Have just been trying these little gems out as driver tubes in the McChanson 6L6 marzE. It's only recently that I realised 6CM4 valves were equivalent to EC86s. These drive very very well and would have been in my top list when I did the EC86 shootout if I had them at the time. I expect they may be quite difficult to find, but if you come across a pair I don 't think you'll be disappointed.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Amperex Bugle Boy 6CM4
Have just been trying these little gems out as driver tubes in the McChanson 6L6 marzE. It's only recently that I realised 6CM4 valves were equivalent to EC86s. These drive very very well and would have been in my top list when I did the EC86 shootout if I had them at the time. I expect they may be quite difficult to find, but if you come across a pair I don 't think you'll be disappointed.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
GuiGuang 300BS Z Black Glass - Super Tube
These are the 4th set of 300B tubes that I picked up for my new McChanson 300B amplifier. You may be tempted like I was when I first saw them for sale on Australian Ebay to ask: "What the hell are they?" Well like the title of this post says they GuiGuang 300BS Z Black Glass Super Tubes and they are fresh from the factory. GuiGuang it seems are taking up the challenge to match the highly acclaimed Shuguang Treasure Series The GuiGuang Black Glass are so new that if you google for them, chances are you will only find the current Ebay sale for them. You can even check the factory site Foshan Nanhai GuiGuang Tube Factory and you won't find them listed there. They are that new.
No reviews, no information at all on these tubes, only the seller seems to know about them, so who would buy them? I did. Being new to 300B and wanting a decent selection of valves to really test out the McChanson I was looking for a bargain, and these were a bargain. They only arrived 2 days ago and I couldn't resist putting them in. I have played them for 6 hours and they are beautiful. They have the typical 300B sound, but compared to the other valves I have been trying out (GuiGuang clear glass, Electro Harmonix and Svetlana Winged Cs) the sound is bigger, and more expansive, with the top end really twinkling and a bass you can feel.
Admittedly it is early days yet, I haven't burnt all the tubes fully in, nor the amp, but if the earlier indications are anything GuiGuang has a got a real winner here.
As far as I know the only place you will be able to get a pair of these right now is from my-hi-fi on Australian Ebay.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
The McChanson 300B SET amplifier
About 3 weeks ago I took delivery of my second McChanson amplifier. It's beautiful, isn't it? Look at all those transformers - more iron less glass as Eric says. I have been so impressed over the last 18 months with the 6L6 amplifier Eric Chan built for me that I decided earlier this year that I would venture into the mysterious world of the legendary 300B.It's early days yet, but it's impressive, very impressive indeed. Big sound stage, great bass and a detailed upper end. Lots of burn in to be done, with the amp, and also the 4 sets of 300Bs I have purchased over the last 6 months in anticipation of the amp finally arriving. I'll be eventually writing up my experiences after a lot more playing.
Check out the McChanson amplifiers on Ebay.
A Tale of Two Amps (continued)
Nice to see that I'm not the only one who has an appreciation for the McChanson SET and REDGUMs's Sonofa Gum. Johnny Darko's review of the Cerwin Vega CMX-6 loudspeakers sees them pitted side by side in the driving of these speakers.
What's really nice about this is that we are talking about two Australian amps that are both high quality, something different and great value for money. In this day and age that is something quite remarkable indeed!
What's really nice about this is that we are talking about two Australian amps that are both high quality, something different and great value for money. In this day and age that is something quite remarkable indeed!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Getting Rid of the Grado Hum
Type "Grado hum" into Google and you will immediately find numerous discussions about the legendary Grado hum, which occurs with some turntables, most notably the Regas. Like many people I had thought that the hum issue was somewhat exaggerated as I had used a Grado Gold1 with a Rega and found the hum produced to be virtually inaudible. This was with the Grado Gold1 mounted on an RB250.
Recently, I purchased a Grado Sonata and mounted it on a Michelle Tecnoarm. Unlike the RB250 the Michelle Tecnoarm is not internally earthed and has an external earth wire that clips onto the earth terminal of the phono stage amp. Set-up like this the Grado Sonata hummed big time, so much so that I was feeling like taking the Sonata off and reselling it. Searching the internet did not reveal any sure fire solutions. Mu-metal shielding around the motor had worked for some people, but not for others.
Earthing the tonearm to the motor had also worked for some, but it didn't work for me. However, while attempting this, I noticed that the hum reduced in volume the closer I moved to my integrated valve amp. So I clipped the Tecnoarm's earth wire onto the metal front plate of the amp and the hum vanished instantly and completely. Even at full volume there is no hum audible.
Recently, I purchased a Grado Sonata and mounted it on a Michelle Tecnoarm. Unlike the RB250 the Michelle Tecnoarm is not internally earthed and has an external earth wire that clips onto the earth terminal of the phono stage amp. Set-up like this the Grado Sonata hummed big time, so much so that I was feeling like taking the Sonata off and reselling it. Searching the internet did not reveal any sure fire solutions. Mu-metal shielding around the motor had worked for some people, but not for others.
Earthing the tonearm to the motor had also worked for some, but it didn't work for me. However, while attempting this, I noticed that the hum reduced in volume the closer I moved to my integrated valve amp. So I clipped the Tecnoarm's earth wire onto the metal front plate of the amp and the hum vanished instantly and completely. Even at full volume there is no hum audible.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Denon DL301 MKII
I was going to write-up a review of the Denon cartridge DL301 MKII, but then stumbled across this one by Ferrari at Audiogon: Review: Denon 301 MK II Cartridge
It's a great review of the cartridge and matches my views perfectly. Interesting that it's close to the legendary DL103D sound. That's a Denon cartridge I've read a lot about but have never had the pleasure to hear. Anyway if you are interested in this cartridge read Ferrari's review. It is enthusiastic and balanced at the same time.
It's a great review of the cartridge and matches my views perfectly. Interesting that it's close to the legendary DL103D sound. That's a Denon cartridge I've read a lot about but have never had the pleasure to hear. Anyway if you are interested in this cartridge read Ferrari's review. It is enthusiastic and balanced at the same time.
Battle of the EC86 Tubes / Valves
My McChanson marzE SET amplifier uses EC86s at its driver stage. Recently, thanks to Eric Chan, the maker of the amp, I was able to audition a range of EC86 and Russian equivalents.
The EC86s inluded a number of well-known brands: Lorenz, Valvo, Telefunken, Siemens-Rohre; and a couple of lesser ones: Hoges and Magnadyne.
The Russian valves were ex-military and designated as 6S3P-EV and 6S3P-DR. The DR has some special features compared to the EV (notably the presence of a gold grid) and is reputed to last up to 10,000 hours.
The parameters I used in the listening tests I did were very subjective but pretty straightforward. The subjectivity comes in because I only used my own ears to listen to the performance of each pair, so really it's just my opinion based on how good or bad my ears might be. In terms of sound reproduction I was looking for how well each of the different drivers handle bass and high end, clarity across the mid-range and the extent to which they added any colour to the sound.
In my current configuration of the marzE, I use EC86s to drive Winged C SED 6L6GCs. The amp allows for pentode or triode mode and I kept it in triode mode for the auditioning. The amp also uses a 5AR4 / GZ34 rectifier and I have a NOS Mullard loaded at that stage.
I was already very familiar with 6S3P-EV as my version of the marzE shipped with these. They are very good valves that excel at delivering clarity on recordings that are centred around the human voice. The high end is good and the bass end is fine. They did not add any colouration or warmth to the sound as far as I could tell.
The other valve I was already familiar with was the Telefunken EC86. Sadly these valves have never performed well. They add huge amounts of colour to the sound and while it is pleasant, warm and cosy even, it really was not a sound that I liked. Overall I thought their whole dynamic was rather limp compared to the others and if it had been a race, the Telefunkens well and truly ran last.
Valvos I had playing in the system before Eric threw some extra EC86s into the mix. The Valvos are bold. They are gutsy, clear and have a great bass end. Upper range is decent. At this stage they were the preferred EC86s.
Okay onto Eric's valves now:
The Hoges -- I loved these on first hearing and over several more hours of play. Great clarity and such a sweet upper range (possibly the best so far). At first I thought the bass was okay, but on switching back to the Valvos and 6S3P-EVs, I realised that the bass was actually quite lacking with these guys. But nice valves if you don't need much bass. I do, so the Valvos were still the preferred one.
Next came the Lorenz. Big name and big reputation. But they just struck me as lack lustre. They didn't do anything wrong, but there was simply nothing about their sound that impressed me at all. Bass, clarity and high end could all be beaten by others. Just a good average all rounder in my opinion.
Russian 6S3P-DR (the guy with the gold grid). This was the first one that I listened to that gave me goose bumps. What a brilliant driver valve for the 6L6GC Winged Cs. The clarity it produces is exceptional, especially on the human voice, and bass and high end just blend perfectly with the mid-range. A big improvement on their little brother, the 6S3P-EV.
After the 6S3P-DR, the Siemens-Rohre EC86s had a hard task. On the first listen I thought they were very good, ahead of most of the others I had heard, but lacked what the 6S3P-DR had to offer; the clarity, the wonderful wonderful clarity. A few days later, I moved on to the last one, thinking that the 6S3P-DR, with that magic gold grid (which you cannot see BTW) was the clear winner.
The Magnadynes were the last I put in, and as soon as they fired up and the music played I knew we were in goosebump territory again. I had another clear winner.
In the end three valves went into the final shoot-out. The Magnadynes, the Russian 6S3P-DR, and the Siemens-Rohre. The latter was placed back into the mix because it was clearly ahead of the rest of the field, and I did feel I hadn't given it much of a chance by playing it directly after the 6S3P-DR. For a week or so I listened to these valves against each other and came to the conclusion that all three were exceptional performers. And I did occasionally put the end of the field contenders in just to make sure that I wasn't making it all up, but every time the Lorenz went back in, and the others, it was the same result. Magnadyne, 6S3P-DR, and Siemens-Rohre were clearly way ahead.
If I was asked to give a clear winner then that would go to the 6S3P-DR, based on two things: amazing clarity and when it's available its very cheap. This is not to say that Magnadyne or Siemens-Rohre are not exceptional. They have a certain element of magic that the 6S3P-DR may not have. Perhaps the 6S3P-DR, at times, is just a little too focused on clarity and occasionally the other two top contenders get the music better.
Some caveats: I have already stated that this was a very subjective review of the range of EC86s that are around. That is, my ears only. But there are other issues as well. All valves are new old stock (NOS as it is known) but I had no way of knowing whether any of the valves had been too long on the shelf and whether any deterioration had occurred. A physical examination suggested not, but that's not a great way of determining any changes in the metal components over the years. Also there is the question of burn in period. Would some of the valves I sent to the end of field have performed better than my best three if they had burned in longer? I suspect not, but it might be possible.
A final factor that worries me is that of valve matching. Since I did the EC86 tests, my more recent experience has shown that some drivers work better with certain power tubes, and others don't.
So at the end of all this I can only happily conclude that EC86 6S3P-DRs, Magnadynes, and Siemens-Rohre are exceptional driver valves for SED 6L6GC Winged Cs (the lovely ones made in St Petersburg).
The EC86s inluded a number of well-known brands: Lorenz, Valvo, Telefunken, Siemens-Rohre; and a couple of lesser ones: Hoges and Magnadyne.
The Russian valves were ex-military and designated as 6S3P-EV and 6S3P-DR. The DR has some special features compared to the EV (notably the presence of a gold grid) and is reputed to last up to 10,000 hours.
The parameters I used in the listening tests I did were very subjective but pretty straightforward. The subjectivity comes in because I only used my own ears to listen to the performance of each pair, so really it's just my opinion based on how good or bad my ears might be. In terms of sound reproduction I was looking for how well each of the different drivers handle bass and high end, clarity across the mid-range and the extent to which they added any colour to the sound.
In my current configuration of the marzE, I use EC86s to drive Winged C SED 6L6GCs. The amp allows for pentode or triode mode and I kept it in triode mode for the auditioning. The amp also uses a 5AR4 / GZ34 rectifier and I have a NOS Mullard loaded at that stage.
I was already very familiar with 6S3P-EV as my version of the marzE shipped with these. They are very good valves that excel at delivering clarity on recordings that are centred around the human voice. The high end is good and the bass end is fine. They did not add any colouration or warmth to the sound as far as I could tell.
The other valve I was already familiar with was the Telefunken EC86. Sadly these valves have never performed well. They add huge amounts of colour to the sound and while it is pleasant, warm and cosy even, it really was not a sound that I liked. Overall I thought their whole dynamic was rather limp compared to the others and if it had been a race, the Telefunkens well and truly ran last.
Valvos I had playing in the system before Eric threw some extra EC86s into the mix. The Valvos are bold. They are gutsy, clear and have a great bass end. Upper range is decent. At this stage they were the preferred EC86s.
Okay onto Eric's valves now:
The Hoges -- I loved these on first hearing and over several more hours of play. Great clarity and such a sweet upper range (possibly the best so far). At first I thought the bass was okay, but on switching back to the Valvos and 6S3P-EVs, I realised that the bass was actually quite lacking with these guys. But nice valves if you don't need much bass. I do, so the Valvos were still the preferred one.
Next came the Lorenz. Big name and big reputation. But they just struck me as lack lustre. They didn't do anything wrong, but there was simply nothing about their sound that impressed me at all. Bass, clarity and high end could all be beaten by others. Just a good average all rounder in my opinion.
Russian 6S3P-DR (the guy with the gold grid). This was the first one that I listened to that gave me goose bumps. What a brilliant driver valve for the 6L6GC Winged Cs. The clarity it produces is exceptional, especially on the human voice, and bass and high end just blend perfectly with the mid-range. A big improvement on their little brother, the 6S3P-EV.
After the 6S3P-DR, the Siemens-Rohre EC86s had a hard task. On the first listen I thought they were very good, ahead of most of the others I had heard, but lacked what the 6S3P-DR had to offer; the clarity, the wonderful wonderful clarity. A few days later, I moved on to the last one, thinking that the 6S3P-DR, with that magic gold grid (which you cannot see BTW) was the clear winner.
The Magnadynes were the last I put in, and as soon as they fired up and the music played I knew we were in goosebump territory again. I had another clear winner.
In the end three valves went into the final shoot-out. The Magnadynes, the Russian 6S3P-DR, and the Siemens-Rohre. The latter was placed back into the mix because it was clearly ahead of the rest of the field, and I did feel I hadn't given it much of a chance by playing it directly after the 6S3P-DR. For a week or so I listened to these valves against each other and came to the conclusion that all three were exceptional performers. And I did occasionally put the end of the field contenders in just to make sure that I wasn't making it all up, but every time the Lorenz went back in, and the others, it was the same result. Magnadyne, 6S3P-DR, and Siemens-Rohre were clearly way ahead.
If I was asked to give a clear winner then that would go to the 6S3P-DR, based on two things: amazing clarity and when it's available its very cheap. This is not to say that Magnadyne or Siemens-Rohre are not exceptional. They have a certain element of magic that the 6S3P-DR may not have. Perhaps the 6S3P-DR, at times, is just a little too focused on clarity and occasionally the other two top contenders get the music better.
Some caveats: I have already stated that this was a very subjective review of the range of EC86s that are around. That is, my ears only. But there are other issues as well. All valves are new old stock (NOS as it is known) but I had no way of knowing whether any of the valves had been too long on the shelf and whether any deterioration had occurred. A physical examination suggested not, but that's not a great way of determining any changes in the metal components over the years. Also there is the question of burn in period. Would some of the valves I sent to the end of field have performed better than my best three if they had burned in longer? I suspect not, but it might be possible.
A final factor that worries me is that of valve matching. Since I did the EC86 tests, my more recent experience has shown that some drivers work better with certain power tubes, and others don't.
So at the end of all this I can only happily conclude that EC86 6S3P-DRs, Magnadynes, and Siemens-Rohre are exceptional driver valves for SED 6L6GC Winged Cs (the lovely ones made in St Petersburg).
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