What tubes are people using in the Dodd 120 mono amps?

zybar · « **on:** 26 Aug 2006, 11:56 pm »

Please list what tubes you are using and what improvements over the stock tubes they provided.

Thanks,

George

jermmd · « **Reply #1 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 12:24 am »

George,

Are you thinking of trying the Dodd amp out?

zybar · « **Reply #2 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 12:26 am »

Quote from: jermmd on 27 Aug 2006, 12:24 am

George,

Are you thinking of trying the Dodd amp out?

What would ever give you that idea?

George

ehider · « **Reply #3 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 02:43 am »

Wow what a unbelievable coincidence

At this very moment I am in the process of doing a final comparison of the following tube compliments for my Dodds:

- EH El-34 (triple point matched)
- Original SED Svetlana direct from England supplier, cryo'd by Ridge Street Audio
- The latest greatest 2006 El-34 substitution "KT-77", which was actually designed to be the "EL-34 supertube" (these used to cost over $1500 a quad for NOS, now they are less than 10% of that brand new as of this month!)

All of these will be compared to some ridiculously priced (and very rare) matched NOS Mullard XF1 and XF2's, which one of my lucky buddies hoarded from the NOS market over ten years ago. I think he has around 60, which he could sell and buy a brand new sports car for what they're now worth! And no, he's not selling them for anything less than full market value. I think his matched XF1's are probably worth upwards of $2,400 for two quads ,maybe even a bit more

zybar · « **Reply #4 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 04:03 pm »

Thanks for the comments Eric.

I will have a pair of 120's in my possession by the end of next week.

They are coming with the SED EL34 tubes + GE 7044 tubes.

I will be comparing the 120's to my BAT VK-600SE in my main system.

BTW, what power cords are you using? I will most likely use Black Sand Silver Ref MK IV's.

George

MarkR7 · « **Reply #5 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 08:41 pm »

Quote from: zybar on 27 Aug 2006, 04:03 pm

I will have a pair of 120's in my possession by the end of next week.

They are coming with the SED EL34 tubes + GE 7044 tubes.

I will be comparing the 120's to my BAT VK-600SE in my main system.

BTW, what power cords are you using? I will most likely use Black Sand Silver Ref MK IV's.

George

Hey George, congrats on scoring that new pair! Quite a nice deal you got there! I for one would be very interested with the comparison to your BAT, but more so on how the Dodds will perform with your HT3s. Please don't keep anything a secret, ok? There are a few of us interested in the Dodd / Salk combo.

Getting to my point....you have a terrific set of tubes to start with on the Dodds. It is the exact same combination I'm using now, and all I can say is that they simply make music. If you feel that this combination yields a slightly fuller and slower sound than you are used to or prefer, than roll out the SEDs and roll back in the stock JJ E34Ls, or more preferably, the JJ KT77s. The JJ E34Ls will yield more speed, transparency and detail, at the cost of soundstage bloom (the SED "winged Cs" give a huge soundstage) and midrange beauty. The KT77s should be the middle ground between the JJ E34Ls and SED "winged C" EL34s from what I remember.

I'm assuming (and hoping) that you do have the "winged C" EL34s from SED.

BTW, I use DCCA Audio's inexpensive PowerWave 2 (PW2) power cables on my Dodds. Awesome combination.

Good luck!

zybar · « **Reply #6 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 08:55 pm »

Thanks Mark.

I promise to share my findings.

The only thing that "stinks" is that I don't have any singled ended ic's. So I will have to either use an adapter on my balanced VH Audio Symmetry ic's or I will have to switch to a different single ended ic.

I am most likely going to get the Gregg Straley single ended ic to use in the comparison.

George

JoshK · « **Reply #7 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 09:11 pm »

You bought a pair of Dodd monos? cool.

tvad4 · « **Reply #8 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 09:12 pm »

Quote from: zybar on 27 Aug 2006, 08:55 pm

Thanks Mark.

I promise to share my findings.

The only thing that "stinks" is that I don't have any singled ended ic's. So I will have to either use an adapter on my balanced VH Audio Symmetry ic's or I will have to switch to a different single ended ic.

I am most likely going to get the Gregg Straley single ended ic to use in the comparison.

George

George, if the Dodds have enough power for the Salk speakers, I suspect you're going to be a happy camper.

BTW, I have a set of Infinty Audio XLR/RCA adapters that you may borrow if you like for the cost of shipping.

zybar · « **Reply #9 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 09:30 pm »

Quote from: JoshK on 27 Aug 2006, 09:11 pm

You bought a pair of Dodd monos? cool.

Yes.

George

zybar · « **Reply #10 on:** 27 Aug 2006, 09:32 pm »

Quote from: tvad4 on 27 Aug 2006, 09:12 pm

George, if the Dodds have enough power for the Salk speakers, I suspect you're going to be a happy camper.

BTW, I have a set of Infinty Audio XLR/RCA adapters that you may borrow if you like for the cost of shipping.

Thank you for the offer.

I need to look around and see if I still have my cardas adapters. If I don't I'll shoot you a PM.

BTW, I still plan on trying the Moscode at some point. As you have laredy suggested, it might be the right combo of tube magic and ss dynamics and control.

George

zybar · « **Reply #11 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 05:11 pm »

Well the Dodd amps have arrived and I will be unpacking them later today. I will get them into the system sometime over the next couple of days.

For the first few weeks I will be using some Cardas adapters so that I can continue to use my reference ic (VH Audio's Symmetry w/ Furutech connectors).

George

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #12 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 05:42 pm »

Quote

Well the Dodd amps have arrived and I will be unpacking them later today. I will get them into the system sometime over the next couple of days.

Nice George !!! Please let me know how warm they get.
And....what was that other tube amp that you use to own....I forgot ?

Thanks......Chris

JoshK · « **Reply #13 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 06:18 pm »

Aren't the cardas adapters the wrong way around?

zybar · « **Reply #14 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 06:33 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 2 Sep 2006, 05:42 pm

Nice George !!! Please let me know how warm they get.
And....what was that other tube amp that you use to own....I forgot ?
Thanks......Chris

Ok.

My previous tube amp before the mega-powered amps was the Koras Cosmos Reference mono amps. These were 100 watts class A triode and ran pretty darn hot.

George

zybar · « **Reply #15 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 06:34 pm »

Quote from: JoshK on 2 Sep 2006, 06:18 pm

Aren't the cardas adapters the wrong way around?

Not sure what you mean Josh.

The adapters I have will allow me to plug a balanced xlr ic into a rca socket.

George

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #16 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 06:44 pm »

Thanks George....

JoshK · « **Reply #17 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 06:56 pm »

IC...I thought you had the ones that allow a SE cables to plug into an XLR socket (female).

BikeWNC · « **Reply #18 on:** 2 Sep 2006, 07:27 pm »

In my Dodd 50w amp I prefer the cryoed Svetalana EL34 over the JJs. The JJs have a bouncier sound in my systam and are a little heavy in the mid-bass. Also, I find the Svetlana tubes are overall better balanced, quieter, and more extended. The JJs seems to rolloff some at the extremes but I think sound very natural if not for the mid-bass issue.

I would like to try the KT-77 tubes at some point.

Andy

zybar · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Sep 2006, 03:46 pm »

Ok, the Dodd 120's are up and runnning.

I am using the GE 7044 and the SED EL34 tubes.

Everything else is the same as I was using with the BAT VK-600SE (Black Sand Silver Max power cords, Gregg Straley speaker cable, etc...).

Amps only have around 30 hrs on them so don't expect any critical comments for a week or two.

I'll post a few pics later today or tomorrow.

George