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TubeDAC-09 tube rolling

M

markfx

Active Member
Having never owned any tube equipment, are there any tips regarding replacing the stock tube in this DAC? I have already purchased a GE 5670W.

regards, Mark
 
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There is a wire shipping holder over the tube (it's a wire thingie that can be seen on the DAC09 nude on GF's site) that will be too tall for a 5670, the 6N3 is a taller tube. Make sure it's unplugged, pull the stock tube and gently remove the clamp.
 
The top was a little difficult to remove, but with a little perseverance, I now have the burn-in going...
 
The tube clip is for protecting during shipping, once in place at home, the clip isn't really needed.

The case is tight, just use a kitchen knife from the back to pull the casing's side off the frame.

Cheers,
Ian
 
I've got a westinghouse NOS 5670 and a JAN GE 5670W coming from tube depot. My original is now broken in and sounds nice.
 
I've used the WE396A in the DAC and that was my fav by far. Very clear and warm.

JAN GE noticeably lacks the detail.

Since I've noticed the Canadian adresses in this thread, the tube store is in Hamilton Ontario, offers used 396 for $28 so you don't have to worry about customs.
 
I found a place on ebay that sells Shuguang tubes for the DAC-09, I'm not sure if Grant sells alternative tubes for the Tube DAC-09 and I don't want to step on any toes here. Its a vendor named: diyaudiokit and the item is:
New Shuguang Beijing 6N3 (6N3T 5670 6CC42) Vacuum Tube.
I ordered one and will let you guys know how it works out...Ian or Rachel is this vendor someone you guys know?? I'm just curious to try these tubes and hear what they sound like...I'm pumped to try them out!!!

I also found a tube from tube depot that they labeled as "various manufacturers", its a $7.95 tube-5670W / 2C51W...the tube I got was a Westinghouse WL5670 and the sound is excellent, very 3D, holographic like imaging a pleasant surprise.
 
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Don't know of them personally, have had a few customers get bad tubes, but I think the vendor stands behind his sale and shipped out replacements. There is one western guy in Hong Kong selling tubes with the same tester that we have (don't think this is him), his prices are about the same as ours, but he sells more variety, we generally only sell tubes that we have amps (gear) for, as that is another part of our quality control.

As always when buying tubes online, ask the vendor how he/she tests therm, if they say factory tested from China or Russia then look elsewhere is my suggestion unless you have access to a very good quality tube tester and are getting low priced tubes in bulk. I ordered in a pile of 6N1 tubes from Russia, boxed never used, less than 10% of the tubes were of any use and the seller has high feedback rating on eBay. I could have bought brand name NOS tubes for less!

Ask them how they test for excess gas, heater to cathode leakage, transconductance, microphonics. Ask how they calibrate their tester, ask what percent of operating condition (voltage/amperage) their tester tests at. Ask what their matching parameters/tolerances are. If you aren't comfortable with their answers, then look elsewhere if possible.

As always for dual section tubes, ask how they test each section too.

The only way to properly compare tube brands is to have them matched as well, even from the same brand (and production run) if one set is 10% stronger than the other, they will sound different.

For the B-283 it isn't really that critical and if the price is good, go for it and have fun. We only sell the stock tubes to our customers, the time it takes us to test the stock tubes isn't worth the effort for the price, unless you are our customer already :).

Cheers,
Ian
 
Thanks Ian...good info that I never even thought about, I'll let you guys know what they sound like or if they explode...hehehehe!! I figured I'd try a bunch of different places and tubes and learn a bit in the process....I posted on another thread that I found some Mullards for the B-283-very nice sounding and not real expensive...this is a blast!!!!
 
I got lucky and the Shuguang tube arrived safe and sounds good and I think it will stay in awhile. Oh and just an aside to whoever has a DAC-09, an upgraded power cord definitely has benefits and jumps this baby up a notch for sure. Ian told me months ago I should try it and a friend hooked me up with one, fantastic upgrade...thanks for the tip Ian!!!
 
eclein said:
I got lucky and the Shuguang tube arrived safe and sounds good and I think it will stay in awhile. Oh and just an aside to whoever has a DAC-09, an upgraded power cord definitely has benefits and jumps this baby up a notch for sure. Ian told me months ago I should try it and a friend hooked me up with one, fantastic upgrade...thanks for the tip Ian!!!
Click to expand...

I meant our GF PC-1.5 power cable :) quite affordable, but for those on a tight budget, DIY a good quality 16 ga. cable with decent ends and then for a few bucks you can get a bunch to try or take off of an old video monitor cable the RF filter, it is the round thing on the cable, try placing it at various positions on your power cable and see if you can hear the bass and kick drum separate into two distinct instruments on the downbeat instead of a thump. If you hear this then lock the filter into that position. For our PC-1.5 it occurred at the male end, kind of the opposite of where you think it would work. Bit of trial and error and fun, or just buy ours, which if you already own a GF product to put them on, you get a decent discount.

This to me is one of the most important parts of your system. As just about any recording or live engineer will likely tell you, creating a mix for either live or studio starts with the kick drum and bass guitar, sometimes hours is spent getting these right and made into two very distinct instruments. With out this the foundation of the mix is lost and everything else will never sound right with air in the mix for instruments to breath. I hear thumps more often than not, even on the most expensive of systems. The PC_1.5 was designed to remove this thump (by trial and error, by ear), which creates false harmonics that extend up thru the mix. Just about everyone that listens for this will hear it, unless they have some other method to reduce RF interference getting into the power supply. This RF interference creates false harmonics on the 60hz (in NA) sine wave that all circuitry is based on in your amp or source, these false harmonics then get amplified causing the thump which again creates false harmonics up the rest of the frequency range, reducing the air in the mix.

This is our approach to RF interference, keeping it away from the power supply by using the power cable. There are other methods but you want to make sure, especially on amplification (and just about every device in chain amplifies) that no RF circuit design is going to choke the dynamics of your gear.

Back to tube rolling :)

Cheers,
Ian
 
When I got into this hobby in earnest the last thing I thought would make a difference in sound quality was cabling/power etc....man was I wrong!!! Thanks for the tip on the RF filter, I'll try it as soon as I find one...
Has anybody tried these??
GE~3x MICA~RED LABEL~STAR~TUBE
A guy on ebay has some and he states these are the rarest tubes he's seen, they aren't outrageously expensive-like 2 for $30ish shipped-has anybody heard these??
 
GE Red 5 star 5670's...I grabbed a couple and they are the absolute
best tubes I have heard yet. Dethroned my WE396A like a cheap suit!!!
LOL!!!! They are still on the bay I believe. ..highly recommend checking them
out if your able.
 
Much thanks for the tip, eclein! I grabbed these off ebay and put one in last night. It sounds fantastic. Great detail and a huge soundstage. I was already very happy with the dac, but this really upped the performance several notches!
 
MrTrickle- I'm glad it worked out for you!!! Its very cool that you read the post and grabbed some, I've come to find out from some other folks that these are like "The" tube to get....enjoy!!!
 
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