Don Sachs Owners Thread
A place to discuss amps, preamps, and phono stages from Don Sachs.
I just purchased a like new D2 linestage. It has 2 gain controls, 64 step volume control, and digital volume readout. It is set up for the new rectifier. This is my first 6sn7 based linestage. It came with Ken-Rad Vt 231and gray RCA tubes. There are 3 rectifier tubes. A huge Philco 6BY5G, a Tung-Sol 6BY5G, and a Bendix 5852. There is also an Ice Age Audio power cord. With 2 different sounding outputs there are a lot of options. I need to find out what value the output caps are. I have the D2 connected at the moment to a VTL ST150. Input impedance is 125K and 2v in for maximum gain.
I placed the RCA tubes in left front and rear and Ken-Rad in the right. Used Philco rectifier. Plugged VTL amp into output 1. The brightest sounding preamp I've ever heard. It was comical, bass drums sounded more like cymbals. Output 2 sounds like normal music. This surprises me. With 125K input, I thought there would be no problem getting bass response.
Some questions.
1. Are the 6Sn7's in the right locations? I guessed by looking at the sellers photograph.
2. Is the Ice Age Audio the AC cord the brand Don offers as an option?
3. I'll audition all 3 but which rectifier would be considered tops?
The linestage sounds amazing.
Thanks,
aldnorab
@bugredmachine I'm using some Shuguang CV181-z tubes right now and really like them. You seemed to have tried out all of the tubes that I'm interested in. You said the Linlai were too noisy; was that the E-6SN7 model? How did the Psvane CV181-T compare to the Shuguang CV181-Z tubes? Thanks, wag12wag12 |
Does anyone have experience using the Linlai KT88-T tubes. I just ordered a quad of the Shuguang WEKT88 Plus on AliExpress. They were very hard to find and expensive; I could have saved $150 buy ordering a quad of the the Linlai KT88-Ts instead. I'm thinking maybe I should have ordered the Linlai as Shuguang hasn't made any tubes for over three years so I'm worried the quality of the tubes I will be getting. I do have bias pots on the top of my tube amp so even if they aren't a close match, I'm thinking I should be able to adjust the idle current so they are all the same using the bias pots. |
@rbautista I don't have a DS preamp, but I have a integrated tube amp that uses 2 6SL7s and 2 6SN7s with 4 KT88s. It came with 2 6H8C and 2 6H9C Russian tubes with the disc at the bottom. They actually sounded pretty good but could sound similar to the way you described your 7N7 tubes and could sound a little forward and hot on the top at times. At first listen they sound very good but if you listen for longer periods then they start to wear on you. I replaced the Russian tubes with some Shuguang CV181-Z and Linlai E-6SL7 tubes and that was a big improvement and I'm very happy with the sound now. I tried a lot of NOS tubes but I didn't find any that I liked better than the my current Shuguang / Linai combination. I did buy some RCA VT-231 grey glass tubes recently and I was very impressed with them and thought they were the best NOS 6SN7 tubes that I have tried so far. I'm still trying to decide if I like them better than the Shuguang CV181-Z, but it is hard because they sound very much alike. I'm happy now that I have two sets of 6SN7 tubes that I really like. I tried some RCA red base 5692s and some Raytheon 6SN7WGTs and they do not sound better than the RCA VT-231s in my amplifier. The RCA VT-231s are also a lot cheaper about $75 each on Ebay. |
