VAC phi200's

Mike

Mike

Audioshark
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Hi guys....I've been racking my brain trying to figure out WHY my friends VAC PA100/100 sounded so classic tubey when his new phi200's - don't. It made no sense....but the obvious was staring right in front of me....it's the tubes!!!!! My friend Jeff has 1950's Sylvania tubes in his PA100/100 and new, modern Shuguang tubes in his VAC phi200's. It was one of those palm smacking the forehead moments. After speaking with Brent at VAC, he assured me that tube rolling would result in a similar - but even better - sound then Jeff got with his PA100/100.

So, after much debate and deliberation, I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of VAC phi200's!!! :woot:

NOW....the tube types are a little different between the PA100/100 and phi200's. The phi200's take four KT88's and four 6SN7's - each. I'm looking for suggestions for tubes to bring about the euphonic, classic tube sound I love.

There seems to be a general consensus that the Shuguang Treasure CV181-Z 6SN7's are very classic 1950 tube like sounding. Now, what about the KT88's? Any thoughts? Suggestions? Some say the JJ KT88's are quite classic sounding. Not sure...

Big thanks to John at Audio Salon (www.audiosalon.net) for his patience and answering all my questions and politely nudging Kevin to expedite the amps! :) The best part is that when they are ready, I will just drive down the road and pick them up!!!

:safe:
 
Mike...congrats. Do the folks at VAC not have suggestions on what tubes to try? The other resource often mentioned on web fora is Kevin at Upscale Audio.
 
Awesome mike!!! Glad you came full circle VAC and CAT would be my
Only choice if I had a way bigger budget.
With 200''s and the dags you should have enough amps to keep you very happy for a long time.
And with you I mean 6-8 months at least . Lol!!!
Classic tube sound you need to look no further than nos long plate mullards.
As classic tube sound as they get!!
 
cmalak said:
Mike...congrats. Do the folks at VAC not have suggestions on what tubes to try? The other resource often mentioned on web fora is Kevin at Upscale Audio.
Click to expand...

Brent suggested the Shuguang Treasure CV181-Z 6SN7's as a place to start. I have a call into Kevin at Upscale.
 
I was thinking smaller tubes and preamps for some reason I'm not sure what you could find for that in mullards. But I always am shopping for tubes ill keep an eye out.
 
Mike-I'm not sure the answer is as simple as old tubes vs. new tubes. The PA100/100 is a much older design than the PHI 200 amps. Newer high-end amps benefit from better coupling caps which tend to sound more neutral. I would think that the PHI 200 amps will be much more neutral than the PA100/100 amps with greater frequency extension at the bottom and top end. Using NOS input tubes will be the icing on the cake. There is a reason that people pay a premium for NOS tubes-they simply sound better than their modern equivalents.

Congrats on buying a great pair of amps.
 
I've been doing my research and I'm leaning toward JJ KT88's and GE 6SN7's.

I will of course try the stock tubes....but so far, they are a little lean sounding, which I understand is the characteristic of this particular Chinese tube VAC uses. NOS for me!
 
I've also learned that I can put a less powerful tube in the middle of the 6SN7 like the Classic red bottom RCA. Juicy!
 
Mike check with VAC to see if you can run 6550's also. Usually they're a drop in replacement. If so it will give you more options.

Finding matched quad's of NOS 6SN7's might be tough, not to mention $$$$. Can you go with matched pairs in there?
 
dlb2 said:
Mike check with VAC to see if you can run 6550's also. Usually they're a drop in replacement. If so it will give you more options.

Finding matched quad's of NOS 6SN7's might be tough, not to mention $$$$. Can you go with matched pairs in there?
Click to expand...

I can do matched pairs on the outside and matched on the inside. I will ask about 6550's. Thanks.
 
Mike, woohoo for you too huh? My my, aint this a cracker xmas then:coolyeah::coolyeah::coolyeah::coolyeah::coolyeah:
 
sharkmouth said:
Mike, woohoo for you too huh? My my, aint this a cracker xmas then:coolyeah::coolyeah::coolyeah::coolyeah::coolyeah:
Click to expand...

Indeed! Maybe I'll drive over to VAC (they are only a few minutes from my house) and camp out!
 
I had the VAC 300.1a and the VAC 450S. I tube rolled galore. Kept going back to original tubes as best sounding. Kevin at VAC has best ears for voicing his amps so I fought that but in end always came back to his stock tubes.
 
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