AudioCircle
Industry Circles => Tortuga Audio => Topic started by: tortugaranger on 19 Sep 2019, 08:28 pm
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Hi All,
I'm starting a dedicated tube rolling thread that is relevant to both our TPB.V1 Tube Preamp Buffer and our latest LDR3000T.V25 Tube Preamp. To start off here's a summary of the tubes that we have used and other customers have used and provided feedback on.
6H30 - Our tube preamp products were designed around this tube. It's a robust neutral tube and is our current default. It's a current production tube. There's only one NOS version that we know of which is a very pricey Soviet military version. I haven't tried the NOS.
6922/E88CC/6DJ8 family - These generally have a warmer more lush sound without sounding overly so. There are tons of current and NOS makes/versions available. I personally generally prefer these.
- Genalex Gold Lion 6922/E88CC - We offer these as an alternative to the 6H30 with initial purchase. They can be sourced from many suppliers. These are current production tubes.
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- Telefunken Black Diamond 6922 - One of our customers has tried these and likes them very much at around $108 a pair. I've not personally tried these yet but plan to. While these are current production tubes keep in mind that these are not strictly Telefunken tubes given that Telefunken ceased operations in 1967. Apparently JJ Electronic (Slovak Republic) has branded these as Telefunken. From what I've gathered JJ is probably using their own JJ Gold 6922 tubes and putting them through a burn-in and cryo treatment process and slapping the Telefunken Black Diamond brand on them. Fake Telefunkens or not they reportedly sound very good.
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- JJ Gold Pin 6922 - At $52 a pair these are a bargain and apparent lower cost alternative to the so called Telefunken Black Diamonds mentioned above. Have not tried these yet either but plan to.
Cheers,
Morten
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Hi folks.
I've tried the 6H30 and the Genalex 6922 tubes in the Tube Buffer. In my system, the 6H30 was more neutral and "disappearing". As Morten said, the 6922 sounded more lush, but in my system and to my ears they strayed enough from a "straight wire with(out) gain" that they left their fingerprints on the music. It is great though, to be able to plug and play with a variety of tubes. By the way, Tube Buffer with the 6H30 has tremendous, tight bass extension.
Best,
Robert
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I'm currently running the standard Electro Harmonix 6H30 valves (tubes) in my Buffer with great results. The Buffer sits between my ARC LS25 MkII and active Yamaha NS1000s (see photo on Greetings from Scotland in the intro circle). The Buffer has much improved the bass response and overall imaging which was adversely affected by impedance mis-matching - output impedance of LS25 is 650 ohms (balanced) and the input impedance of my active crossovers circa 3K ohms......
I've ordered a pair of NOS Reflector 6922 valves (tubes!) here in Europe and will try them in the Buffer soon and report my findings. I've also ordered some NOS Reflector 6H30s (not cheap!!!) to try both in the Buffer and the LS25.
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Love my Amperex 6922, 1965 “USN”, White Label, Gold Pins version.
Used in a ModWright modded Pioneer CD Player.
Quite vivid!
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https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=163967.msg1763162#msg1763162
Morten's tale on some alternate tubes. I have the Telefunken Black Diamonds and as Morten said, they are awesome.
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The NOS Reflector 6922 tubes have now been in the Buffer for a couple of days. It's hard to put my finger on it but I'm liking the results.... the sound just seems more natural to my ears. I wonder if it's the combination of 6H30 in the ARC LS25 MkII and the 6922 in the Buffer?
This tube rolling is fun :D
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The NOS Reflector 6922 tubes have now been in the Buffer for a couple of days. It's hard to put my finger on it but I'm liking the results.... the sound just seems more natural to my ears. I wonder if it's the combination of 6H30 in the ARC LS25 MkII and the 6922 in the Buffer?
This tube rolling is fun :D
I've generally found the 6922 tubes to have a softer more natural sound relative to the 6H30's but I admit to going back and forth on which I like more. Without a doubt the 6H30's are a great overall neutral tube. Current hogs for sure and built like tanks, I've yet to have one age out on me.
Enjoy! :thumb: