Anyone famaliar with the manufacturer,and in particular this pre amp.The credentials and testimonials seem impressive.The advertised 10 day audition is appealing.
Sherod and others,I say 2 weeks because the tubes won't be in my hot little hands until next week.I will report my impressions and other particulars thereafter.
The Amperex PQ White Labels I have been using are very nice and may indeed be best for some systems, they seem to provide a very splashy, dynamic, exciting sound with a good amount of detail, no harshness and a quite natural sound. That said, last night my first listen to the Siemens early sixties cca's was something really special. There is a loveliness, control, evenness across spectrum, and a wonderful revelation of deep inner detail such as easily hearing the quailty of wood within a viola, violin, and cello sound. I became so enraptured with each genre I was sampling that I did not get to jazz, rock music, organ, and a few others but surely enjoyed classical piano, Jennifer Warne, Johnny Cash, and Scottish Fantasy classical string.
It's show and tell.After several listening sessions,the most recent with a particularly fine bottle of Petite Syrah, I can,without doubt say that the quad of tubes I purchased from a fellow audiophile was the best I have heard in the AH.They are NOS of Russian origin.Etched on the tube are the numbers/letters 6H30,after the O there is an inverted U.There are no other markings to assist in identification of the brand.They came to me by way of the audiophile friend who acquired them from a distributor for KR products.It's all hush hush,but that just gets the juices flowing right. To place things in perspective,the improvements over the Siemen/Halske quad were subtle.It was not emotionally immediate like going from the stock EH's to the Siemens. There is an extra level of detail which provides a richer more 3 dimensional musical experience.It's like another layer of music was exposed with a presence and aliveness that is seductive.To summarize there is a complete sense of poise to the music,not that there wasn't before,its just a wee bit finer.And that's all I know.
Markwatkiss. CAUTION! Those are not replacements for a 6922 family tube. The 6H30 is the russian super tube that BAT first brought to the U.S.A. Now ARC uses them as well in their Ref. 3 preamp. Better check with Joesph if they will work in his circuit or you may damage your preamp. Frank
I agree with Frank, Mark. Please double-check with Joseph. I recall reading about the Russian 6H30 tube and it draws almost three times the filament current as a 6922 and nearly twice the plate voltage.
The Russian tube that is a replacement for the 6922/6DJ8 is the 6N23P, which is an excellent tube and well worth trying. I don't own this preamp but I have used this tube in a Music Reference RM-9 as a replacement driver for NOS Siemens and I was completely surprised at how well this tube sounded.
Clio09. I believe it's the 6H23P. There are a couple other russian 6922's but the 6H23P is the highest military grade. I just ordered a cyro'd matched pair of this tube from tubeman.com. He claims they're much improved with the cryo treatment. I also just received a matched quad of NOS 6H30P-DR's. I don't know alot about tubes but I just happened to research these two tubes this past week. Frank
Sherod Thanks for the cca reference. I inquired and he wants $1,250 USD for a quad matched within 5%. Mark, keep us posted on your Russian tubes. I have now compared two seperate sets of early cca Siemens, to Telefunkens, early Siemens E88cc, and Amperex PQ white labels and feel strongly that the cca's were significantly better than the rest with finer inner detail, ability to distinguish timber, control, finese, and a more holgraphich sound stage with better air around instruments. The other three types were all much better than the stock EH and had some nice points as well with the early Telefunkens coming in second in my preference.
I have seen them listed both ways. Evidently this has something to do with the Russian alphabet where the letter H is represented in the English alphabet as an N. Great tubes for the price nonetheless.
Joe, $1,250 for a matched quad is outrageous. I would be hesitant to maybe pay half that price. Law of supply and demand at work here. Apparently some people with deep pockets are willing to pay this price. Thankfully I was able to get a pair for much less.
Clio09. That's interesting as well as confusing. In Markwatkiss's post above in referance to the 6H30P he says the mark after the 0 looks like an upside down u. My 6H30P-DR's have the same mark where the P should be. Looks similar to a lower case n to me. On the 6H23P-EB that I'm now holding in my hand, in place of the P is also this same mark. This is an origional equipment 6922 out of my Lamm 1.2 Ref. monos. So I'm just assuming that this mark is the letter P in Russian. I'm finding that the more I look into tubes the more that I need to learn. Frank
Hi guys,just heard from Joseph,the Russian super tubes are not recommended for use in the TP 2.0 as it may cause over heating of the filament.Frank and Sherod,if we should ever meet the drinks are on me. As Forest Gump would say,life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you're going to get.Anyone in the market for some rare 6H30's.
I agree Sherod that the price seems high but an admittedly superior product. With patience, I was able to land two quad sets each for about $600 each, perhaps not as nice NIB but good tubes NOS or ANOS. I think you got an even better deal under the RCA label.
Frankg, if you go on eBay and do a search of 6N23P, some of the ads will have close up photos and you can see examples of the same alphabetical differences previously mentioned. Yes it is somewhat confusing, but the tubes are well worth seeking out. They are cheap and very consistent in quality. Make sure you seek out NOS, which for these tubes means prior to the break up of the Soviet Union when military standards for testing the tubes was more rigid.
Mark, It's nice to see that you were able to find this info out before there was any damage to your preamp. I look forward to enjoying a fine drink with you some day.
The oilers are still in the preamp and am just trying to enjoy the music for a while. These caps really didn't smooth out until well past 400 hours. I am saving my pennies, though, to try out the V-cap teflons some day.
FYI, I have noticed that Audio Horizons is now advertising thier long awaited phono preamp on Audiogon adds under tube-preamp. Victor wrote a lengthy "article" with pictures and detailed explanation of specs. Obviously they are very pleased with how the product turned out. Temps me to return my vinyl to my main system. Has anyone heard a prototype or ordered one on the free home trail?
Pat, what cables is Lou comparing? Sorry for the use of first names, but this username crap becomes so impersonal for me when communicating sometimes. Ain't that right Rx8man and La45 ?
Hey TP owners, I have about $400. burning my pockets, and I'm interested in upgrading my stock EH tubes. I have no first hand knowledge or experience with tube rolling. I have read to replace 1&3 being most critical even unsure what 1&3 are, assuming looking from left to right. Looking for any, and all recommendations for future upgrading, needless to say still very pleased with the purchase of my TP 2.0n output XLR upgrade only. Here is my gear list. AMP- McCormack DNA-500 DVD/CD- McCormack UDP-1 Turntable- VPI Scoutmaster / Ring/clamp/ISO Plat/SDS. Phono Stage- MusicalSurroundings Speakers- Dynaudio C1 Cabling- Cardas/Synergistic Research Myrtlewood under TP&CD player NO Acoustic treatment in room ???
Hey Ralph. Locations 1 and 3 are as you are looking on top of the unit from the face counting the four tubes from left to right. E-mail Victor for a detailed explanation of why these locations are of more importance in the preamp sonics. Tubes are system dependent, but I have yet to hear any tube better than the vintage early 60's Siemens Cca in those locations that can sound any better.
Ralph With $400 and patience you probably can find a pair of early 60's Siemens cca's in used but lots of life left condition for postion 1&3 with enough left over to get early sixties Siemens E88cc;s or E188cc's for postion 2&4. A want add here on audiogon turned out to be better for me than ebay or audiogon classifeds.
Question for TP 2.0 owners: What color or species of wood are your wooden knobs? Mine appear to be a reddish color. The color and the grain remind me of purpleheart without too much slant toward purple.
Are all the knobs the same, or are some made of maple, oak, etc.?
Might sound like a weird question, but I have a reason for asking.
Rob, I don't have a clue what type of wood the knobs are made from. I would ask Victor or Joseph on this. My knobs are medium dark, similar to your description. They are nice looking, but I wish they had a marking that you could see easier to know where your volume is set, but I don't complain as I go by the volume that sounds best to me anyway. Let us know what the wood is made of if there are no posts made about them.
Thanks, all. I highly doubt that mine are oak or stained oak. The grain just doesn't look quite right for oak.
Sherod... you may want to do what I did for the volume control. Just take some titanium white acrylic paint and the smallest bristle brush you can find, or a toothpick. Dot a small bit of the white paint into the recessed dot on the volume knob and carefully wipe away any extra. The dot is bright enough to see even in the dim light that I usually listen by.
Markwatkiss... just guessing, but do you have a silver faceplate for the TP 2.0? My guess is that the darker colored knobs are for the black faceplate, the honey oak or lighter knobs are for the silver faceplate.
I heard from Victor (I am shameless about bothering him) that the knobs are an Asian hardwood. He is checking to see with Joseph to see what variety.
TVAD That is the same quote I got at $1,250 a matched quad from that vendor. I sent a quad of cca's from a different source to Victor for his evaluation against his wonderful ones. From this source they are about $650 a quad for early sixties. Will let everyone know the results. I am in Vegas the next 5 days - wish me luck, Daddy needs a new pair of monoamps!
I have heard from Victor that Joseph says that the knobs are made from Taiwanese hardwood called, "red wood." That sounds exotic. Rob - may we ask you reason for wanting to know?
Gammajo - Thanks for checking on that. I'm familiar with red heart. It's not overly common in this country.
I was witholding the reason for asking until I could get my system posted on Virtual Systems, which is now done.
If you take a look at my system, you'll see a picture of the TP 2.0n with purpleheart feet that I made up for the unit. (I'm a woodworker.) After having put a finish on the feet, they don't match quite as well as when the purpleheart was in unfinished form, but I do think the feet look very nice with the TP 2.0.
If any other TP owners are interested, it doessn't take too much effort to make these feet.
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