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Tavish Design Adagio Owners

Hello 

I know that there must be a few of you out there , since there was a 12 to 14 week waiting period when I had ordered mine and they been made since 2016 .

What tubes are you using ?  Which ones have you tried ?

If you haven't changed your tubes since purchase and you want to try something new
start with the 12AU7 , like I did since it is only one tube , which I have found to have some of the greatest 
influence on the sound .  So far I've tried 3 NOS tubes from the late 50's and the 1 new one , that I am using . 

For the 5751 trio I am currently using 2 new Tung-Sol gold pin cryo treated 5751s in positions 1 and 2 ,
in position 3 I am using a 1959 GE gray long plate 12ax7 .  
For the 12AU7a position I am using a new Genalex Gold Lion gold pin cryo treated tube and 
for the EF86 positions I am using 1972 Tesla EF806s tubes .



This phono pre-amp not only sounds great but is also a whole lot of fun tube rolling !

Rob


vair68robert
vair68robert OP
102 posts
 
gcg 

After a few weeks of breaking in with the original tubes I was very pleased with the bass extension .
It was the clarity and linearity that impressed me the most .

I use a MM cartridge going through a passive preamp .

Rob



grk
49 posts
 
Hi,

I rolled in some GE 5751 Blackplates (3 micas), a GE 12BH7 in place of the 12AU7/ECC82 and a pair of 6267/EF86 Telefunkens. Pretty much improvement all across the board. They are also very quiet, perhaps even more so than the stock JJ's.

BTW - I noticed that they are offering a tube-regulated power supply for $1800! Scott will give owners of the SS PS a $300 trade-in towards the tube PS that uses a 5AR4 rectifier, a 6550 pass tube, and an EF86 error amplifier. The "fun" never stops!
vair68robert OP
102 posts
 
Wow 

That's great , did you roll them in one by one or all at once ?

The EF806s Tesla's I am using are" Telefunkens " ,
Tesla was making ( at least ) the EF86s and EF806s
for Telefunken in 1972  and themselves . 

Tube Power Supply = to many $$$$ for me
I was thinking about the upgraded transformers ,
but since I wouldn't be using them for the forceable  future I didn't think it was a good time to spend the extra $510 .

Rob



grk
49 posts
 
I did them all at once, since I really didn't feel like doing one or 2 tubes at a time. I also opted for the upgraded transformers when I ordered the Adagio. Scott said that they improved the bass response among other things. Yeah, I will likely not go for the tube-regulated power supply either. That's a LOT of money!
vair68robert OP
102 posts
 
grk

That is a great set up , how did you decide to try the 12BH7
in place of the 12AU7A ?  
I am curious about the sound after reading other opinions on substituting. I had to look up the data sheets on both and would be a little hesitant because of the plate dissipation and the heater current 
differences .
What cartridge are you using ? since you went with the upgraded transformer I'll assume that you are using a MC
or lower output MI or MM .

Rob



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