[Gene4797]

Am getting my Nirvana 4 today. Very exciting! Can someone point me to a link to purchase some NOS EL34’s? To roll from stock?
Thanks. Already got some TELEFUNKEN ECC82’s

Hey, you should try Sophia Electric el32 , real good tubes , make amp sing

 

[tholt]

Oh. This is my first tube amp. I’m a virgin! Or is it tirgin? Have zero experience with where to get tubes

Kinda depends on how deep you want to go down the tube rabbit hole, and how much you're willing to spend. Generally the new production Russian and Chinese stuff is ok but not great, however some are better than others. On the plus side, they're cheaper than NOS, especially popular NOS brands and types. There's really no substitute for just rolling up your sleeves and start googling to find out about tubes. There's probably a lot of advice in this thread, and you can start there to narrow your search on what to look for. I know ebay can be a crapshoot, but I've had good luck on it and it's the place where you can find most every tube on the planet. It seems like a lot of online tube stores these days are gravitating toward the new production stuff, so I've used ebay the most to find good NOS tubes.

 

[goldwerger]

Last week I got a couple of extra Mullard M8136 tubes (1960s). It's my favorite tube for the AIC10 so I got some extras for long-term backup, and tested them with the Nirvana when they arrived just to see they are good. I was so blown away by the sound of htis tube in the Nirvana, is now rolled in (instead of the Siemens 5814A which is my normal roll). Very sweet and warm sound, and great synergy with the XF2 output tubes. Enjoying this mostly with the AKWG and L5000 but will try other headphones later. Any event, highly recommended!

 

[tlcocks]

A friend here rec’d these two picks as my first roll. He said listen to the stock tubes for a while first. I bought both matched pairs. What do y’all think?

 

[tlcocks]

I had jumped the gun and already bought these on EBay the day I bought the amp. But I anticipate more tubes later so all the advice given here is of value to me. Thanks!

 

[tlcocks]

Anyone using KT77 instead of EL34 to get more treble out of amp? I love good treble when no digital glare and done right.

 

[tlcocks]

Last week I got a couple of extra Mullard M8136 tubes (1960s). It's my favorite tube for the AIC10 so I got some extras for long-term backup, and tested them with the Nirvana when they arrived just to see they are good. I was so blown away by the sound of htis tube in the Nirvana, is now rolled in (instead of the Siemens 5814A which is my normal roll). Very sweet and warm sound, and great synergy with the XF2 output tubes. Enjoying this mostly with the AKWG and L5000 but will try other headphones later. Any event, highly recommended!

Is that the Audio Technica AWKG? I LOVE the looks of that HP and want to acquire it. But I’ve been warned that AT phones are light on bass. How is this one sounding?

 

[goldwerger]

Is that the Audio Technica AWKG? I LOVE the looks of that HP and want to acquire it. But I’ve been warned that AT phones are light on bass. How is this one sounding?

I wrote in detail about the AWKG because I had a hand in coming up with the alternate ZMD pads they now come with, which offer massive mid and a very warm presentation.

See this story, and details of these headphones, in my recent CanJam NYC write up:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/can...-march-9-10-2024.971988/page-47#post-18093868

 

[tlcocks]

I’m sorry the frequent posts here. Have unpacked the thing and installed stock EL34s. Question. Brief manual says don’t ever force. But property lined up (only one orientation) had to essentially slowly but surely push and slight rocking, forcefully, to get them in all the way. The ECC82 was super easy. Is this normal?? I applied pressure at the base of 34s. Not the glass. Hope I didn’t damage a tube. Have to go back to work. Will fire it up later. Do EL34s go in usually with that difficulty?

 

[goldwerger]

I’m sorry the frequent posts here. Have unpacked the thing and installed stock EL34s. Question. Brief manual says don’t ever force. But property lined up (only one orientation) had to essentially slowly but surely push and slight rocking, forcefully, to get them in all the way. The ECC82 was super easy. Is this normal?? I applied pressure at the base of 34s. Not the glass. Hope I didn’t damage a tube. Have to go back to work. Will fire it up later. Do EL34s go in usually with that difficulty?

Don’t worry about it. If you get it in easily with some rocking motion that’s fine

 

[tlcocks]

Don’t worry about it. If you get it in easily with some rocking motion that’s fine

More like got it in forcefully with some rocking motion. I called Moon Audio and Matt there said he’s had that experience in the past particularly with new amps and not to worry.

 

[tlcocks]

So, just…WOW. Now I know what true high end amplification sounds like! So I’m coming from the GSX Mini. Source is X Sabre 3 balanced out. Just started playing Cafe Blue by Patricia Barber. Took my studio mastering EQ completely out of the signal path for initial listen. Immediately struck by beautiful sound. Listened to three tracks then went back to Mini. Difference not subtle. Even with time in between to switch cables. On Nirvana stage bigger, image specificity and location of instruments better. Beautiful natural timbre. Vocals and treble eg cymbals were more fully formed and more ‘analog’ sounding. On Mini mids sounded comparatively veiled and treble a little edgy. Just a beautiful rounded warm full sound from Nirvana. Yet no less detailed! Just in love with this amp! And this is with the stock tubes to boot. Will be fascinated later to see what rolling will do. But just now I’m in no hurry. I did quickly listen to a familiar rock album of average SQ and yes, I will still want to equalize such records as with the studio mastering gear I can improve them considerably. Have no idea how well the Nirvana plays with my EQ. Will play around later with that. What an amp!

 

[goldwerger]

Cafe Blue by Patricia Barber

Great album!

 

[tlcocks]

Didn’t mention. All listening with HEKse. Right now Keith Don’t Go (live) by Nils Lofgren. AMAZING. HEKse I would say already has superb synergy with Nirvana.

 

[tlcocks]

This combo excels for live music. Yes tubes do stage and image specificity and naturalness as in realism of instruments SO WELL. Steve Kimock Band - Live in Colorado Vol 1 also amazing.