Final results of six months of tube rolling for the Mini Torii-II I purchased last summer.

Any Comments?

A Mullard OC2 for a OA2 is a big improvement.

A NOS RCA OC3 for a stock OA3 is a very slight improvement.

Time to just listen to the music.


Earlier Tube Rolling  and Set up:

FINAL RESULTS AFTER TRYING OUT A BRENT JESSE RCA 6V6G ST, COKE BOTTLE:

Valve Art 350B-coke  bottle,blows away the RCA 6V6G ST in my system (mini Torii driving a mid/tweeter at 1000 hz and above)

Amperex NOS  EZ80 from Brent Jesse (white lettering with a cartoon of a tube playing a trumpet - Bugle Boy)

Valvo/Mullard NOS Blackburn 12au7 (these are the authentic Mullard Blackburn plant tubes made in 60's with "Gf2/B3J5" and "Gf2/B8E5"etched codes).   Even with the Mullards12au7s I use the highest neg. feedback setting for Digital Playback (thus the Mullard 12au7s create a more flexible system).

This is a great combo, 3d deep sound stage, not too hot or bright, airy sound, great definition of instruments, sound stage that is wider than my speakers, balance natural sound.

My System:

Upgraded Linn LP12

Hadcock 242 Tonearm with a Grado Statement Reference1 Wood Body Phono Cartridge.

Vacuum State JLTI Phono preamp (one of the best phono preamps available for under $5k)

Aesthetix Saturn line preamplifier with upgraded Mullard 12ax7 and Amperex Mini Watt SQ 6922 tubes (a great preamp)

Feeding a highly modified custom Behringer DCX2496 two channel digital crossover.

Feeding the Mini Torii for above 1000 hz to a Emerald Physics CS2 mid/tweeter (Selenium D220Ti 1" Titanium Horn Driver 8 Ohm).

Below 1000 hz, a Sunfire amp is being used into dual 15 inch open baffle woofers

PK,

We have talked about our differences in favorite tubes for the mini.  You like the VA 350 and I prefer the RCA 6v6g.

Obviously systems make a huge difference.  I wonder if your bi amp'd speakers make the difference b/c the bass is driven by sunfire amp?

again maybe  the split in freq makes the difference.  System dependent

Agreed.

There have been at least a couple members in this forum who were not impressed at all by the Valve Art 350B in their Mini-Toriis, and so this remains a subjective and highly system dependent issue.

Other than generally recognized particular tubes' attributes like openness and warmth, liveliness and speed, there's no straight way to adopt someone else's formula, so trial and error is a must.

BTW, ordered 6414's and RCA 12AU7's (black plates) ...We'll see

Right, I think Les Lammers wasn't excited about them either. Anyway, I like the G ST's so much, I'm going to try them with the new pairs of drivers I ordered and hopefully raise the bar a little more. These were affordable too.

Quote:


Yes. I have used them in my Mini Torii.

If you are getting them from Upscale, you might as well also order the EZ90 from them as well. I find their prices a little high, but you can rest assured that you are getting a quality and well tested tube.

I also buy from cryoset dot com.

Did you mean: A Mullard OA2 for a stock OC2 is a big improvement?

you guys think the E90CC is a better alternative than the Ez90??
I checked out ebay and they are pretty expensive.. atleast compared to to the EZ90. I will definately try them out if you think hey are worth it. So..better in what ways? Consensus to the conclusion`?

+1

Since I switched to RFT EZ90 rectifiers over a year ago, the sound has improved tangibly.

I don't know if Steve has approved it, but it can be used safely. Its use is noted here in this thread:

https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1389541068