Power Tube quandry

[richidoo]

Manley's tech support pro and patron saint of tube lovers, Paul Fargo, helped me figure out what is happening with the Snappers and tubes. Thanks to his advice I should not be having any further problems. What a relief. Fuse ratings should be printed more clearly.  

I have some 6CA7s on the way from Manley. I will try them since they are now the official OEM tube. I hope they sound as good as everyone says. Thanks mboldda1! If not, I'll try a batch of Bill's old GTs, then the Genalex, and none of those are any good, then chuck the whole damn thing and go solid state. haha

[Bigfish8]

Manley's tech support pro and patron saint of tube lovers, Paul Fargo, helped me figure out what is happening with the Snappers and tubes. Thanks to his advice I should not be having any further problems. What a relief. Fuse ratings should be printed more clearly.  

I have some 6CA7s on the way from Manley. I will try them since they are now the official OEM tube. I hope they sound as good as everyone says. Thanks mboldda1! If not, I'll try a batch of Bill's old GTs, then the Genalex, and none of those are any good, then chuck the whole damn thing and go solid state. haha

Rich:

I hope you have found the solution as I know how much you like the sound produced by the Snappers.  Let us all know if this works!

Ken

[Mike L]

In my amps I find the EH6cA7 do not sound as midrange bloomy nor is the bass a punchy as the the JJ's.  However, I find the JJ's to be considerably brighter, which says something about the 6CA7's given that EH has kind of a reputation for being bright.  Overall, I do think the EH's have more of a SS balance but still having some of the body of what we think of when we talk tubes.

Good luck,
Mike

[richidoo]

Thanks Mike, that has been my experience with EH tubes also. It's funny that EH has a "house sound"... You're right about the extra happy mids, I thought that's why they called them Snappers, until I learned yesterday that they started selling them with EH EL34 until they went to shit too. It will be fun to try them. I still have enough GTs new and old to make 8, enough to compare.

[Mike L]

It is my understanding that the 6ca7's are much better than eh's el34's.  I did quite like the JJ e34l's that I had.  It did take some associated gear in order to tame the upper frequencies...however that midrange is glorious.  The bass kicks pretty good as well although I am not so sure it is all that well balanced. 

I removed the jj's because of their very high failure rate.  My amps do not have any protective circuits so when tubes fail they take some circuitry with them.  As a result I feel they are not worth the risk to me as I still very much enjoy the 6ca7's.

Let us know what you think after you get some time on them.

Regards,
Mike

[richidoo]

Sure will! Thanks so much Mike. Now you got me anticipatin'!

[tybee]

I am currently using Genalex Gold Lion KT77s as the power tubes in a custom DRD SEP, amp and they are the real deal as my friend, Bill O'Connell suggests.  I have compared to JJ KT77, EH 6CA7, Groove Tube, SED, and TAD cyroed EL34s, and they are the best sounding. 

Tybee

[richidoo]

Thanks tybee, and welcome to AN! I sure hope to read more posts from you.

[bacobits]

Speaking of Groove Tubes earlier.

Just found this on the enjoythemusic.com site.

"Groove Tubes, started back in the late 1970's when founder Aspen Pittman hired some technical folks to explore why tubes performed and sounded so different, is closing after nearly 30 years. Groove Tubes manufacturers products for musicians and music lovers including tubes, loudspeakers, microphones and tubes, is set to shut down operation. While many audiophiles have used their tubes, musicians such as Eddie Van Halen, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top have relied on Groove Tubes. During the recent closure event, Groove Tubes' Aspen Pittman was signing copies of his tome "The Tube Amp Book.' "Lots of people think I'm retiring, that I sold out and am taking a hike, " said Aspen Pittman. "But not me. Tubes are more popular now than ever before, and Groove Tubes is ready to go to the next level. I just don't know that I'm ready."

Den

[richidoo]

That's interesting, hadn't hard about that! Thanks Den. I can understand the reasoning, I still have a standing backorder for some 12AX7 from 6 months ago... Must be nightmare dealing with the factories and pissed customers.

[bacobits]

I'm looking at tubes for the Cary 308T I just bought.
What are these people friggin crazy???? 
See these prices on NOS?
Economy "shit the bed" (New England term LOL) and they are looking to get these $$$ for this stuff?
12AU7, 12AX7, EL34, EL84, I don't think so. Dealers especially.
It's EBay time.

I love it around here but the jobs suck, pay sucks and the services still cost an arm and a leg as they do every where else.

Thanks for reading.

Call me BS!
Den

[Mike L]

A lot of companies in this industry have been increasing prices lately.  With the economy it makes no sense.

[bacobits]

Hell, Invest in Tooobs it's better than my 401K which is evaporating!

Hey, Rich, if you really, really like the original EE Mini Max branded tubes I have some here you can have.
I'll have to check exactly what I have left. That little pre is very nice. All of it is nice.
I had all EE Mini Max equipment at one time which I foolishly sold. 

Den

[mboldda1]

hey rich, ever get the 6ca7's in?
marvin

[richidoo]

I got the tubes but one mono wouldn't play after the last JJ tube failure. So I sent it in to Manley for service. Should be back soon.