Just ordered one myself and will post results when it arrives. Quick question I have not seen addressed here - the screw holding my volume knob has disappeared - may have fallen out and subsequently been vacuumed up. Anyone have any idea where I can get one or what size the screw is? There is a wire attached to the volume knob so I can't just remove it and take it in to my local hardware store. Help!
I'm assuming you mean you ordered the ECC35 from the place in India? I'm interested to hear your feedback. Did @thomaskong get his yet?
I had my first grandson born about 10 days ago. But also I lost my dear mother(1932-2020) 4 days ago and finished her funeral yesterday in Korea. Since I will be back to my home in Washington State only at the end of this month, I can not report on the status of ECC35 from India until then.
I just got in a pair of these from India. Both have Burn marks on the top and BIG Brown burn marks on 1 side. Yea I think I got duped but I will let you guys tell me after I post photos of what I received.
I agree with the sentiment posted upthread that NOS should mean NOS. The "N" stands for "new" ; not testing as new. I wouldn't say duped as they likely test in the NOS range but even though it's standard in the tube selling business to mean "NOS" as merely testing in the NOS range, it's nevertheless disappointing that it is so.
So I ordered the same and am also questioning them. I am new to this but from what I understand, almost all NOS/vintage tubes have a silver/grey getter flash spot either on their side or top. These are by-products of the production process. That said, what concerns me is that I had two little burn marks on the top as well. Now I also have read that Mullard would actually burn-in tubes in the factory being release so maybe they always have them. Going further, the lettering on my tubes was almost completely gone. But it did come with an original but tattered Mullard box. So I really don't know what to think ... and nor do I have much to compare to. Though in looking at some pics of better condition, and more expensive, ECC35 tubes on ebay, it looks like they do not have the burn marks on top ... s-l1600.jpg so yeah likely our tubes are used. I guess you get what you pay for. Annoying.
The red power LED doesn’t light up when I power up my 508ia. Should I be concerned or did it simply burn out? Let me Know guys thx!
Hello guys, Im thinking about buying a pair of Psvane ACME 805 for my LM-508. I know some of you have posted your impressions back on the thread, but there are too many pages to look for and may be some of you could tell us again your experience with the ACME 805 and if you consider they are worthwhile. What are the mayor improvements soundwise with these valves? I hope they last 3.000 hours minimum, otherwise they are pretty expensive per hour! Well, I would appreciate your comments.
I bought a pair of NOS RCA 805s and they're very good... and will very likely outlast any of the ACMEs.
Thank you for the reply. Where did you buy them and how much did you pay for them? What other 805 valves have you tried and compared with the RCA?
The Psvane 805A-T is what I had in there before. The RCAs offered better dynamics and better definition in the highs but being candid, the difference wasn't mind-blowing. My tech tested both pairs and said the RCAs output more than twice what the Psvanes did, leading him to mention they'll perform for a very very long time. Bought mine on eBay. Found a gentleman who sold them at a very cheap price but they're usually found for a much higher one per unit. A pair should cost about $700. You'll also need a cable to run the power from the top of the tubes into the appropriate hole behind the 805 tube slots. This is what it ends up looking like. Took this pic a couple of days ago.
Thank you. I have today the Psvane 805A-TII and they were an improvement (no huge, but noticeable, mostly on bass management and detail) over the original valves on the amp, wich I believe are the A-T series. The big question here is how the ACME series or the RCA would perform against the A-TII series, wich already gave me improvements like you mentioned.
Not so. The 805A-T were an upgrade over the standard 805s. A question most couldn't really answer as your chances of finding someone reading your post who bought these 2 specific models and compared them directly are microscopic at best.
I am pretty sure the stock 805's are white labelled 805A's, not 805A-T's. My 805 upgrade will likely be the Psvane Cossor's as I want something that fits within the tube cage.
In my sensitive system, Acme 805 made a huge difference over Cossor Valve with lot more transparency and natural details. I have no idea how long it will last. It had been working fine for 1 k hours so far but no way to predict for the future. I had got mine from Psvane Vacuum tube & Amplifiers He replaced faulty one quick. Thus I can recommend him to you. I have both Acme 805 and Acme 300B. Both of them are good, but Acme 805 made slightly more improvement. Thomas
Hello Guys, Besides the mods sugested by Strat-Mangler for eliminating the risk of a cap blow up in the LM-508, has anyone tried changing anything (caps, resistors, etc) inside of the amp that rose it to another level? I mean real a improvement in sound quality, not a marginal one. If so, could you please share it with us, with as detailed as possible? Im using it as power amp, so I guess changing the volumen knob isnt one of them. Thank you! PS: I looove the sound of my LM-508 and I will soon get a pair of Psvane ACME 805, but Im always looking for new ways to improve the sound of my system and maybe this could be one.
I swapped out the 4x 0.1uF decoupling cap with Miflex KCPU. Still in the process of burning in. I had it pre-burned in before installation with lower than operation voltage (didn't have any other way) for 100hours and then swapped it in. Still sound rather dark with high freq fairly recessed. I read that it takes another 100 hours to completely burn them in. And it will take a while as I don't want to leave the tubes glowing around the clock. Will report back when done.
Kinda regretted with using Miflex. I swapped out the caps on my 518IA with Jupiter copper and they sounded good from the get go and got better from there. Right now the 508IA with Miflex is hard to listen to and I will have to suffer through many weeks/months.
Thank you @jmpsmash for the answer. I think there's a risk on worsening the sound I guess. I think I will study the issues very well before changing anything inside the amp. For now I will upgrade the 805 to the ACME tubes and I will report my findings, but it will take a couple of months to have here.
yes. that's a definite possibility and I am prepared to get rid of them if that's the case. However, most reviewers tend to rate the Miflex very high, almost close to Duelund and Jupiter but at 50% price of the Jupiter and 10% of Duelund. However, that's after 200+ hours of burning in. So for now I am having faith that it will open up eventually. Also, I also installed Miflex KCPU for my tube based ANK Dac 2.1. That one I can leave on 24/7 and it has been around 100 hours at the moment so early next week I will have enough hours on them to see if it will indeed open up.
