Pleased to hear the opinion that power tubes matter more than signal tubes (only because that's what I have found to be true and I'm a confirmation whore.) Shirley you must know that this flies against common wisdom that pairs tube preamps with solid state power amps.
Signal tube versus power tube, sound impact?
My mono block has eight KT 88 tubes(power tubes) and six smaller signal tubes. I'm using the stock tubes that came with each Mono. I think they are JJ tubes.
Rather than replace them all would it be best to change out the signal or the power tubes? Not sure how good the JJ tubes are but I hear they may not be the greatest.
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@mambacfa , I cannot find the post in which Shirley weighed in on this one. |
I’m giving the new Apos Ray 12AU7 tubes a spin in my BHK pre and I am quite impressed so far. https://apos.audio/products/apos-ray-tube-12au7 36 Apos / Ray are cagey about their provenance (China, most likely) and they claim to only accept the top 4% of production, whatever that means. At $180 per matched pair, they are priced near the top of new production tubes (e.g., Gold Lion), but much cheaper than almost any worthy NOS 12AU7s, and believe me, I have a ton of them in my stash. WIth 100+ hours on them, they are quite impressive compared to the NOS Ciftes that preceded them, which were smooth and inviting, a bit on the warm side and not particularly incisive. The Ray tubes are a different animal altogether–big, dynamic and quite detailed without any hardness or edge. They throw a huge soundstage, with powerful, yet tight and textured bass. Worth a try… |
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- 51 posts total