Dennis Had Inspire Amps

[Simonatsea]

Thought on your bendix 5y3 are welcome too.

[Aercool]

Originally Posted by Simonatsea

I look forward to your feedback on those 5992's!

On the 6v6 list I may have to add those RCA's you mentioned, also looking at possibly Popes or Mazda.... I'll wait to hear more on your 5992's first.

Glad you are enjoying your Omens, I received my free lunch Friday the other week, nothing bad to say about the guys at Zu!

I'm in hoard mode on these vintage tubes. They're only going to get tougher to find. I've got a rotation of three rectifier/power tube combos:

1. Pope 6V6GT + RCA 5U4G
2. Bendix 5992 + Bendix 6106
3. RCA 6V6GT/VT-107 + Sylvania 5Y3G

The Pope and Bendix are supposed to be able to handle the higher voltages from the 6106 and 5U4G.

I'll try to give the 5992's a workout tonight, if the lightning thunderstorms are at a distance.

What sort of membership is necessary to post pics?

[Loop4fun]

Originally Posted by Aercool

I'm in hoard mode on these vintage tubes. They're only going to get tougher to find. I've got a rotation of three rectifier/power tube combos:

1. Pope 6V6GT + RCA 5U4G
2. Bendix 5992 + Bendix 6106
3. RCA 6V6GT/VT-107 + Sylvania 5Y3G

The Pope and Bendix are supposed to be able to handle the higher voltages from the 6106 and 5U4G.

I'll try to give the 5992's a workout tonight, if the lightning thunderstorms are at a distance.

What sort of membership is necessary to post pics?

Aercool,

I just purchased a pair of the RCA 6V6GT-107. Let me know how you like the Sylvania with them. I only have the 5U4G, so if it's too much voltage, I'll need to wait until I get something else.

[Aercool]

Originally Posted by Loop4fun

Aercool,

I just purchased a pair of the RCA 6V6GT-107. Let me know how you like the Sylvania with them. I only have the 5U4G, so if it's too much voltage, I'll need to wait until I get something else.

The Sylvania 5Y3G + RCA 6V6GT/VT-107 was pretty magical. It was tough to pull them in favor the Bendix. But the Bendix have a cool factor too, just in a different way. I do think Dennis recommends the lower voltage 5Y3G with the 6V6GT's, except for the Popes which can handle the bigger voltage from the 5U4.

[Aercool]

Hmmm... Can't say I'm blown away by the Bendix 5992's. They do seem a little clinical and lean, like I had read in some places about these tubes. Gigantic soundstage, but the sound was just a little lean for me. I just got the 2009 remaster of the Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers", and that might not have been the best choice. Lots of reviews of how "hot" this sounds, with some clipping involved. So I switched to a more familiar recording and it still wasn't as sweet as the RCA's.

I'm going back to the RCA's tonight and will listen to the same CD's to see if my impressions last night were accurate. Tough to do comparisons one night to the next, but what are you gonna do...

I wish I could post a picture, to show the blue glow that comes with these tubes. Pretty weird looking, like Northern Lights in a bottle. I snapped a pic with my iPhone, pretty wild how the glow shimmys when the music intensity or volume is changing.

[Aercool]

[Simonatsea]

Wow, looking forward to the updates. Glad you managed to upload a pic.
Gigantic soundstage sounds intriguing.... More so than the other 6v6 variants?
Have you played around with different rectifier combinations with the 5992's?
How do the popes stack up against the bendix and the RCA's?
Sorry to pester but you are on the path I am soon to take.....

[pstrisik]

And I've got the Pope's with solid gray obscuring the view.

Here's hoping the sound good enough that I won't care!

On another note, looks like Dennis sold the special edition amp! Way to go Dennis!

[Aercool]

Originally Posted by Simonatsea

Wow, looking forward to the updates. Glad you managed to upload a pic.
Gigantic soundstage sounds intriguing.... More so than the other 6v6 variants?
Have you played around with different rectifier combinations with the 5992's?
How do the popes stack up against the bendix and the RCA's?
Sorry to pester but you are on the path I am soon to take.....

The soundstage just seemed to wrap around the back half of my room.

I haven't messed with any other rectifiers with the Bendix power tubes. I suppose I could try a vintage 5U4G, or a different 5Y3G. The filaments on the both the Bendix power and rectifier tubes are so much thicker than the usual tube. The rectifier filament glowed for almost a minute after shutting the power down.

In very unscientific listening, right now I'd rank them RCA 6V6GT > Pope 6V6GT > Bendix 5992. I've got a couple well-known tracks I listen to to evaluate bass. The RCA's knocked it out of the park. But who knows if I had the volumes perfectly matched etc. An extra tweak on the volume could've put one above the other. The Bendix might need some break-in too. I seem to recall reading that about them also. What's weird is that one tube glowed purplish-blue like the pic, and the other didn't at all.

It's just so wild to me that these things were pulled from ballistic missiles for our listening pleasure... ;^) Show me a bigger 'cool factor' than that! Well, maybe except my vintage 5Y3G's that could've been installed in a WWII battleship radio.

[Aercool]

Originally Posted by Simonatsea

Have you played around with different rectifier combinations with the 5992's?
Sorry to pester but you are on the path I am soon to take.....

Okay, so I left the Bendix 5992's in, but replaced the driver (Siemens E88CC) and rectifier (Bendix 6106) with what was there when I was in heaven with the RCA 6V6GT's. I put back the Telefunken E88CC (one of Upscale Audio's $129 Platinum guys) and the vintage Sylvania 5Y3G, and listened to the 20 year remaster of Emmylou Harris' "Wrecking Ball". Yowsa. A Daniel Lanois masterpiece... So, the 5992's are JUST FINE, but maybe the Siemens was the weaker link? Who knows. I wish this could be more scientific, but you know how it is. Your mood, your golf swing, your girlfriend can all impact your outlook on life - and therefore how 50 year old tubes sound... But when it's right, it's RIGHT!