DK Design NOS Valves?


I now have had the opportunity to roll a few sets of tubes.
Standard: Sounds OK. lacking a little in resolution and at the extremes. Also not that much air around voices and instruments.
JJ Tesla Current Manufacture: Much like the standard Japanese but with greate bass depth and just a tad more detailed.
Philips JAN NOS: Smoothest midrange but lacking in basss weigth and in the tope end. However if you really are put off by digititus this may be the valve for you.
Tesla NOS from the 70's: Don't mistake for JJ Teslas. Bone crunching bass, highly detailed, great depth and imaging.
A little thinner through the mid range than Philips.
Siemens: Leaving the best to last. Same incredibly bass as the Tesla's but with greater resolution. In fact these are the most resolving tubes, giving great detail without hash or harshness. Amazing air bewteen instruments and voices make everything sound more life like. Good imaging. Depth of images not as deep as Tesla's but imgages are more 3D.

Would love to hear of other peoples experience.

By the way, the purchase of and placement of the amp on a Spider Rack from Finite Elements (German) has made the most dramatic improvements of all the tweaks I have tried.
What are some of the racks that others are using?

For those who are so interested my set up at the moment is:
Finite Element Spider Rack
Audionet Art V2 Cd Player (also German)
DK Design Integrated Amp V2 (replaced Audio Research Valves Separates)
Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor on dedicated stands.
Cabling is DK Design Interconnect and Osborn Datalink Speaker Cable.
padre_power
Check out Nicksgem10s 1 December 2004 thread. There have been several posts in response to this, that latest on 23 Feb 2005. If you can't find it, type "DK Designs" into search.

BTW - I have a new DK - too early to tell you much other than I found the CCa tubes to be sweet as well.

JOhn
If you have not tried Siemens E88CC's, for goodness sake please do so! I went from having an ad up selling this amp to where I wouldn't sell it right now if I made 10%. OK that's a lie. . but I'd buy another if I made 10%. LOL!
I just recently got a CryoValved CV2492 Mullard and with this tube I can honestly say that I have never heard a better amplifier in my entire life. The most stunning change over the stock tubes is that now images float in a huge 3D soundstage with a velvety smooth background and long decay's just like real instruments. Very plush soundstage and eerie like presence on all recordings. You have got to try these tubes!
Procalc, how much did u pay for the CryoValved CV2492 Mullard? I see a matched pair going for $330 at Tubbedepot!!! Yikes! Anything more affordable out there? How much are Siemens E88CC and CCa?

Anyone using this integrated with the Hyperion 938 speakers? I have them and am thinking about buying DK.
Yes, the CryoValved Mullards were ridiculously expensive. But according to DK these tubes will last at least 10 years in their amp and so considering the performance that this amplifier is capable of, I think it is a worth while investment. I think that it is important to think of the DK amp as a much more expensive high-end contender then its $3000 price would suggest, and then a $300 investment in tubes makes sense.

I have not compared the CryoValved CV2492 to a regular CV2492, but I suspect that they are probably really close and the regular CV2492 goes for about $160 per pair.