Thiel Owners

Hi Rob,

Tube rolling can be a money pit if we are not careful!

The most expensive tubes I have purchased were $120 a pair so I can't comment on the "top end" stuff. I do notice that Brent Jesse often has high quality tubes that he calls "butt ugly" that are less expensive but the same tube as the more exotic stuff.

I have tried several kinds of 12AU7 tubes in my PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium. My general observation is that old European tubes sound better to me than old US tubes. I have not tried any new production tubes other than the stock tubes that came with the PL. 

Mullard, Brimar,and Amperex sound better to me than Seiman and Telefunken. I find the German tubes are a bit too analytical for me although they sound clean and have great bass. The English and Dutch tubes are warmer sounding and just more comfortable. I have one pair of Mazdas I really like because they have that warmness and rich mid range along with the solid bass of the German varieties. The Mazda is about the only one I have contemplated laying out a couple hundred bucks per tube.

Having said that, it is fun to change them out as I get bored and try another one. This helps me avoid spending big money on new components!

My Conrad Johnson 17LS-2 is a new toy for me so I have just started tube rolling with it. I replaced the stock Electro Harmonix 6922's with some Phillips PCC88's from the 70's. A stunning improvement to my ear because they sound sweeter with better highs, clarity, sparkle, and bass.

Rob, can you share how the Goldpoint passive sounds to you and how it compares to other preamps you have heard? As much as I am enjoying my newly acquired  CJ, I an wondering what the next step might be as changing the preamp can really adjust your whole listening experience.

Thanks for listening,

Dsper

jafant,

I have also been advised that Synergistic Research cables can tame that last bit of edge you can get with metal dome tweeters like on the CS5's. 

The prices on interconnects just scares me off.

Thanks for listening!

Dsper

I'm very happy with mid level Synergistic Research Cables, both the Tesla T3 power cables and Tesla Accelerator speaker cables. I have purchased these on the preowned market for reasonable prices.

Also, I might need a little electrical physics explanation about the current abilities of my ARC Ref150 tube amp. Specs list power supply energy storage as 1040 joules but max current is not listed. This appears to be less than 10 amps driving my CS3.6s with a minimum impedance of 2.3 ohms (below 2.5 over a wide frequency range). I have used much higher current solid state Krells and Bryston amps with my Thiels, but much prefer tubes at my comfortable listening volume. I can only hear distortion/compression above comfortable listening levels.

Also, can someone explain why power specs for tube amps are listed the same for different loads? Power output with my ARC amp (and other tube amps I've checked) is the same for 8 and 4 ohms. This really goes against all the talk here about amps that double down.

Thanks,
Jon

Jon - tube amps generally have transformer-coupled outputs with different winding taps for different impedance loads. The same power capacity (1040 joules) is matched to the chosen load via the transformer tap. Some tube amps add a 2-ohm tap, which I would put into the listening / evaluation mix.

vair68robert

Absolutely! Feel free to discuss any and all gear that elevates these speakers to audio nirvana.  Good to see you.   Happy Listening!