Considering getting tube rings for my McIntosh 240 amp (for the small tubes ~ apparently they do not make them for the large power tubes). Does anyone have any experience with these? If they work, what do they do? Would they be better for modern tube amps or vintage equipment like mine? They are pretty cheap.... $8.00 per pair. G
I had tube socks at one point but never could get the desire to use them even though they were given to me. Hey, tube rings might work, I guess the idea behind them is minimizing air conducted and other vibrations but that might "dampen" the tube sound to a degree. I've had prolonged discussions with Dr. Kron a tube designer and, some ringing is what helps make tubes sounds unique and gives them some of their "magic". He counts on that in his tube and amp design. Y'a know what, for 8 bucks you could try them but, IMHO it's better to leave the tubes alone.
I guess they're supposed to address microphonic issues, but as khorn mentioned, a certain degree of microphony can be a good thing. I ordered these anyway, just to play around with. http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/
I have some shun mook wooden tube caps on the tubes in my CAT preamp. I heard a sonic improvement. Hey Gary, this hobby is fun and if the price of admission on a tweek is cheap what the heck! Don't let the science boys on here deter you from trying something that you might like. They're just trying to ruin our fun. (smiley face)
Never heard of tube caps but they sound like fun! My greatest fear is that one day I'll have everthing charted: Tube caps on power tubes, silver interconnects and Brick Filter to listen to DCC's Aqualung, Tube Rings on small tubes and copper interconnects with Straight Wire cables to listen to MOFI's Aqualung.... *H*E*L*P*
Yeah, one can really go crazy with this stuff. Think about the turntable guys that use different tone arms and cartridges for different recordings. I even put my cables on porcelin insulators. No, I didn't pay the big bucks for the fancy shmancy ones from some audiophile catalog. I went to home depot and bought a couple 8' 2X3's and a **** load of heavy duty porcelin insulators electrictions use. The whole deal was less than 20 bucks.
A good tube damper will not interfere with a tube's unique "personality." It will, however, keep unwanted microphonic vibrations from distorting the music. These vibrations come from transformers, sound waves, and other sources, causing fuzziness and "grunge," annoying emphasis of "sh" and "ch" sounds (sibilance), and blurring of the soundstage. Some tube dampers dampen the music, others cause tubes to run hotter than they would otherwise. A good tube damper allows airflow around the tubes for cooling. There are lots of options out there; going with the cheapest is not necessarily the best deal, nor is the most expensive. It's ironic that tube sellers and manufacturers often say that some microphony is desirable, and yet they consider the best tubes to be those that measure the least microphony. It's usually not the tubes themselves that are to blame for undesirable microphonics. External factors like transformer vibration, relays, and other component vibrations cause electro-acoustic feedback to be amplified in the tubes. Some tubes are more sensitive than others to these distortion-causing vibrations. Like any other vibration-isolation device, a good tube damper will help reduce these distortions. I've found vintage tube gear and new tube gear to be equally susceptible to microphonic distortion, and good tube dampers will work equally well with both. You'd probably be best off to take care of the tubes on your preamp first. Otherwise, any distortions from your preamp will be part of the signal going to the amp and be further amplified there. By the way, there are some excellent damping instruments for large power output tubes as well as the small signal tubes, at the website mentioned above in an earlier post. Warm regards,
The Audio Research tub rings are thing and made from a special polymer that is designed to not unduly heat up the tube. There was a big difference when I added them and they are only like $8 a pair or something. Plus you can easily take them off when you clean your amp. I am assuming of course you periodically clean your contact points from time to time like I do. I little cleanliness goes a long way in this hobby.
I have just seen these (see picture) and they look great to me! I think I will place a pair of them over my 12AU7/ECC82 tubes! Hope they won't get too hot... By the way: these cuties are from a Swiss High End company named Ensemble... Best to all Thomas
I've tried those tube sox. They're made of Kevlar fabric, which absorbs vibrations to a degree. Mine got stiff and brittle after a while though, and then they were useless (and the black silicone cracked). I suppose Ensemble is a great company with some wonderful products, but their Tube Sox only frustrated me.
The concept of a tube sock is strange to me. Wrapping the tube with almost any material has high risk of keeping heat trapped, the last thing tubes need. I have had great luck with Steve's Hal-o dampeners, they only touch the tube at 3 points and do not restrict air flow. The definetly tightened up my system (14 or so tubes were Hal-o'ed), and look a bit "spaceman" to boot. A bit of Robbie the Robot.
Cunningham, Just saw these Hal-o-dampeners on that webside which is mentioned above. This concept makes sense to me, I think I have to risk a closer look at them... Thank you Thomas
Steve, We need to be careful here as those U rings take up a bit of space and would not work on some amps like my VT100 for instance where the tubes are tightly packed in. The Audio Research rings are much more compact. Caveat emptor!
Nice observation, Lee. I've not yet encountered a tube component that wouldn't accomodate the HAL-O's; tubes packed in too closely wouldn't get much air circulation for cooling. I don't discount the possibility, though. The HAL-O damping instruments require only about 3/8" clearance (for tubes lined up closely together, the rings can be positioned to overlap one another). If you have more room on one side of a tube and less on the other, you only need 1/4" clearance (the open side of the ring would face the closer area). I've not seen inside the VT100, but, perhaps with a little ingenuity, there would probably be little problem installing the HAL-O damping instruments. ARC tube dampers are nice; I've used them myself. They don't discolor the music, but they are not as effective as the HAL-O at reducing microphonic distortions. Here's why: The ARC elastomeric ring fits around the tube with no external reference; it absorbs some vibration, but is basically free to "wobble" or vibrate right along with the tube. The HAL-O, on the other hand, has an external reference (the outer ring), to hold the tube in a steady position while the damping pads absorb vibrations. This principle is similar to that of a trampoline frame. For the price, I honestly can't knock the ARC damper. The HAL-O, I believe, is in a different league.
I just found a customer's reference to the VT-100 and ARC damping rings in an e-mail folder, dated this past June 11. Here it is, unedited: I'm currently running an Audio Research LS-15 preamp/VT-100 MKII power amp with Magneplanar 3.6r speakers. The preamp has original 6922's that test and sound fine with the original ARC elastomer (?) damping rings. I recently completed a complete re-tube of the ARC VT-100 MKII (by myself with the help of two Fluke DMM's) and after seeing how the damping rings FUSED to the eight 6922's with some of them yellowing and partially split, I have been hesitant to replace them until I could find an improved replacement. Your product seems to be the answer and your description as well as the FAQ's support the fact that you know your stuff (no BS-type responses like "how your dampers are the cure to every evil known to man and then some"). One question. As you probably know, the ARC VT-100 series has the tubes mounted horizontally. I really don't intend at this time to add power tube dampers, but how will the dampers work on the HORIZONTAL 6922 input and driver tubes? If these work as well or better than the OEM rings from Audio Research, have a lifetime guarantee and truly don't melt and bond to the tubes, they may be just the ticket for me.
Herbelin, Very interesting. I am also running all ARC and Maggies. I have had no problem with fusing so far in two years. I have not seen any cracking or splitting either. They do get slightly yellow but this is natural with such high heat disappating through a polymer ring. Maybe one can use the tube dampers you pictured on the outside tubes where there is more space around the tube. I may yet try the HAL-O.
