GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Melquiades Amplifier
In the Thread: Single-stage Melquiades vs. DHT amps

Post Subject: The New 2A3 tubesPosted by drdna on: 1/19/2009

Having listened for a while with the tubes, I have come to some conclusions. The three tubes I have seriously listened to are: Kron, Sophia, and Emission Labs. All the tubes are much better than any other modern 2A3 tubes I have tried. I felt my initial post was a bit premature as the tubes needed also to break in. Keep in mind all three tubes are excellent and the differences I am talking about are very tiny. It is easy to tell the tubes apart when you listen to them, but it is hard to easily point to a best tube.

Sophia Mesh Plate 2A3. This tube has a very large degree of mechanical resonance, even with tube dampers, which creates distortion in the music. The frequency range is somewhat limited, with the highs and lows being obviously lower in amplitude. Thus the midrange is emphasized. This in combination with the mechanical resonance and harmonic distortion gives a warm character. The tube however reproduces the signal extremely accurately. Restricted to the midrange, for simple pieces like guitar and voice, this tube is clearly superior to all others I have tried, reproducing this part of the frequency range with clarity, definition, and a profoundly low noise floor that leads to a delicate lifelike sound like no other. However, it falls apart on more complex orchestral pieces, the lack of highs and lows gives a recessed, rounded feel to the music. The HF reproduction, given the mechanical and harmonic distortion is rather intolerable. The midrange is wonderful; everything else just sounds horribly "wrong."

KR Enterprises 2A3. Minimal mechanical resonance. Solidly built. Very good, even reproduction of music across the frequency range. There is minimal harmonic distortion. The HF, midrange, and LF are correct. The reproduction of the waveform is not as accurate, with some slight sluggishness in the attack and decay. This leads to a less delicate sound that can be "steely." This tube is engineered to compensate for the problems with the recording process and the artificial nature of stereo. This compensation leads to the audio sounding most like the original musical event in the recording studio. The sound in the mixing sessions is the same sound here now. Despite its defects, more than any tube, it opens the window to seeing into the musician's soul.

Emission Labs Mesh Plate 2A3. This tube is gigantic and extremely well made. There is minimal resonance; tapping the tube yields a dull thud that dies down quickly. Equal to the KR tube in this respect. There is minimal harmonic distortion and music is reproduced extremely evenly across the frequency spectrum, even more than the KR tube. The waveform is reproduced well, although not quite as well as the Sophia tube (however the fact that it does so over a much wider frequency range makes up for it.) In the first week, there was a sense of "cake frosting" on the music, which disappeared over time. The presentation of the music is very different from all other tubes. The soundstage is much larger, deeper, taller, and more accurate; yet it is not an artificial soundstage -- instead it is very natural. The presentation is very different. At first everything sounded "too perfect" with this. I now think I am hearing the recording process more accurately with this tube; it is transparent. Every mixing editing decision comes through clearly and obviously. Bad recordings are intolerable. Good live recordings are transcendent. All small things in recordings, the equipment, the electricity: all are revealed on an accurate scale. A musician shifting in his seat is heard, but quietly, distantly and exactly, just as in life. The EL tube is a neutral device, I think, revealing exactly what it is given, but making no accommodation for any weaknesses. Is that waht we want? Truly, la belle dame sans merci.

Adrian

Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site