Tube Lab

[@cobar5342]

You guys are TOO NICE I suspect you are paid actors!

[@tubelab194]

Haha, no we're just trying to bring some honest information on quality audio to our viewers on may I add a non-monetized channel.

[@cobar5342]

Yep, I respect you a lot. From Australia where I hope to build one of your products@@tubelab194

[@iampuzzleman282]

Awesome video guys. A lot Learned about step attenuators. Do you guys like Germany telefunken NOS tubes for mono amplifiers?? Trying to find some 12ax7 preamp tubes

[@tubelab194]

Telefunken tubes are generally excellent, in particular the early types with smooth plates, but they are now unobtanium. They were never made in large quantities, and with high demand the chance of finding even a single tube in good condition for any reasonable money is like nil. The good news is there are many excellent alternatives that are vintage, available and reasonably affordable, including RFT and Japan made (we stock both).

[@iampuzzleman282]

@@tubelab194 thanks very helpful. I see NOS telefunken is available for about 150 dollars apiece. Which if you're only doing four preamp tubes isn't the end of the world.

[@tubelab194]

@@iampuzzleman282 be very careful, most of what's left for sale are the cast offs, tubes that either test low or have very mismatched sections. We buy thousands of tubes each year and in the last 12 months the number of orders that need refunds after testing has increased dramatically. Sadly many sellers are sending out junk, hoping whoever buys the tubes won't test them and discover the fraud. This will only get worse as the Global supply of quality vintage tubes heads to zero (not yet, but someday soon).

[@bogdanpruteanu5058]

Hi there! can a stepped attenuator be mounted in an e80cc preamplifier kit instead of the 100k Alps potentiometer? Thanks!

[@tubelab194]

No it's too large, which is why I placed it in it's own narrow chassis. In our system we like the flexibility of having an extra pair of inputs and outputs as well it can go before the gain preamp or after. Caution! The impedance of the attenuator is fairly low (1k + step) and was designed specifically for our Kits. The sonic improvement with it in system are truly amazing, Charles talked about it for hours after our first listening session and we've never removed the prototype after that first listen!