Hello Thomas Have you tried the Melz 6N9S (6SL7) on the LM508? If so, can you give me your opinon on these?
Hello, After reading from the side lines and owning the 805ia for sometime now... I'm curious to know what speakers you all are using?
6n9s sounds sweet with clean treble and details. They can be had around 60$ pair. One may try them at small risk.
Hello Thomas How do you find the United 805 vs the ACME 805 now that some time has passed and maybe burning time changed United's sound? Are they worthwile? By the way, have you tried United vs Cossor 805?
I've just test the Psvane 805 ACMEs against the AT-II on my LM-508. Well, I wish I didnt! The difference is very big. The ACMEs are much more refined, with better base, more life, less grain, etc. More engaging. On another league, as their price suggest! Still the AT-II are a considerably leap forward from the stock tubes and I guess they must be about 70-75% of the ACMEs at 1/4 of the price. Anyone of you consider United 805 to be close to the ACMEs?? I ask because they can be bought half the price. Anyone???
Hi, Was seriously considering purchasing one of these, and was wondering how much roughly the power tubes cost to replace? I listen to my stereo a couple of hours every day, so was trying to weigh up if the replacement cost is going to be prohibitive. Cheers, Jack
Depends on which one you plan to get. You can get a pair of 805 tubes from $200 to $800 (or more!) a couple hours a day is less than 1000 hours a year. A pair will last you a few years.
Actually, I don't know. My amp is a used (I think I am the 3rd owner). During burn in of my various upgrade, I have them on for 24/7 for days and they show no drop in bias current. So extrapolate from that, it should be thousands of hours.
I've just tried one NOS Brimar 6SL7 and all I can say is WOW!!! What a f.. AWESOME tube! Even without any burning time whatsoever! I liked very very much the Sylvania VT229 (wich is a very well regarded tube here), but this one is on another league. Incredible!! The sound is everywhere, completly detached from the speakers, rich tone, super fast, completely black background, sweet.... just BEAUTIFUL. In some forums people compares very well Brimar to Mullard as both are British. I really don't know as I never tried Mullard, but I paid about 20 U$S here in Argentina for this one, NOS brand new, that after trying one, I bought another one right away!!! If anyone is willing to try it, I guess they can also be found pretty cheap on ebay. And if someone trys it againts a Mullard 6SL7, I'm all ears! Totally totally recomended for the price. Here is the image of the valve (I have NO idea of the year of production as it's not mentioned anywhere):
In 805 tubes (and similar 845/211) the main failure mode is not a loss of emission, but filament breakage. That will more depend on number of on-off cycles than on total operating hours.
Since I do not have socket saver for 805 tube socket, I do not change 805 tubes as often as 6sn7 or 6sl7. If I want to do shootout, I need to go back and forth to confirm initial impression. But I will not do that on 805 without socket saver. I will let RCA 805 stay for one month to get long term impression. Thus I can not give definite opinion on either United vs Cossor 805 although I think they are much better than stock tubes. But my favorite is Acme 805 with nuanced texture. Recently its price had gone down to 716$ Psvane Vacuum tube & Amplifiers After I paid 870$ on Acme 805 32 months ago, it had lasted 3500 hours without problem.
For those of you that have used 805 tubs that need the anode cable, how did you remove the little plastic piece where you're supposed to plug in the cable? They both seem really tight and I don't want to mess anything up.
Don't try to pry the red part out - that's the jack you will plug the wire into. Only the black tip comes out, and it comes out easily by just gently sliding a small flat blade screwdriver under it. If you turned the amp upside down I'm sure it would drop out on it's own. It's under no tension to speak of.
Hello guys, Does anyone of you know if these Sylvania 6SN7 valves are good? I found them at a very good price here. There's information on the label of the box and on the pictures: Thank you!!
They are 6sl7 not 6sn7. In general Nos 6sl7 are cheaper than Nos 6sn7 due to less demand. If you want to try 6sn7 other than Black treasure 181 at reasonable cost, you may try 6n8s at 48$ per pair. 6N8S (6SN7, ECC32) Tubes MELZ Nos | eBay
