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Post subject: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 3:47 pm
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My Blues Deluxe Reissue has been happily running JJ 6L6s in the power amp for the past couple of years, so I decided it was time to replace them. Not sure whether to believe the marketing hype about cryo valves (tubes), I decided to try them anyway this time around. To me they do really sound better - clearer, brighter, more articulate... I think!

Is it just me wanting to believe the 'mumbo jumbo' theory that cryo gives a better sound? Or maybe the old valves were just getting tired, so the new ones were inevitably going to sound better? Or what?

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 3:08 am
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New valves or better brand may sound better.

Cryo ....I don't know ? Without A/B test , same amp side by side who can tell ?
How many $ more you pay for those tubes ?
Cryo look a steal... :(

2 minutes search with Googles;
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The Tube Store.com

https://www.thetubestore.com/cryogenic- ... -for-tubes


You’ve probably seen other tube venders selling cryogenically treated vacuum tubes under brands such as Black Sable, Cryoset, Pearl and Kuhl-Tube.

We fully understand the uses of cryo treatments and none of this makes any sense to us in vacuum tubes. A tube is not just steel, it contains various alloys, cathode and anode coatings all contained in a sealed vacuumed glass container.

We’ve seen the marketing, understand the science, completed our own research and fully tested the cryo “treatment” of vacuum tubes. As such we do not retail this service to our customers. It would have been nice if this worked and was a way for us to generate more revenue but we love our customers too much to jump on this bandwagon.

We expand on this more fully in our blog here. We also republished a great article (Cryogenic Treatment of Tubes: An Engineer’s Perspective) written by Phil Taylor of Effectrode.

However for those of you who still wish to purchase cryogenically treated tubes, we found the folks at Wathen Audiophile are great to deal with and we recommend you speak with them.
_________

Some cryo tubes buyer ; no difference

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/ ... -or-negati


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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 10:13 pm
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My understanding is that there are some benefits to Cryo treatment of tubes. The claims are more than just improvement in sound, and response, but also longer life and consistency.

A while back, I bought two matched quads of JJ 6L6, each quad contained two Cryo treated, and two untreated tubes to compare. I sent one quad to a forum member (bluesky636) to compare in his BDlx, and I compared the other quad in my HRDlx. Although not a fan of JJ power tubes, I used them because they were the cheapest to experiment with, and bluesky636 likes them.

IIRC, bluesky636 did not find a difference great enough for him to want to use the Cryo tubes over the untreated, but nothing negative about the treated tubes performance.

I noted a slightly clearer response, more detail, and a more balanced sound in the treated set, not a huge difference, but noticeable. To me, JJ power tubes sound a bit sterile, so since I'm not a fan of their power tubes, I put back in the GT 6L6GE that I had in my amp.

I have since used a few Cryo preamp tubes in other amps, and although I didn't often A/B them, they seem to be as good as, or better than, any untreated ones that I use. Time will tell as far as their lifespan.

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 9:45 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
IIRC, bluesky636 did not find a difference great enough for him to want to use the Cryo tubes over the untreated, but nothing negative about the treated tubes performance.


If memory serves (doesn't always anymore), the untreated JJ tubes measured about 2 ma difference between them in idle current. The cryo treated tubes measured 5+ ma difference between them in idle current.

I no longer have the BDRI but still have the cryo tubes (only a couple of hours on them, never used after the comparison) if you would like them back. :mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2018 10:02 pm
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Sup Bill! Long time...

LOL! I'll defer to your memory on this one.

NP, keep the tubes for spares, and thanks for the review on them. 8)

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 1:39 am
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bluesky636 wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
IIRC, bluesky636 did not find a difference great enough for him to want to use the Cryo tubes over the untreated, but nothing negative about the treated tubes performance.


If memory serves (doesn't always anymore), the untreated JJ tubes measured about 2 ma difference between them in idle current. The cryo treated tubes measured 5+ ma difference between them in idle current.

I no longer have the BDRI but still have the cryo tubes (only a couple of hours on them, never used after the comparison) if you would like them back. :mrgreen:


5 to 8 ma ( or 10 ? ) between matched power tubes make them ( amp ) more musical , less sterile as I read on Aspen Pitman books.

I never order matched pair, they are always under 8 ma


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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:38 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
Sup Bill! Long time...

LOL! I'll defer to your memory on this one.

NP, keep the tubes for spares, and thanks for the review on them. 8)

Just surfin' through the forums, saw my name mentioned, thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I use JJ 5881s in my 5F6A clone now. Sounds much better than with 6L6GCs.

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Last edited by bluesky636 on Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2018 8:40 pm
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stratele52 wrote:
bluesky636 wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
IIRC, bluesky636 did not find a difference great enough for him to want to use the Cryo tubes over the untreated, but nothing negative about the treated tubes performance.


If memory serves (doesn't always anymore), the untreated JJ tubes measured about 2 ma difference between them in idle current. The cryo treated tubes measured 5+ ma difference between them in idle current.

I no longer have the BDRI but still have the cryo tubes (only a couple of hours on them, never used after the comparison) if you would like them back. :mrgreen:


5 to 8 ma ( or 10 ? ) between matched power tubes make them ( amp ) more musical , less sterile as I read on Aspen Pitman books.

I never order matched pair, they are always under 8 ma

Everyone has their preference.

Keep in mind that a long tailed pair phase inverter is inherently unbalanced which will add to any imbalance present in the tubes.

https://ampbooks.com/mobile/amplifier-c ... iled-pair/

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 5:59 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
shimmilou wrote:
Sup Bill! Long time...

LOL! I'll defer to your memory on this one.

NP, keep the tubes for spares, and thanks for the review on them. 8)

Just surfin' through the forums, saw my name mentioned, thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I use JJ 5881s in my 5F6A clone now. Sounds much better than with 6L6GCs.


Nothing to add to this one other than to say Hello Bill! Glad to see you still picking with your beautiful amps and checking on us now and again!

T2

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 6:24 pm
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Gibson Custom Shop R8, Fender 50's Classic Nitro Strat, the usual amps built by me
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Justin Johnson Signature 4-string Cigar Box Guitar
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3-string Lunch Box Guitar built by me
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1-string Diddley Bow built by me
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Breedlove Concert and Gretsch Resonator
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Sorry for high jacking the OP's thread.

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:33 pm
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Great looking guitars & amps :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 10:26 pm
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Thanks.

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 7:56 pm
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Cool gear, but that is a particularly nice looking Breedlove.

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Check out my finger-style guitar tracks at www.soundcloud.com/billmcmannis


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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:16 pm
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$300.00 and I added the pickguard and changed the tuner knobs from chrome to ebony. :D

https://breedlovemusic.com/acoustic-gui ... concert-sb

http://www.lmii.com/products/mostly-not ... pickguards

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Post subject: Re: Cryo valves/tubes in Blues Deluxe
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 8:43 pm
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Archtop Bill wrote:
Cool gear, but that is a particularly nice looking Breedlove.

I can't take my eyes off of the little "TV" amp

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