New Valves for phono stage

[walpurgis]

Nice result Marco. It's always fun experimenting with valves, they certainly do vary in character.

I'm thinking of resurrecting my valve amplification. Not used it for a long time .

[Marco]

Cheers, mate. You defo should.

I've yet to hear any SS gear (as good as it can be sometimes) usurp my valve kit. However, this experience with the Raytheons has certainly hammered how just how much better the best NOS varieties are compared with their modern counterparts, which quite simply, sound broken in comparison...

This is one area of audio where I can confidently say: 'They don't make 'em like they used to'!

Marco.

[walpurgis]

Funny you should say that really. I stopped using the valves 'cos the Class A + TVC simply sounded 'right' with the Tannoys. But a revisit can't hurt!

[Marco]

Revisits can sometimes be revealing and rather rewarding...

However, just go with what you think works best. I'm not 'married' to one way of doing things, by any means. It's just that *so far* in my listening experience, valves done well outperforms SS done well - but I do 'go the extra mile' [somewhat an understatement] with valves and associated equipment, in order to get the best possible sound.

Both the Croft and Copper amp are the result of years of tweaking and fine-tuning. Neither is remotely a standard commercial product!

Marco.

[Jimbo]

Good call on the valves Marco, glad they hit the spot and brought something new and worthwhile to your amplification.

Nice how you can have fun with valves and experience different flavours and emotions. Certainly can't do that with SS amps!
Just when you think you have got the best out of you kit it's a nice surprise to find something that can lift your listening pleasure and give you a different flavour of what you already have if you know what I mean.

[Marco]

Exactly, mate. It's all part of the fun!

Marco.

[vinyl]

Btw, as a small aside, I also replaced the CV449/85A2 voltage regulator valve in the Croft, as part of my 'freshening up' programme. I know that these shouldn't make a difference as, technically, they're not in the signal path, but I always find when rolling them that subtle improvements (or not) can be heard between different types.

So I ordered one of these English Electric ones from Colomor Valves:



Details here (89 more available, so plenty in stock): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3707918656...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Turns out this company has some history and were taken over by GEC in 1968, see here: http://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_herst...ompany_id=8417 The valves themselves are fully NOS, and come beautifully packaged in their original boxes. I suspect that they're 1970s vintage.

Anyway, how do they sound? In a word: wonderful!

In comparison with the NOS Sylvania CV449 I was using beforehand, the English Electric produced a notably more open and 'liquid' midrange, with gorgeous tonal textures and increased detail retrieval. Furthermore, the soundstage/imaging of the Croft seems to have become even more 'widescreen' than before, with music, and particular female vocals, now enveloped in a 'cavernous chasm of clarity', thus increasing their 'intimacy' and believability accordingly.

Honestly, for £6 this is an instantaneous quick, cheap, and very effective tweak for all Croft preamps featuring the use of this particular voltage regulator valve. Highly recommended!

Marco.

Hey Marco,
Nice heads up, just ordered a pair to try, I have tried a few 85A2's and briefly spoke about them with Glenn last year (around July I think), he then sent me a pair of Tesla 85A2 which I thought were just ok. I've personally found that the regular Mullard 85A2 are just great.

[Marco]

Hi Manny,

No worries, mate. Those little regulator valves do make a difference, sonically, and the English Electric one is the best I've heard so far. Let me know what you think when yours arrives.

Interestingly, since you've bumped this thread, I've just won a nice matched pair of pretty rare NOS La Radiotechnique ECC83, from 1959, one of which will be used in the Croft's power supply:



As you can see they've been measured on the seller's valve tester, and they're not only matched, in terms of output, but both have perfectly balanced triodes! Hard to find like that. Not the cheapest at £190 for the pair, however, but these are top-notch and amongst some of the best ECC83/12AX7s available.

La Radiotechnique was the French arm of Philips Holland, who also owned Amperex and Mullard. Therefore, these tubes have a plate structure similar to Amperex Bugle Boys, which are renowned in tube circles, but many consider the RTs as superior (and rarer). These ones were released by the French Army, where aside from being tested, have been sat at the seller's premises since 1959 - and now they're winging their way to me!

Marco.

[vinyl]

When you say power supply, you do mean the regulation stage? My X uses pairs of 85A2 & ECC83, I've rolled many and the Mullard M8137 pair are sonically perfect for me, and replaced Tesla E83CC.

[Jimbo]

When you say power supply, you do mean the regulation stage? My X uses pairs of 85A2 & ECC83, I've rolled many and the Mullard M8137 pair are sonically perfect for me, and replaced Tesla E83CC.

I think the 85A2 is voltage regulation tube?