Takatsuki
Do clothes make the man?
This post is directed at all you golden oldies out there who are old enough, or in a rare case, educated well enough to be aware of the question the title asks.
I bought a used set of Quicksilver Horn Mono amps looking for some tube magic for my efficient speakers. I was less than impressed by what I heard. Let's just say the sound was as flat as a day old Doctor Pepper.
I changed the clothes on these little amps by installing a new set of Chinese made Svetlana El34. Omg, I now have a new man in front of me. The sound is what I expected originally, but it was totally suppressed by the unbranded Viva Tubes it came with.
The moral of the story? The tubes make the amp like the clothes make the man. Be aware though that you can't get by with putting lipstick on a pig.
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- 41 posts total
Tubes in a Valve Oriented Audio System are not a singular entity; they are, as a layman's description, mycelium-like in how there is a network functioning. The user of the Audio System pretty much has their finger on the pulse and is in full control of the permutations used for Valves across devices. The selected Valves put into service are the systems, Achilles Heel or the Keystone to a Structure. The Glass Bottle is all but a Glass Bottle that is able to be exchanged for other Glass Bottles by an individual with little experience in electronic matters. A big responsibility falls onto the shoulders of the individual/individuals who are designing the permutations for inserted Valves. It is a big ask to think that a Permutation inherited and lived with or designed through selecting options for a valve type is going to hit a home run with immediate effect. Multiple years of created experiences of different permutations are the most likely way to move on with a Valve selection and have the knowledge of what is not wanted to be lived with. Valves are user-friendly as an electronic component; not much education is required to replace one. Valves are not so user-friendly or attractive as a cost when creating an electronic circuit that is self-produced, resulting from simple exchanges of valves; plenty can be done by the inexperienced to put the lipstick on the pig.
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I would feel BLIND without my simple tester. If I didn’t have one, I might buy this one. https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650330617-beautiful-heathkit-tc-2-tube-tester/ You could spend more money on a ’mutual conductance’ type, but these basic ’emmisions’ testers let you test your tubes when you buy them, every 6 months, and especially when troubles occur, you can find/rule out the tubes from problems. Brent Jesse (just retired) told me: leave them on, no signal needed, for 60 hrs, done. |
I appreciate all the knowledge here and would like some opinions. This amp came with an RCA 7247. What would you recommend as an upgrade, and would it offer me a major improvement in sound as the power tubes did? Is it worth the increased cost for an NOS? At least there are only 2 of these to play with. |
- 41 posts total