Another upgrade.... tube rolling!

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Joey_V

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So I got the Cary SLP98 a few months ago and I've been enjoying it sonically through the Summits. Now, there have been several times in which I'm like, you know, it could use a little more palpability in the vocals.... or just a wee bit more midrange magic in that area would be great.

Anyway, I know that the I preferred the Cary 98 over the entire line of Rogue preamps and over the Hovland HP100 that I so wanted to like. But there's always room for some sonic improvement right?

So, I figured, why not change the tubes? I mean, they're sticking out of the chassis and a little tug is all it takes to remove them... so why not replace the cheapo stock Chinese tubes that came with the 98 with something a little more hefty, a little more historic, a little more nostalgic... some NOS tubes!

A few months ago, I decided to order a set of 4 tubes from ebay. They came and much to my dismay, the 4 were not matched and I was getting a lot of buzzing and static out of the speakers.... and it was dependent on the array at which I stuck the tubes, changing from the R channel to the L channel depending on which tube was where.

So I returned that set and I went ahead and played it cool for a few weeks. I then came upon a good deal by which I got a hold of 5 Sylvania 6sn7 tubes for $50 shipped, btw, these tubes are like $50 each if NOS. I took delivery of them a few weeks ago and I placed them in my preamp.

Well, to make a long story short, I had them in my system for about 2 weeks and I noticed quite a bit of midrange coming them... more palpability, more weight in the vocal image, more of the stuff I love! I recently A/Bed the two set of tubes, within 1 minute of each other, and the difference was definitely almost night/day. The stock Chinese tubes had this sort of "vacuum" in the vocal image as compared to the Sylvanias... of course, that's a bit of an exagerration but you get the picture. The tubes are a great upgrade for my preamp and for my system... and at only $50, it's a no-brainer! Bottom line, if you have a tube preamp, play with the tubes as better sonic reproduction for you may just be around the corner... as I found that this has been the cheapest upgrade I've done yet! :cheers:

I also had another audiophile over yesterday just to confirm what I heard and he heard the changes from A/B-ing (only once, no need to re-A/B since the differences were not at all subtle) the two sets. ;)

I'll post pics of the tubes a bit later, after being on call.

In pursuit of sonic nirvana,
Joey
:D
 
Brilliant!

Joey,

I was wondering when you would start toob rolling with your Cary 98... ;)
Sylvania 6sn7's cool... Great choice! It is interesting to know that the tubes require to be matched together. I will keep this in mind when the day comes when I purchase NOS toobs, for toob rolling..., someday. :p
 

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Way to go Joey, another journey begins !! What tube providers have you come up with so far ??
 
so why not replace the cheapo stock Chinese tubes that came with the 98 with something a little more hefty, a little more historic, a little more nostalgic... some NOS tubes!
So, in the pursuit of better performance, Joey added nitrous to his system :) (well it's the first thing that popped into mind reading "NOS"): http://www.holley.com/index.asp?division=Nos

(Yes, I know what it means in this context.)
 
A few months ago, I decided to order a set of 4 tubes from ebay.
Joey...

Here is where I order all my tubes from. While not the fastest service by any means, due to it being a one-person business, I have had nothing but great service, great products, and great results. When you call he will ask about equipment, what you are using now, what you are looking for, what type of results you should get with each type of tube, etc.

Best to contact via telephone - as is posted in the web site.

http://www.vintagetubeservices.com

Dan
 
Thanks for the tip everybody! I will make sure to take Dan's advice and look into that shop for future toob requirements! And I will make sure to check around the site that Spike offered regarding the 6sn7 tube!

And lastly, no Steve, there is no NOS for the Summits!! :D

Dave and Robin.... I gotta tell ya gys and gals, the adventure continues!

I'm happy with the tubes I got now, I wish I bought more though in case I ever get the 6 tubed Cary SLP-05 at the end of this year... I'm still missing 1 6sn7 tube and getting another single tube will not be matched! Dang it!

Ah well...
 
Toobie or not toobie... that is the question!

I'm likewise contemplating tube rolling with my Modwright Pre... just for the helluvit. Currently using the stock Tungsol 5687's, but thinking about the GE JAN 7044. Any other Modwright owners who've jumped on the tube carousel?

(And thanks to Spike for the private advice and link re tube rolling with other Modwright gear...
http://www.positive-feedback.com:80/Issue29/modwright9100.htm)
 
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And this is where we coin the phrase "Joeytubeitis"!

Tube rollin is fun. It's like fishing, you never know what you're gonna get. Or is more like a box of chocolates?

I recently acquired a pair of Mullard CV4004 (12AX7) NOS from a fellow Tampa Bay Listening Society member. They made the improvement to my Art Audio preamp that I was looking for. I tried new and inexpensive tubes and while they were clean they were missing the warmth and tone I desired.

I now plan to upgrade my big power tubes, a pair of 300BXLS but they are costly so I have to get this right the first time.

Toobs are cool!
 
And this is where we coin the phrase "Joeytubeitis"!

Tube rollin is fun. It's like fishing, you never know what you're gonna get. Or is more like a box of chocolates?

I recently acquired a pair of Mullard CV4004 (12AX7) NOS from a fellow Tampa Bay Listening Society member. They made the improvement to my Art Audio preamp that I was looking for. I tried new and inexpensive tubes and while they were clean they were missing the warmth and tone I desired.

I now plan to upgrade my big power tubes, a pair of 300BXLS but they are costly so I have to get this right the first time.

Toobs are cool!

Craig,

I know there are some rather expensive ECC33 tubes by Mullard that fit the Cary 98, but those are almost $200 a pop and four would be NUTS!! This is where Joey regresses from the Joeytubitis!
 
Joey,

Glad to hear you are having some fun tube rolling. That didn't take long. :p

I recently did the same thing with my CJ amp and pre, replacing the 6922 tubes with some NOS Phillips 7308's. I found it really sweetened up the midrange (which I would have thought impossible to accomplish). Enjoy!
 
And the saga continues...

Hey Joey,
You went from a Rotel Pre/Pro to tube-rolling the Cary SLP98 in the course of about 3 months. How long will it be before you toob-roll the amplifier? To VINYL? Ah, the essence of...Joeyitis :D By the way, have you consider the F1 upgrade of the Cary SLP98? Hmm, if I didn't know any better, all this talk about F1 and NOS, I'd be thinking we're talking cars and hot-rod racing :D

Spike
 
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Rolling amps gets both expensive and time consuming (biasing takes a while) I like to roll both the input 12A_7 series and the drivers 6V6GT/6CA7 in the amps. Though I am going to try some KT-77's in place of the TS 6550's which I like a lot. I'm also considering the EH Big Bottle 6CA7 for the outputs.

I don't roll NOS as at some point you won't be able to afford/find them. The preamp only has 2 12A_7 series tubes so it is easy to roll but again I prefer new tubes.
 
Poor Joey

I knew it would come to this. Someone in the Chicago area should loan Joey a turntable for a weekend and we can all watch him slowly unravel! I cannot count the number of tubes I rolled into my Sonic Frontiers preamp. In fact I have a whole box of NOS Siemens 6922's that got mixed up in my last move and are no longer sorted into "matched" pairs. I have not summoned the courage to play with my recently purchased ARC Ref 3 yet but I'm sure it is only a matter of time. What sickness!
 
I knew it would come to this. Someone in the Chicago area should loan Joey a turntable for a weekend and we can all watch him slowly unravel! I cannot count the number of tubes I rolled into my Sonic Frontiers preamp. In fact I have a whole box of NOS Siemens 6922's that got mixed up in my last move and are no longer sorted into "matched" pairs. I have not summoned the courage to play with my recently purchased ARC Ref 3 yet but I'm sure it is only a matter of time. What sickness!

Tony -

I think it's kind of difficult to tube roll a 6H30. I tried ordering a set of 8 matched 6H30's for my BAT. They were allegedly cryoed. I couldn't hear a difference. Then one of them turned very noisy. I replaced 4 of them with the originals. No noise - no change in sound. There is a very low noise 6H30 available for 50 bucks a shot. Based on my experience, I'd be reluctant to try them. BTW, now that my BAT has been obsoleted, I'd like to hear a new BAT or a REF 3 in my system.
 
Seth, I tend to agree, but that's Ok, since I'm more than happy with the performance of my LS-26.
 
Tony -

I think it's kind of difficult to tube roll a 6H30. I tried ordering a set of 8 matched 6H30's for my BAT. They were allegedly cryoed. I couldn't hear a difference. Then one of them turned very noisy. I replaced 4 of them with the originals. No noise - no change in sound. There is a very low noise 6H30 available for 50 bucks a shot. Based on my experience, I'd be reluctant to try them. BTW, now that my BAT has been obsoleted, I'd like to hear a new BAT or a REF 3 in my system.

Thanks for the heads up-this will save me some money! I haven't heard the new BAT. I had no intention of buying the Ref 3 when I brought it home, but after 5 minutes I was so smitten I knew I was a goner. I'll be making payments for the next 4 years but I don't care. No component I have ever auditioned made such a fundamental, wholesale increase in the quality of sound as did the Ref 3. Do not bring it home if you can't afford it-once heard (or rather not heard) you can never go back. And I was using the ARC LS 25 II when I made my fatal error! This preamp sounds devastatingly real and alive! BTW I await your review of the Ref 110 with bated breath. I can't wait to hear it on my Summits.
 

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