Antonio's 'back home' system

Been having a bit of a play with a dac that I brought home with me, very similar to this one www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003526131498.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.1.29c83b69GAcNxr&gps-id
I ordered it with an extra GE5670 tube which improved on the stock tube. Comparing this with with my Calyx was interesting and something I was looking forward to since I really enjoyed it in my previous system. Well the Calyx had a bit more of everything, clarity, detail and especially punch, and so it should costing £1300 more when new, but whether I'd pay that for the difference I don't know. I purchased a Western Electric 396a from JANDL at the end of last year, just before my no buy zone of 2022 (Jerry, thanks for pointing out I could just squeeze in one final purchase   )  This upped the XiangSheng's performance as Jerry said it would, but not quite to the Calyx level, it is so easy to forget how good your own components can be, and although you lust after the latest 'in' box they are not always forced to be better.  I'm not saying the XiangSheng is the latest thing, it's quite an old design which they've continued to improve upon and I believe Jerry is still using one in his system.
Hopefully I will be able to bring both these dac's along to the get to together in May for anyone who's interested in hearing them.

I used these with great success for quite a while. Actually responded very well to some RCA valves I rolled in them, knowing the WE396a very well too I'm sure it sounds great.

Great DAC for the money, nothing groundbreaking via the SS output but the valve output has an extremely satisfying sound and started me on the path to some offerings from Jolida and Musical Paradise.

For the price I've not heard anything to rival it as a valve output DAC.

Not heard the XiangSheng but am a Jolida fan boy. Had a fully pimped (by Robert Ayers) mk1 and now running a fully pimped Black Ice DSD both of which did wonders for the SQ of the pimped Node2s output.

Yeah have to confess I bought my Jolida very far from standard, like Lurch mine was deeply fettled. Much better caps, power supply mods and signal cable plus some very nice Raytheon valves.

Not actually heard a non modified one from what I can recall. Always thought they'd benefit from removing the volume control actually, although useful could probably have sounded better without.

Moving on from my wanted ad I've plumped for the Musical Paradise MP-301, with 6L6 power tubes. My thoughts were to stick with the pre tubes but maybe look at upgrading later, but I'll list a few options to see what you think:-

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392182835644

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313483443385

watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=4861

The next one would need a converter which can be purchased on AliExpress

watfordvalves.com/product_detail.asp?id=3848

Excellent choice Dave, well done.

If I were you i would be going for some RCA 5693's.... They're not that cheap but they sound amazing and will outlast us all....

Then some NOS Sylvania 6l6's, it might seem like slight overkill spending another £100+ on valves but that would be an awesome combination.

Most of those ones you e mentioned and similar would be an upgrade over the standard ones too but this amplifier does tube roll very well.

Totally understand Dave and it is a 'budget' amp after all.

The RCA's are expensive by comparison (although can be had for less sometimes) but they have double the lifespan of quite a lot of other valves, if not more. Plus they sound better than practically everything in this particular application.

I've owned the prior mark of this amplifier and out the box it sounds okay but after I'd tried a load of different valves I settled on these and it was streets ahead then.

I don't know if you just want an upgrade over stock (which is a good idea) or you want it to sound as good as it possibly can, my suggestion leads towards the latter but quite often with these things you can easily end up at that latter stage eventually but after spending on all the 'stop-gaps' in between.

I'd take the hit once and give it the beans straight away but trying cheaper valves in the mean time can be fun too.

No right or wrong way of course Dave!

I like the TAD's I have tried, their GZ34/5AR4 rectifier, is fairly close in sound and quality to the heralded (and rightly so) Mullard GZ34 and a quarter of the price or less.

TAD valves are pretty much universally successful for me.
TAD speakers have been more of a hit and miss affair.... largely influenced by the electronics they were associated with, I suspect.

If it's going in a 'proper' amp that I financially can't afford to lose I'll usually buy only tested valves with proof. Also you can get them matched/balanced and tested for microphonics all in one.

Not worth the risk otherwise.

Had a bad rectifier go flash on me with an old amp and although it actually didn't damage it the sound was a worrying electrical 'surge'. Not good.

That's what I shall be doing as well Jerry.

Can any one tell what the differences are between 6L6 valves, ie 6L6GC, 6L6G, 6L6GT ect and which one is the best vfm?

The 6L6G has a max anode dissipation of 19W and max voltage of 360V.
The 6L6GC has a max anode dissipation of 30W and max voltage of 450V.

If it's a design using over 360V you need the GC.

Well the MP 301 finally arrived today, bloody seller didn't ship it until after the automatic refund date, but logged in a label therefore stopping the refund. It does however look a cracking bit of kit to my eyes and after a bit of messing about managed to get it all connected, even though it's sitting on a chair. The power tubes should have been 6L6's but it as arrived with 8P3P's, I'm assuming they are a cheaper version, but the options were either 6L6, EL34 or KT88's. I'd already ordered a pair of GE 5693's pre amp tubes from the States and put them in instead of the suppied Chinese ones. For a 6 or 7watt amp it's bloody powerful, driving my MA Cesti MBR's with ease



After a short listen decided to put in two GL KT88's that are spare in the drawer, quite and improvement, with a surprising amount of extra 'punch'. Obviously still need a good few hours on these new valves but so far so good

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