Видео

Are you referring to the RFT Telefunkens? Those are some real nice tubes. I have been listening to them in my Marantz 8B for a couple of months now and they deliver a great sound. Best bang for the buck for less than half the price of NOS Telefunkens.

Well i did'nt even know about them are yhey as good as the ones i got in the 70's and 80's ? Thanks ! ​@vintagetannoy

​@@jerrywatt6813 just to clarify there are two types of "NOS" Teles.. the original ones from the West Germany factories and the RFT ones from East Germany. The West German Teles are unobtanium or they are prohibitively expensive. The RFT Teles are from the 70's and are also expensive but still less than half the cost of the West German tubes. I'm referring to these RFT Teles.. they are a great value in terms of sound and cost. I would stay away from current/new TFK El34s.

There is no sound difference with the JAN tubes. From my understanding, at some point GE/TungSol stopped manufacturing the tubes for consumers but still manufactured some batches for the military in the form of JAN tubes. Eventually these showed up as military surplus. They are the same exact tubes sound wise.

@@vintagetannoy Thank you!

It's actually rated for 200 watts so you are good👍. You can see the "200" in tiny print at the right end of the meter scale.

Yes, I was not completely sure if it would work so I was recording intermittently on a phone without a tripod. I have just uploaded another video detailing how I connected everything including the power supply. Here it is: ruclips.net/video/gNjrLIpb6VI/видео.html

The current Russian TungSols are not the same as the vintage American made TungSols. I have heard the Russian tube and they sound good for the price but the problem with current generation tubes I have encountered is that they are not consistent, both sound wise and quality/longevity wise. Keep your Russian tubes and try the most affordable vintage TungSol 6550 - v2.2 - grey plate with 3 holes. If you notice the difference there then you can upgrade to the more expensive and rare vintage solid plates. If your system is resolving enough and you can hear the difference then it makes all the sense to try to obtain older more expensive tubes. In my experience 1.1 and 1.2 are exceptional in their sound and they are best sounding 6550 tubes followed by 1.3 and 2.1. Followed by the TungSol 2.2, Sylvania 6550 straight bottle and GE 6550A. These vintage tubes sound better than any current production Russian or Chinese tubes. Regarding the amp current/voltage, I haven't messed around with it since I use the McIntosh MI-75s, you can look up the specs of that amp but when I checked last I read 430V at the plate with at average plate current of around 26mA.

@vintagetannoy Thanks for the info help. I'm putting around 830v on the plates and a very regulated 320v on the screen grid. The idle current is close to 38 ma. The test circuit is extremely resolving playing through an Altec 515 woofer, Altec 311-90 with a 290E giant voice compression driver and a Electrovoice T350 super tweeter. I will endeavor to obtain several sets to roll. I can confirm tube parameters with my calibrated Hicock tester.

👍 Yep, it was only for testing purposes. That Eico gets pretty hot with those EL84 tubes.

Agree, the needles can get distracting sometimes. If I do implement some sort of vu meters in my rack setup I would add a power switch to the meters to turn them off if I need to.

Blessfamy

@@MikeGilbert-zm9lb I learned a new word today. "Blessfamy". Not even in the Urban Dictionary. You should enter it and give a description on whatever it means.

@@vintagetannoy I don't even see them unless I am 2 feet away from the device. They are so thin like hairs for obvious reasons. That is a good reason why audio gear moved away from that nonsense and went to the LEDs or Fluorescent meters like the beautiful Pioneer Blue Flouroscan ones. Except for McIntosh which has millions of fans for the blue meters only. They could care less about anything but the McIntosh meters. Silly.

I absolutely love VU meters my sound room is small so I got 6 of them I watch montering any input signal I throw at it sorry I spelled the word wrong it's Blasphemy meaning irreverence towards something considered sacred or inviolable.

Thanks for your input. I will look into Fosi Audio and Douk Audio vu meters but I would really need a 19" rack mountable unit and I was hoping to maintain the authentic McIntosh look on the rack but McIntosh doesn't make it easy. Oh well.

@@vintagetannoy ruclips.net/video/TjbcQe_4swQ/видео.html

@@vintagetannoy There is also a custom maker in Europe that makes custom VU meters. This has a very Mc looking vibe. ruclips.net/video/TjbcQe_4swQ/видео.html They have many videos on YT of different designs. I was looking at having them make me something and the price was reasonable. I did not do the project in the end, but they were someone that seemed promising.

Audio Research I/50 looks like a nice amp. As far as the tubes are concerned, I would broadly categorize them into three based on how closely they sound to each other: 1. Black plates with D getters (1.1 & 1.2) 2. Solid plates with halo getters (1.3 & 2.1) 3. Three hole with halo getters (2.2) You can't go wrong with any version of these tubes, the sound gets more refined as you move up the chain with older tubes. 2.1 is closer in sound to 1.3. I believer the reason why the solid plate tubes are expensive is because: 1. Fewer of these were manufactured when compared with the 2.2's. Tung sol went through 4 different iterations from 1.1 to 2.1 in a span of 8 years which averages to about 2 years of production for each iteration from 1.1 thru 2.1. Whereas, the last version 2.2 was in production for well over a decade. 2. The 3-hole grey plate is a great tube but the solid plates and D getters do have an edge on sound that is discernible on a system that is resolving enough. I would start with the tubes I could afford and then try the next older version of the tubes when time and wallet permits to see if the sound difference is noticeable and then keep the tubes I like based on sound and value. I also have some tubes to sell that I usually list on USAM. You can contact me at vinttannoy@gmail.com if you have any further questions.

Needless to say, it's all going to be subjective but there is a discernable difference between the tubes as the gap gets wider. As far as percentage goes, it's hard to tell. I had a methodical way to A/B the tubes. Keeping everything else constant, I kept swapping out the tubes and critically listened to the same music on each set of tubes for at least two weeks before I swapped them out with a different set of tubes. I went from a set of current gen tubes to 70's tubes to 60's tubes to 50's tubes. I personally prefer the earlier tubes only because I'm able to hear the difference. As we all know it's very difficult to describe sound in words, it just has to be heard and experienced. The 1.1's were simply the best sound I have ever heard. It's like veils were lifted and I was in a studio listening to music being performed/recorded. Vocals and instruments just sounded so organic and real.. it felt like the 1.1's held the note a split second longer, the reverberations on the strings and wind instruments lasted split second longer, the noise floor dropped and the blacks were darker if that's even a thing.. the music on 1.1's either brought a smile to my face or tears to eyes. Speakers, amp, gear, equipment just disappeared and I was in a private concert. I'm sure the Tannoys had a a lot to do with it as well, along with the MI-75s, MX110z and the Tele 12ax7 in there. So, I just happened to have found my bliss in the coming together of all the equipment in the chain and I'm keeping it. :) The other revelation I have had through this process is that the- tube. is. the. amp! The amplifier with the transformers and the design allows for the tube to do it's job and a well designed amplifier will keep the distortion at a minimum and be functional for long periods of time without causing undue stress to the various components of the amp. That's why some of the best amps from the 60's - the Macs and the Marantz have stood the test of time with their impeccable design. Once you get the design of the amp out of the way.. the actual amplification happens within the tube. Think of the tube as a lens for the DSLR, the DSLR will define the limits for the camera.. the megapixel, the features etc.. the amp is the camera body but ultimately the lens will have the most impact on the quality of the image. Similarly, as you change the tube and the sound changes. It's as if various brands of tubes and tubes from different periods are EQ'ed differently. Some bring vocals forward while others sparkle at the top while some render the bass differently. So finding the right tube for you will require some A/B'ing and will also depend on your preferences for sound. Having said that, 1.2 is closer to 1.1, 1.3 is closer to 1.2 and so on. I don't know why the tubes from the 50's sound best on my system but they do. However, it's hard to justify the price of these tubes these days. I only got into tubes a couple of years ago so I have paid premium price for these tubes. I would say, start with the later tubes from 70's or 60's and then- IF your system, your ears, your wallet allow for it.. upgrade to older set of tubes and see if you can hear a difference. I definitely do not want to promote the 1.1's as the best but that has been my experience on my system and who knows - maybe someone will like the the 2.2's best or the current gen tubes best. To each his own.. everyone's journey is going to be unique. As long as you are enjoying the music, the system you have is the best system. Cheers!

They all sound different to each other. Some are drastically different, others are slightly different. At the end it really comes down to personal taste and preference. :)

Delicious! MX110+8B is one of the best preamp/amp pairing I have ever heard. It's my new favorite. 🙂

If you don't mind separates you can consider the RME ADI 2 DAC seen here in my video. It has a balanced out, parametric EQ, a remote and tons of other features I don't even use but I like it for its ease of use, flexibility and a clean neutral sound.

@@vintagetannoy I'll check it out, I love separates so all good there, just need a decent streamer to match as well. Thanks for the info

As mentioned in the description, in this video I'm running the Wiim Pro streamer into the RME ADI 2 DAC. Wiim Pro is great as a standalone streamer and can be paired with any decent external DAC. I'm using RME ADI 2 DAC because of all the studio level features and adjustments it has but any decent, lower priced DAC will also sound great on the MX110. My other DAC is the ifi Zen One Signature and that DAC sounds fabulous with the MX110.