Thank you! I think it was your photo of the Sophia 274B that inspired me, IIRC.

I would think the KT88 would run 350B's, which I think are the same design or very close to the 6L6. Check with Dennis to be safe, though he has never said no to the tube possibilities I've presented.

That said, I ended up feeling that the 350B was a bit tiring/forward. It seems I keep going back to the 6V6. The EL34 XF2 I think is my second favorite (today!). I'll be giving the Valve Arts another go though.

Being the tube addict it seems I am, I have splurged on some 6V6 and one EL34 tubes to try out:

Tung-Sol 6V6GTA (~1950's - 60's)
Tung-Sol 6V6GT reissue - gets some good reviews and not expensive to try
Visseaux 6V6GT (1951)
Sylvania 6V6GT, (1940's)
NOS "dimple top" Siemens EL34

I'll try to do some reviewing and ranking, but it'll will probably be a while as I will sit with each for at least a few days.

Once I settle down with the tube rolling, I might have to have Dennis replace the power tube sockets if I don't wear them out earlier!

Okay, as a follow-up to my earlier question, about the use of VA350B's and the Sophia 274B rectifier in the Fire Bottle KT88, and for the benefit of some future reader, Dennis confirmed:

Concerning the Fire Bottle KT88, the Sophia 274B and VA 350B's are plug 'n play....these Inspire products truly R something aren't they!

http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/...ps27cabf01.jpg

Those 350B's look great in your amp! I'm a sucker for a pair of power tubes with the coke bottle shape.

And at $34/pair - who cares if they only last a month!

Me too, thanks. I'll have to give them a try again. Last night I gave a listen to NOS RCA 6L6 and NOS RCA 6V6 Blackplates (I think that's right). But I keep coming back to the Popes. They are more natural and more 3D. The RCA 6L6's were particularly unpleasant compared to both of the others - a bit of smearing and harshness. If I can, I'll try the 350B's again tonight and maybe the KT150's again for old time's sake. :eatndrink: I want to be clear about my top one or two favorites before the round of new tubes comes in. I'm particularly eager to try the Visseaux 6V6 that should be here next week.

Big Daddy Cary 306/200 IN DA HOUSE...
 

Well, my purchase of the Resolution Audio CD55 turned out to be a bit of a disaster. Really woolly bass, no tightness or control. I put back on my go-to Rotel RCD-1072, and everything sounded fine. I really believe there was something wrong with the CD55. Thankfully the eBay Return Policy allowed me to get a full refund, as the seller was digging in his heels and wouldn't accept a return. It got fairly contentious - but I couldn't live with the player and didn't want to try to re-sell it only to have the next buyer hear the same things. Ugh.

Enter my next eBay purchase: my, ahem, *vintage* (it's gotta be 10+ years old, right?) Cary 306/200 CD player with full digital input capability. Am I a dinosaur for still running CDs? Yeah, mehbe so. I still like them. Sue me. The 306/200 has the HDCD decoding filter and is just a beast. The next most desired unit would have been the 308T with the tube analog circuit, but they're available about as often as the Cubs win the World Series. Or thereabouts.

I'm loving this player tonight. First night in play. After the Resolution CD55 debacle, I really regretted selling the Rotel, but now my nerves are calming. This is a serious unit, back when it was new I couldn't have even considered buying one - way out of my range. Gotta love the bleeding edge of technology. It's a slippery slope.

The 70's era TungSol 6550's are still the go-to power tube, and the Siemens 7308 might be there for a while in the driver slot. Mullard 7-notch 5AR4 rectifier from the 60's. Peter's review makes me want to pop the Popes back in with a vintage 5U4G, perhaps... Oh the possibilities of the KT-150!:thumbsup:

http://home.comcast.net/~cryptcl/Oct3.jpg

Hey! Thanks for the adventure. Those junctures of changing an important piece of the system. Want to always keep at least one foot on the floor at all times! I know it well.

I'm all on NAS now with a streamer/DAC feeding the LP-2. Control it with a tablet app, browsing albums, queuing up tracks. I love it! :thumbsup: But I won't sue you. The best revenge is living well! http://smiley.nowdararpour.ir/ahswen/3.gif

BTW, I love that lava lamp between the tubes. Totally copacetic.

Which type did you go with? I have a Grace model GDI-IRDT200, but I haven't started using it regularly. Streams hi bit rate files through the WiFi and has a digital out - so that was one of the things I liked about the Cary 306/200 was the array of digital inputs.

What app do you use to control the play? I think I was going to look into the Foobar app since that's the desktop computer player I was using. I should see if I can get that working with the new Cary device.

Are you suggesting Ebay's return policy allows one to return any product that is not to their liking for any reason?

That policy works great for buyers, but not for sellers. Perhaps that explains why there's so few private sellers on Ebay any longer.

Regarding the VA 350B's, how much break in time have you given those tubes? I had some 40 hours on mine before they came to life....but again, they were used on an entirely different tube amp. Happy listening!

You can return something with that policy IF it's "not as described". I think there was something wrong with the player, because it sounded like crap compared to 2 others I had access to. I don't know if it was a voltage or impedance mismatch - but I don't care. It didn't sound right. It had been modded, and who knows what else.

Probably fewer private sellers because of the 12.5% fees (10% for eBay + another 2.5% PayPal). Pretty punishing if you're selling anything of value.

I have a Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6. I use BubbleUPnP as the control on an android tablet. Files are on a Synology NAS with MinimServer as the server. Everything is nice and solid now, after tinkering with various control and server software.

We are different though, since my server is a NAS and it sounds like yours is via your computer.

The SM6 has their DAC Magic plus incorporated. I really like that DAC, particularly as it is not overly expensive.