Tube rolling the Purity One

[rollo]

 ET, I know you know what your doing. But but please leave each tube set in at least three days before trying another set. Listen to music you have NOT listened to in a long time that was once a favorite.
   It takes about three days for all to settle in again. For me any new tube takes 100 hours to tell its true singnature. don't rush through this experiment. Been there done that and missed the proper selection, until latter.
  I have no experience with the Purity One. With an emphasis on clarity and detail maybe a tube that offers some weight and or body would be the ticket. RCA [ non cleartops], Mullard or Tele. Happy rolling.
  Best advice take your time don't rush. I believe the preamp has the most influence in ones system.


charles

[etcarroll]

Thanks Charles.

In fact, last night I pulled the greyplates and went with RCA NOS blackplates I purchased from another AN member.

I'd been struggling with my vinyl presentation, and finally reinserted my SUT, a Denon AU-310 as old as my Denon tt, and immediately the fullness returned to the sound. But the highs were thin, trumpet on a Jazz album I was spinning was off, and violin in a classical album was also thin and a little scratchy at the top. I'm sure my phono pre is also at fault, an inexpensive TEC TC-760LC. Eleazar has offered to bring down his Rogue phono pre for me to try, I hope that will lend clarity to what my next step is for vinyl.

Meanwhile, I'll leave the blackplates in till after the holidays.

[mdfoy]

I would like to add some of my tube rolling findings with my Purity One. These are basically a comparison of the the Pavane 12AU7 against RCA Cleartop, CBS Hytron 5814WA

Music selection
Herbie Hancock, The Jonie Mitchell Letters
Herbie Hancock, Possibilities
 
I have found the Pavane 12AU7 to be a VERY quiet and dynamic tube.  The music just leaps out from a black ground and loads the room more and appears louder than the NOS tubes for a given volume setting. Sound stage is wide, but not very deep. There does appear to be a high mid to lower treble bump that emphasizes vocals, but loses something in the translation.  It was good, but not up to the standard set by the 5814 or Cleartop. The female voice had a little raspiness the others did not. An example of this is Corrine Bailey Rae on the River track.  There was flatness in her presentation with the Pavane that is more well done in the NOS offerings.  It is a "you have to hear, to get it" thing. Macro detail is very good, while the micro detail is not presented on the same high level.  In the end, a very good tube.
 
The RCA Cleartop was very even across the board, with no area being emphasized at the expense of another. Sound stage with was just a bit less than the Pavane, but depth was better. The image filled the room, but did nit load it like the Pavane.  The noise floor was not as low as Pavane, it was quiet, but not jet black. Micro detail was better here than in the Pavane, but was not nearly as dynamic.  Vocals here were excellent.  The emotion of the performance was well presented.  There was more reality to the voice, and instruments were more cleanly defined in space, than in the Pavane.  You could see CBR smiling during the vocals on the River track, and the raspiness was not present in Cleartop.

The 5814 was to me the best of the bunch. Soundstage depth was the best of the bunch, and width about the same as the Cleartop. The 5814 was not as warm as the Cleartop, but the emotion of the presentation was still well presented.  Images were just better defined than the other offerings.  I liked these tubes the best out of the three.  The wife like the Pavane,  
 
All three of  these are very good tubes, and a lot better than the stock JJ that came with the unit.

[Bunky]

 I have a pair of Seimens 12AU7 Nickel plates with 1962 date codes which are very nice and very rare.i bought mine last year from www.audiotubes.com for $150.00 for the pair when he had a dozen pairs or so. Brent Jesse has one matched pair left for $200.00. these are one of the top of the heap 12AU7 variations. these are one of the most neutral tubes of this type made.if your system is bright these wont work well at all and if you want them warm up the sound it wont happen with these tubes.I had a pair of circa 1955 CBS/Hytron 5814 that i lost in a house fire that were excellent in the Candela and if you can find a pair you should check them out.

[etcarroll]

10 hours on the blackplates, sound is piss poor, hope this stage doesn't last long.

[tmazz]

10 hours on the blackplates, sound is piss poor, hope this stage doesn't last long.

I hate when that happens. Is anyone home during the day? If not you can just hook up your tuner or put a CD on repeat and let it play all day while you're at work.

Come to think about it, these are preamp tubes we are talking about burning in, so even if somebody is home couldn't you just play something through the preamp with the power amp turned off and get the break-in time without the noise?

[TooManyToys]

10 hours on the blackplates, sound is piss poor, hope this stage doesn't last long.

It's always hard to interpret when Gene likes something or not ....

[etcarroll]

Love you too Jack! 

Hooked up Duet, put it on random play and will just let it go for a few days.

[rollo]

10 hours on the blackplates, sound is piss poor, hope this stage doesn't last long.

  100 hours. Be patient. Then play a CD that you listened to a lot but not in a long time. That will tell ya a thingie or two.
 One more thing if you have a Demag disc use it. I bet your system from switching stuff has built up some magnetism. You gonna be a happy camper.

charles

[etcarroll]

Thanks for the encouragement Rollo, have had Duet running non-stop last few days, maybe 70 hours on the new tubes. Just took a break from holiday chores to listen to Kind of Blue a little, much improved!

Oh, and I have RCA 5963, 17mm long BLACK PLATE with D GETTERs from ebay, not the Blackplates I bought from another AN member.


And now, back to chores.

PS:

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Beacon Two, wish I could A/B it against the Purity One.

[rollo]

Thanks Charles.

In fact, last night I pulled the greyplates and went with RCA NOS blackplates I purchased from another AN member.

I'd been struggling with my vinyl presentation, and finally reinserted my SUT, a Denon AU-310 as old as my Denon tt, and immediately the fullness returned to the sound. But the highs were thin, trumpet on a Jazz album I was spinning was off, and violin in a classical album was also thin and a little scratchy at the top. I'm sure my phono pre is also at fault, an inexpensive TEC TC-760LC. Eleazar has offered to bring down his Rogue phono pre for me to try, I hope that will lend clarity to what my next step is for vinyl.

Meanwhile, I'll leave the blackplates in till after the holidays.

  I had a Denon SUT and found similiar results with a thin top end. Is not the Denon SUT loaded at 200 omhs ? Are you using a MM or MC cart ? Loading is key to great LP sound.


charles

[etcarroll]

Some specs for the AU-310;
Primary impedance: 40 ohm
Secondary impedance: 4 kohm
Load impedance: 50 kohm or more
Step up ratio 1:10

Using an Ortofon MC25E, a MC unit with under 50 hours on it.

[richidoo]

What is a SUT?

[mgalusha]

What is a SUT?

Step Up Transformer, used to step up the output of moving coil cartridges.

[richidoo]

Thanks Mike. That makes sense...