Tube rolling the Purity One

[etcarroll]

all because they had issues around 100-200 hours.  Old tubes, new tubes, it doesn't matter.

The saving grace is that they all sound SOOOO good when working, and well worth the angst. The Purity is all that 

Geez, 100 hours???? You're bumming me out!

I have a pr. of Teles I'm working up to, plus 1964 era Amperex Bugle Boys, I hope I get a lot more use than 100-200 hours out of them! 

[richidoo]

JJs are notoriously noisy tubes due to quality issues lately. But if you find some quiet ones, they can be very sweet if you like clear open sound without stridency. Some good mfgs swear by them. Tube designer Stuart Yaniger (SY on other forums) measured their 12AT7 against all comers new or old and found it to be the lowest distortion of all. I used it in my Snapper with great joy until it started farting. Letting it rest for a few months would restore it to health.     Love em, hate em. New Sensor brand new issue tubes like ElectroHarmonix, Sovtek, Genelex, TungSol, Mullard,etc are very reliable, but the cheaper ones like Sovtek can sound a bit rough compared to the classics. As for vintage, buying on ebay or anything used you just never really know what you're getting. It can test strong then crap after a year. There's probably a good reason a 50 year old tube is still hanging around. Either it's on last legs, or was a reject. Buy from a reputable tube seller that will stand by them and you're safe.

In Purity Basis, is it a separate tube per channel, or the triodes of each tube split across two channels?

[mdfoy]

Don't get too bummed out.  Not all tubes are bad. I read somewhere, I think on AudioCircle about tube breakdown times.  IIRC, tubes may generally break down at turn on, 100 hours,  1000 hours or something to that effect.  I have found that around 100 - 200, if issues are going to occur, they do.  I also have tubes that have not run into issues.  In fact, the stock JJs are cool.  I guess it was just a run on bad luck.

[etcarroll]

Well, that's better I suppose. 

To conclude for today, rather than go to the Siemens tubes just yet, I pulled the bad RCA blackplate and put another in it's place, it's a group of 5, now 4, I got from ebay. I really wanted to get the 100 hours on them as last month I had the Beacon Two that Rollo is now auditioning in house, and Shadowlight came down with his Bella Max with 12au7 RCA Blackplates. I really liked the Beacon sound, but everyone else in my mini-GTG gave the Bella the slight nod over the Beacon, then Bill made me a good deal on this pre-production unit.

So, I need to get 100 hours minimum on the blackplates to see if I truly made the right decision.

[etcarroll]

By the way etcarroll, your Harvest II interconnects left yesterday via Priority Mail.

Got 'em!  

You know what, I've heard these before, on the spring cable tour you ran on AC, I really liked them, psyched to have my own set. Now, to burn them in.

Edit: Put 'em between SACD and Purity One for initial burn in.

[Response Audio]

Hey Gene,
Another thing to consider is that when doing so much tube rolling, the pins in the tube sockets could start to loosen up a bit which could be causing some of your problems as well. In my Purity Reference, I have had the same set of tubes, Baldwin, for about 350-400 hours with not a single issue.

My original Purity One had about 600 hours on these same Baldwin tubes before I moved them over to the Reference. So we are close to 1000 hours and still going strong.

Just something to think about.

Keep me posted on how the Harvest II cables are doing as you put some time on them.

[etcarroll]

How does one deal with 'loose socket pins'?

[shadowlight]

Dvorák Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104; Bruch Kol Nidrei; Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme / Dorati, Starker, London Symphony Orchestra  [Hybrid SACD - DSD]


Some tweaks to the pre, what's this I'm hearing..................

Why, it's sonic goodness.

What tweaks?  Did not not to clutter up the listening thread.

[etcarroll]

No problem D, was going to post here once the Dvorak SACD was done.

Today I picked up a secondary audio rack for the overflow from my Cambre rack. The Purity One has been precariously perched on a pine end table so I could have ready access for tube rolling, it will go into the Cambre once I'm settled on tubes. For now it's moved onto top shelf of new rack.

But today, while setting up the secondary rack I used the time to install Herbie's tube dampers on the blackplates, plus a better PC, a PS Audio item, and vibrapods.

Also straightened out the rats nest of cords behind the Cambre rack.

Last, put a ferrite core on the pre's PC as some hiss during quiet passages when you put ear to speaker.

Then put a SACD on to play with the Sherwood, which got the Harvest II ICs yesterday, which I ran all night to begin burn in.

From last night to today, post changes, I hear the music as more focused and precise, the sound-floor has dropped a little and there is a noticeable reduction in distortion.

Can't say what exactly contributed to this improvement the most, but I'm pleased it's happened.

[shadowlight]

Just pulled my RCA Blackplates and put in the SIEMENS CV491-12AU7-ECC802/S-K1007 you lent me. Right off the bat struck  by an impressive open "air" at the top end. The soundstage is large even with solo piano. The midrange seems ruler flat, and the bass is tight and accurate. Of course I'm listening to Beethoven's 4th and 5th Concertos over and over, and Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition
Original Version & Orchestration by Vladimir Ashkenazy with Vladimir Ashkenazy playing solo on Piano.

Kind of seems I'm playing music the Siemens would hit out of the park. We'll see how they compare to the blackplates when I roll up to some jazz CDs, and the new Kings of Leon should be a good test as well.

That was my impression also with the Siemens. 

Edit:  Forgot to mention that the Siemens were made  by Mullard according to the seller and confirmed using one of the link that Rich provided earlier (http://www.audiotubes.com/mullcode.htm).

[etcarroll]

Swapped PCs, now running a BPT 6' C-9 power cord composed of 9 AWG high current, shielded design using custom manufactured, finely stranded Oxygen Free Copper wire.

Edit: First take is - it darkens the sound a little. Guess I'll let things run in the background for a bit while the PC settles into system.

[rollo]

  Hold on Buckaroo. When your riding a new horse don't change the saddle too. One change at a time. Until you get the feel of the new horse say 100 hours then try other saddles.
  Its the old Nervosa reaction. What if ? I changed... repeat after me " I will not change two things at once" .
  A suggestion if not already doing so is to use one CD played for no more than 30 seconds. get to know that 30 seconds of music real well. Then make the change. listen again and again. Now a reference point is established and any change in sonics provided by the change can be picked up on more readily. It is a process that is consistent and very telling. Have fun.


charles
 
   

[tmazz]

  Hold on Buckaroo. When your riding a new horse don't change the saddle too. One change at a time. Until you get the feel of the new horse say 100 hours then try other saddles.
  Its the old Nervosa reaction. What if ? I changed... repeat after me " I will not change two things at once" .
  A suggestion if not already doing so is to use one CD played for no more than 30 seconds. get to know that 30 seconds of music real well. Then make the change. listen again and again. Now a reference point is established and any change in sonics provided by the change can be picked up on more readily. It is a process that is consistent and very telling. Have fun.


charles
 
   

In any scientific experiment or math problem the goal is always to isolate things down to one single variable. (Excuse me, I have to go look for my plastic pocket protector.)

[etcarroll]

You guys are too funny, you're killing me.

But it makes sense.

[rollo]

You guys are too funny, you're killing me.

But it makes sense.

  Oh oh don't forget the miners hat with that light on it. It tis the golden rule of tweakdom. KISS baby.


charles