Lab12 Melto 2 - tube rolling

@tablejockey thanks! Will enjoy it for sure!

@lalitk thank you snd thanks for posting the response from lab12! Yes I plan to stay away from touching the Russian military. Lol

I will play with the 6922s. Mullards are intriguing. Tubes are extremely pricey now. I am looking for tubes that provide musicality, natural tone and great dynamics. I remember trying NOS telefunken in preamp and amp and they were forward sounding. We’ll see…

@billstevenson yep I read the review. Herb usually knows what he’s taking about. 
So far I’m acclimating with the new phono stage. Getting to know it. Just researching my options. I think irrespective of any NOS tubes I may get, I’ll still order a pair of Gold Lions. I have very fond memories of the 12AU7s and hoping the 6922 are as good. 

Listening session tonight was a revelation. The Melto 2 is neutral, quiet and resolving. If I was walked into the room blindfolded I don’t think a tube phono stage would be my first guess. Not your typical old school tubes. The timbre of instruments is fantastic. Listening to Cotrane’s Blue Train (Blue Note Tone Poet) the crackling of air in the horns and how the brass sounds in general is the best I have ever heard in my system, period. Nothing forward yet it has the right amount of bite. My Whest Two.2 phono stage is extremely quiet, clear and transparent. It punches way above its weight but it is not able to render the brass section quiet the same way as the tubed Melto 2. Whest is more laser focused and precise than the Melto 2, slightly. It’s comparable in treblle and resolution but it just can’t do the saxophones, trombones and trumpets like the tubed phono. 
I’ll be trying some 6922s soon. Hard to imagine what can be improved…

“I am looking for tubes that provide musicality, natural tone and great dynamics.”

Hard to imagine what can be improved…
@audphile1 

NOS Mullards should get you there. I’ve tried the usual top-tier NOS options, and I kept coming back to the Mullards, they just clicked for me. That said, you might land on a different favorite.

The upside is that with another $1K in tubes, you can really fine-tune the sound of the Melto2 and anything that doesn’t work out can easily be resold.

Are NOS tubes worth the extra cost? In a system like yours, especially with the recent analog upgrades, I’d say absolutely. 

I may sound like a broken record to some who have read this before, but 6922’s used in the output stage are probably being used as cathode followers. Cathode followers per se have no gain. They do not add gain in other words. The sole function is to convert voltage into current to drive the downstream component. Therefore cathode followers have very little effect on sonics. I would not say they have no effect, but it’s minimal. So I would not overly fuss about output stage 6922.

That thought had occurred to me too, Lewm, because you've mentioned it before, but I am not familiar with the melto-2.  It might be worth sending an e-mail to the company directly before spending a bunch of money.  email: contact@lab 12.gr