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Hi tube lovers. I'm in the fortunate position of living a short drive from two of our fine Aussie tube amp builders, Mark of Retro-Thermionic and Earl of Weston Acoustics and I have amps by both. While I don't live near Eric 'McChanson', I have had long distance dealings with him and he was as gracious as all the feedback says (as are Earl and Mark). I encourage anyone to see what our aussie amp builders are up to. Back to Mark. A couple of years ago I bought a used Retro-Thermionic tube rectified preamp from an SNA member that was built around a Golden Dragon 5U4 rec tube and Shuguang Black Treasure CV-181-Z (6SN7). The seller had accidentally broken his black treasure and replaced it with a Tung Sol. He was borderline about selling it but I twisted his arm. Once I got it, I enjoyed it but was keen to hear it as Mark intended, so bought a replacement Black Treasure (from highly recommended Mark at Sonic Art). Once I had the Black Treasure back in there it really started to sing and I could see why Mark used that combo. I corresponded with the seller afterwards who needless to say suffered sellers regret... When I bought the Retro-thermionic, the preamps I had been using were a Radford SC22P, Musical Paradise MP701MK2 and 'The Truth' by Hornshoppe. I had recently been using 'The Truth' and was amazed with it by the newly revealed layers to tracks that I had been listening to for 40 odd years. When I got my Retro-Thermionic preamp "Shu", in the system with the black treasure tube in place, I was really surprised by a comparable level of detail to 'The Truth', but also beautiful tubey warmth and roundness. 'Shu' stayed in my main system for a couple of years until recently when it needed a minor service. I got in touch with Mark and he very kindly offered to service it free of charge (with the possible exception of some parts). In the end I just paid Mark a tenner for an RCA connection that I somehow managed to bust. Mark was generous with his time and enthusiastically showed me some of his home systems, the vast majority of which were build by him as well as some of his build projects. We sat down and had a listen to his main system which was a real pleasure. Mark kindly offered to give me a loan of one of his power amps, “Persuasion” - 5998/6AS7 SET, which is about 5 watt. I began a foray into low watt valve amps and full range (or similar) speakers a couple of years ago. I have 2 X 2 watt integrated mono blocks by Eric McChanson running into Coral 10CX 50 coaxial speakers (re-badged as Peak). As an aside, initially, I just had one of these McChansons (in stereo), but 2 watts wasn't quite enough to get the volume level I like so i got a second and Eric turned them into switchable stereo/Mono amps. The 4 watts serves me beautifully-I listen normally a bit louder than you would be comfortable speaking over… Synergy with speakers is obviously key when it comes to low watt amps, and I felt in my bones that 'Persuasion' would love my Coral (Peak) 10CX 50's. I usually like comparing and contrasting gear, but I decided not to listen to the McChansons before connecting 'Persuasion' (along with 'Shu') and just listen on its own terms. Nonetheless, I am used to what I can get out of the speakers and I have to say that I really loved what I heard and that 'Persuasion' delighted me with a new flavour and experience which was full bodied and dynamic, and a good lively punch from the bass and really capable to deliver rock music. The 'Jazz' album by Queen sounded a lot of fun, really lively, quick paced but also very musical. There is a lot of different genre bending and textures on the album so, while underpinned by rock, it gives a great sense of variety. Again, not intending to compare, but the McChanson's are very sweet sounding, in a good way, and on their own terms are a fabulous listen with music that favours high frequencies and is musically playful. I do get the full range of frequencies from the McChansons, although 'Persuasion' excels in dynamics and brings a wide range of genres to life in a rewarding way. The Rufus Wainwright album 'Unfollow the Rules-The Paramour Sessions' sounded great. It has a massive dynamic range. This is a live performance of the original album in an old chapel using acoustic instruments-Piano, strings etc, recorded during Covid lockdowns so no audience. 'Persuasion' gave it a fantastic sense of space, scale and imaging as well as rendering the voice and instruments beautifully. A real pleasure to listen to. To throw 'Persuasion' a curve ball, I also played 'Controversy' by Prince. It had funk and groove and handled the electronic vibe equally as well as the acoustic instruments and I was literally standing up grooving. They were some fun listening sessions. When I visited Mark, he shared his passion for his builds and his love of making the amps and enjoying each on it's own terms. I got a real sense of his love for music and the way that tubes and different implementations can interpret that. Maybe this is an odd comparison, but like a wine lover on the Mornington Peninsula owes it to themselves to sample the local wines or a beer lover, the craft beers, I really encourage Australian music lovers to try out our local amp builder's wares. It's a personal, authentic and fun experience. Thanks so much for the loan, Mark, I really enjoyed it. “Persuasion” - 5998/6AS7 SET https://retro-thermionic.blogspot.com/2022/07/persuasion-5998-set.html "Shu" - CV-181-Z and Golden Dragon preamp https://retro-thermionic.blogspot.com/2021/09/shu-cv-181-z-and-golden-dragon-preamp.html See Mark's pics below @mwhouston

Price Reduction.....feel free to contact me for more details or to arrange an audition. ========================================================================== I have for sale an Audio Innovations L1 line stage preamplifier. I have owned this unit for approximately 10 years. Reason for selling is that it has been the preamp for my second system and as I get older I'm getting lazy and I want a pre-amp with a remote. I also want to start scaling back my gear. The amp was upgraded before I bought it. The single 12 AU7 valve was replaced by a very high quality equivalent NOS vintage Phillips unit. Two of the main capacitors were upgraded to Hovland Musicaps. I believe other components were also upgraded but TBH I cannot recall exactly what they were! Anyway, it hasn't missed a beat in the decade that I have used it. It also has not had much use - as I said it has always been part of my second system. At one stage I did have to spray the volume pot with contact cleaner to rid it of static - but it's all fine now. The process could easily be repeated if ever the need arose. Here's the main features: 3 line stage inputs (CD, Tuner and Aux) Tape in and out loop Facility for low or high gain via a toggle switch on the back panel. I have always found the low gain to provide an entirely suitable range and a reasonable graduation for the volume control. Obviously, there is a pair of pre-amp outputs No remote. These units were made in the 90s and so were never supplied with a remote control. Physical and audible condition can only be described as excellent. The pictures don't really do it justice. Sound quality is superb - it's quite hard to part with this amp - sonically it does out-performs the much more modern pre-amp that has replaced it! And no hum of any kind (until the volume control is at a ridiculous, unlistenable level anyway). I have been using it with a pair of Consonance valve monoblocs. Wonderful combination. These amps are highly sought after (even without the upgrades that this one has) - with good reason. I do not have a manual (not that one is really required - it's a very simple device) or the original box, however I am happy to source a suitable box and packing materials for an interstate buyer - at the buyers cost of course. Shipping will be quite cheap as the unit is small (H = 90mm, W = 250mm and D = 300mm) and quite light (2.7Kg unboxed). Adelaide buyers are welcome to arrange an audition at my place - but serious potential buyers only please. I would much prefer an Adelaide pick up and cash or EFT on pick-up. I would accept Paypal or EFT for interstate buyers but will not ship until the funds clear. Feel free to make me an offer - but I'm not going to give it away...I'll give it to my son-in-law rather than accept a ridiculously low offer.

Anyone know of a Sydney supplier of new/NOS vacuum tubes? After 6SN7GTB and 6AS7G. Thanks.

Any recomendations for tubes for a set of Quad II's? I just purchased this pair off ebay and I will be needing some good tubes to go with them. Units have been powdercoated black. Resistors and caps have been upgraded. Previous owner had the units for 12 years. Rest of the internals have been untouched. I'll be running the restored Quad ESL57's on them. TIA Ken

I bought a second hand tube amp from the classified, Cymer ST-80. Very impressed with the sound but it looks like it can be improved with a new set of tubes. With a bit of time on my hands, I thought I would play with some tubes. Genalax Gold Lions ECC81 Replaced Electro Harmonix 12AT7EH Power on, after about 30 seconds, the cartridge was lowered. Playing the notoriously hard to drive Massive Attack's Mezzanine 1st track, Angel. While this track is sounding much better on the 75w/channel Cymer, it still struggles. Well, with the new Gold Lions ECC81, the music instantly feels more open, better paced and more airy. Bass is a lot more weighty, perhaps a little floppier, but the feeling of struggle has been lifted. It is thumping away with ease. After playing Side A & B, I switched to Beirut's No No No. The percussions at the beginning have much more extended reverb (more extended decay?). So are the rest of the instruments, drums, horns, and everything else. This album is sounding so good right now I am completely immersed in the music... After No No No. I went out for lunch and left the power of the amp on. After 1.5 hours, I put on Mezzanine again. Angel plays on... This time with tight and solid bass. Track after track, when the album ends, it ended with much satisfaction. My speakers have never played Mezzanine so well! WOW! These Gold Lions ECC81 are beauties! They produced open, airy sound and tight bass. Just what I told the seller the type of tubes I am after. I am loving these two little tubes.

So, how do you store your valves? Recently I have been collecting some valves for upcoming amplifier builds and while some came with their original boxes, the bulk Russians that I purchased came wrapped in plastic without any boxes (not complaining - they were like $3 each landed here). I could clog up a couple of drawers or put them in a box to be lost in the shed or I could organise them so that I knew how many were on hand. So yesterday, while the rest of the family were off annoying the horses I re-purposed a box that was gathering dust in the shed and made it into the new "assisted living for senior valves" home. The idea is to keep the variants that I use together in one simple place so that I don't have to go searching when one of them needs a zimmer frame or needs to be buried, and also to keep them from collecting dust living in the open. This is what I came up with...

Finally set up my second system (again!) From the top: Pro-Ject Studie with 9" and 12" arms Sumiko BPS Evo3 on the 9", rebodied & potted Denon DL103R on the 12" Audio Innovations P1 phono stage and ancient (er) Audio Research MCP-2 MC pre-amp with MM pass-through to the P1. Antique Sound Labs WAV8 mono pp 8wpc valve amps and my sweet little Audio Innovations L1 pre-amp. And lastly, Omega Super 3 XRS hempcone single driver loudspeakers. And by hokey it sounds good!

Hello SNA members, Good day, looking for your thoughts on Class A valve integrated amplifier. Thinking to buy Earle Weston's Value integrated amplifier for my Monitor Audio silver 8 speakers which is rated 4 ohm @ 90DB. I cannot see much info on our forum. Based on your experience can anyone help me with your thoughts please. If in case you can recommend a alternative, happy to look into it . Budget $3k mak Thank's Bob planning to change to Class A valve integrated from Class AB .

I wonder if Penfolds are also selling their turntables as well? I wonder who makes their system? Might have to pop along one day.

Hi all. I've got a question. I'm running a preamp( woojoo) into a Yarland/ Ariand 845 integrated amp. I run the Yarland with the volume at full volume and use the pre amp for all control duties. A strange thing is happening though. When I was listening late at night I've used Yearland's remote volume control to bring the volume down a bit as the pre doesn't have this feature. What I noticed sometimes was that only one channel was decreasing. On further inspection I took the volume on the Yarland down to zero but the volume on the left-hand speaker didn't decrease at all. Furthermore, I could only turn the volume down on the left speaker via the preamp, even though it was at zero on the Yarland. I noticed this happening as well when I had my McChanson 6as7 amp set up as a power amp. Does anyone know what is going on here? In the past two different Aussie tube amp builders have told me that its ok to use integrated amps as power amps in this fashion and to not bother with a conversion to take the volume control out of the signal path.

Hi Guys, New here, found the forum through a search. Looks like a pretty good place to spend some time. Quick question from the fellow tube-amp owners out there (of which I am one). At what point are most of you changing out your low-voltage (ie 12AX7/12AT7/12AU7) tubes? How many hours/years are you getting out of them before you notice a very obvious degradation (ie they sound faulty?).... I'm at 5 years on mine now - from new - and they still sound as good as the day I first fired them up. I am of course concerned with supply at the moment, so was thinking of changing them out whilst I could still get my hands on some. I'm not really after an audiophile response (I change them every year and they sound better type thing), as I know this type of answer is very subjective... I'm just trying to figure out, on average, how long these tubes last before they fail to the point where the impact is clearly obvious? Thanks all.

Further information: Genalex Gold Lion ECC83/B759 x 2. | Genalex Gold Lion ECC81/B739 x 2 Purchased from The Valve Store in Melbourne, early this year only 50+ hours of use. Would prefer to sell as a bulk lot rather than individual, used on my MA352 Mcintosh Amp, selling as I have upgraded the tubes. I will make a donation to SNA upon sale.

Further information: PRICED PER MATCHED PAIR - 2 PAIRS AVAILABLE NOS Reflektor Silver Shields - these are exceptional tubes, built to last 10,000 hours. They are noticeably heavier than most due to amazing military build quality. Suit any 6922, 6DJ8, E88CC etc etc. Have used in PS AUDIO equipment for approximately 150 hours - sounds absolutely superb and a huge upgrade from modern tubes. These knock the Gold Lions out the park, dead quiet background, incredible micro detail, super neutral and smooth, incredible dynamics, excellent imaging, an all round stunner off a tube that's built to last. Photos: PLEASE READ If you include any reference to pricing whatsoever in this section (excluding RRP), your ad will not be approved If you are advertising multiple items, you must post one bulk price only, or post seperate ads for each item If you don't include photographs of the actual item being sold, your ad will not be approved You understand that upon successful sale of your item it is expected you pay Seller's Fees. - if you have previously sold items and not made a contribution, your advertisement may not be approved.

Further Information: Selling a pair of Takatsuki 300b tubes. Comes with original packaging, double boxed with wooden case that houses the tubes. Only ever used for my lampizator dac so plenty of life on them.

Further Information: Will consider trade with high end CDT/CDP Where can you find greater than 100W of pure tube goodness for this kind of money? Don’t tell me, it’s rhetorical! I bought 2 of these to use with my Magicos. They worked superbly. Outperformed many much more expensive very high end contenders, much to my surprise! I no longer have such power hungry speakers, so I only need one. Therefore, one is for sale. Has upgraded 6CA7 tubes (USA answer to EL34). These sound much better than the stock EL34. Also has upgraded 12 AU7. comes complete with packaging, remote to switch between triode and ultra linear , and unused tube cage.

Used but with plenty of life left. A nice American old stock valve, warm and easy to listen to.

Further Information: JJ ELECTRONIC EL34 POWER TUBES Purchased a new amp these were the stock tubes, had less than 40 hours in them, selling as I upgraded to Gold Lions. Preferably want to sell as a set of 4

Further information: Genalex Gold Lion ECC83/B759 x 2. | Genalex Gold Lion ECC81/B739 x 2 Purchased from The Valve Store in Melbourne, early this year only 50+ hours of use. Would prefer to sell as a bulk lot rather than individual, used on my MA352 Mcintosh Amp, selling as I have upgraded the tubes. I will make a donation to SNA upon sale.

Further Information: KT77 Genalex Gold Lion Power tubes x 4 quad I purchased these tubes along with my amp (Line Magnetic 34ia), but my amp was recently modified so that EL34 is now the preferred tube. I understand that the previous owner of my amp, lighted tested these tubes and occasionally tube rolled. They haven't been used since I first purchased and tested from the SNAer. The tubes are in good condition. No test measurements available. Please ask me if you have any questions. Will be packed and shipped carefully, although local pick-up preferred.

Further Information: 6CA7 tube : Electro-Harmonix x 4 quad I purchased these tubes along with my amp (Line Magnetic 34ia), but my amp was recently modified so that EL34 is now the preferred tube. I understand that the previous owner of my amp, lighted tested these tubes and occasionally tube rolled (EL34, KT77 and KT88). They haven't been used since I first purchased and tested from the SNAer. The tubes are in very good condition. I have heard the tubes and can confirm they sound great. No test measurements available. Please ask me if you have any questions. Will be packed and shipped carefully, although local pick-up preferred.

Further Information: KT88 Genalex Gold Lion Power tubes x 4 quad I purchased these tubes along with my amp (Line Magnetic 34ia), but my amp was recently modified so that EL34 is now the preferred tube. I understand that the previous owner of my amp, lighted tested these tubes and occasionally tube rolled. They haven't been used since I first purchased and tested from the SNAer. I have heard the tubes and can confirm they sound great. The tubes are in good condition. No test measurements available. Please ask me if you have any questions. Will be packed and shipped carefully, although local pick-up preferred.

Further Information: Valvet Soulshine preamp for sale. This supurb all valve preamp has both balanced & unbalanced inputs & outputs. This is the ECC802S version making tube rolling a breeze. It has plenty of drive & I have used to to front both high end valve & SS power amps to great effect. Only selling as I have moved to a DJ rotay mixer. Comes with a remote. Shipping no problem.

Further Information: Genalex Gold Lion ECC81/B739 Gold Pin 12AT7 6201 ECC81 / B739 An audiophile rated, high-performance dual triode tube. This tube has 16mm plates (most other 12AT7 tubes are only 10mm), providing a stronger signal power and fuller tone. The two industrial thickness mica spacers providing solid structural stability and the corrosion resistant gold plated pins ensure maximum signal transfer. When you love quality music, the Genalex Gold Lion ECC81/B739 is the tube to get Selling as a pair

Up for sale is a an awesome amp/preamp combo. Amp: Audiolab 6000A - extremely clean, detailed and clinical sound. Five star reviews. (Amp can operate as a preamp, power amp or integrated) Preamp: Elekit TU-8500 - beautiful dead silent tube preamp that has rave reviews. MC and MM phono inputs. Will throw in 2 x matched NOS JAN GE 12au7 tubes, and the stock JJs, both barely been used (I upgraded to telefunkens immediately) These two pieces of kit compliment each beautifuly and sound amazing. The preamp works with the clinical sound of the Audiolab perfectly. Will also throw in a Wireworld Stream 8 rca to rca (50cm). Note the speaker cable in the pic is NOT included in the sale. Both bought new in July 2021 and well looked after. Like new condition. They easily power my Bryston A2 floorstanders. Only selling as I have the bug and want to try mono blocks. Pick up on the lower NSW central coast (Tascott) and welcome to audition. Otherwise pick up also available from Balmain NSW, but can’t audition. Photos: L

Further Information: Selling my Aune T1 Mk2 DAC/Amp, preferably with tubes. Electroharmonix 6922 - the stock tube Rocket logo 6922 - ok tube, good for rock music Amperex JAN 7308 - A-tier tube, resolving and holographic! - Just use this one tbh! I moved on to a larger tube amp so don't need this one on my desk anymore.