Posted by Bill Epstein [ 12.75.71.147 ] on June 10, 2005 at 05:41:13:
Got a pair of 65 year old National Union 45 tubes. Shoot! They can collect SS and I have to wait.........
Anyway, I had to try them before the DRD's arrived so on down I-71 to Ron's place. In his Yamamato A-08 they sounded less romantic than the similar vintage RCA's he uses but equally detailed and robust.
It's fascinating to hear the marked difference between designs and even within the same family of amps.
Like push-pull. EL-34 ELLA is clean and effortless on attacks and transients but lacks that "hear into the music" SET thing. Ron'e MAC 240, heard briefly last night has some of that but a bigger, meatier sound.
When you first hear the Norh SE-9 you are struck by that "tube aura" that surrounds the music; the 'lushness' or 'tubiness' is so apparent and gives all your CD's or records an ambience that let's you hear into the venue or studio. Or is it a false kind of thing created by 5% or more distortion?
Ron's 45 Amp has just a touch of that tubeiness but with better detail and air so there is more of a sense of 'reality' to it. The 45 tube also seems to have very well-defined attack on sounds like drum beats and brass staccato tonguing. That's what I hope to find after I build the DRD's.
And the hot Capicola, Mortadella, Genoa salami and Ham on fresh-baked Italian bread at the neighborhood Sub and Pizza shop? Class "A".