Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[cgn-dt-n]

Originally Posted by C10

Anyone found a combo they strongly recommend for the LP2030? I am currently using Amperex 0A3 and Cunningham CX-301-A with a WE 5u4 Rectifier. It sounds amazing, but have not tube rolled much yet.

HI C10,

I tried the phillips c509 and the cunigham 301.
both have a great midrange and nice voices, good resolution but a bit more restrained in the highs. the bass is full, warm but also less precise.
at higher volumes, there is a lack of control and firmness.
I stay with the 01a for the time being, a little less on aura but very realistic.
at the 0a3 I only tried the sylvania from Dennis and a mil. Orion 0a3 GT from Italy, but could not detect any difference in sound.
as a rectifier I tried 5u4 from GE and EML. minimal difference in spatial mapping, but no difference in tonality.

will try maybe 12/112 or the 71 times, but actually have no reason for it, as I am satisfied with the sound.

[C10]

Originally Posted by cgn-dt-n

HI C10,

I tried the phillips c509 and the cunigham 301.
both have a great midrange and nice voices, good resolution but a bit more restrained in the highs. the bass is full, warm but also less precise.
at higher volumes, there is a lack of control and firmness.
I stay with the 01a for the time being, a little less on aura but very realistic.
at the 0a3 I only tried the sylvania from Dennis and a mil. Orion 0a3 GT from Italy, but could not detect any difference in sound.
as a rectifier I tried 5u4 from GE and EML. minimal difference in spatial mapping, but no difference in tonality.

will try maybe 12/112 or the 71 times, but actually have no reason for it, as I am satisfied with the sound.

I have a pair of 01a that came with the amp. Initial short listening favored the 301. I'll go put the 01a back in later today and give them a prolonged listen over a few weeks. I'll report back.

[cgn-dt-n]

Hi C10,

our loudspeakers have different efficiencies. to get the same volume I have to turn up further. in the lower range I find the 301 great, but when it gets more violent, the 01A has more control. and I find the treble range better illuminated, not that with the 301 something is missing, but this glow is with the 0A rather silver and with the 301 rather golden. I have become accustomed to the more neutral way, which comes closer to my listening habits.

[Isaacc7]

Originally Posted by Kris0603

Did anyone ever try running the E235L / 7751 in their Fire-bottles?

Seems to be they're similar to the 6V6 so should be good with a 5Y3 rectifier?

Datasheet to save a googling

I don't have any direct experience but it looks like they are equivalent to the el36 but without the top cap. You can do a little more googling to see how those perform in SE to get an idea of how they might work in a Firebottle.

[C10]

Originally Posted by cgn-dt-n

Hi C10,

our loudspeakers have different efficiencies. to get the same volume I have to turn up further. in the lower range I find the 301 great, but when it gets more violent, the 01A has more control. and I find the treble range better illuminated, not that with the 301 something is missing, but this glow is with the 0A rather silver and with the 301 rather golden. I have become accustomed to the more neutral way, which comes closer to my listening habits.

Might be the sensitivity makes a difference. The 301 are amazing in my system but I never gave the 01A a lot of time. Either way I'll learn something.

[Analog Addict]

Originally Posted by C10

Might be the sensitivity makes a difference. The 301 are amazing in my system but I never gave the 01A a lot of time. Either way I'll learn something.

All the 01A variants are going to be the same electrically. The UX-201A/301A are essentially the same tube made by RCA and marketed by either Cunningham and RCA. I won't go into the politics of 1920's tube manufacture and distributing, but it's an interesting story if anyone wants to look it up. There are literally hundreds of differently labeled 01As out there...

OTOH, one could argue that there are sonic differences between different manufacturer's at least, but again, not a discussion I want to pursue currently...

[khashmi]

Well, I won the auction for a 1958 Amperex Bugle Boy Branded Mullard GZ34- Fat Base Smooth Plate 00 Getter from the famed Blackburn plant. Date code f31 B8D. Should be in my hands by next week.

Should also be getting my RCA 807s soon—most likely this week. Interested in paring the GZ34 with the 807 (as opposed to a 5u4 or the Sophia Aqua Electric 274b). And then perhaps, I’ll put the KT-88’s back in rotation as well.

That leaves the Genalax Gold Lion KT-77 from my top hit list, which I plan to get soon.

Side note, I put my top 2/3 bassy tubes in my preamp. RCA Grey Glass VT-231 (gain) and Ken-Rad VT-231 (buffer) and replaced the Melz with a Sylvania GTA on the Inspire amp (was putting too many hours on it and I want to start conserving my usage a little). They are both from the WW2 era and as I suspected, the bass is a little too sublime. I kid you not, even though I knew the subs were off, I still put up my ear to them—just to confirm. Not a bass head, so I don’t care for the extra bass energy in the room. So most likely will take the Ken-Rads out (for now) and replace with Sylvania GTB’s.

[Isaacc7]

I have not heard RCA 807 yet. I should at some point since I love several other brands' 807s. I just haven't had any luck with RCA tubes though. Not a big fan of the RCA 12j5gt, 6k6gt, 6f6, 12sn7, and 6sl7gt in my system. RCA was the original 6l6 and 807 manufacturer though. All of their 6l6 and 6l6gc are loved. I should just do it lol.

[Isaacc7]

I'm currently listening to my favorite bang for the buck combo. Tall 7N7 clear glass and GE 6bg6ga. There are two different versions of those GE tubes, big plates and smaller. I've got the smaller set but would like to try the bigger ones at some point. They are crazy cheap, even with adapters then into consideration. Using a Sovtek 5ar4.

Just went through some listening tests of various versions of the tall 7N7. Turns out the most common ones with clear glass and silvering extending down a large part of the tube are the best sounding IMO. I have some completely opaque grey glass ones with a neat top getter that sound grainy (much like a similar 14n7 I tried a while back) and lacking in the top end. Also have some of the rare round plat 7N7 that were made by National Union instead of Sylvania like all the other were. They sound very much like the NU 6f8g with the round plates I think. Kind of soft but pleasant. Maybe useful if your system tends towards what I call nervousness. That's the sound I always associate with single driver Lower speakers.

The tall 14n7 so far seems like the best of all of these variants. Clearer, deeper, and more transparent. I think it is the best of the 7N7 variants and is well worth looking for if your gear can use 12v tubes. If it can't, you can do what I do and use an outboard power supply just for the heaters.

[cgn-dt-n]

Originally Posted by Isaacc7

I have not heard RCA 807 yet. I should at some point since I love several other brands' 807s. I just haven't had any luck with RCA tubes though. Not a big fan of the RCA 12j5gt, 6k6gt, 6f6, 12sn7, and 6sl7gt in my system. RCA was the original 6l6 and 807 manufacturer though. All of their 6l6 and 6l6gc are loved. I should just do it lol.

Hi Isaacc7
I can only agree with you, with the 6sn7, 6sl7 and the 5ar4 from RCA I have not had the best experience.

They somehow didn't fit into the overall coordination of my set-up. There was a lack of both the highs and the bass range.

Again, I found the 6L6 very good, especially with blues music.

For the lp2030 I ordered a pair 71a, wait for the postman, am curious whether it makes a big difference to the 01A or whether it sounds similar in the amplifier.