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In the Forum: Analog Playback
In the Thread: The LCR RIAA correctors
Post Subject: It is also important to know where to stop.Posted by Romy the Cat on: 11/12/2009
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 twogoodears wrote:
Actually a N.O.S. EC-8020 "diamond" is worth EUR 500+ ea., an STC 3A7167M is fetching EUR 750+ ea. (I own one N.O.S. sampler with original carton box, bought by chance for cheap, years ago) and WE 437A is at "only" EUR 350+ ea.... the only tube to be still commercially available is the Western Electric's, at USD 750 ea. (EUR 501,88)... 

You got to be kidding? If the prices are in this scale then I would have problems. Perhaps not becose it is too expensive but become there is absolutely no assurance that the given bought tube will be able to work in your phonostage according it noise characteristic. I would agree that probably it worth to buy them ONCE to trey what they are all about but if I have a devise that I would really upon then I prefer to have a few spare tube. I would say for phonostage that I might settle you would need to have at least 3 pairs of tested replacement tubes for me to feel comfortable. The most ridiculously expensive tube I ever paid it was a pair of new RE604. I tested what the hype was all about and went for another tube. Now, if I did select the RE604 to stay in my amps then considering the power tube go south faster I would probably need to get 3-5 tested pairs of them to feel comfortable. It has nothing to do with rational or sanity, it is how my sick mind works. According to Zodiac I am a Cancer and like any crabs we Cancers always build the stash of possessions, otherwise we do not feel comfortable…. So, to have 3 workable pair of WE437A I would need 8-10 pairs of “random” WE437A. That sounds bitey… from another hard if  your Thomas claims that  EC-8020 is very stable then you would need just 3 pairs of them…

 twogoodears wrote:
Tube market is quite strange: considering that a Telefunken VF-14 with original carton-box for Neumann U-47 classic microphones reached USD 1.000/1.200 ea. price-tags the WE 437A's appears like true bargains;-)!

And you know that 90% of this cost is not from the people who NEED them and know what to do with them but from the people, who hear the hype, buy them to learn what the hype all about. I think it would be a good idea to large dealers of NOS tubes to have trial stock of tubes.  I would not mind for instance instead of buying all those tubes that I have bought for my Milq MF channel to pay let say $500 for a weekend and to have an assortment of different tube send to me to try. Perhaps it would be a good business for somebody…

 twogoodears wrote:
Now, I would probably go for WE416B or C or WE417 or Telefunken EC810F, not because I'm disatisfied with my actual LCR/WE437A, but because the cost involved in tuning and maintaining to specs, or simply obtaining the correct balance between right and left channels in such a design proved to be quite expensive... always less than any medical surgery, anyway;-)

BTW, the WE417A that I used have a habit to change gain very fast and very erratically, so if you match then NOW it does not mean that it would be matched in 3 weeks or in 3 month. I presume that WE437A will behave the same.

 twogoodears wrote:
Herr Mayer and myself agreed and - all considered - that's what I ended with... a nicely sounding LCR phono stage, much better than my previous vintage preamp. 

I do not know what previous vintage preamp you used, whatever vintage preamps/phonocorrectors I have seen they all where crap. In what you do you need to have a very perspective about what you are trying to accomplish. Mr. Mayer and anyone else on the technical side who might assist you with building of your phonostage are endlessly blind in what they do. They build just a phonostage as an absentminded instrument and it is up to you to make this inattentive tool to serve your purpose. You do not really need a phonostage but you are trying to construct a special sound. The knowledge that your technical associates have in design audio might not be in direct relation with your sonic objective. The DIYers would go over zillion topologies, tube and options without respect to Sound. It shall be your job to discriminate result, to navigate what they do in the direction where it shall go and eventually to say to yourself: “stop, here is where I have got what I would like to have.”

Rgs, the Cat

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