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New to tubes, looking for recommendations

phishterr

phishterr

New Member
So I recently added tubes to my system for the first time and I’m pretty sure I wasted the first 32 years of my life with solid state. It’d always been a vintage amp guy and owned pioneer, marantz, technics and more marantz. This Dynaco st-35 makes them all look like a joke. I’ll never go back to solid state amplifiers. At least not on my main system.
My question here is about what particular tubes would be worth trying out. It currently has groove tube el84s for power tubes and the pre amps are some brand of 12dw7 that I can’t tell as the label is worn off. I’m gonna get some new tubes anyway so I have back ups and I’d like to get something that might get me a little more out of the amp. Im a regular person with a regular job so I don’t have unlimited income but can afford something decent. Any thoughts?
 
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Ditto ! I had been all solid state for decades ... then got a Fisher 400 receiver from a neighbor...some tlc, some great advice from other owners on this board, and then hooked up 50+ yr old AR turntable ... I couldn't believe it .. a whole new way and dare I say better way of listening ... never going back to Solid State...another AK poster claims the 400 is a gateway drug to tube audio -- so true ! Best of luck on your quest..
 
Dude. I’m with you. This dynaco was free too. Belonged to a buddy of mine who moved to an “off grid” situation and didn’t see having the power for something like this. I’m loving every minute of it and not looking back. I’ve got the 2016 Animals remaster on as I type this and it’s never sounded better. Cheers and enjoy!
 
phishterr said:
It currently has groove tube el84s for power tubes and the pre amps are some brand of 12dw7 that I can’t tell as the label is worn off.
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Lots of choices for new and NOS EL84's, but not so much for 12DW7/7247's. NOS are going to set you back a bit of dosh. There are new production from JJ and EH, but personally I'd go old stock. Just source them from a respected dealer, not off ebay.

jeff
 
NOS Telefunken or Mullard 12DW7/7247. There are a lot of nice EL84. Ever thought about the Tungsram (Hungarian) EL84? Can't go wrong with the black plate RCA 6BQ5. NOW... finding a good set of these precious NOS, which test well and are quiet will be the undertaking! Your mission! :)
 
I have purchased a lot of 7247 NOS off of Ebay...no problems. Just buy tubes that have been tested with results from someone with good feedback and a good return policy.
 
You guys just said it all(: I was never hip to tubes. I listen to music. Not play it. An old friend gave this bogen db230a to me to scrap. I scrap computers etc in my spare time. I decided to clean it up nicely and give it a whirl. Came with 2 sets of bozak b-2000's. Theres no looking back now. Was considering selling it. But not even the 4 digit value will tempt me anymore. Great sound. And goddammit if they didn't put some craftsmanship into things and work with what they had. I unplug when not using it. But its all original. Bogen6av5 tubes. All original caps. No humm. Love it!!!!
 
I have a set of EH 6DW7 and an old Mullard set. Frankly I can't hear the difference in my Fisher 600. The driver stage in the TA-600 and the ST-35 is pretty nearly identical, so I expect you'd have similar results. Its inside the feedback loop too. Honestly any properly functional tube in that location should work fine, so don't pay crazy money for it. Mine are used Hammond-branded Mullards that test like new and the pair cost me 25 bucks I think.
 
tons of good EL84s out there to try. And don't pass up the Russian copies, especially those for military use. Quite musical sounding. The Russian guys selling tubes on ebay I have bought from have all been good. So don't be afraid to buy from them, have had good experiences with them.
 
Svensson said:
Any gauge from 24awg through 16awg be fine. Thicker wires more bass in general.
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I would call 16 ga. MINIMUM size to use with anything having any appreciable power. 24 ga. will just act as an inline resistor, too thin for anything longer than a couple feet at a couple watts. Liken it to trying to fill a large swimming pool with a garden hose (thin wire) compared to a large fire hose (thick wire). Which works better?:)
 
Really thin also gets difficult to land on a terminal. 12-18 is reasonable, but 14-16 is probably the most practical unless you have an incredibly long run. 20 feet of speaker wire, which is a total of 40 feet of wire in 14 awg is 0.1 ohms.
 
Very rough guesstimate.

(Current) = (volts) divided by (resistance)

and (watts) = (current) times (resistance)

therefore...

(current) ^2 = (watt) divided by (resistance)

(current) ^2 = 100 / 8, for 100 watt amplifier into 8-ohm load.

current = 3.5-amps. Make it 4-amps load, to be safe.

From chart, for copper wire...

https://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Maximum amp for power transmission =

somewhere between 15 and 16 gauge. For 12-24 volts.

:)
 
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