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tube hifi newbie thread

ceylon

ceylon

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hey u guys. im lookin for some guidance on cathode followers and tube preamps.

i got a conrad johnson PV8 12ax7 phono, 5751 gain, 5965 cf)

and a van alstine fet valve cf RB (12at7 gain, 12au7 cf).

how important are the cf tubes to the SQ and presentation? to what extent does the CF affect the sound, sound quality or performance of these preamps? should i choose my cfs to be compatible in some way with my gain stage tubes, or are the considerations totally separate?

thanks u guys
 
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By and large you won’t be able to perceive much difference between different tubes of the same family in the cathode follower position. The cathode follower applies 100% local feedback, which ameliorates pretty much any sonic differences that the tube itself might intrinsically have.

That being said, I think you will be able to perceive slight differences if a given sample is noisy or if the circuit were redesigned for a different type of tube in the CF position.
 
kward said:
By and large you won’t be able to perceive much difference between different tubes of the same family in the cathode follower position. The cathode follower applies 100% local feedback, which ameliorates pretty much any sonic differences that the tube itself might intrinsically have.

That being said, I think you will be able to perceive slight differences if a given sample is noisy or if the circuit were redesigned for a different type of tube in the CF position.
Click to expand...

roger that.

yea, i had a microphonic 5965 in my conrad johnson. my word, it whined. just started ringing one day. tap the faceplate, especially
at selector or volume (cant remember which) and i got quite a loud “BONK BONK BONK” thru the speakers.
 
I played with that myself. I really didn't notice a difference in tubes used for the cathode follower. In one amplifier I tried various 12AU7's along with 12BH7's,
E80CC's and ECC99's. I just stuck with good quality, quiet 12AU7's. For the gain stage it did make slight differences between a few 12AU7's and others. Not a lot, but a little.
 
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