Greetings all!!!

Amp arrived yesterday, 20 mins after GF left to go shopping. Was supposed to go to work today (O/T), but don't see how I could with the amp in house, will bring out and install tubes and start the burn-in process.

New member one1speed will do me the favor of finishing the burn-in on the SI-15. He is building DRD 300B, and this willgive him another reference besides the Decware (6BQ5/triode strapped SE/1.8 watts). There is no way I would be able to get this amp burned in, so will be a big help to me.

Will need a few days to post initial report on the Tulip, many other necessary projects to be done first(domestic chores).

Thanks for everything Brian, you are the greatest!!!!!!


:beerchug:

Originally posted by spkrman57
Greetings all!!!

Amp arrived yesterday, 20 mins after GF left to go shopping!


:beerchug:

Man, can I ever relate to that! Lately, I've been getting caught with packages coming in:para:... "oh yeah, just some radio parts"...yeah...yeah...thats it...some radio parts:rolleyes: !

Looking forward to reading your opinions...if you don't get caught that is LOL!

Jon:)

This is what I like, a amp that plays great right out of the box. I know the tubes need burn-in, but unlike the SI-15, sounds pretty good right away. I must say that I'm glad I read schematics as the biasing instructions do not mention where to set it to, but the schematic shows .6 Volts on the cathode resistor where the meter connects up to. The build quality of the Tulip is much better than the SI-15, and a little bit heavier. The bias is touchy in that you have to find a average (595-605), but we are talking millivolts, so not critical. The amp is by my right speaker for the hum adjustment, but the left is too far away, but I put a finger on the woofer cone and adjusted until the vibration went away. Very hard to adjust hum anyways as my furnace and other things are noisy in my house. I had read on the forums in the past of those who inserted the 4 pin tubes wrong and fried them, so I took the time to be sure the fatter(just barely) pins went into the right slot. The 5AR4 tube doubles as a night light in this amp, very bright filaments. I see a very bright future for the Tulip in my house. The SI-15 is going to one1speed to finish burning in since it would not get that time in my house. The Tulip has rushed up to the top spot at this time. Got to go, GF just came in............


Ron

Remember Ron just Deny Deny Deny


Mike

GF arrived and sat down(middle of Christmas shopping), she asked what I was doing, told her just relaxing and listening to tunes. She then asked if I was back to playing the new amp again(SI-15), I figured good as time as any to drop the ball.......

She then asked if I didn't have enough tube amps, and why did I buy this new one (Tulip) when I just boght the other last week. I explained that this was a TRIODE amp and very good price. I also told her the SI-15 was going on the selling block to make everything right, she mumbled something about me not getting rid of anything, but I told her this amp was special.

So I will keep the Norh SE-9/Tulip, and the SI-15 will probably find a new home soon as the holidays are over.

Have around a hour on this amp, only around 99 more to go yet(people with Bose wave radios laughing at me at work thinking I am wasting my time, they don't understand!!!!)

Will post more later, time for beer and more tunes. Can't wait til I put my JBL 2205's in Peavey FH-1 horns with my Altec 288 on 311-60 horns on top with 1st order crossover. 3.5 watts with 103db/watt, I think that will work nicely until I get my 100hz Edgarhorns fixed up and running.

The manual does not list biasing for 45 tubes, but my manual says 36 ma vs the 60 for the 2A3. I like the fact that the meter measures voltage on the 10 ohm resistor(resulting in cathode current measurement) instead of metering the negative grid bias voltage that leaves some room for descrepancies as the tubes vary.

All in all, this seems to be a great SET amp for me to start with, at least until next year when my finances return to normal.

Regards, Ron

Correct. Ron, do you have a pair of 45s or are you still in need? I can bring over a "free pair/single" if that'll help out. MikE

MikE,
We will have to talk about a inexpensive pair of 45's to start out with. I don't know about the RCA 45 I have that I told you about. I don't want to put a unknown tube in a new amp.

So yes, I need a pair of 45's. We will have to discuss that. One of these days I will find you a horn speaker system that meets your approval.

I have 2 hours on amp now, getting better, running on 8 ohm taps for now as the low end is 16 ohms and the horn is still at 8 ohms, will have to separate the crossover so they may get their proper impedance. But as you know, I have had no problem running this setup at the 8 ohm taps and sounds okay.

This amp is not up to the Moth level yet, I will modify in the futre a few things I want added to the amp, separate biasing analog meters for both chnls. Nice tough with the input being transfomer coupled so DC offset from solid state preamps are not a problem. I have to fix my McItosh MX-110 tuner/preamp, I like its sound, most don't since it is more layed back and heavier sounding than most. It is a matter of preference though.

I will be at work Sunday, e-mail/call me then.


Thanks, Ron

I can relate, I am supposed to go check out those Carver Amazing Platinums that are for sale in my town and I don't wanna go cuz I know I will want them and find a way to get them even though I seriously have no money or room for them even if I got rid of all my other gear. But I would talk myself into storing them in the basement until we move to a bigger house. Which would lead to me explaining THAT to the GF :rolleyes: Coming home with those would probably be a relationship ender, especially if she found out what they cost ;)

I am still trying to figure out how I am gonna smuggle the tube amp I am buying from Rob into the house :eek:

I finally found a way to take care of my problem, I told her I would buy her a stove for Christmas if she wanted. She does need one!

Now that you have a tube preamp, all you need is a bigger tube power amp! Tell her the bigger room needed a bigger heater!!

Regards, Ron

Hi all,
I now have around 30 hrs burn-in on the Tulip 2A3 amp. Last night, I got tired of hearing the "new amp" sound character, so I found a Mullard GZ34/5AR4 rectifier from on of my old vintage amps laying around the house. I already had a pair of Sylvania 12AX7's from testing on the Norh SE-9 amp which I knew sounded ok.

With just the 3 tube change(only thing left is pair of 2A3's to replace the Chinese 2A3's that came with the unit. Now for the good part, after some gentle tube wiggling in the sockets(NOS are maybe 30 years old), got the connections going good, sat down to allow about 30 mins to cook everything and ...........


In a word, wonderful(not the last word), but much improved over the original tubes that came with the amp. Musical instraments are now more geographically placed and seem more visible(as the mind would percieve a visual). I will have to check out my 12AX7 supply(who knows what is in my house - will need a search party to look) and see what kind of Mullard 12AX7's I have to try out. By swapping the 2 driver tubes and rectifier at the same time, no way I could tell if GZ34 Mullard made a difference. I will say that checking the bias after turning on after swap and 20 mins later, minute adjustments were made, but my house voltage in my neighborhood sucks anyways, so the amp will vary normally anyways.


When I hook up with MikE, we will solve that triode swap thing and see what this amp will really do, I am hopeful, but this amp has a lot of work to try and match up against MikE's Mighty Moth S45 which he has tweaked and rolled the best tubes for a sound I have not yet heard better. I have heard great tube amps before, but to be real about that, the speakers and environment did not let me judge like I have been able in my house. I have also heard Bottlehead Paramours on my system beside the Moth and my tulip. So on the basis of having the playing field identical for all the amps, the Mighty Moth still reigns as my favorite(I think MikE had the Union ST 45's in when I liked it the best)

Stay tuned for more on this Tulip down the road. If you like ASL, I would guess tube rolling is a big plus for the sound character.

Regards, Ron

:banana:

wait till I BYPASS that LCR electrolytic with the .015uf polyproylene caps. Suppose to make a big difference! And if it isn't all that I will try some paper in oil caps or replace the LCR entirely with a dual section 30uf-80uf 400vdc polyproylene.

MikE

http://hometown.aol.com/tube4less/bypass.jpg

Oh i can't wait for things to settle down and I am looking for some NOS 2A3's. I am not sure about putting 45's in this amp at the moment after reading a post on AA about Joeseph Lal commenting to others who could not get the bias level down far enough to not burn out the 45's, he said plans were in the works for the bias control to be replaced with a "multi-turn" pot that would extend the bias level. I thought that was a good idea.

Well, I remembered setting the bias for the Tulip when 1st powering up, I set the bias, then I set the hum control. The hum control is a multi-turn pot, but the bias is not

So without actually checking this out and determine if the pots are reversed, I will stay with the 2A3's for now. I am not sure if I try and set the lowest bias setting with the 2A3's installed, and see if might be close enough that putting a 45 in will not fry them. The 45 tube is rare enough that I don't want to experiment lightly with them.

Tonight is last night of visiting and stuff, tomorrow I play with the stereo again and get back in the groove.

Ron

>>> I am looking for some NOS 2A3's.<<<
Unless you can find some single plate 2A3s real cheap, I would recomend RCA Black plates from the 40s. The later versions aren't as good IMO. You'll have to see whats out there. Prices are going up rapidly.
Jack

Once I recover from the holidays and Christmas bill paying, I will start the search for some 2A3 possibilities. It will take about a month or two before the funds will be available.

As far as the selecting process, I can only try some out and see. I look for different characteristics in tubes than most(same as my speaker systems), So finding a voicing that works for me will take some time. Right now, the Sylvania 12AX7A's green label JAN's are working just fine, these are a sleeper tube similiar but slightly laid back and too dull for most, but my hearing at my age is missing above 16Khz anyways.

One thing that I had a hard time destinguishing on was the swapping the rectifier tube, the stock 5AR4 was swapped with a Mullard GZ34/5AR4 and I found little difference. If there was any I deteced, it was only because I felt I should hear the difference in a $60.00 tube. I am going through my collection of tubes here soon to try and find other 12AX7's to try out, I could use just a little bit more brightness in my music.

Been busy lately with holidays and all, will get back on posting more regularly when things slow down.

Ron

"Once I recover from the holidays and Christmas bill paying....."

Boy I hear you on that one! ;)

Hi Ron,

Thanks much for the running commentary on your new TULIP amp! I would like to comment on the following quote, though:

"I am not sure about putting 45's in this amp at the moment after reading a post on AA about Joeseph Lal commenting to others who could not get the bias level down far enough to not burn out the 45's, he said plans were in the works for the bias control to be replaced with a "multi-turn" pot that would extend the bias level."

The Audio Asylum post that you are referring to is well over a year old - and the TULIP that you just purchased is the most recent version of this amp, which was introduced just a couple of months ago! It differs a bit from Joseph Lau's original projections, but it will most certainly accept both old and new 45 output tubes without putting them at risk! So swap away, I say!

Also, I understand that DingusBoy is currently breaking in your "old" MG SI 15 DT for you - any word from him on how he likes that single-ended integrated amp?

Cheers,
Brian

Brian,
To tell you the truth, Brad and I discussed the SI-15 and exchanged our thoughts to see if we were finding common results. The following is my thoughts/opinions:

The SI-15 would be my recommendation to someone going from SS to tubes for the first time. There is some tube magic in the amp and there is great definition, low noise and all. But the one thing I found it to be was sounding more like SS than other tube amps I have heard over the ye.

I have a Norh SE-9, and it is not as well defined or as dynamic as the 15, but it was also lush and warm feeling(maybe too much for some folks, I kinda liked it though).

Against the Tulip, the 15 can't hold a candle, the SE-9 would place second in my book with the 15 in last place.

On my system just for a reference, I brought out my MC-240. While not as well defined as the 15, the midrange clarity was 2nd to the tulip, but for dynamics, won hands down. The reason the MC-240 is upstairs stored in my bedroom is because it is dangerous. I can easily get 115 + db in my living room without tapping the 40 watts/chnl, or even close. I bring it down maybe twice a year for fun or to demo to friends.

Anyways, when Brad is finished playing with the SI-15, i have told him to forward it on to a AK member who is contemplating a tube amp and want to try it out. I only ask that whoever gets the amp next treat it like you would your own, agree on shipping arrangements and if someone wants to buy it down the road, just let me know. I think it will float around the AK neighborhood for awhile before that happens.

Note to all, take all my criticism with a grain of salt, I am very critical, especially of my own system. So note that while the ASL SI-15 is not my cup of tea, it might be what someone else likes!!!

Ron

Hi Ron,

Well, this is one of the nice things about tube audio, isn't it? Different output tubes have predictably different sounds, and each one seems to have its own following.

The KT-88 output tubes used in the SI 15 are most certainly not as warm- or lush-sounding as the EL-34s used in your Norh SE-9, but - as you yourself observed - these output tubes do excel when it comes to detail retrieval and dynamic contrasts.

I, for one, would never mistake the SI 15 for a solid-state amp. At the same time, this unit would not be my first recommendation for an audiophile who was looking for a tube amp with a romantic, "technicolor" sound.

Cheers,
Brian

To bring everyone up to date, the Tulip is running my favorite 12AX7A's, the Mullard GZ34/5AR4 and I have taken the chinese 2A3's out due to one of them starting to oscillate.

I would like to mention that Brian B. went above and beyond the call of duty and sent me a pair of EH Gold 2A3's(Sovtek stopped production of their 2A3's to make these from what I have heard).

I also bought a pair of RCA 2A3's through Brian. Thank you for all your assistance Brian, you install faith back in the American businessman for us consumers, especially when you did not have to due to my taking too long to identify a problem with the chinese 2A3's.

I think the Russians have a winner with these EH Gold 2A3's, i have borrowed MikE's Sovtek 2A3's and liked them also, but the EH 2A3's have all the dynamics, and still soft to the sound.

Will continue more later, at work and boss over my shoulder....


Ron

Anyways, to get to the point of the EH Gold 2A3's, they are much better behaved than the chinese 2A3's and I have found that while the RCA 2A3's are still my favorite for classical and natural instramental music, for pop and rock, these EH's are damn good. I borrowed MikE's Sovtek 2A3's(they are very nice also), MikE's are already broke in and well tempered, these EH's have only 50 hours on them and I see them just getting better. I am using my Sony cd player direct to the Tulip(using variable output control on cd player), I have a stereo 100K pot and small box and jacks to make my passive preamp, just not the time to assemble it yet.

Will be able to evaluate this amp to the max when my Edgarhorn system gets here and assembled.

Later all, Ron

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the kind words. And I am very glad to hear that you are enjoying both of the pairs of 2A3s that I sent you.

Cheers,
Brian

Well, I have over 100+ hours on the EH 2A3 Gold grid 2A3's now and have had the opportunity to play the orig chinese 2A3's, a pair of RCA 2A3's and Sovtek 2A3's(last 2 on loan to me courtesy of our very own MikE), I also have the pair of RCA's and EH Gold 2A3's Brian B. arranged for me to get.

In brief, the order of preference goes something like this: for classical and such, both RCA pairs are winners. Soft sounding with minute details coming through that the others can't duplicate. Both the EH and Sovtek pairs come in next with the 2A3 Gold grid just a tad nicer overall, but would be happy with either one on a permanent basis for Rock/Blues and other dynamic music. The chinese tubes are just sitting, and that is the best thing for them.

The EH Gold 2A3's are my normal pair in use, after I get my Edgarhorn system setup and running, then I will get more definitive between the RCA and EH pairs.


Question: Is there any other AK members out there with the Tulip amp besides me?????


Cheers, Ron

Ain't tube rollin' fun? And vacuum tubes are SO much sexier than cheap plastic tone control knobs and loudness buttons!