#141
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks Last edited by prepress; 10-29-2016 at 08:33 AM. |
#142
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I've been using the JJ tubes for a while now, and am pleased. But because of the improvements brought about by changing out power cords to my 2300 and subsequently to my 501s I'm thinking of giving some of the other tubes on hand another try to see what they do in the new setup. The Black Diamonds would be the ones to get the chance. I liked them when they were in, but went back to the JJs because that '60s material I was using sounded brighter than was comfortable. I've since decided that's not such a big issue.
However, it comes to mind that the original Mac tubes have been in the 2300 for a while now. I've had the unit for four years, plus the approximately one year the 2300 was on display in the store. Does anyone have an idea, however rough, of the lifespan of the original tubes? Maybe I should just go ahead and replace them too, even though there's nothing to indicate they're going to fizzle soon.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#143
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Charles.......Have you ever checked to see if the 12AX7's in the C2300 are the McIntosh branded JJ's or the McIntosh branded Made in China tubes they used for awhile? The Chinese tubes that came in my first C2300 and second C2300 were less than satisfactory to me. I now use Gold Lion gold pin 12AX7's in my line stage and NOS Telefunken ECC83 smooth plate 12AX7's in the phono stage. It produced a huge improvement in a lower noise floor, and a superior sound across the entire frequency range. If you are running the Made in China tubes, I would replace them no matter how many hours are on them.
If the 12AX7's are the McIntosh branded JJ tubes, you can expect 5,000 to 6,000 hours, perhaps even a bit longer before they begin to get noisy.
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Dan STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113 VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A |
#144
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I have the "Made in China" tubes in the phono section. I use the 2300 as a line stage, which is where the JJ ECC803s tubes are. NPR sounded pretty good today, so I'm not in a big hurry to swap out tubes, but if/when I do I thought I'd make a clean sweep, perhaps buy something low-noise and inexpensive to replace the "China" tubes. The JJs are too noisy to use in a phono section I think, but would that affect the line stage any?
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#145
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If you are not using your phono stages (MM or MC) then leaving the marginal Made in China tubes in place doesn't hurt anything because you are only using your line stage tubes. In that case I would still recommend the best tubes you can find. Everything matters.
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Dan STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113 VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A |
#146
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#147
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This is not major news, but I bought two pair of JJ ECC83s tubes to replace the original Mac tubes in my 2300's phono section (not being used) when they either die or I open the 2300 up to re-install the Black Diamond tubes; may as well replace everything, save a trip inside there in the future.
So when the time comes, I'll be ready. No real thought of trying the new tubes in the line stage, but I have the option.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#148
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I have also ordered a second pair of the Telefunken Black Diamond tubes from Tube Depot, to serve either as a backup to the current pair (when I finally get around to putting them back into the 2300) or as my MM tubes should I decide to remove my Aragon phono preamp from the setup and go straight into the 2300; if I do that, I'd best start playing LPs more so as not to waste the tubes. Besides, I have two pair of everything else, so why not the BDs. I liked them when they were in the 2300 before, though they weren't much help taming the brightness of my "torture test" '60s CDs; only the JJs in there now have made any difference. But I've let that ship sail, I think, and it's time to move on.
Besides, it might be interesting to see how things sound once the impending power cord reconfigure is in place.
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
#149
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Charles.......Having backup tubes of your favorite ones is always a good thing. The small tubes in a preamplifier will most likely last anywhere from 6000 to 8000 hours, perhaps even a bit longer. Unless you do a lot of listening it will be years before the spares will be needed. one the less, it is good to have them on hand.
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Dan STUDIO - McIntosh C1000C/P, MC2301 (2), MR88, Aurender N10, Esoteric K-01X, Shunyata Sigma spdif digital cable, Sonos Connect, PurePower 2000, Stillpoints, Furutech Flux 50, Michell Gyro SE, Michell HR Power Supply, SME 309, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Wireworld, Sonus faber Amati Anniversario LIVING ROOM - McIntosh C2300, MC75 (2), MR85, Magnum Dynalab 205, Simaudio MOON Neo 260D-T, Schiit Audio Yggdrasil, Aurender N100H, Shunyata Sigma USB cable, Micro Seiki DD40, Ortofon Cadenza Blue, Nakamichi BX-300, Sony 60ES DAT, PS Audio P10, Furutech Flux 50, Sonos Connect, Stillpoints, Wireworld, Kimber, PMC EB1i, JL Audio f113 VINTAGE - McIntosh MA230, Tandberg 3011A tuner, Olive 04HD, Sony DTC-59ES DAT, McIntosh 4300V, JBL 4312A |
#150
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SOTA, Grado, SME, Van den Hul, Gingko turntable setup; Pioneer Elite LD, BDP; Sony OLED TV; Magnum Dynalab tuner, antenna; MIT S-video cable; Pangea HDMI cables; DVDO video processor; McIntosh SACD, preamp, power amps; Telefunken Black Diamond preamp tubes; Kimber IC; Transparent IC, PC, SC; Mirage speakers; PS Audio, Shunyata PC; Audio Additives RCA caps; Furman power conditioning; Sanus: racks |
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