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If you have a Steelhead-

I have been a very happy original owner of a Manley Steelhead for five years. All this time I had the stock tubes. I recently changed the tubes out to vintage 7044's which are just rectifiers in the Steelhead and then Matsushita / National PCC88 / 7DJ8's for the output tubes. I am posting because the upward. change in palpability and engagement is incredible. So if you happen to have a Steelhead... See my system if you care. My favored cartridge right now is a Lyra Etna Lambda on my hot-rodded Garrard 301 with Reed 3P on a Layers of Beauty plinth. 
128x128fsonicsmith
dhcod
710 posts
 
I used 7DJ8s in my Herron preamp and enjoyed the exact same benefits as you. I would suggest buying multiple sets as they didn’t last more than 18 months in that application. Totally worth it though. Love your gear!
lewm
13,065 posts
 
Just out of curiosity, in the Herron what tube type does the 7DJ8 replace?
lewm
13,065 posts
 
I forgot to mention that I think the Steelhead is a great unit, made greater by a few mods.  But if you are using it as a phono only stage, then my upgrades would do less for the SQ.  The very same CF and coupling capacitors that couple the output of the phono section to the volume control, when the Steelhead is used as a preamplifier, are instead diverted to connect to the output RCA jacks, when you use it phono only.  Therefore, you could consider upgrading only those coupling capacitors, if you care to do so.
dover
2,244 posts
 
@lewm 

Cathode followers convert voltage to current while dramatically reducing output impedance and adding no gain to the signal. (Which is why it makes little sense to sub the stock tubes with very expensive equivalents.) 
My experience is that changing tubes in a cathode follower position does have an impact on sound. I tried different tubes in the cathode follower on my old Jadis preamp - the change in sound was significant.

Similarly with my Marantz 7 - for example long plate mullards sound quite different to flat plate Telefunkens in the cathode follower position.

I would also assume low noise, matched sections would be an advantage, particularly if the cathode follwer tube is shared between channels.

What caps did you upgrde to in the Manley ?
lewm
13,065 posts
 
You know what, Dover? I wouldn’t argue with what you say about CF tubes. When I wrote what I wrote, it might have been in spite of my own experience. At least where I got rid of a 12AU7 and replaced it with any electrically similar substitute, e.g., 6CG7, 12FQ7, ECC99.. I’ve done that more than once and always thought it beneficial. The fact that the CF provides no gain would lead one to believe otherwise. But I don’t know about for example replacing a 6922 with a more expensive 6922. At least I wouldn’t bother.
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