Got a lot of useful info from this thread and last week I received my R8. I went with the KT88s, and based on what I read, was fully expecting to prefer the triode mode but I am full on in love with the ultra-linear mode. I’m running preamp outs from a Marantz NR1200 which fit my AV situation just right, and impressed me in general, but I was too tempted to introduce tubes to the situation, and I’m so glad I did. I’m running them to floor-standing Martin Logan 40i speakers, and the Marantz is outputting to a subwoofer. I ordered direct from China, and it took about two weeks. I did email ahead of time to confirm they were in stock and ready to ship. I will soon be connecting my turntable and phono preamp directly to the R8, and am curious to see what a sound source running through the R8 preamp section sounds like. Even just running the power section from the Marantz imparts a really amazing mid to low mid punch that I particularly enjoyed on downtempo but groovy tracks like All I Need by Radiohead, Golden Age by Beck, Sound And Color by Alabama Shakes, Golden Hour by Kacey Musgraves , and several Jenny Lewis tracks, and even some dance tracks that I don’t usually listen too like Levitating by Duo Lipa. Just wanted to say I appreciate everyone’s insights here and wanted to share some of my own.
Hello musiphill I just got a pair of MELZ 6sl7gt (used). Was waiting to get my room treatment kit before I plugged it in which is arriving today. Will plug in and tell you Which shuguang do you specifically mean?
I have pulled the trigger and bought a pair of Shuguang 6SL7 big blue bottles and 1 pair of Psvane 6SN7 from China. They are here in the UK but in customs somewhere, got a delivery date of 17th. I have a few different makes now of 6SL7 and 6SN7.
Threw around a couple of acoustic panels today in the name of room treatment. I should have never done this. Left with thoughts of where can I put more panels to keep going to heaven Oh yes. I also swapped the preamp tubes to MELZ. But then, this is incredible. - your latest trick - damn I nearly fell off the couch when I heard how knopler sounds (botle's empty man). Oh well, ok ok. It sounded amazing right from the start. Caps are good to upgrade. But, room treatment is easier
Ok. A bit more than a rambling audiophile What did I find different? Note that there is minimal impact from thr MELZ because I am using a separate pre amp. The bass is more controlled. Sounds clearer. I never knew I was hearing echoes and the vocals went to a whole new level. The grain in the voice when I played "latest trick" was significant. Like textures had been unveiled to me. The raspiness of the vocals was something new. Before the panels came up, it did sound melodious but this was more like a cardboard was taken out from between me and the music. Oh, I could still make out the speakers but, the Soundstage was more defined and controlled. Nora Jones - come away with me. The sigbiliance was almost gone. The song sounded more controlled. It threatened to get out of hand but never did. More to come......
Last paint scheme on Pimpin my Wilsenton. It’s mostly done, I have about eight more coats of clear and a couple of other things. Again the silver is gilding foil. Oh, the cage is not pushed all the way down in this pic. Semi dry
Mr Carson’s Lab on YouTube is pretty impressive. He also has classes online for cheap, I think his teaching method is getting to the meat of electronic theory and repair. He’s also a dang genius
Hi all! I've had my R8 for about a year now. Love it overall, but still trying to get more bass out with this rig. I've upgraded the pre amp tubes with vintage Sylvanias. Those got me some more bass but it has been a 3 out of 10 for me overall. Funny thing- the stock EL34s have given the best bass in my limited experiments so far. They really don't seem like bad tubes. I've tried well broken-in Gold Lion KT88s and they had less bass. I've gotten rid of them. Just tried Electro-Harmonix 6CA7s, which were said to have good bass. They have MUCH less bass. Almost none. I only played them about 10 hours before giving up, It seemed like they were going nowhere. I'd hate to drop $400 on some vintage Svetlanas just to find out there is not much if any more bass. I know a sub is a must at this point, but it seems like I should be getting more bass than I am with just the amp. I know my room isn't great and there is not much I can do about that. But I have a solid state I have put on the same rig in the same room and it had no problem kicking bass around this space. Or would a EQ help? The bass is there (with the stock EL34s), it is just heavily overpowered by the mids and highs. Pro-Ject or Micro Seiki turntable > Nagaoka MP-150 > Darlington MM-6 (with custom bass upgrades from them) > Willsenton R8 > Tekton Perfect SET. Maybe I'll just get a vintage Marantz amplifier instead, they're supposed to sound tubey... Thank you all for your thoughts!
My experience is exactly the same as yours with the bass performance. I also get the best bass performance with TS EL34's but not enough. Many people say to get a sub but my Vincent SV237 MK provides all the bass I could ever want so I see no need to spend money on a sub that may or may not get me where I want to be. I can tweak the bass performance via the DSP Parametric EQ in Roon but that has its own issues as well.. Have you had an amp in your system that provides adequate bass?
An old Technics SU 8044 gave great bass in this room and rig. If an old middle-value amp can do it, I know the room can be overcome.
It may just be the nature of tube amps. I am primarily using my Vincent amp but once every few weeks or so I hook up the R8 to give it a listen. Perhaps an EQ like the Lokius might help but since my Vincent works fine, I don't think I want to keep trying to get the sound I want out of the R8.
Typically it's at the frequency extremes that you see the limitations of budget iron, it takes a really good output transformer to give you full range sound with deep bass and those are $$$.
