Recommendations for rolling tubes on Luxman SQ-N10?
Check out Brent Jessee's site, audio tubes. Just click on the tube you have and read his take on the stock he has (which is constantly updated). It's even broken down to price points. When you narrow it down, give him a call and see what he thinks and if he has anything new that hasn't been updated on his site. It can be your first and last stop for tubes and advice. All the best, Nonoise |
Thanks Nonoise. I'm not really looking to see what different types of tubes there are out there, but rather, which ones have been tried out on this specific amp. More specifically, I'm wondering if there has been any benefit to rolling the EL84 tubes, as I haven't had much experience doing that with cathode biased amps. Most of my tube rolling experience has been with 12AX7 / ECC83 and 6DJ8. |
You will hear a more noticeable improvement by changing out the ECC82 (12AU7) and ECC83 (12AX7) tubes than the EL84. You’ll have a hard time finding someone else with your identical system. Someone with the same amp and tubes will sound completely different to yours. And if you’re using NOS tubes, there is a wide variation between batches of the same tube. All you can do is listen to the tube in your system and make a determination if you like it or not. That’s the maddening part of tube rolling - your mileage will always vary! For ECC83/12AX7, my favourites are: Shuguang Custom 12AX7 LS (black bottle) Mazda Chrome Plate ECC83 (getting pricey now) Telefunken ECC803S (very hard to find now, v. expensive with lots of fakes out there) For ECC82/12AU7: Psvane 12AU7-TII Amperex BugleBoy 7316 GE Triple Mica Blackplate 5814A Telefunken ECC802S (same caveat as the 803S’) |
Can’t remember now. It’s been awhile since I’ve had an amp with ECC82 tubes. When I upgraded my speakers to Martin Logan Spires, their 40 W weren’t enough, so I upgraded to SS monoblocks (900 W @ 4 Ohms). I only run tubes in my linestage preamp (6SN7) and phono stage (12AX7) currently. In the preamp I have 2 x Shuguang Black Treasure CV181z and 2 x Sylvania 6SN7 GTB Chrome Domes, while in my phono stage I have 2 x Shuguang Custom 12AX7 LS. I keep swapping them out with Mazda tubes. On some recordings, the Shuguang have the edge while on others, the Mazda has a slight edge? This tube rolling business can lead to madness... ;^) |
Tell me about it! In the last three years that I've had tube equipment, I must have 15 spare tubes lying around. Have you ever tried the regular Shuguang 12AX7's in comparison to the Custom 12AX7 LS? I'm curious as to what you get for the $50 difference for the customs. I'm a big fan of their tubes as I use one in my Luxman SQ-N10 and two of them in my Fosgate Signature Phono preamp. |
Until the Shuguang Customs came along, my regular go-to 12AX7 tubes were either the Psvane 12AX7-TII or Mazda ECC83. I tried to find Telefunken ECC803S' but I kept receiving counterfeits (or really bad tubes) so I gave up. Reputable dealers (like TubeWorld) are now asking US$1,000 for one tube, which is too spendy for me. |
@thiefofflight I just realized that I didn't answer your second question. I find with the Shuguang's that there is more pronounced separation of the instruments and notes. Things like piano notes and a brush on a cymbal have more decay. I can hear finer (subtler) details in the music. Initially I though the Shuguang's were bright sounding, but what I mistook for brightness was simply the notes having more.... clarity? I always struggle to describe in words what I hear as the experience of listening to music transcends my limited vocabulary. |
The Luxman SQ-N10 is a nice little integrated amp. I owned one for about 2-3 years but I sold it 4 years ago. I was using it for a headphone amp and it was excellent for that use. I rolled tubes but it's been to long for me to remember exactly which tubes I liked. Typically I like Mullard CV4004 (12AX7) tubes for their warmth and full body sound. |
@nordicnorm - thank you for the response on the Shuguangs. It'll be something to consider down the road when some of my other 12AX7s are done with. For now, I have a handful of decent ones to play with, but thanks for helping me understand em! @smatsui - Those Mullards were actually started, both in the SQ-N10 and in my previous phono stage. They're a great improvement over most stock tubes for only costing ~$20. |
@nordicnorm - just wanted to let you know that I really appreciated the advice you gave about switching the 82 tubes instead of the 84s. Before you posted, I had already ordered a quad of Gold Lion 84s, and after I got them, I wish I had gotten your post because they didn't add any benefit to the sound I was looking for. Instead, I returned them and found a matched pair of PSVane 82s which arrived today. Though they're not broken in yet, they are WORLDS of an improvement in top end detail in comparison to the stock tubes I had in my Luxman. The bass issue I had was rectified by a change in cartridge, as I was using a Dynavector 1d73, which was more lean on the bass compared to most other cartridges. I got a huge improvement by moving to an Audio-Technica ART-9, which provides a much more flat response all the way through and is extremely musical. While being less pronounced on the top end detail, the ART-9 got me the bass and dynamic range I wanted while still retaining detail, and these new tubes are stepping in and adding everything else on the top end that I could have wanted. The system is now where I've always wanted it to be, and I am wowed with almost everything I am putting on there. |
