Tube Possibilities (yes, that's right)

[djwhog]

Kinda like the saying on a car : Drive it like you Stole it... Play it Like you Stole... Beat on it a little will surely not hurt!

Very nice and congrats...

[prepress]

The system is on, and the tuner's going (NPR). Listening to Jonathan Schwartz earlier, the music he played sounded quite good. "Hey Jude" in particular was really clean, detailed and clear. I heard stuff in it I hadn't heard before. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me was what it is. The theme music to All Things Considered was a bit lacking, in that the big drum didn't have the weight or impact it's had with other tubes. But, the GLs in the line stage don't have a ton of hours on them, less than twenty-five as I type.

[prepress]

I'm up to 34 hours, and as I've begun to play my reference material, I notice that the low end is missing the weight and impact I was used to with the JJ tubes. Last time out, it was as if the low end were turned down and moved to the back of the mix or something. There's a bit of impatience brewing, but krustycat suggests these GLs need at least 100 hours to really show themselves; 200 to settle in fully. If the bottom will fill in more, great. If not, I still have the JJs. I'll be leaving the GLs in a bit longer, to give them more of a chance. Other than the thin low end, they sound quite good.

I could leave the preamp on overnight, but would rather not go there in case something goes wrong.

[krustycat]

Leave it on playing music with the amplifiers in standby.

Nothing should go wrong.

Think positively.

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

[prepress]

Originally Posted by krustycat

Leave it on playing music with the amplifiers in standby.

Nothing should go wrong.

Think positively.

Sent from my iPhone using A.Aficionado

It's not a bad idea, but I don't know. I'm just not comfortable with leaving things on overnight. Never have been. The only exception is the fan I use for white noise in my bedroom.

While I don't think it's necessary to post every time I put an hour or two on the GLs, I will say that last night I played them some, and the total is now 36:39. The impression was that of a "shy" low end. The earlier comments about the GLs lacking low-frequency weight and impact still hold, but now and then last night that low end would jump up or step forward a bit and say, "I'm here!" Perhaps a sign of things to come? Or, what I may be hearing is simply the GL's presentation in the process of refining; they may never offer the weight and impact the JJs do. We will see. The low end is important because I have a dual-purpose system, and it's with the video side that the deficiency shows most.

As for material used last night, a blu-ray of Thor: The Dark World and the Jeff Beck Rock & Roll Party DVD.

[krustycat]

At this pace, it will take months for your GLs to reach 200 hrs.

The good thing is, if you keep the GLs, it may last you forever.

The tubes I have are considered to last in theory from 5000-8000 hrs. or even more.

Don't remember the life expectancy of the GLs though.

I left the c2500 on for 24/7 1 week and that was all I needed to hear a difference, in the beginning sounded too bright, no punch at all.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by krustycat

At this pace, it will take months for your GLs to reach 200 hrs.

The good thing is, if you keep the GLs, it may last you forever.

Mike.......That gave me a good chuckle. If Charles takes as long to break in the Gold Lion tubes as he took to decide on purchasing the C2300, the 12AX7's should be broke in about June of next year.

[prepress]

Remember, I missed a little over two weeks with the 2300 out of service and at the shop (3/19–4/5).

But my schedule doesn't allow long listening sessions that often. So it may be a while getting to 100 hours, indeed. As for sound, I didn't find the Gold Lions bright out of the box, but did become aware of the light low end. I'm hoping that changes with more time on them.

[prepress]

Impressions may change depending upon the source material, perhaps.

I'm now at 45:13, and have noted that while playing some of my DVD reference material it was helpful to turn down the volume on my 2300 due to the sound being somewhat bright; I noticed this when the Mullards were in there and Kimber Hero was the IC on my BDP, but the BDP has Transparent Plus now. My tentative conclusion was that the Gold Lion tubes are less forgiving than the JJs (probably because they aren't as warm). I suppose it's also possible they're still finding their way, so to speak, sound-wise.

As far as the GL low end, perhaps it's simply a different presentation. Last night it was a bit more satisfying, though at times still lacked the weight and fullness of the JJs. I wouldn't notice these things in all likelihood if I didn't use the same core of reference discs. I try to play at least one thing from the reference material every session.

[Wasatch]

Yeah, 100 hrs. on tubes is a very good place to start. Keep us posted. Interesting thread.