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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
procalc
7 posts
 
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.
dracule1
1,085 posts
 
Procalc, thanks. I know Mullards are great for midrange and 3D imaging, but they are not known for frequency extension. The Seimens CCa or E88CCs is better known for that. How is the CryoValved CV2492 in that regard?
mdconnelly
133 posts
 
10 years on these tubes seems like a real stretch. Unless you're turning the amp on only when you listen (and doing that infrequently), it seems highly unlikely that tubes would last for 10 years. If left on 24x7, I would think you'd be replacing them every year.

Is there something unique about the CyroValved Mullards or about the DK amp that would allow such a long tube life? Any insight is greatly appreciated.
procalc
7 posts
 
According to DK Design Group the 6922s will last 10 years with normal use. Normal use is probably defined as listening 2 - 3 hours every day. I had an Audio Research pre-amp with 6922s a few years ago (can't remember which model) and I never replaced the tubes in the 5 years that I owned it.

According to TubeDepot the Cryo Mullard will last longer then other tubes. This could of course be a bunch of baloney. I don't know why freezing a tube will make it sound better and last longer, but they swear by it.

In any case if these tubes last me 10 years or even 5 years, I will definitely get my moneys worth. Did I mention how amazing this thing sounds?
hantrax
36 posts
 
FYI: I just listed my brand new CV-2492's at dramatically less than $160 just to blow them out. Check it out. . .
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