Modified Jolida JD100A or Cary Cd308T

I agree with Aball, the Jolida is a fine player and responds well to tube rolls. My favorite so far has been Telefunken 12ax7 Smooth plates. I havent come across a pair of GE 5751 blackplates but I did try some RCA 5751 3 mica blackplates.

FWIW, Monday I should receive a matched pair of EH gold pin 5751s. I liked the EH 12ax7s quite a lot. I'll post my impressions of the new tubes if you guys want.

I currently have the EH 12ax7's so I would be very interested in your impressions. I'm looking to open up the top end a little more than the current EH do.

Arthur, I distinctly remember EI's 12ax7 having plenty of highs. I tried the regular silver label. I believe they have a premium "gold label" tube in production as well. I havent had an opportunity to hear the "golds" yet.

The "silver" EI's are cheap and readily available.

My three favorites for this player so far have been, EH 12ax7, Sovtek 12ax7 LPS, and the aforementioned Telefunken. Though I havent tried several recommended out of production tubes, including Mullards, Amprex, or Sylvanias, among others. So, by all standards, my experience is rather limited.

Well I swapped out the smoothplate 12ax7 Tele's for the Gold pin EH 5751's yesterday. And...

The DAC is apparently under the transport which I didnt want to remove. The tube output board is in the right rear corner, the headphone output board, with what appears to be MOSFETs is in the front left. I tried peering under the transport to see if I could spot the large BB square typically imprinted on top of Burr-Brown DACs but it was too cramped.

Am I missing something, or did you guys remove your transports to check out the DAC?

The new tubes have burned in all day and sound pretty good. Slightly less articulate bass than the Tele's but plenty of it. More air and more highs comparatively. These tubes sound a lot like the old production RCA blackplates. More aggressive attack than the Tele's. As with other 5751s the supposed reduced output isnt apparent.

Overall not bad so far, I could live with these, a little more burn in time is required. Still, I think the Silver label EI's had more highs than these.

Can the Cary 308T owners comment on its ability to resolve lower and higher end detail? Would you classify the player as being warm?

Thanks!