Then 242 will be the best for you, most probably, because Lire7 does not suffer from the gain issues of GG. In fact it was Lukasz's favorite for big 7, and audiophile Bill's friend who had a Lite bought them and loved them, more upgraded to GG
Golden Gate DAC arrives.
- Thread starter Blue58
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What's the problem? Go special 45s and KR PX4 then. Al will say KR mesh 2a3. You will have to rotate and sell off those that don't suit. Personally I think it's better to buy single ended and time with valves (cheaper and easier). The advantage of having balanced without valve tubing is lower. You can do it but more expensive
Al feels the 101d is a very nice tube in the right system metal base and nos 101d some 90 years old lol.
Classical is good and some vocals
Having said that any tube after them is a very different sound
In weight the 101d is the light one
In details they also lead in many ways like a stat Speaker is.
What they lack in most genre is weight that makes them seem not as dynamic as others
I see the sound spectrum of tube rolling as this
101d - 6A3 - 45 - px class - 2A3 and 300 b
Each have there place somewhere.
The scale is by weight and details and it's inversely proportionate
101d least weight and most details
Body for me is needed if not classical music . Weight adds ober tones that makes me feel more attached to the music
But what any given setup needs is also driven by taste too.
A recti makes big changes but not all top tier recti are needed for all tubes.
A question does your bal lampi run SE with Resr two tubes used alone
Does your system need to be balanced meaning does your preamp have both SE and bal inputs.
I have all tubes mentioned except for the Kron 2A3 mine are eml mesh 2A3
If you can use your setup in SE it's better to buy two tubes then 4
As said above any tube roll after the 101d is a massive change
Let us know what you think and why.
A 300 b is much darker and has a bit of a bloated bass. The globes are nice middle ground but are not as quite as the px25 is.
A px 25 is my favorite over the 242 or px 4
It's my choice the px 25 has weight I like and the other two are less.
But there is one more sound to consider some chase the analog sound . The two I don't like are more analog sound
Post your thoughts plesee
Classical is good and some vocals
Having said that any tube after them is a very different sound
In weight the 101d is the light one
In details they also lead in many ways like a stat Speaker is.
What they lack in most genre is weight that makes them seem not as dynamic as others
I see the sound spectrum of tube rolling as this
101d - 6A3 - 45 - px class - 2A3 and 300 b
Each have there place somewhere.
The scale is by weight and details and it's inversely proportionate
101d least weight and most details
Body for me is needed if not classical music . Weight adds ober tones that makes me feel more attached to the music
But what any given setup needs is also driven by taste too.
A recti makes big changes but not all top tier recti are needed for all tubes.
A question does your bal lampi run SE with Resr two tubes used alone
Does your system need to be balanced meaning does your preamp have both SE and bal inputs.
I have all tubes mentioned except for the Kron 2A3 mine are eml mesh 2A3
If you can use your setup in SE it's better to buy two tubes then 4
As said above any tube roll after the 101d is a massive change
Let us know what you think and why.
A 300 b is much darker and has a bit of a bloated bass. The globes are nice middle ground but are not as quite as the px25 is.
A px 25 is my favorite over the 242 or px 4
It's my choice the px 25 has weight I like and the other two are less.
But there is one more sound to consider some chase the analog sound . The two I don't like are more analog sound
Post your thoughts plesee
In some parts and only on particular albums the sound was slightly distorted. The maximum signal volume had to be lowered and now it's ok.
The reason why I choose balanced topology is my Pass. Pass amps show their best via XLR.
Thanks again for your suggestions. I hope to have the opportunity to try two or three sets of tubes before purchase. Still need to choose types for this test.
By the way, my Lite 7 Recti is great, but not at all that good as GG
I had the opportunity for a quick listen to my level 4 and recent Lampi models (march 2017) before pulling the trigger.
Al, your post in a simple and straight way met my need. I enjoy it now. Thank you.
Moreover, the description of 101d in terms of weight, could not be better. That’s the theory, I will see if the practice change my smile into disappointment.
Meanwhile I wrote why I use balanced.
I listen to non-classical music, let me say ... jazz.
I have one question on my mind. Can you describe the “mesh type” sonic character ? Can you say, EML mesh tubes are … ?
How about a deep, strong bas ? Is there a winner ?
By the way, one of polish Lampi owners uses in his balanced GG two types of tubes at the same time. Of course they got to have the same technical requirements, so can work on the same switching position. If I saw correctly it was a mixture of two 101d and two KR (PX4 probably). In his other setup: two different KR types. Strange. How about that ?
Last edited:
Al feels the 101d is a very nice tube in the right system metal base and nos 101d some 90 years old lol.
Classical is good and some vocals
Having said that any tube after them is a very different sound
In weight the 101d is the light one
In details they also lead in many ways like a stat Speaker is.
What they lack in most genre is weight that makes them seem not as dynamic as others
I see the sound spectrum of tube rolling as this
101d - 6A3 - 45 - px class - 2A3 and 300 b
Each have there place somewhere.
The scale is by weight and details and it's inversely proportionate
101d least weight and most details
Body for me is needed if not classical music . Weight adds ober tones that makes me feel more attached to the music
But what any given setup needs is also driven by taste too.
A recti makes big changes but not all top tier recti are needed for all tubes.
A question does your bal lampi run SE with Resr two tubes used alone
Does your system need to be balanced meaning does your preamp have both SE and bal inputs.
I have all tubes mentioned except for the Kron 2A3 mine are eml mesh 2A3
If you can use your setup in SE it's better to buy two tubes then 4
As said above any tube roll after the 101d is a massive change
Let us know what you think and why.
A 300 b is much darker and has a bit of a bloated bass. The globes are nice middle ground but are not as quite as the px25 is.
A px 25 is my favorite over the 242 or px 4
It's my choice the px 25 has weight I like and the other two are less.
But there is one more sound to consider some chase the analog sound . The two I don't like are more analog sound
Post your thoughts plesee
Classical is good and some vocals
Having said that any tube after them is a very different sound
In weight the 101d is the light one
In details they also lead in many ways like a stat Speaker is.
What they lack in most genre is weight that makes them seem not as dynamic as others
I see the sound spectrum of tube rolling as this
101d - 6A3 - 45 - px class - 2A3 and 300 b
Each have there place somewhere.
The scale is by weight and details and it's inversely proportionate
101d least weight and most details
Body for me is needed if not classical music . Weight adds ober tones that makes me feel more attached to the music
But what any given setup needs is also driven by taste too.
A recti makes big changes but not all top tier recti are needed for all tubes.
A question does your bal lampi run SE with Resr two tubes used alone
Does your system need to be balanced meaning does your preamp have both SE and bal inputs.
I have all tubes mentioned except for the Kron 2A3 mine are eml mesh 2A3
If you can use your setup in SE it's better to buy two tubes then 4
As said above any tube roll after the 101d is a massive change
Let us know what you think and why.
A 300 b is much darker and has a bit of a bloated bass. The globes are nice middle ground but are not as quite as the px25 is.
A px 25 is my favorite over the 242 or px 4
It's my choice the px 25 has weight I like and the other two are less.
But there is one more sound to consider some chase the analog sound . The two I don't like are more analog sound
Post your thoughts plesee
I'm still thinking ... now I see it's not so easy to put some quads together to test it.
Just switched my recti EML 5U4G mesh to RCA nos. Mesh do have some bit of magic, on the other hand RCA sounds clearer and gives bigger bas that I like. Next week I hope to try two or three Mullards: GZ34 Blackburn middle 60s, 5U4G second half of 50s, and the one from 1944.
I have an option to buy from trusted source 101 WE nos. As you might guess, the price is high enough to scare me . There is no possibility to try this quad. Did you've had any experience with nos 101WE ?
Just switched my recti EML 5U4G mesh to RCA nos. Mesh do have some bit of magic, on the other hand RCA sounds clearer and gives bigger bas that I like. Next week I hope to try two or three Mullards: GZ34 Blackburn middle 60s, 5U4G second half of 50s, and the one from 1944.
I have an option to buy from trusted source 101 WE nos. As you might guess, the price is high enough to scare me
. There is no possibility to try this quad. Did you've had any experience with nos 101WE ?I own a mint pair of the famed we 101d the ones with the small pins needing an adaptor
NORMAN heard them with some giant kudo drums
Also the ps vane metal base. They sound amazing until they don't lol
Not all music is made for them nor systems
Of asked I would highly recommend not to Buy the nos 101d tubes.
Recti is not always just better coz
It's tied to the pulpit tubes as well as such a synergy must follow so just random picking works most times in general but not all.
Not sure what you looking for in sound . Not what you have but where you want to go is the question.
The Kron line of tubes seems to be very low noise tubes in general way below the eml globes are
Having said that they are glorious tubes in there own way and while there noise floor is higher there clarity is too
Shwoing the two do not go hand in hand.
The lowest noise floor and clearest sound I ever heard is what I use now and it does not need a 900 recti to create the magic
As for mesh recti they have good sound but add grain and until you hear a cleaner one you don't know it's there and not the music sever or dAc or music.
If you must have four tubes and. It try just two you are going to be an unhappy person that spends much more money to attain it.
Is it possible to try your existing tubes in SE mode into your setup to assess the sound as you know it. Putting asside the whole argument of balanced is better. I can post the pro and con of both and why but let's not go into this here.
NORMAN heard them with some giant kudo drums
Also the ps vane metal base. They sound amazing until they don't lol
Not all music is made for them nor systems
Of asked I would highly recommend not to Buy the nos 101d tubes.
Recti is not always just better coz
It's tied to the pulpit tubes as well as such a synergy must follow so just random picking works most times in general but not all.
Not sure what you looking for in sound . Not what you have but where you want to go is the question.
The Kron line of tubes seems to be very low noise tubes in general way below the eml globes are
Having said that they are glorious tubes in there own way and while there noise floor is higher there clarity is too
Shwoing the two do not go hand in hand.
The lowest noise floor and clearest sound I ever heard is what I use now and it does not need a 900 recti to create the magic
As for mesh recti they have good sound but add grain and until you hear a cleaner one you don't know it's there and not the music sever or dAc or music.
If you must have four tubes and. It try just two you are going to be an unhappy person that spends much more money to attain it.
Is it possible to try your existing tubes in SE mode into your setup to assess the sound as you know it. Putting asside the whole argument of balanced is better. I can post the pro and con of both and why but let's not go into this here.
Hi,
I just got my balanced Big 7 back from Poland. I had the superclocks installed and got the gain matched to the impedance of my preamp. Now I don't have to change the gain on my pre. Further, I got a toggle switch installed for low/high gain.
I use px4 and special 45 mesh. What I noticed was that the difference between the px4 and 45s has narrowed considerably. I still prefer my 45s but now I love the px4 quite as much. In fact I hadn't used my px4 for almost 9 months since I got the 45s....till now.
On the subject of output tubes, I had the opportunity last month to listen to a balanced GG with 242 fed by the lampi superkomputer...... in short, the experience was surreal! I haven't heard that level of realism and sheer impact of presentation in any other system. So I guess if compatibility is not an issue, the 242 may be tough to beat i.m.v.
Cheers
Sujay
I just got my balanced Big 7 back from Poland. I had the superclocks installed and got the gain matched to the impedance of my preamp. Now I don't have to change the gain on my pre. Further, I got a toggle switch installed for low/high gain.
I use px4 and special 45 mesh. What I noticed was that the difference between the px4 and 45s has narrowed considerably. I still prefer my 45s but now I love the px4 quite as much. In fact I hadn't used my px4 for almost 9 months since I got the 45s....till now.
On the subject of output tubes, I had the opportunity last month to listen to a balanced GG with 242 fed by the lampi superkomputer...... in short, the experience was surreal! I haven't heard that level of realism and sheer impact of presentation in any other system. So I guess if compatibility is not an issue, the 242 may be tough to beat i.m.v.
Cheers
Sujay
Hi,
I just got my balanced Big 7 back from Poland. I had the superclocks installed and got the gain matched to the impedance of my preamp. Now I don't have to change the gain on my pre. Further, I got a toggle switch installed for low/high gain.
I use px4 and special 45 mesh. What I noticed was that the difference between the px4 and 45s has narrowed considerably. I still prefer my 45s but now I love the px4 quite as much. In fact I hadn't used my px4 for almost 9 months since I got the 45s....till now.
On the subject of output tubes, I had the opportunity last month to listen to a balanced GG with 242 fed by the lampi superkomputer...... in short, the experience was surreal! I haven't heard that level of realism and sheer impact of presentation in any other system. So I guess if compatibility is not an issue, the 242 may be tough to beat i.m.v.
Cheers
Sujay
I just got my balanced Big 7 back from Poland. I had the superclocks installed and got the gain matched to the impedance of my preamp. Now I don't have to change the gain on my pre. Further, I got a toggle switch installed for low/high gain.
I use px4 and special 45 mesh. What I noticed was that the difference between the px4 and 45s has narrowed considerably. I still prefer my 45s but now I love the px4 quite as much. In fact I hadn't used my px4 for almost 9 months since I got the 45s....till now.
On the subject of output tubes, I had the opportunity last month to listen to a balanced GG with 242 fed by the lampi superkomputer...... in short, the experience was surreal! I haven't heard that level of realism and sheer impact of presentation in any other system. So I guess if compatibility is not an issue, the 242 may be tough to beat i.m.v.
Cheers
Sujay
Hi Sujay! Glad to hear you are liking your GG with the updates.
Do you know how the low/high gain switch works? Is it just a set of resistors on the output or does it do something else to the tube gain?
I'm wondering if I can recreate it in my system. I'm still suffering from insufficient gain even with 242s, resulting in too high noise floor with the DSD512 engine especially with quieter tracks.
Do you have any issues with noise/hum with the dsd512 engine with quiet tracks?
Do you know how the low/high gain switch works? Is it just a set of resistors on the output or does it do something else to the tube gain?
I'm wondering if I can recreate it in my system. I'm still suffering from insufficient gain even with 242s, resulting in too high noise floor with the DSD512 engine especially with quieter tracks.
Do you have any issues with noise/hum with the dsd512 engine with quiet tracks?
As far as I am aware, they are just a set of resistors but I am technically incompetent to answer that question in any more depth. What surprises me, though, is your struggle with gain with 242 (or for that matter with any other tube) because I had the exactly opposite problem! I am sure that if you send the DAC back, they can match the output levels to your preamp, which in my case has done wonders....for e.g. I used to get the problem of oversaturation, at times, on PX4 with the preamp adjusted down by -6db!!. All that's gone now.
I have no issues of hum at all with DSD 256....but I don't have the DSD 512 engine. So maybe not the right person to comment.
I hope I have been of some help
Brgds
Sujay
Yeah, I'm not sure why I am having issues as on my old Big 7 I did not have any gain issues. Gain to spare with 242s, and the older DSD256 engine had no issues with signal output.
I am wondering if there is something else adjustable that they can use to match gains. I am maxed out with my resistors - came with 3.3Kohm resistors to reduce volume, I went to 270K with a big jump in volume, 470K and 1.2Mohm resistors didn't do much (as L said).
PCM is so unbelievably good which makes it less necessary, but I am still dying to hear what the DSD512 engine can do without the gain matching issues in my system.
Yeang
I am wondering if there is something else adjustable that they can use to match gains. I am maxed out with my resistors - came with 3.3Kohm resistors to reduce volume, I went to 270K with a big jump in volume, 470K and 1.2Mohm resistors didn't do much (as L said).
PCM is so unbelievably good which makes it less necessary, but I am still dying to hear what the DSD512 engine can do without the gain matching issues in my system.
Yeang
Hello seatrope how are you ? Sad you moved away would love you to come to my room
I have a golden gate updated after I was by you
But I also have my big 7 head dac that's is very transparent best I ever heard. At some point I am sending my
Big 7 in a for golden gate 2 update.
I have a golden gate updated after I was by you
But I also have my big 7 head dac that's is very transparent best I ever heard. At some point I am sending my
Big 7 in a for golden gate 2 update.
I had no opportunity to compare and made a blind choice - PX4.
As you said – massive change. There comes a nice feeling like staying on the top. Top of what is in audio possible. Although I suspect there are other mountains higher that that one. But at the moment I don’t see them. Let this moment last …
But I did a shootout of rectis.
I had:
three NOS: two RCA 5u4g (40-s and 60-s), and Mullard GZ34 Hammond edition 60-s;
and
KR 5u4g, KR 274, EML 5u4g mesh.
I found Mullard the best, and not by a small margin. With much deeper bass and fuller midrange all drums and string instruments benefited, also vocals a bit. It is like playing in another league.
Hope you find it usefull.
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