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Soundstage, layering and tube differences

Within tube types, say el34’s, can anyone explain why one brand of tube like SED C’s have deep layered soundstaging and another, such as the Mullard reissue el34’s ,are more 2D? I just replaced my 10 year old SED’s with the Mullards ( which still need burn-in), but they are not nearly as 3D in my amps and are reported to be such.
Do some tubes resolve the actual recorded room acoustics better or is it a matter of harmonic distortion giving the illusion of soundstaging and 3 dimensionality??
jim94025
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
Try a pair of the new version Gold Lion KT77s...a great sounding tube.
mountz's avatar
mountz
133 posts
 
You know that you need to burn in your tubes and make an evaluation ever 50 hours.  Around 200-400 hours you can then see what you system will sound like.  Take some time and evaluate your results..
wolf_garcia
6,708 posts
 
Tubes need zero burn-in...zero.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,837 posts
 
Tubes need zero burn-in...zero.
Whether they need it or not, there is always an exception to the rule.
My new Psvane 6SN7 Globes absolutely needed at least 20 hours to go from bright and scratchy to trasparent and holophonic. Further my 4 pairs of new  Shuguang Black 12AX7LS were unremarkable until they opened up after 10-20 hours. 
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,612 posts
 
you call burn in whatever you want

any electrical device, connection, circuit, will ’settle in’ over some time...whether it is seconds, minutes, hours, days... it has to do with physics of matter, electrical flow, heat/heat dissipation

w.r.t. tubes, they definitely have different sonic characteristics (frequency, amplitude, and phase differences)... not to mention your equipment interacting with the tube (driver and buffer circuits, components within those circuits), transformers, power supplies... each design/component operates as a system... nothing works in isolation
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