Follow-up

Tubes Asylum

Questions about tubes and gear that glows. FAQ

Thanks for the tube-rolling advice last week re: the Jolida CD player. Turns out it was pretty much nothing at all, just as you all said... I tried to pull straight up but you've got to really give those things a tug as it turns out. One of the pins on the old tubes (the Svetlana 12AX7s it came with) looked a bit bent; I don't know if I did that or if it came that way. There shouldn't be much of a problem getting it back in, though, and I can always bend it back. It's only a few degrees from straight and again, it may have come that way because I didn't twist or rock it any. Lining up the Electro-Harmonix was a snap: I just let my instincts guide me in putting them in and they didn't fail me for the first one. I couldn't get the cap back on with the second tube so I pushed it down further, even if pushing it down further made it not-so-straight in the socket (I mean the pins obviously were, but the tube was at a slant). But I put the cap back on over the askew tube and it went back into place just like that. Screwed the cover back on the Jolida, fired it up, and...
...it's interesting hearing these things warm up for the first time. A bit of a mini-review: there were significantly more detailed mids at first at the expense of somewhat rolled-off highs and non-existant bass, and it was fun hearing the gaps fill in as some juice got flowing through the things. It's been about nine hours since I rolled them and they sound pretty good... the bass has filled in right well (Public Image, Ltd.'s Metal Box is my reference bass album -- anyone heard that one? Jah Wobble is a golden god) and the picture doesn't seem nearly as constricted, especially up top, as it did at first, even once the tubes had warmed up (Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells is another reference disc of mine -- once that whole thing sounds good, especially the tubular bells themselves at the end of the first side, you're good to go). I expect it'll take some more time to fully blossom, but I'm pretty satisfied so far. A third reference disc is Primal Scream's Screamadelica: wonderful album and well-recorded, with a particular sound that's good for checking out a whole range of things (the opening track, "Movin' On Up", is great for both transients -- it has a sort of very smooth start-and-stop rhythm (that's not a contradiction in terms) that's great for transients; it's got great dynamics, some very "present" percussion, and a very lush production. The bongos sounded great and more realistic than I've ever heard them... so far with these tubes, the mids are still finely-detailed while the bottom lacks a certain oomph but it's a more balanced sound all-around, which I prefer to a slamming bass so it's all good. Besides, the bass is very much there, as any listen to Metal Box will tell you; it's just not overwhelming as is usually done. People love big booming bass for some reason. Recommended to Jolida JD100 owners to at least try; they're only $9.00 apiece from Same Day Music with only $6 for two-day shipping ($4 for ground).
Thanks again for the helpful advice and assurances. This thing sounds great!

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.

Topic - Follow-up - Mark Tinordi 18:36:59 08/14/06 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.