# What vacuum tubes do you have in your life?



## EdipisReks (Jul 23, 2013)

a pair of 6021W in my CD player, and a Sylvania 6SN7w and a pair of black plate RCA 6AS7G in my headphone amp (everything else is solid state, between speakers and headphones).


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## Zwiefel (Jul 23, 2013)

None operational. I have a few from a period console radio that i swiped when i was a kid....good memories though. I bet a bunch of folks list amps though


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## EdipisReks (Jul 23, 2013)

i hope they do!


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## brainsausage (Jul 23, 2013)

My Philco turntable/radio cabinet circa 1955 has tubes of some sort. Not inclined to dig around back there right now. But check this out:View attachment 17242
View attachment 17243


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Jul 23, 2013)

I need pics.


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## EdipisReks (Jul 23, 2013)

yeah, Philco sounds rad! pics! 

here is a pic of the headphone amp. 



the cd player (which is on the speaker rig) has internal tubes, so no real pics of the tubes...


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## brainsausage (Jul 23, 2013)

Those attachments ain't working? W T F? I thought the pic loader was sposed to work the same with iPhones? Maybe my 5 is just a jerk?

Edit: I can view them from safari on my 5...


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## panda (Jul 23, 2013)

i used to like both tube and ss gear, but now i'm all about pro kit, as they are very clean sounding and efficient and hell of a lot cheaper than 'hi-fi' brands.


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## Eric (Jul 23, 2013)

6550 in my audio research integrated, el34 in my Conrad Johnson amp, el84s in my fender guitar amp. Those are the power tubes.


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## ecchef (Jul 23, 2013)

What's that liquid filled one?


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## Chuckles (Jul 23, 2013)

Blue label?


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## WildBoar (Jul 23, 2013)

Sovtek 6922s in my Audible Illusions IIB preamp. Evrything else is solid state, though.

Bought this preamp used in ~1987!


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## knyfeknerd (Jul 23, 2013)

A Dyson!


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## brianh (Jul 23, 2013)

I know there's at least one other amp builder around here, these are the two I have at the moment, several other builds all sold (Hiwatt DR103 clone, plexi, 18w).

Fender Twin 5E8A clone I built:






Marshall JTM45 clone I built:


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## Miles (Jul 23, 2013)

I've got EL84s in my Vox amps. Otherwise, nada.


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## eaglerock (Jul 23, 2013)

Bottlehead Crack with beyerdynamic DT 880 
"the picture is from google"


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## Crothcipt (Jul 24, 2013)

eaglerock said:


> Bottlehead Crack with beyerdynamic DT 880
> "the picture is from google"



Damn I think that would sound awesome. But then again it's all about what the amps are.


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## EdipisReks (Jul 24, 2013)

ecchef said:


> What's that liquid filled one?



sideways Laphroaig.


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## eaglerock (Jul 24, 2013)

forgot to add my tube ^^ : it is RCA 6AS7G.


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## mhlee (Jul 24, 2013)

4 Mullard Type EL-34, 2 12AX7EH, 2 12UX7EH (original equipment) in my Caying A-50t integrated amp, and a pair of 12AX7 tubes (original equipment) in my Jolida Tube DAC II.


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## geezr (Jul 24, 2013)

Zwiefel said:


> None operational. I have a few from a period console radio that i swiped when i was a kid....good memories though. I bet a bunch of folks list amps though




6C33C-B, 6H30, 6V6GT + others 
not thought of toobs until this thread :cool2:


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## Justin0505 (Jul 25, 2013)

EdipisReks said:


> sideways Laphroaig.



How do you hear anything over all that peat?


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## EdipisReks (Jul 25, 2013)

Justin0505 said:


> How do you hear anything over all that peat?



It's sideways, so the peat leaks out before it hits my ear!


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## panda (Jul 25, 2013)

long time ago i used to have a melos sha-1 headphone amp and ran sylvania 6922 and amperex white label pq. now it's naim headline, no more tubes. i guess it's like going from carbon to stainless, haha. except the naim is very carbon-like. where as with knives i did the opposite, go from stainless to carbon. i have seen the light! 

just like i used to think listening to vinyl was stupid because of the inconvenience of it all, now it's all i listen to when i want to actually sit there and enjoy an album instead of streaming internet radio (slacker) which i must admit is pretty awesome in itself for its purpose (background music).


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## EdipisReks (Jul 25, 2013)

panda said:


> long time ago i used to have a melos sha-1 headphone amp and ran sylvania 6922 and amperex white label pq. now it's naim headline, no more tubes. i guess it's like going from carbon to stainless, haha. except the naim is very carbon-like.



holy ****! I used to have a pair of Grado HP-2, and the SHA-1 was high up on the amp I wanted to try with them, since it was made for those phones. Never got it.


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## panda (Jul 25, 2013)

i preferred the RS-1, i have since stopped using headphones except on the rare occasion which i only have akg k-271 now. you might wonder why i have the naim headphone amp, i use it as a preamp into active studio monitors, killer setup and doesn't take up a ton of space like a full hi-fi system does.


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## eaglerock (Jul 25, 2013)

I want a grado too


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## Lucretia (Jul 25, 2013)

Nice work, brianh!

The biggest, most expensive tube I've ever seen was in the amplifier of a vibration test system at Lewis Research Center in Cleveland (now the Glenn Research Center). You basically had an amplifier and gigantic speaker with a metal cone--you could bolt test articles on it and shake the dickens out of them--that tube was probably the length of my forearm. BIG, BIG, tube. They had to have the tubes custom made by hand when they died, to the tune of about $15K ea. 

These days it's hubby involved with tubes. The last couple weeks he's been drooling over Fender tube amps on the 'bay.


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## brianh (Jul 25, 2013)

Lucretia said:


> Nice work, brianh!
> 
> The biggest, most expensive tube I've ever seen was in the amplifier of a vibration test system at Lewis Research Center in Cleveland (now the Glenn Research Center). You basically had an amplifier and gigantic speaker with a metal cone--you could bolt test articles on it and shake the dickens out of them--that tube was probably the length of my forearm. BIG, BIG, tube. They had to have the tubes custom made by hand when they died, to the tune of about $15K ea.
> 
> These days it's hubby involved with tubes. The last couple weeks he's been drooling over Fender tube amps on the 'bay.



Thank you! Silverface Fenders are not too $$$ these days. Or, build his own!


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## naimenthusiast (Feb 13, 2014)

I used to have a Quad 22/II amplifier that I inherited from my dad, the power amps use the classic KT66 tubes.



but the maintenance was a bit daunting so I entered the 'dark side' recently and got a Naim Nait 5si - not as charming but hassle free:thumbsup:


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## pitonboy (Feb 13, 2014)

Bel Canto amp with WW2 vintage 845s and Amperex 12AX7s
Conrad Johnson Premier 14 with Mullard 6GK5s
Conrad Johnson Premier 12 with NOS Tung-Sol 6550s


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## 29palms (Feb 13, 2014)

In the vintage dept. RCA Black Plate, Siemens, Tesla (real ones), GE, Hytron, Mullard, Sylvania, Telefunken, Amprex, Brimar, RFT, JAN Philips, the list goes on. What can I say I like tubes.


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## tagheuer (Feb 13, 2014)

Wow... lots of KKF members here who love tubes.

Well, you can see my avatar on tube that I'm using currently.


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## Bill13 (Feb 13, 2014)

McIntosh mc-240View attachment 22216


Photo from audio classics.


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## Keith Sinclair (Feb 23, 2014)

Happiness is being in your speakers sweet spot grills off,listening to favorite music in the dark,only the glow of vacuum tubes.


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## Namaxy (Mar 11, 2014)

Very late to the party. I went with Rogue and NOS EH KT90's. Sad thing is it's a dual use room and the mono solid states sound so good the tubes don't get a fair shake.


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## vai777 (Aug 3, 2014)

EdipisReks said:


> yeah, Philco sounds rad! pics!
> 
> here is a pic of the headphone amp.
> 
> ...




Sennheiser HD800's ?


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## WingKKF (Aug 3, 2014)

I build/modify most of my own tube gear. National Electronic branded East German 6CA7s for my main single ended triode connected amp with 6N1P drivers, a SV83/6pi15ev - 6N1P SET, modified MG Head headphone amp with SV83s only - no driver, modified MGHead into guitar amp! JJ 12AX7/EL84, JJ 12AX7s - RCA blackplate 6V6GTs for my Trainwreck Express inspired guitar amp one of which is pretty much worn out but they still sound glorious.


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## SixCats (Aug 7, 2014)

Hi all,

New member SixCats! here. I must say I'm surprised to find a thread on Tubes here at KKF. I am a loooong time (early member) of AudioKarma.org 
I mostly have/listen to MONO Tube Amp system. I have a PILOT AA-903B ("the Baby with the Bite" EL84's) a HEATHKIT A-9C (6L6), a FISHER 500 MONO Receiver (EL37), a SCOTT 222D Stereo Integrated Amp (7189's) and a FISHER 400 (I can't recall). I also have a beautiful pristine vintage GOLDEN LION (?) something or other stashed away somewhere.


My main speaker : http://jelabs.blogspot.com/2011/06/architects-music-and-hi-fi.html




http://i39.tinypic.com/fjjhus.jpg




This is an interesting picture of a Charles Eames/Stephens Tru-Sonic collaboration sent a while back by Thomas Patrick Shortall, Jr. aka Sixcats! with another intriguing speaker in the background  Robert Stephens was part of the Shearer Horn project before starting his own company. I have seen a few Stephens drivers and the quality of construction is comparable to an Altec or JBL. But I never saw or heard this particular speaker system which according to a brochure in Hi-Fi Lit contained a 15" woofer in a folded horn chamber, compression driven 10 cell horn midrange + super tweeter. It is a rare piece and probably samples have been snapped up by mid-century modern collectors long before audio aficionados became aware of the sonic virtues of vintage equipment.

Regards,
SixCats!


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