Valves?? where to start?

Hi,

After many years of solid state listening, I have now got a Unison Research pre and power combination, both with valves.
What are the benefits of swapping valves, and what should I be looking for?
Any help and advice appreciated

 

Maybe non at all. It really depends on you, Valve rolling can change the character of an amp completely. You may like that you may not, The fun is playing and trying different combinations, different types (If the amp will allow it) to mix up the sound and effectively tweak it to suit your listening taste.

Remember that some amps are not self biasing so you may need to Bias the amp after each valve swop.

 

yes yes yes

each valve make has its own charactor but its much more than that . cheap chinese valve in my experience have a very limited lifespan, so keep away from them ...on the whole I'd not buy valves off ebay either ...you just don't know there provonance.

Don't by valves that are excessivelky microphonic....

I use hotroxuk as there local but ..I've always been very pleased with those offered from here.

 

There are significant gains to be made, I changed my EH 300b's to the gold grid version and it made a tremendous difference,cleaner clearer sound much higher HF resolution, and they weren't expensive.

 

tell us what valves it uses.

 

But beware ! , if your a " tinkerer " by nature you could be opening a tin of worms , you'll always be wondering what the next valve sounds like , and be on a never ending upgrade ( ? ) path .

I'll bet most valve amp owners have a stash of valve they bought " just to try " .

But they do sound good .

 

isn't that true of most HIFI ? a bit like saying don't change a cartridge or equipment table.

Isn't this all a never ending upgrade path?

 

pretty much

haven't got as far as the valves yet.

stuff (like the mortgage ) keeps getting in the way

 

Stacks of old valves not me. I built an amp - over ten years ago use it 2 hours a day the ecc82's are orig
O/P valves KT88 2 years 6550 3 years Kt90 5 years.

KT66 yourve started me off - I now fancy a change now with the ecc82's and the KT 90's they are Chelmers and Svetlanas resp.

Anyone - are Mullard ECC82's good? what about KT90 replacement?

Andy

 

Well you have to have a stash don't you
I rolled through many a 6SN7 variety until hitting on 'perfect combo' for me; Kenrad black's and Sylvania green's.
I have found Ebay to be ok actually. Not had a single bad experience with the 6SN7's. Perhaps because they are less stressed than the power tubes (KT88's for me). For those I have only used either Svetlana or Tesla. The latter are my choice.
I can't afford GEC originals

 

Hi. I'd like to re-iterate misterpete's first post as a valve newbie too.
My PrimaLuna ProLogue Six's use 4 x EL34 , 2 x 12AU7 and 2 x 12AX7.
Which of these would you roll to change the sound, or do they all have to be changed?
I'd like to make the amps slightly brighter, just finding it a little veiled and soft, which valves need to be swapped, and is there a "database" of valves anywhere where each trait of each valve is listed...eg, extra bass buy a XX, extra treble buy a YY, etc etc.
Hope this post makes sense !
Thanks.

 

Hi - as someone who moved to valves after years of various transistor amps I think it's a good move.
Changing valves; there's a lot of debate in that area - not as much as that re cables however ;-)

I'd say - If your amps are new listen for a month or so before changing valves. If they are second hand do you know any history? An enthusiast may have already selected appropriate ones - and - if they have a good few hours on them (output valves I'm talking about, others are not as critical wrt lifespan no matter what others say!!) they may be past their best - if this is the case then replacement will result in "more of everything" as they say.
Sites like http://www.jacmusic.com/ have useful info.

 

Good suggestion re giving them a tad longer, yes both the 2 x Monoblocks and the speakers are new, I suppose neither have "burned in" properly.
I've put about 30 hours on the speakers, and the PrimaLuna's are less than 4 days old....It's been such a long time since I actually bought any truly "new new" hifi that I'd forgotten that they need time to bed in.
Thanks for the reminder to stop being so impatient


.....however that database of tubes would be handy

Neil....do you know me from another forum with a different alias perhaps ? My "handle" may be the giveaway !

 

For a brighter sound get some diamond bottom Telefunken (ribbed plate) or Siemens 12AU7/12AX7.


Then I'd change the EL34s to Svetlana Winged C, or if you have
any money left over from getting the Telefunkens get some Mullards.

ADPully the Mullard 82s are great, but can sound a bit warm in the wrong system. Do you really need the extra power of the KT90? I'd try KT88s , a lot more choice.

BTW I am NO expert.

 

Cheers.
Like Neil suggested, I'll wait a while before doing any rolling, as hopefully the sound will settle down.
My understanding is that i can't put KT88s in, the ProLogue 7 come with KT88s that you can roll back to EL34s , but the PL6's can't go upwards.
In terms of power, they kick out 70W which is more than sufficient.
I'll certainly make a note of those tube suggestions.

 

I think you mis-read my post, the KT88 part was for Adpully,
I was answering two people at once.
The first part was for you.

 

KT66 - you really have started me -Today a mate gave me some Brimar 4003's and said they were plug in repl for my Chalmer ecc82 - just fitted them - They have lots more gain about 20db- Its now lots warmer - Vocals are much better smoother and the soundstage is much higher and fatter at this stage I cant say if this is preferable - but its massively different.
Tommorrow another buddy is bringing some gold lions KT88's

Now I do think I will need to try some mullard ecc82's

 

Found this web site for purchasing valves
There is a description about how each valve sounds.

I cant verifiy the accuracy of the comments - but its a start.


http://www.watfordvalves.com/mainindex.htm
Andy

 

the Brimar 4003 is great, and the Golden Lion= KT88 are legendary assuming they are old ones. I hope you don't like them too much , they are very expensive.

I'd love some GEC or Golden Lions for my PL Prologue 2 but they'd be more than I paid for the amp!

The Svetlana Winged C KT88s do me fine, PLUS thanks to the amazing flexibility of the Prologue 2 I can also use KT66/5881/7581a -I've loads of these from years of using Quad II's

 

How do you feel the Prologue 2 compares to your Quad IIs? I've always had an itch to try a vintage tube amp...

Tony.

(Prologue 2 with NOS Brimar E83CCs, RCA 12AU7s and Svetlana 'Winged C' EL34s)