Cryo Treated Vacuum Tubes

[Carlman]

It changes the molecular structure of the metal.  Some people can hear this, others cannot.  I have had tubes cryo'd.  However, what difference did it make?  .. I sent off a batch to John and waited for a while.. too long to A/B.  But I felt the sound was smoother, less 'etched' sounding overall on one set..  One tube went bad (out of a batch of 10 or so), as I was warned might happen.  

I agree it's worth it to send some new/re-issue tubes but not worth it on NOS... I probably still have some of the ones I tried.. I should put them up for sale.. I only use a pair of 12AX7's and 1 6922 now.

-C

[Bunky]

  i almost always use cryoed power tubes from www.cryoset.com and sometimes i will buy small signal/preamp tubes of current manufacture from Ron Sheldon who owns and operates Cryoset as well. alot of the small tubes that i like are rated as 10.000 hour tubes.power tubes are mostly rated as 2000 or 3000 hr tubes and i believe cryo treatment may help extend thier life. often when a power tube goes bad it can damage the amplifier by taking out resistors or worse damaging circuit boards etc... which is never a good thing. a few years ago i was running SED Winged C EL34's in a pair of VTL MB100 monoblocks and i replaced them with two quads of Black Sable Cryoed versions of the exact same winged C EL34 and i felt that they sounded smoother than the stock tube. cryo stress relieves metal that has been stamped,welded,bent,forged Etc... and is used in Aerospace, High performance racing engines,weapons manufacturing. custom gun barrel fabrication and so on and so forth.Cryo is a Science not Bull Shit  

[richidoo]

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/02/science/for-the-musical-alchemist-a-new-tack-cryogenics.html

[satfrat]

It changes the molecular structure of the metal.  Some people can hear this, others cannot.  I have had tubes cryo'd.  However, what difference did it make?  .. I sent off a batch to John and waited for a while.. too long to A/B.  But I felt the sound was smoother, less 'etched' sounding overall on one set..  One tube went bad (out of a batch of 10 or so), as I was warned might happen.  

I agree it's worth it to send some new/re-issue tubes but not worth it on NOS... I probably still have some of the ones I tried.. I should put them up for sale.. I only use a pair of 12AX7's and 1 6922 now.

-C

What's the difference between new tubes and new old stock(NOS) tubes except for their shelf life? It's the cryoed NOS tubes on the market that command the big $$$. It's only used tubes that I wouldn't waste my time cryoing myself. To date, I've only cryoed 3 tubes (all NOS) so I'm no expert but all 3 tubes are sounding great in my Havana dac. 

Cheers,
Robin

[Carlman]

I was just saying that if you cryo NOS, and one goes bad in the process due to loss of vacuum or whatnot, then you're down a more rare, possibly irreplaceable tube.  If you have lots of vintage 50's tubes lying around, by all means cryo them.. they'll get even better.. I just can't afford the risk on $100+ tubes personally.

-C

[tmazz]

I was just saying that if you cryo NOS, and one goes bad in the process due to loss of vacuum or whatnot, then you're down a more rare, possibly irreplaceable tube.  If you have lots of vintage 50's tubes lying around, by all means cryo them.. they'll get even better.. I just can't afford the risk on $100+ tubes personally.

-C

Do you know anyone who sells NOS tubes already cyroed? At least that way you would know that the ones you get have survived the ordeal. Although I'm sure it won't be cheap.

[satfrat]

I was just saying that if you cryo NOS, and one goes bad in the process due to loss of vacuum or whatnot, then you're down a more rare, possibly irreplaceable tube.  If you have lots of vintage 50's tubes lying around, by all means cryo them.. they'll get even better.. I just can't afford the risk on $100+ tubes personally.

-C

Totally understandable Carl. Guess I've always been a "gotta hunch, bet a bunch" kinda guy. LOL But I'm only talking about a a few 50's, 70's NOS tubes for a 1 tube Dac. I might just feel differently if it involved multiple matched tube sets for an amp or preamp. 1 failed cryoed tube could ruin the whole set so I doubt I'd be having much of a hunch.  

Cryoed NOS tubes are sold at Tubeworld  . I've never purchased from them myself.

Cheers,
Robin

[etcarroll]

<snip>
My fav 6992 is Matsushita from 1970s.  New JJ signal tubes sound excellent, but you need a spare. As for the Electro Harmonix tubes sold by Cryoset, I would not be surprised if they still sound a lot like the uncryoed version which is a little edgy, not terribly refined but dense and strong, very reliable. I think I would invest in some decent vintage tubes rather than freeze the EHs. But I never used these, maybe they are awesome!

Recently got an EAR 834P that came with what looks like fairly new EH 12AX7 tubes. It sounds great, but I'm still going to pull the EH for a trio of NOS Mullards. Maybe I'll send the EH to be cryoed.

[BobM]

I know someone here (hint, hint) who just got a cryo machine. Of course he's a newbe to this and could just as easily break your component under cryo as improve it, until he figures out how best to go about it and use the machine.

But I'm sure he would love to experiment with your equipment and at your own risk to help him improve his learning curve.

[tmazz]

I know someone here (hint, hint) who just got a cryo machine. Of course he's a newbe to this and could just as easily break your component under cryo as improve it, until he figures out how best to go about it and use the machine.

But I'm sure he would love to experiment with your equipment and at your own risk to help him improve his learning curve.

Your own cyro machine!?!  Now that's taking Nervosa to a new level. 

[lonewolfny42]

I know someone here (hint, hint) who just got a cryo machine. Of course he's a newbe to this and could just as easily break your component under cryo as improve it, until he figures out how best to go about it and use the machine.

But I'm sure he would love to experiment with your equipment and at your own risk to help him improve his learning curve.

I bet he'll try "hot dogs" first.....

[dave slagle]

trust me there are better uses for this technology than tubes.

http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/2011/03/walt-disney-and-toy-stories.html#comments

dave

[BobM]

Your own cyro machine!?!  Now that's taking Nervosa to a new level. 

No, no, no. Not me. But there are others here who have shown less interest in "settling down" with a system and keep plowing the field of audio looking to learn and explore. (hint - he did drop a picture of his son standing next to it on another thread)

[rollo]

Your own cyro machine!?!  Now that's taking Nervosa to a new level. 

No, no, no. Not me. But there are others here who have shown less interest in "settling down" with a system and keep plowing the field of audio looking to learn and explore. (hint - he did drop a picture of his son standing next to it on another thread)

 Well said Bob. Exploring and learning.


charles

[topround]

Yes, I bought a cryo machine, Iknow it seems nuts, sort of like taking audio too far.
But to be honest it is not for audio, I have other plans.
Cables (and the cryo treating of them) are not really what i am into these days.
Settle? Settling is difficult when you have a  few friends that are very adept at audio repair and mods.
For the average guy(like myself) experimenting with audio is difficult to do alone, but with Karl, and Vinny and Slagle and a few unknown others, it is quite tempting to try different things, especially when it cost you nothing more than parts, and the occasional let down.
A lot cheaper than buying new gear all the time.
And while you are at it you learn alot.

Settle ? why settle...tinkering is fun :thumb:and interesting, same thing as swapping gear at raves, we want to hear other, new things, you can't buy synergy, it has to be discovered.

Mike