Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site
In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: Initial thoughts about new/old Lamm ML2s
Post Subject: Lesson Learned: 6C33C + Teflon socketsPosted by jessie.dazzle on: 7/18/2012
fiogf49gjkf0d
To anyone contemplating the use of Teflon sockets as pictured and described by me in the post at this link:
http://www.goodsoundclub.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=10&postID=15499#15499
DON'T DO IT.
These sockets cannot deal with the heat generated by the 6C33C.
In the short run they worked great, however, after 6 months of normal use, the pin receptacles had lost their ability to grip the pins and plate current once again became unstable. A couple Audio Mirror users have discovered and posted similar findings.
Needless to say, sound quality gradually went to hell; like what people describe when they have a "really bad electricity day".
The main reasons why these sockets are unable to deal with the heat of the 6C33C are the following:- Pin receptacles fully enclose each pin and do not let the pins "breath.
- Pin receptacles have less mass than the original type sockets and what mass they do have is concentrated around and directly under each hot pin.
- Heat causes the metal in the pin receptacle to lose it's springiness; it then dilates and starts arcing at the pin, thus generating more resistance > more heat > more dilation and on and on...
These Teflon sockets also place the soldered connections much closer to and directly under the hot pins than is the case with the original type sockets, so solder is very likely to melt.
Knowing what the problem was, I had bought some NOS (new old stock) American-made sockets of the same design as the originals. However, I haven't had the time to do anything other than listen to audio for the past two years and given the way the system was sounding, I just stopped using it. Finally last weekend I got a break and decided to replace the sockets; I spent a lot of time on the soldered connections, making sure they not only looked good but were done in the same way as when they left Lamm's shop in 1998.
The sound is once again beautiful and engaging. To what extent did I miss that sound? I've been spending every lunch hour this week passed out in my car, trying to catch up on sleep because I just can't bring myself to shut the system off at night and go to bed.
jd*Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site