ones.
Please fire away and post your ideas and impressions of either 6922/6dj8/6n1-p (and even 6n2p, yes i added one to the cart, to try and see if it'll work in the SE34-I) or EL34/KT77/6CA7 you have used in your amps.
I hope this could turn into some kind of user generated review repository.
btw, my amp is an SE34-I (first gen)
Regards
Nick
p.s: anyone knows how to contact Cryoset to try and find out when items are expected to be back in stock?

Title: Re: Calling on SE34 users for tube advice and review
Post by Lon on 09/08/10 at 12:15:06

I'm not planning on doing much posting in the near future, but here's my two cents:

Send your amp in for the Christmas Comes Early Mod (if you haven't). I think this will add a fidelity leap that is more intense than tube rolling and will establish a new base line for sonics.

That won't work for KT88s etc. so concentrate on EL34s. I haven't had a lot of experience with a lot of tube brands and types but the best I've found are the "Winged C" Svetlana tubes (still can find these) and the new Mullard Reissue tubes (worked really well in my Integrated; haven't yet bought a quartet for the Torii Mark III; been using Winged Cs in my Toriis).

I like 6N1Ps in my Torris, and the 6N2Ps in my Integrated (which is not in use at the moment, I'm running Toriis in both systems). I find that these tube types work best with digital input compared to 6922 or 6DJ8 etc. types.

I spent a long time rolling tubes in all my components and I just lost perspective and drove myself a little crazy. I've retired from that mindset. . . I'm happy with what I'm using and I'll probably keep on replacing tubes with these. Best of luck!

PS: I think the too infrequent these days poster Randy the Demigod was the first to mention the Cryoset store (?)

Title: Re: Calling on SE34 users for tube advice and review
Post by Lon on 09/08/10 at 12:19:25

Also: if you do a search on the forum there is a long thread about different EL34 brands that is sort of a repository of user opinion and represents some consensus among Decware users.

Title: Re: Calling on SE34 users for tube advice and review
Post by Hajj on 09/08/10 at 12:23:05

Hi Lon,
Thanks for taking the time to post.
Funny you should mention the CCE mod, as I am about to carry it on my amp tonight, have been trying to muster the courage to tamper with such a great amp, since it is impossible for me to send the amp to Steve to do the mod as I live in Beirut, Lebanon and shipping would be prohibitive to say the least.
After the mod carried, and even though it won't work on the KT77s, i just feel I must try the Genalex Gold Lion KT77 (a matched pair most probably, not a quad) since they've been getting some good reviews.
Anyway, thanks for chipping in.
I guess I need to carry a more thorough search of the forum and find that elusive thread.
Regards
Nick