That's the age of the amp more or less, and as I said upthread the guy who sold it to me 2nd hand told me he had replaced all of the tubes, when it turns out he only replaced one.
I mean it's not that special...it's a torx or star wrench, it just that most sets only go down to #10 and this requires a #8, which I've just ordered for myself!
Curious if the original tubes were also JJ's? On my Vincent SV-500 they were. Based on recommendations, I also changed them to the JJ E83CC's which are wonderful tubes. But the stock JJ's are great as is.
Yeah, the older, and I'm assuming stock, tubes were GE something, I can't make it out but here's a couple of pictures. side_1 side_2 And then the obviously new tube that the vendor did actually replace. Center
Interesting. I don't think those GE tubes would've been the stock tubes. I'd say your old Vincent just got a major upgrade!
Yeah maybe the vendor meant to say “I put one new tube in and a couple of old piece of junk tubes I found lying around.” Well if you’re right that’s a silver lining to this story that doesn’t seem to happen much anymore!
Most people replace their tubes every 5 or less years. This is especially true with current production tubes which do not last as long as do vintage tubes.
I remember clearly the last time I replaced a tube, it was 1978, and I came home after school and no one was there so I went wild with my fender amp, it was a clear case of abuse that ended up in a really interesting sound as the tube melted. I shattered it trying to get it out, and then subsequently prized the pins out and replaced it. While this was successful it was extremely stressful and has made me leery of ever changing a tube again, until now!
Bye the bye, or is it by the by, or bye the by or finally by the bye, I hear a quite clear difference, and in a satisfying way, listening with the new tubes.
Welcome to the wide world of tubes! This is exactly as it should be. New tubes normally sound better than do tubes with lots of hours. Also, different manufactures tubes of the exact same type don't sound the same either. This is why lots of people like to "roll in" different tubes.
GEs are definitely NOT piece of junk tubes... My bet would be that the Sovtek is the most likely culprit for this failure.
So is there a reason Vincent amps aren’t more spoken about? It’s really hard to find reviews for my model online. Is it just because the amp field is so crowded that they fall under the radar? For the price point, I think mine sounds fantastic and has plenty of power to spare.
Its a hybrid integrated with the tubes located inside the amp, so you just have to remove the top cover.
Just leave the screws out and place the cover back in position. I do this with my 237MK, much easier if you ever need to snoop inside.
Some still get a little squirmy about them as they are a “designed in Germany, built in China” product and have always seemed more willing to acknowledge the Germany part but not the China part. I think there was a little “smokes and mirrors” in their early days with regard to just how much their product line really had anything to do with Germany at all, but times have changed. There’s more transparency these days, they are part of Sintron, a large Germany based electronics wholesaler and have a guy by the name of Frank Blohbaum onboard who designs the tube circuits for their amps exclusively. A quote from Blohbaum from the Stereophile review below ….. "All [Vincent] products are designed and engineered in Germany," Frank Blöhbaum, engineering consultant to Vincent and a leading member of the design team, told me in an email. "Product manufacturing takes place in China, Germany, or a combination of the two. We have no unit which is 100% produced in Germany. Only the SA-T7, the SP-T700, and the new KHV-200 have final assembly in Germany." The SV-737 is manufactured in China. You can search and find reviews online. They review well, Stereophile have reviewed a couple. Vincent TubeLine SV-236MK integrated amplifier Vincent SV-737 integrated amplifier
