Very interesting. I am learning all the time and appreciate the update. @lalitk thank you for your comments as well. I almost makes me want to tube roll on my ART Phono...nah.
Lab12 Melto 2 - tube rolling
Just acquired a well cared for Melto 2. Wanted to give a tube phono stage a try in my system.
The unit comes with stock 2 Electro Harmonics 6922 and 2 OTK1 Russian military 6n23p EB tubes.
I’d like to hear from the Melto 2 owners, or owners of phono stages that utilize 6922 tubes, about your experience with replacing EH 6922 with better tubes.
Sound characteristics - what changed, what was the improvement?
Considering current production Gold Lions as I remember liking them in the Rogue line stage…but those were 12AU7 and not 6922.
Table/cart - VPI Prime X/Hana Umami Blue
Cables - kimber carbon phono from table to Melto2, kimber carbon XLR from phono stage to integrated
Any thoughts?
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Drop the stylus on “You and Your Friend” from the same album and get ready to be blown away by the inner detail. When the electronics are properly dialed in, you start uncovering just how much nuance musicians and recording engineers have packed into those familiar tracks. Haha, the temptation to start tube rolling on the ART Phono is real but I completely understand…just enjoy the music. CJ does an exceptional job with carefully selecting and matching their tubes. I’ve always wanted to own CJ phono, just never got around to it. I got my eyes on Phasemation EA-1500…let’s see what audio gods have in store. |
@lalitk for almost a year I had possession of a friend’s CH Precision P1 and had ample opportunity to AB the two. The P1 at that time was the undisputed king of solid state and I believe the ART Phono is still the top tube phono preamp available. I have not heard the new P10. Anyway, neither one is perfect. Either is wonderful. They do sound different, but not as different as I presupposed they would. Both are neutral, both are noise free. I came to the conclusion that the ART was better (a weeny, teeny, to me, bit) on the low gain (47 k-ohm) input, the CH was better by a margin on the high gain input. But with either I tended in the end to use my Consolidated 10:1 transformer, which meant in the end the ART was my preferred preamp. If you get a chance to hear either take it. |
@lalitk yep I know that track very well and will be playing more of that album later today. Fade to Black is another great listen there. The first track, Elvis, has thunderous drums and man the Siemens tubes had them on display in full glory. I’ll post more thoughts as I get more time with it. |
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