Tubes, cheese, wine and cognac
Perhaps, similar questions have been earlier be posted.
I cannot explain why old made tubes should sound better, do they really sound better than new made ones? Or are tubes similar to wine and cheese and need time to get better?
What kind of tools or knowledge was available in 50s, 60s and 70s that is not available?
(Can Egyptian pyramids be built now?)
I didn't try any NOS old made EL-34 tubes in my amp. So far, tried five different new made tubes , including Mullard, Gold Lion and Tang Sol Russian replicas. None of them have more than 10 hours or so. So far, Tang Sols are the best , Gold Lions, which were considerably more expensive are notably worse, Mullards sound the worst in my system. I didn't try Psvane yet, perhaps i will do that in near future. There are a few Chinese reissues, including UK El34 and El 34ph, the latter ones are twice more expensive. They put the tubes in nice boxes like chocolates and sell them more expensive.
But would NOS tubes sound much better?
@jond @thecarpathian have your answers. Metals and materials played the big part. On the other hand some modern tubes can sound better in certain applications but they will not last longer. Please note also that component manufacturers voice their gear with modern tubes in mind. |
This is true. However there are some current production tubes that are very high quality with commensurate cost. I can personally attest to the construction and sound quality of the EML tubes manufactured in the Czech Republic. I purchased a new pair of the EML XLS 300b in the spring of 2013. I have used them very regularly (9.5 years) and they tested strong on an ampltrex tube tester 6 months ago. They continue to sound superb. So, depending on commitment and resources, very high quality tube production is fortunately still possible. Charles |
Thanks for your posts (grapes collected long time ago may have better flavour). I have some idea now on old collected grapes and old wine fabrics that do not exist anymore. 😏 Goot point, @petg60 - it might well be the case that new amps are oriented to newly made tubes. Anyway, if the tube amp production will continue, one cannot always count on NOS tubes. Looks like that Russia and China are out of the competition in the current tube production (I personally exclude new JJ tubes which, for my taste sound dull - I even prefer Chinees ones. I also had Yugoslavian EL84 tubes which bowed up too fast, nothing to compare with Soviet EL84s. Does Phillips produce new tubes?). It is crucial how a tube gets unfunctional. If it just becomes weaker is not a problem for me. If it blows up damaging the amp, it is a big problem. I would not buy such a tube even if it sounds great. One of the supplied EL34 tubes in my SET amp blowed up after about 500 hours or lee of use (I can see white sand inside the glass of the burned EL34, i don't have an idea where it came from). There was a sharp smell of burned plastic; perhaps, it was a resistor (it could not be the tube I guess). I ordered new tubes, replaced them. The amp woks but the channel with the burned tube sounds weaker. So far, I use balance control to somehow balance the sound. The amp has auto bias, I also thought that the bias went automatically low and did not rise "enough" (but there also was this smell). @akg_ca , i think one may well distinguish sound of different tubes in amps or preamps, I guess in DACs this may not be so evident. I am using Soviet NOS military EL84 tubes (6P14P-EV) for already 20 years in my other amp. They sound fine and remain strong. I rarely need to adjust the bias. Is there some particular reason for not using new Chinees made tubes? I tried Shuguang tubes, but just for a couple of hours - nothing exceptional but they did not sound terrible. New PSvane tubes are also Chinees by the way. |
