Tube rolling Audio Note DACs

Amperex PQ 7308 gold pins (or JAN) or mullard gold pins for richness, gold pin telefunkens for soundstage and balance (recommended in the audio note manuals by peter for what its worth, so close to how he envisioned voicing the dac - see my fav below);

now warming up some Siemens GEB E188CCs, so can't comment on signature yet. Personal fav is Tele CCa so far (does so many things right, but especially top-to-bottom range and soundstaging), but just love several of the amperex tubes. Valvos (original) have a full rich midrange too. If you want, let me know by email and I can look through my notes and my tubes to give other suggestions or more details (plus can point you to some great audiogoners whom I have found to be well-informed and trustworthy sources for some of the more interesting small tubes - oddly, different people for different specific tubes!)... Curious to know the rest of the setup so I might comment on particular synergy too.

Best of luck,
Jacob

clarification - I saw your system list (neat system by the way - should be a lot of fun to listen to!), but wondered what the other tube complement was...

sorry for the fragmented posts - not my best day!

Incidentally, changing the rectifier helps a lot too. Confirm the type and I can see if I have any spares that you like (gratis since most of those I can never use and feel guilty for hoarding when you could use it)...

Interesting! I don't have my manual any more since I sold the 2.1x balanced, but thought it interesting that it was in there. Perhaps a different rev. of the manual. Mine was from Fall '03, so perhaps he added the section. Of not, I do still have my old dac 2.1x signature and its manual. The exact quote comes under the section titled "Experimenting with Different Valves" just prior to Warranty and Servicing" and it reads: "The best I have found is the Telefunken E88CC 01 gold pin, expensive, but worth every penny." As I mentioned, the CCa is close but preferable in my system... but it is always interesting to hear equipment the way the designer voiced it.

The TS is a nice rectifier. It is one of my favs for 6x5gt, but I have a slight preference for Mullard and Bendix. At that level, it is just a matter of taste, though.

Still recommend Tele CCas for detail and extension and the Amperex 7308 (JAN or PQs) for richness. Can't compare the two yet since my older PQs have not yet arrived...