Tavish Design Adagio Owners

Update 

Since there were 81 views a few must be Adagio owners .
I can't say how much fun tube rolling with this preamp is .
A week ago I received a NOS 1959 RCA 5751 triple mica black plate tube and started 
rolling between it , a 1959 GE 12ax7 long plate
and a new Genalex Gold Lion 12ax7 in the third position of the 5751 / 12ax7 tubes.
It took over 4 days for the NOS RCA to break in but it still did not sound as good
as the GE or the Gold Lion
UNTIL I placed it in position 1 with the 2 new Tung-Sol tubes in 2 and 3 , Wow this is fun !!
A 1950's GE 5 star 5751 is on it's way for more fun ,
but for now that will be it , at least until after the holidays . 

Rob

 

With the original tubes after the break in period they sounded good ,
If you want to improve your sound try replacing them with NEW Tung-Sol gold pin cryo'd or not .

I replaced the 12AU7A Gold Lion with a NOS Raytheon from the 60's ,
wow ( now that it is broken in ) what clarity .
The Gold Lion has more warmth if that is what you are looking for .

I don't use the mute , wish it was a stereo/mono switch .

Congratulations and Have Fun Rolling .

gcg 

After a few weeks of breaking in with the original tubes I was very pleased with the bass extension .
It was the clarity and linearity that impressed me the most .

I use a MM cartridge going through a passive preamp .

Rob

Wow 

That's great , did you roll them in one by one or all at once ?

The EF806s Tesla's I am using are" Telefunkens " ,
Tesla was making ( at least ) the EF86s and EF806s
for Telefunken in 1972  and themselves . 

Tube Power Supply = to many $$$$ for me
I was thinking about the upgraded transformers ,
but since I wouldn't be using them for the forceable  future I didn't think it was a good time to spend the extra $510 .

Rob

grk

That is a great set up , how did you decide to try the 12BH7
in place of the 12AU7A ?  
I am curious about the sound after reading other opinions on substituting. I had to look up the data sheets on both and would be a little hesitant because of the plate dissipation and the heater current 
differences .
What cartridge are you using ? since you went with the upgraded transformer I'll assume that you are using a MC
or lower output MI or MM .

Rob

Glenn

That is a highly regarded and praised cartridge , You Lucky Guy .

While I can't afford a cartridge like that I can to try a 12BH7 , thanks .

Something I experienced that I'd like to pass on ,
I had 3 12ax7 GE gray long plate tubes dated within 6 months 1959/60.
I was testing them in the 3rd  position , 1 sounded ok , the 2d one sounded real good but the 3rd one sounded magical !

You might want to try each of your 5751s in the 1st position ,
or go a little further and put  JJs in #2and #3 using a GE in the 1st position rotating the other 2 in and placing the best sounding one in position 1 .
You might find a little more magic .

Rob

Glenn

That is one highly regarded and praised cartridge , you lucky guy ,
While I can't afford a cartridge like that , I can try a 12BH7 tube , thanks.

I'd like to pass on something I experienced with 3 of the same tubes 
dated within 6 months of each other 1959/60 , GE long gray plates ,
2 sounded good and one stood out like magic .
You might want to try rotating your tubes to the 1st position or
go a little further and place JJ tubes in 2 & 3 to help isolate the sound of your GE tube while listening for the magic one .

Rob                                                                     

Are there any other Tavish Design Adagio owners out there ?

callanjo2 , by now you have recieved yours , what do you think ?
have you been rolling tubes ?

grk , have you made any changes ?

I continued trying different 12au7a tubes since you only have 1
to buy and try . 2 GE gray plates from the early 60's, RCA black plate from the late 50's and then I tried Sylvania ! A gem that few talk about ,
I had pick up 2 from the early 60's for less than $10.00 and they both sounded great and was the tube maker I would be using
until I read about the Amperex 7316 and it's linearity ,
spent more than I'd like ( $110 )
but it is the best sounding , is it worth 10X ? 

I was able to try a Telefunken from the 60's and it sounded 
beautifully creamy , almost to sweet but I could love this sound  .

Next I rolled 5751s , I changed just about everything ,
I had found using a GE from the late 50's in the 1st postion 
and the new Tung-Sols in the 2d and 3rd postion .
I tried using 3 GE tubes all from 1960 ,  the sound was beautiful 
EXCEPT very little low end ! 
trying every combination I could I ended up with using 
a 1959 GE long plate in the 1st postion , a 1960 GE long plate 
( one of the 3 I had purchased for $30 ) in the 2d postion and then 
a Tung-Sol in the 3rd postion , this tube brought out the low end .
I tried Tung-Sols in positions 2 and 3 but they didn't add anymore bass 
and I lost some of the sparkle that the GE added in the 2d postion .

 grk you talked about upgrading the transformers for more bass ,
try an new Tung-Sol gold pin 5751 in the 3rd postion for more bass ,
worth trying for only $35.00 .

Rob

wjz5003

I can't say because I don't use sub (s) ,
but more information would help
anyone that might be able to help .
Are you using the shipped JJ tubes ? 
I'm guessing that you didn't have this issue
with your previous phono preamp .