Chinook Re-Tubed

I talked to Kevin Deal @ Upscale Audio a couple of weeks ago about a new set of tubes for my beloved Chinook. Kevin was very informative and helpful, as he's probably sold more Manley Chinooks than anyone.
After listening to Kevin's advice, I bought 4 Philips PCC88/7DJ8 tubes. I explained that I already loved the sound of my Manley, I just wanted the same sound only better. That's exactly what I got when I put them in. Everything sounds fantastic, very balanced from top to bottom. This was the first time I've ever rolled tubes, no wonder it's so addicting to the people that own tube gear.

I love what a piece of tube gear can do for my system, maybe I need to try a tube preamp next :exciting:

Mark-I'm happy for you that your new tubes worked out so well. Uncle Kevin has always been a pleasure to work with in my experience. The Chinook is a damn good sounding phono stage and I'm sure it sounds great with your NOS tubes.

Uh-oh, "Joe", Marks got out of his pen again. Ha! Good to see you rolling tubes Mark,... aint it just some fun FUN! ;)

Thanks guys!
It was pretty cool. I was surprised how tight the little buggers fit in the sockets. It's really fun hearing the difference between tubes.

I just purchased an Upscale Audio Manley Chinook SE with those Philips tubes - a very fluid phono stage. My first outboard stage.

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Originally Posted by miner42

I just purchased an Upscale Audio Manley Chinook SE with those Philips tubes - a very fluid phono stage. My first outboard stage.

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Well, my newly purchase I Dec 2015 Chinook SE has developed a bad hum. Happened overnight. I switched out tubes, hum still present. Switched ICs, still there. Moved to another audio setup, hum still there. After being on 30 mins the hum lessened but then a scratchy/crackly sound was present. Back the Manley Labs for service - waiting to hear back from them on what to do. Unit has less than 20 hrs on it. Anyone else have issues like this with their Chinook?

An update - Manley diagnosed bad hum due to 1) noisy tubes, and 2) bad PCB. Manley fixed, sent back and then the logo LEDs did not work. Manley sent a LED PCB, I installed and lights still did not work. Sent back again to Manley for repair. When my dealer got wind of my issues he(Kevin Deal - Upscale Audio) had Manley to send me a new unit, plus since I paid for shipping on first go-around Kevin reimbursed me by way of four Philips PCC88 tubes, cryoed. Great dealer support.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by miner42

An update - Manley diagnosed bad hum due to 1) noisy tubes, and 2) bad PCB. Manley fixed, sent back and then the logo LEDs did not work. Manley sent a LED PCB, I installed and lights still did not work. Sent back again to Manley for repair. When my dealer got wind of my issues he(Kevin Deal - Upscale Audio) had Manley to send me a new unit, plus since I paid for shipping on first go-around Kevin reimbursed me by way of four Philips PCC88 tubes, cryoed. Great dealer support.

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Glad to hear everything worked out ok.

Rolling tubes is awesome, and the Chinook looks very nice, but I've had mixed satisfaction/results with Upscale's tube service over the years. It's good to branch out to other tube sources; see what works for you. Kevin's old website painting the "other guys" tube sellers as buffoons was tactless -- in fact, I find that said buffoons get things right more often than Upscale, and are much more pleasant to boot! At this point, I'll avoid Upscale going forward, unless he gets some more high-grade Mazda 12AX7 in stock.

Though if you've got a set of tubes now that you're much happier with, then you hit jackpot! Try to enjoy them for a while before you contract full-blown tube disease ;)

Definitely tube rolling in any gear is recommended, for the most part. I'm a Brent Jessee fan, and AES. Mullard, Amperex, is a good start.