Recommendation for 6l6

[retired farmer]

@facline magnetic is another undervalued company in my opinion. They have at least a few reviews something canary doesn't have but the products i have heard are all at a really high level. I have listened to both of there top end horn loaded speakers and the demos were rather breathe taking. Glad you enjoy your line magnetic amp. I certainly enjoy mine. A little more power would have been nice so i could have a bigger speaker choice but i am fine just the way i am. If you feel like it you might want to put a set of these nos Russian tubes in a drawer lol they are almost free. I am wondering about buying a whole bunch there might be better in many ways i dont care because i am enjoying these and for the price of a hi end quad i can buy fifty of these and have a life time suppy. Lol i am thinking about doing that and then there is one tube i will never worry about being hard to get.

regards Tom

 

[facten]

I'll check them out Tom. Yes, Line Magnetic amps are quite enjoyable especially once you roll in better tubes. The 22wpc of the 518IA are plenty with my Daedalus speakers which are 97.5db and essentially 6 ohms flat.

Frank

 

[retired farmer]

Yes my 124a amps are 10 watts tetrode 2 watts triod. A bit more jam would give me a bigger speaker selection. I don't play that system very load. I have it in my bedroom so no big volume required. I have s pair of equation 25 s that seem much easier to drive than there rating. But in triode 2 watts isn't enough. When I bought them the dealer had them hooked up to the second from the top speakers from line magnetic. That was extremely good. The dealer told me it wouldn't be s very fair way for me to hear them. I said hearing them at there best was fine with me. I have wondered about the set amps with either 211 or 845 tubes instead of 300b set amp same idea one with just a bit more power. One day I might try that. But I am happy where I am at. Glad you are enjoying your 845 amplifier. I have never heard one or known anyone with one. Regards Tom

 

[shadowlight]

I order two quads of these the other day on there black Friday pricing. They were extra cheap and the little write up I saw was quite good. Now to find out if they will exchange in my amp apparently they do another of times but not always.

Can you share where you ordered the 6l6 tubes from?

Edit: just saw the screen shot from Viva Tubes.

 

[retired farmer]

@shadowlight yes sorry I got them from. Viva tubes.

They have a bulk buy listing under the individual tube listing but not under the matched quad or matched pairs. Listing.

 

[facten]

Glad you are enjoying your 845 amplifier. I have never heard one or known anyone with one. Regards Tom

I hadn't heard an 845 amp either before I went ahead and purchased it , which I did without audition. I've toyed around from time to time with the idea of purchasing the LM 805IA which is 48 wpc - 805, 300B, 6SL7 and 6SN7 tubes. From reading owners' comparison assessments, as well as reviews, it apparently has a bit more refinement than the 518IA. I also like the fact that it has 6SN7s, I prefer that preamp tube than 12AX7s (I use 5751s in the 518IA)

 

[retired farmer]

@facten kind of a leap of faith to buy unaditioned but that makes it kind of exciting at the same time! Interesting that you like the 6sn7 tubes I have an integrated melody amp an h88 that was one of the first ones built in Australia that uses 6sn7 and 6sl7 tubes and quad of kt88s for the power tubes. There are two very small tubes sorry I forgot the number. I put nos tubes in those places and sohpia electric in all they rest. The caps were changed out for oilers that thing is a gaint killer. The 6sl7 and the 6sn7 tubes were a huge difference the power tubes were still a big difference but not at the level of the others. I find that really interesting your thoughts on the 6sn7 I thought that was very special but didn't think much about the actual tube number difference. I am a tube infant keep that in mind a solid state guy for years and I still enjoy that but actually think it wouldn't be hard for me to leave solid state altogether. I always think that I can tell which dac chips are in a cd player in many cases and never thought about anything in tube gear other than the power tubes. But yes there is likely some guidance from that alone. Thank you something for me to think about.

Regards Tom

 

[facten]

@retired farmer . Tom, I generally use NOS tubes, except for power tubes, though in my Modwright LS100 preamp which uses 6SN7s, I like the Sophia Electric 6SN7s very much as well. I have found with using 12AX7s that in the LM 518IA I prefer the lower gain of the 5751 variant, however in my Finale Audio 7189MK2 integrated amp that I prefer the extra gain of the 12AX7. The Ayon Audio Spirit 2 integrated that I use in my 2nd system is a KT88 amp. I've used JJ blue bottle, Gold Lions and Psvanes. I have no liking whatsoever for any JJ tubes they just don't engage me. I like the extra body that the Psvane's had when in use, but I found them unreliable. The Gold Lions I find to be pretty good sounding top to bottom, and reliable. At some point I will probably give the Sophia's a try; aside from their 6SN7s, I really like their blue bottle 274B that I now use as a rectifier in my Modwright Elysee DAC in my 2nd system

Frank

 

[retired farmer]

@facten glad to hear from someone else has a hard time not building another system! In the line magnetic 124a monoblocks I bought a pair of the sohpia blue bottle 274b rectifier tubes that was a huge improvement. That is why I decided to try there other tubes in the melody. I have a set of canary ca160 monoblocks that have 16 EL34's in them and I wanted to get a feel for there sound signature before I spent that much. Also I find your comments on the psvane tubes interesting as well. On the black Friday viva tube promotion I bought a set of psvane EL34's so I had a backup set. Good to hear you like them unfortunate to hear of reliability problems. That is why I wanted a back up set it came with electro harmonix tubes that I like ghe sound of I did try some gold lion kt77s I preferred the electro harmonix one but have burn three of them up. The dealer threw the set in with the amps but likely they are near the end of there life so I thought I would buy the two matched octets. I have not tried them yet but being far away for anywhere that has tubes I ghought I should have a spare set on hand. Funny how each system I have built sounds similar yet there are subtle differences that gives each one its personality.


Regards Tom

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Here are a few pictures of the Russian tube that viva tubes said worked most times. As you can see in the first picture does that look OK
Seems to be brighter than any other tube I have. Played them about three hours now. The first few hours are really quite fun to hear the new tubes break in and sound better as time passes .fourth picture is the Russian number. Third picture is a size comparison to the tad 6l6 I had in there before

The clear top on the Russian tubes really adds to the glow, I think. They look awesome with your amp!

@retired farmer . Tom, I generally use NOS tubes, except for power tubes, though in my Modwright LS100 preamp which uses 6SN7s, I like the Sophia Electric 6SN7s very much as well. I have found with using 12AX7s that in the LM 518IA I prefer the lower gain of the 5751 variant, however in my Finale Audio 7189MK2 integrated amp that I prefer the extra gain of the 12AX7. The Ayon Audio Spirit 2 integrated that I use in my 2nd system is a KT88 amp. I've used JJ blue bottle, Gold Lions and Psvanes. I have no liking whatsoever for any JJ tubes they just don't engage me. I like the extra body that the Psvane's had when in use, but I found them unreliable. The Gold Lions I find to be pretty good sounding top to bottom, and reliable. At some point I will probably give the Sophia's a try; aside from their 6SN7s, I really like their blue bottle 274B that I now use as a rectifier in my Modwright Elysee DAC in my 2nd system

Frank

I think the idea of using lower gain tubes (eg 5751) comes from modern sources (DACs etc) that output 2V RMS as a standard. Is that true in your system?

 

[facten]

I think the idea of using lower gain tubes (eg 5751) comes from modern sources (DACs etc) that output 2V RMS as a standard. Is that true in your system?

I'm not a technical guy so bare with my response - In the Line Magnetic I feel the top end is too much with the 12AX7 while the lower gain of the 5751 suits my listening taste better. . On the other hand, I found using the 5751 in the Finale Audio 7189Mk2 that the top end is too polite and the 12AX7 is better suited. Both of these amps are in the same system (I rotate between them, as well as, a Modwright LS100.KWA100SE combo every few weeks for a different sound flavor) with a Neodio Origine S2 CDplayer as the source. So for me my use of the 5751 or the 12AX7 has more to do with the "sound character" of these integrated amps as I listen to them and not the output of the Neodio. It was the same when I fronted the amps with a Mojo Audio EVO DAC and SimAudio 260DT transport

 

[retired farmer]

Which 5751 are you using? That is something to keep in mind if I want to cool down the top end .

 

[facten]

Which 5751 are you using?

Tom, I am presently using NOS Tung Sol

 

[retired farmer]

Thank you I will write that down.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

I'm not a technical guy so bare with my response - In the Line Magnetic I feel the top end is too much with the 12AX7 while the lower gain of the 5751 suits my listening taste better. . On the other hand, I found using the 5751 in the Finale Audio 7189Mk2 that the top end is too polite and the 12AX7 is better suited. Both of these amps are in the same system (I rotate between them, as well as, a Modwright LS100.KWA100SE combo every few weeks for a different sound flavor) with a Neodio Origine S2 CDplayer as the source. So for me my use of the 5751 or the 12AX7 has more to do with the "sound character" of these integrated amps as I listen to them and not the output of the Neodio. It was the same when I fronted the amps with a Mojo Audio EVO DAC and SimAudio 260DT transport

Not being technical doesn't diminish your experience I was just curious how you feel about it. In different amplifiers the same tube can work at many different operating points. Also the tube character has to match the rest of the amplifiers. Hence it's not the same every time.