It was Bascom King who originally recommended the Tungsram 7DJ8 tubes. As RonP said, not everyone agrees and it’s always system dependent. The first question should be do you like the Tungsram 12AU7’s better than the stock 12AU7’s? If so, that’s progress.
You might want to put the stock tubes back in until the BHK has fully broken in, then compare to the Tungsrams you have.
Thank you both for the quick replies.
Stevem2, that is what I have now done.
I need to share that the Tungram has 45 hrs on them and Psvanes have 50 hrs on them. Living/listening to the Tungsram presented me with the same sonic issue that RonP has described. So I decided to return to the factory-spec Psvanes and I am very glad I did!
For my setup the Tungsrams were a step back and tended to be thin and sparkly on top. Very much lacking that so called ‘tube-like-sound’ that the Psvanes are giving me.
So I am out some money and some listening time to decide that the Tungsram’s are not for me or my system.
I have $186.07 invested in them, so the first $100 will get them.
Please let me know.
Thanks.
PS, I hope to try the Amperex in the not to distant future…
In my system, the psvanes are rather flat and boring. The tungrams from Uncle Kevin are much more engaging, and certainly not thin or sparkly. I have both the amperex 7308 and brimar cv4003 on the way to further my exploration - neither from Kevin.
I’ve made it habit to switch back to the psvanes for ~20 hours to re-calibrate my ear/brain to them before changing to anything new. They serve me well for this purpose.
I wouldn’t be so hasty to take the loss on the tungrams quite yet. For me, they took ~100 hours to settle, and the BHK itself took at least that, especically the headphone amp, which need to be used to settle.
Welcome to the rolling club
It my be wise to put another 50 hours on the Tungsrams just to be certain.
If you do sell, I suggest starting a thread in the for sale section so that all who are interested get a chance to see they are being offered.
I tried Matsushita 7DJ8 and I found them to be dynamic and still warm. You can pick them up for about 30 bucks each.
Thanks guys!
I will do as you suggest.
I also agree that is important to return periodically to the factory originals to re-tune the ear/brain to get a reference point from where it all started.
Currently I have around 100 hrs on the BHK and fifty, fifty on each set of tubes.
So, I am marching on…
Thanks for your comments.
I agree with the Matsushita suggestion whether it be 12AU7, 6DJ8 or the 7DJ8’s as they have a family sound that is very similar to Mullard. Not surprising as Mullard helped set-up and tool the Matsushita tube factory. I went through a large number of sets of both 6 volt and 12 volt tubes including the Tungsrams and in the end preferred to stick with the 12 volt tubes though not the factory supplied ones. . I found it much easier to find matched sets and at a much lower price than the 6 volt tubes. For now you can still get reasonable pricing on good 7DJ8 tubes like the Matsushita but that to will pass.
Initial impression of the Amperex 7308 LN from Roger at tubeaudiostore.com is very positive!
They are much quieter than Unkle Kevvy’s Tunsgram selects, and nice but not over done lofting of the mids and highs.
Really enjoying them with female vocals. This is literally the first 10 mins. so not at all warmed up.
Give them 40 or 50 hours. The full range, especially mids are glorious.
Loving them. Not sure the Brimars will ever get installed. Might just turn them without trying at all, the 7308 are that pleasing to me already.
I’m fascinated by a slightly different configuration of metals in a vacuum sleeve can alter the sound so much.
I’m really impressed with the high extension with no added glare. Happy day.
I agree. The highs are as detailed and airy as anything else I’ve tried but not a bit of glare. I can enjoy much higher volume without fatigue.
Well said. Damn you (I shouldn’t say that), I have to consider replacing my P10 with a P20.
I really love my P20. But do you remember when the P10 was the bees knees? As good as it gets? It’s still that good. I went from a P5 to the P12 for a day and then to the P20. So my real experience was P5 to P20. I wouldn’t feel any urgency to upgrade if I had a P10—unless 10 thousand simoleans means nothing to you.
I hear yeah. While the money is a consideration, it’s the lugging it in/out of the rack that is the true concern. I can no longer manage more than the P10 and I shouldn’t have done that alone.
+1 on those Amperex 7308’s! I just love them in the BHK Sig preamp, the perfect balance across the board in my system. My system just delivers a great live recording like a great live concert (I recently listened to Neil Young ROXY: Tonight’s the Night Live - - outstanding recording of music that I love, and it was tremendous!)
And I am truly tempted to upgrade from the P10 to the P20. I can defer the decision awhile, because my system is out of commission for ~1 month while my dedicate audio room gets doubled in size! (My daughter is confirmed out of the nest, and the end game is here where my office and her bedroom merge.) But by November…
For what it’s worth, if you do decide to get that helper over to lug it out we will repurchase your P10 for $4,000 and apply that towards a new P20. And yes, it is absolutely worth the extra effort.
Yikes, I didn’t realize how big that P20 was until I saw the side by side.
Yes indeed, it’s huge. I’m going to have to think about where it’s going because I really don’t like where it is.
Luckily, it gets barely warm, so heat’s not an issue. The amp next to it idles at 375 watts and that is hot!
Mt clairvoyant powers are fully charged. I see a BHK M1000 and a BHK S500 coming to a store near you! “If you build it they will come”
