Anyone compared chryoed vs non chryo kt 120s

[Puma Cat]

After being somewhat of an advocate for cryo'ing of tubes, I've since become an non-advocate. I've found detrimental effects more often than beneficial ones. The only exception was a pair of Mullard CV4003s which were a skosh soft, and cryoing improved their detail and articulation just the right amount. But it's definitely not a given that cryoing improves all tubes.

Power cords, OTOH, is another matter, IMO.

[rlw3]

Originally Posted by ronenash

Never tried them myself but heard them at other places. Always seemed like people are hearing what they expect to hear. I never heard much difference certainly not for the better, if anything they were drier sounding.

Yes having preconceptions does alter how you look at things.In my case i bought a cj pr 12 which i had never heard. it came with svetlena 6550s,rca grey plate 5751s and usa 6fq7s. i had no idea what it would sound like. i did not use the "6550" package until i has burned in my all chryo ge jan 5751,kt120s and ge 6fq7s.

the non chryo 6550 set was way too warm slow typical cj criticism area. the chryo was too hard but actually closer to neutral than the 6550 setup.

the mix of the chryo power tubes 120s with non chryoed driver and input tubes is the best result i have achieved with cj gear ever. The 6550 seemed forward with not very much depth or solidity of image. So along with the over richness the 6550 just is not what i want to listen to. i hope i will like the non chryo 120s better with even more improvement but i will be real content if they are not better.

[rlw3]

Just ordered some non chryo kt 120s. will report back after 50 hr breakin and shoot out. Puma Cat. Makes a good point about soft tubes benefiting more for the chryo process. all tubes get softer as they age,do they not? Maybe the hardening of the chryo process offsets this softening and is a reason for its popularity.

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by rlw3

Just ordered some non chryo kt 120s. will report back after 50 hr breakin and shoot out. Puma Cat. Makes a good point about soft tubes benefiting more for the chryo process. all tubes get softer as they age,do they not? Maybe the hardening of the chryo process offsets this softening and is a reason for its popularity.

No, some tubes just have a softer quality than others, Mullards compared to Telefunkens, for example.

No reason to believe that tubes soften as they age.

[rlw3]

Originally Posted by Puma Cat

No, some tubes just have a softer quality than others, Mullards compared to Telefunkens, for example.

No reason to believe that tubes soften as they age.

How would you describe the lessening of dynamics, detail and transparency and other deteriorations that occurs as tubes age?

[Puma Cat]

Originally Posted by rlw3

How would you describe the lessening of dynamics, detail and transparency and other deteriorations that occurs as tubes age?

As a lessening of dynamics, detail, and transparency!

No, seriously, my experience is limited with tubes going bad...my understanding is they start to exhibit aberrant characteristics, e.g. refusing to hold bias, motorboating, microphony, and other nasty sounding qualities. Other tube aficionados e.g. Turntable and Myles might be more help here.

[rlw3]

if you buy and break in 2 sets of the same small tubes, use the first set for say 1000 hrs which is 66% of their normal lifespan expectancy, then substitute in the second set of tubes which have little use you may hear substancial differences especially if the tube is run hard. This performance difference may happen long before the tube gets noisy. this has been my experience especially with 6922's to the point where i would not be enclined to sell my premier 12 or act 2.2 which uses 5751s and 6fq7s and 6h30p's respectively to buy a more expensive cj gear that uses 6922's.

I have an all non chryo medium hrs 6550 based pr 12 set of tubes i will be comparing to an all chryo kt 120 set vs a new non chryo kt 120 with new non chryo 5751 and non c 6fq7s. i hope there is a clear winner to announce

I will then compare some chryo and non chryo 6h30p's in the cj act 2.2

last i will compare some chryo and non chryo 6n1p in my art audio phono.

Should i create new threads as i do this? should they be here or on the cj forum? please advise. it will take some time to break in the newest set of tubes-sorry for any delays

PS Mr Lew Johnson of conrad johnson is a proponent of kt 120s but i dont know his thoughts on chryoing them.