Forums - 80 globe on the cheap

Bilyeaux

Seasoned Member

Posts: 171

80 globe on the cheap
06/11/22 at 15:12:17

So started my tube rolling on my 6 month new UFO2.1. Rectifier first as the stock failed a month ago. Picked up several that Senior members here discussed; 5U4, 5Z3, pair of 5U4/GB , and a gaggle of 80’s. All the 80 and pair of 5U4 are from EBay or Etsy. All came in as promised with test numbers on tubes. I have run the 5Z3, one of the 5U4, and the second of (4)80’s is playing now. It is a RCA Cunningham Radiotron and sounds fantastic! The great part is I’m experiencing these tubes at an average cost of about 16$. 5Z3 was really good but these 80’s are nice!
Cheers!

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ARC LS25MK2, UFO2.1 & Denafrips Pontus II DAC, PSA P300 Regen, Rega P6 w/ NEO and Rega MM Phono, Marantz CD6006, Bluesound Node 2i and PSU, Nakamitchi Cassette, Syzygy Sub, Omega JR XRS Towers & 74' Heresy rebuilt from Crites, ZWIRE speaker, DSRXLR, AQ connects

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 2447	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #1 - 06/11/22 at 16:29:54 Right on! There are still bargains out there if you look. I have (much) more expensive rectifiers but right now I'm getting the best sound ever with my current tube lineup including Tung Sol Type 80 STs that I think I got for 10 bucks each lightly used.
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Tony

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"Life without
..music is
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Posts: 744

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #2 - 06/17/22 at 15:55:33

CAJames had said:

CAJames wrote on 06/11/22 at 16:29:54:

]Right on! There are still bargains out there if you look. I have (much) more expensive rectifiers, but right now, I'm getting the best sound ever with my current tube lineup, including Tung-Sol Type 80 STs that I think I got for ten bucks each lightly used. [/highlight]

I must have rolled my eyes when I first read this, thinking no way. It motivated me, however, to begin a search. An eBay seller that I would have skipped over before caught my eye. I searched it out, found a Tung Sol Type 80 ST for about $15, and installed it last night in my CSP 2+ with excellent results. I was pleasantly surprised.

Thanks, CAJames

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CAJames Seasoned Member "I've run every red light on memory lane." Posts: 2447	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #3 - 06/17/22 at 18:03:50 I’m glad it worked out for you Tony, but it is really all about synergy. I’ve tried those same rectifiers in several other combinations and they were nothing special. That is the joy and the sorrow of tube rolling: you never know until you try it.
Back to top	[FOOBAR2000 \| Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC IP Logged

jec3504 Ex Member	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #4 - 08/13/22 at 17:10:40 Thanks guys, Tung Sol Type 80 ST, best $20 I spent in a while. Well worth the money for a pair of rectifiers. Joseph
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Lon

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"Love without
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worthless!"
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Posts: 25750

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #5 - 08/18/22 at 13:05:01

Hi Joseph,
Your post made me look through my boxes of tubes and find a pair of Tung-Sol Type 80 coke bottle type and pop them in.

I've been running them in about 5 hours so far and really enjoying the sound. Quite nice rectifiers with my present tube complements in the Monblocks (Sylvania 0B3, RCA 0C2, Cryotone 6P15, RTC labeled Mullard 7308).

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HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK3,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects;Stack EQ; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1

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jec3504

Ex Member

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #6 - 08/24/22 at 15:23:36

Hi Lon,

Listen to them for 5 days before I upgraded my DAC. Went back to my normal tube set up because of the change. My system is down right now. Plan on using them again once my room is done.

Was inspired to purchase them because of other posts in the Forum. Glad I did, nice to know there's good tubes available that don't break the bank.

Joseph

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Lon

Seasoned Member

"Love without
guts is
worthless!"
Philip K. Dick

Posts: 25750

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #7 - 08/24/22 at 20:19:33

I listened to mine for a few days and went back to my Sophia Electric Aquas. . . they are the ones to beat though I do like the Tung-Sol. I am now trying a pair of Bendix 5R4 potato mashers that are really impressive. It never hurts to have too many rectifiers--especially as I have five components that use the same tube types (four in use, one in reserve).

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HR-1,ZBIT,ZROCK3,SEWE300B,CSP3-25mod; Rega RP3 all GrooveTracer mods;PSAudio:PST+DSD, DAC Mk II, P15,NPC,PowerBases,AC-12 pwr cbls, Reference spkrcbls; Mapleshade SamsonV3; VooDoo:Cremona+Amati interconnects;Stack EQ; headphones: Sennheiser HD800S,ZMF Ori,Oppo PM1

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jec3504 Ex Member	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #8 - 08/28/22 at 16:20:17 Hey Lon, How long have you owed your Sophia Electric Aquas? Just curious about the longevity. Did you opt for the year warranty?
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Lon Seasoned Member "Love without guts is worthless!" Philip K. Dick Posts: 25750	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #9 - 08/28/22 at 17:25:35 I've had them about four years. I did not opt for the one year warranty.
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jec3504 Ex Member	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #10 - 08/28/22 at 17:49:00 Thanks Lon
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LiquidBlue

Seasoned Member

Posts: 151

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #11 - 01/27/23 at 22:51:22

Hi. I just got a globe 80 to use in my CSP3. It was purchased from a reputable seller and tested in excellent condition. I put it in yesterday and it sounded fine. Today when I turned on my gear I saw that the rectifier immediately showed a bright pinkish purple hazy glow. I thought, “Wow, that’s beautiful… but can’t be good.” After about 20 seconds it dissipated and went clear. I turned off the preamp and swapped out the rectifier to make sure I wouldn’t damage anything, if it was about to fail.

Does this indicate a bad tube or one that is ready to check out for good?

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CAJames

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"I've run every
red light on memory
lane."

Posts: 2447

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #12 - 01/28/23 at 03:08:50

Quote:

Posted by: LiquidBlue Posted on: Today at 14:51:22
...Today when I turned on my gear I saw that the rectifier immediately showed a bright pinkish purple hazy glow...After about 20 seconds it dissipated and went clear.

I've had tubes for a long time but I have not experienced anything exactly like that. A blue glow often means the tube has a short. But it isn't hazy and doesn't go away, and after 20 seconds if your rectifier actually had a short something bad probably would have happened. But "pinkish purple" is new. Is the CSP3 OK? Did you play music with another rectifier?

It is possible, maybe even likely the glow was just impurities burning off, in which case the tube is fine. Or it could be something going wrong. You could always check with the seller and see what they say. Assuming the CSP3 wasn't damaged by the original incident I'd be inclined to give it another chance, and even if something goes wrong the most likely outcome is you blow a fuse. But that is JMO/FWIW/YMMV and all that.

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[FOOBAR2000 | Jay's CDT2 MRK3] -> Denafrips Terminator 2 + Gaia
Sumiko Pearwood -> Mapleknoll Athena -> Luxman SUT -> Mapletree Phono 3E
STR-1002 -> Woo WA22 -> 2x UFO25s, balanced monos
Omega SAM , Hifiman Arya, Audeze LCD-XC

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LiquidBlue

Seasoned Member

Posts: 151

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #13 - 01/28/23 at 20:59:06

Thanks for the feedback. I did put another rectifier in and it played just fine. This morning I gave the suspect tube another try. This time I took some video, but can’t attach, so below is a screen grab. When I turned it on I got a couple flashes with the pinkish/purple glow again. After about 30 seconds it didn’t clear up like the last time, so I shut it down again, pretty certain the tube was done. That, or I have a super rare psychedelic 60’s rectifier. Put in a different rectifier and all good again. I’ll contact the seller to work out an exchange or return.

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DB4CC215-27D4-4A45-8492-1F8BCE78AB7E.jpeg

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Lon Seasoned Member "Love without guts is worthless!" Philip K. Dick Posts: 25750	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #14 - 01/28/23 at 21:34:23 Very pretty! But good idea to retire it. Hopefully you can get some recompense from the seller. These things are old and fragile. . . stuff happens.
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LiquidBlue Seasoned Member Posts: 151	Re: 80 globe on the cheap Reply #15 - 01/28/23 at 23:29:37 Yeah, I suspected it was a bad tube the first time, but since it was much less intense and cleared up fairly quickly, I thought I'd give a second try. I got it from a well known and reputable seller, so am sure it'll be resolved fine.
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My Name is Earl

Verified Member

Posts: 15

Re: 80 globe on the cheap
Reply #16 - 02/17/24 at 15:09:37

I’ve been running various Type 80s (including UX-280) in my SE84UFO. My interest was peaked by Kevin Hann’s website, glowinthedark.com. My first type 80 was a Sylvania ST shape, ‘50s manufacture IIRC.

I was absolutely blown away when I heard the difference. Now I’ve collected other variants, including an RCA Radiotron UX-280. TBH all of the type 80s do very well for me, and I haven’t run a critical, controlled comparison.

The 274Bs that I had before were inexpensive, so I don’t doubt there may be better than what I’ve experienced. The 274 that was shipped with the UFO was DOA. I bought one from Thetubestore as I could get it quickly while waiting for the replacement from Steve. Good thing, because the replacement was bad too!

I’m considering getting another SE84UFO and going monoblock, though I’d have to get 2 sets of matched tubes to do it right.

System:
Thorens TD160 (hot-rodded) with AQ PT-6 arm, Shure V15-IV w/ Jico Zirconia stylus
Tavish Design Classic phono pre
AppleTV 4K
Sony UBX-800 BluRay/SACD
Sansui TU—717 Tuner
Essence Audio HDACC-II
Lab12 Pre 1
SE84UFO w/ Copper Beeswax
Triangle 40th Anniversary Comêtes w/matching stands
Triangle Thetis 320 subwoofer
Darwin Enlightenment interconnects (2 pair - AWESOME interconnects!)
Wire World Mini Eclipse speaker cables
Audioquest PowerStation 300 (to be replaced with 707)
Quadraspire Stand

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