Just picked up my CTH on Drop for 175$, really looking forward to burning the stock tube in and comparing it against the Magni Heresy to start (and other Amps as I get more into the Audiophile hobby).
After some sufficient burn in of the stock tube, I have the below tube on the way as a starter tube, to see if I see any noticeable improvement.
EH-6922G Electro-Harmonix 6922 EH Gold Pin
Received the CTH today along with the EH-6922G, my plan was to burn in the EH 6922 that came with it, to do a fair comparison, but after listening for a couple hours I couldnāt resist. I swapped in the EH-6922G, and hold #$^@ does it sound good with my m570s.
I may try out a different DAC just so I have a frame of reference on my current DAC, but I want to stick around the 100ish dollar range.
Any suggestions??
Edit:
No need for suggestionsā¦got a Donal DACā¦looking forward to the low budget fun
What are a selection of good tubes to swap in with this amp?
so there is this issue when I have the CTH at max volume the little light goes red amd there is no sound.
I dont see myself having this at max volume, but is that a safety mechanism or something I should be concerned about?
I use the below currently, sounds good.
Electro-Harmonix 6922 EH Gold Pin
Iāve also heard good things about the Genalex Gold Lion.
Thank you, any other good finds would be much appreciated. and the max volume is because its potentially too much power that is trying to be pushed from that amp dangering the amp.
Golden Lion can sound sharp, but itās very detailed and brings a clear linear sound. When I was tube rolling my schiit hybrid ppl preferred it among my 6dj8, I had a nos bugle boy and it was very similar, except the soundstage sounded different and the highs were not as sharp. Still if you can get away with it try a 6cg7, worked in that amp and everyone preferred the 6cg7 over the 6dj8 style tubes.
Why would anyone use a tube that pulls 600 mA from the heater current of an amp that is specād for tubes that pull 300-350 mA of heater current. Using the 6CG7 is going to damage the CTH.
āIf you canā thanks for missing that part, again worked fine for the other one, but yea this amp is different, Everyone: dont damage your shit/do researchā¦
When making recommendations for others to ātry,ā I try to do a modicum of research to make sure that my recommendation does not lead to damaged equipment. If it does damage equipment, then Iād rather not make the recommendation at all. But hey, thatās just me.
Just because a tube can fit into a socket of an amp (or can fit in a compatible adapter), does not mean the tube is okay for use in that amp.
Everyone use caution, but looks like others have tried it. Running something out of spec could cause issues.
Got my CTH+SDAC today. Came from the LS. Just wish the CTH had a high gain setting. The LS on High gan ibwas always around 12pm but with the CTH i push 2pm and even past that. Is that normal with the elex? The seller used it with the 6xx and he claims he never went past 12. 300ohm vs 80ohm. Maybe im just going crazy lol
If itās not clipping, where the volume dial is doesnāt really matter.
I havenāt used the CTH for a long time so I canāt comment on normal, but there is nothing magical about being at 12:00 on volume.
I do agree but always love some headroom.
And the Elex drivers clip way before the amp will. So im good either way.
The Elex with a sensitivity of 104 dB/mW and impedance of 80 ohms needs an amp to provide 40mW (1.8Vrms) at that impedance load to reach 120 dB SPL. The HD6XX with a sensitivity of 103 db/MW and impedance of 300ohms needs an amp to provide 51mW (3.9Vrms) at that impedance load (and higher around mid-bass since its impedance curve rises to about 500ohms there) to reach 120 dB SPL. All in all, the Elex should be the easier can to drive especially since it only needs 40mW at 80ohms, which was borne out when I compared the Elex vs the HD6XX sometime ago.
Either the volume from your source is low, some pre-amp gain setting has been lowered, or that you might have hearing loss. I recall the Elex being a very easy can to drive. I couldnāt go above gain I of the 789 at 9am on the volume dial with the Elex, and gain I of that amp was too puny for the HD6XX at the same volume setting.
Thanx so much, very informative. May just be that I find the amp to be pleasant and non fatiguing and just keep turning the volume dial. lol
Will a better DAC make much of a improvement or is the SDAC solid?
I only have experience with the SDAC-B. If you are on a budget, the SDAC-B is pretty solid. I still use it, but Iām looking to upgrade to probably the Bifrost 2. Still, the SDAC-B has served me well so far and is a fine pairing with the CTH. If the SDAC is similar to the SDAC-B, the SDAC will have a pleasant tone but it will come second to something like the Modi Multibit v2 when it comes to the depth of sound (i.e. the presentation of sound is less flat with the Modi Multibit v2). Still, I liked my SDAC-B paired with the CTH more than my Modi Multibit since the non-stock tube that I use with the CTH (Tung-Sol 6C8G) provides that depth in sound and the Modi Multibit muddies the sound a little too much to my liking; the story might change when using the stock 6922 tube though.
As a side note, the Modi Multibit is my DAC of choice (at this moment) with my Liquid Platinum (stock and non-stock tubes) since the flatter presentation of the SDAC is readily apparent on the LP with the tubes that Iāve tried on it.
Hi Guys, need some help. My tube cracked and is no longer working. Will the Electro Harmonix 12AU7 work in the CTH? And is it s good tube? If not what tubes would you suggest around $50?