No problem. I’ll put together a post, but just warning you that it won’t be until June when I head home next.
This is great info! Thanks for sharing. I was nervous about breaking something, but that doesn’t appear to be a concern. You have me curious now. Can you be a bit more specific about your statement above? I have some nice 12AU7s that could be used for sure. Again, thanks for your input. 
Oh, also, can you share what adapters you are using? Thanks!
Edit: @JAnonymous5150 I went back and read the posts again, and missed that you have the adapters already. Which ones did you get?
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This is a bit rambling, I’m waking up and drinking coffee, but I thought I’d try to answer some questions and give a quick, (or not so quick), little list of things I’ve tried and some do’s and don’ts if anybody else might be interested because this stuff can be daunting to read about and research. Also I think it’s important to remember that with all things audio what I describe appeals to my taste, music, cans, and chain, and also that the differences I’m describing here are going to be more subtle than they seem but can make all the difference for an OCD audiophile like me, lol, so like with anything take it with a grain of salt!
The adapters I’d originally wanted were out of stock, so I went with these on ebay: 1pc Gold plated 12AU7 12AT7 ECC82 instead to ECC88 6922 6DJ8 Tube adapter | eBay
They’ve worked well and I’ve had a few sets of them with no complaints. You can find more well regarded adapters and socket savers when they’re in stock from Tubemonger Fine European and American NOS Audio and Guitar Tubes.
As far as useful impressions I’m going off of memory here and it’s been a while, but I started by going from rolling a few different nice pairs of 6922 and 7308 tubes in the Plat. 59’ D-Getter Sylvania’s I found on ebay, Mullard 7308’s from Upscale Audio, Amperex 1960’s Instrumentation Grades from Brent Jessee, recommended for holographic detail, and this is long winded, I know, but it’s going somewhere, lol, promise. Anyway I read every page of that Liquid Platinum Tube Rollers thread over on head fi and decided to just say what the hell and try out 12AU7’s with adapters, so I bought a cheap and easy to get pair just to see, which were these: Brand New, MINT NOS Early 1960s Raytheon Military Production JAN-CRP 12AU7 with Long Gray Plates and Square Getter. Raytheon made some of the very best American tubes. In generic white boxes from bulk. Tested and matched on Hickok 752, just recently cali
Though I’d tried much more expensive 6922’s in the amp, these cheap 12AU7’s were immediately near the level of the Amperex and other tubes I’d spent much, much more money on. The 12AU7’s, to me, have an incisive quality while also improving a bit more on what the amp already does great: good impact and slam, a bit of tube sweetness without going overboard, a nice sense of holography as well, and seem a bit more refined like all its attributes are taken up a smidge, just a smidge, if you’re happy STAY OUT OF TUBE ROLLING!!! IT’S EXPENSIVE! But it was enough to boost my curiosity because I was happy with what I was hearing. While even those cheap Raytheon’s are decent all arounders, much better than the stock EH tubes that come with the amp, and hold those values I’ve mentioned above, they’re still not overall at the level of really really nice 6922’s, so if you’ve already got a nice set rolled in then stay content!
I’d say the Raytheons are a really great place to start, decent for rock in particular, growling guitars and good low end, but I would however highly suggest contacting Brent because he’s got lots of NOS tubes you can experiment with in that price range; things like RCA’s and Sylvania’s and Tung Sols, and a bit higher grab a pair of the but ugly Amerex tubes he lists, so you could get a couple or three matched pairs and roll quite a bit, and quite a bit cheaper than the 6922/6DJ8’s, which is the driving appeal of the 12AU7’s and how the whole thing started. That they sound better to me and others was a very happy accident, but again, take that with a grain of salt! A lot of this depends on how much you value subtle differences and depends on the person, cans, and chain.
I’ve since moved up to some pretty expensive 12AU7’s from Mullard and Amperex and it’s pretty obscene how good these can sound, and how expensive they can get, but I don’t regret it, because I tell myself I intend to have them around for eventual use in something else when I upgrade, lol, rational justification…
But…
Three things to keep in mind:
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Cavalli himself has said not to roll anything outside the 6922 family, but myself and others have rolled other things in it and had no problems, and run them for thousands of hours to boot, but again, just be careful when you’re looking at something like a 12AU7 and if it says anything in the description like “equivalent to 12AU7,” or has a code you don’t immediately recognize for its European counterpart ECC82 be careful and google! If you’ve been researching find the datasheet, if not someone on head fi probably already asked about it. Some of those tubes have higher heater and voltages ratings that will force the amp to draw more than it can handle and end up frying it. (This is also a thing but much minor with 6922’s, like running 7DJ8’s or Tall Bottle Telefunkens)
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Hindsight is 20/20! I bought all of these things over time and I’ve learned quite a bit and enjoyed every second, but I also could’ve (should’ve?) put money into upgrading other components in my chain, which happened anyway lol and leads me to number 3.
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I’ve changed up my chain quite a bit, and I’m actually surprised how well the Liquid Platinum, as modestly priced as it is now, has scaled up. I went from the usual SMSL and Topping breed of DACs to an OG Bifrost 2 a few years ago, which blew me away then and still can, to now an Yggy A2, and the Plats have still been impressing and satisfying me all the while.
Were I to do it all over I’d probably stick with cheaper 12AU7’s though, and maybe only two Plats, ha ha, those damned sales.
Because of the Plats high gain I highly recommend getting a passive pre so you can set the pot at 1:30 for unity gain and have finer control over the volume, especially for easy to drive cans.
Like this: https://www.amazon.com/Nobsound-Fully-balanced-Single-ended-Pre-amplifier-Controller/dp/B07255VHZS/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1WVKA4VRRHTF4&keywords=nobsound+xlr&qid=1680963247&sprefix=nobsound+xlr%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-8
I use this (for no other reason than that I like the way it looks and feels): https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-MONITOR1-BEHRINGER/dp/B0752XXRQH/ref=sr_1_16?crid=3IMG3WAZUK10V&keywords=xlr+passive+preamp&qid=1680963063&sprefix=xlr+passive+preamp%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-16
My cans are LCD 2.2PF’s, X’s, and 24’s if that helps anyone.
Edit to provide an also: NOS tubes can take up to 200 hours to burn in depending on the tube so take that into consideration, give things time to adjust to and enjoy. Things that might initially glare or sound compressed can open up and settle down quite a bit, so try not to make an assessment or roll something else in until you’ve got some good listening time in.
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I purchased my adapters from my tubehead buddy. He acts as a kind of unofficial tube and tube accessories store for our little group of friends because he knows so much and has a network of contacts and friends that work together to get all the tube related stuff they want at bro prices. It’s pretty cool actually.
Edit: I can ask him where he gets them or for a second pair to send your way if you’d like.
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Awesome. Lemme know what he says, and I will check it out. Those Tubemonger adapters that @Adler762 linked look pretty nice too. I might snatch up a set of those.
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I have some socket savers and 5760 adapters from TubeMonger and both work well and are very nicely built. I shot my friend a text message and I’ll let you know when I hear back.
Ugh. I just got my Platinum last week. And went down the NOS 6922 route. And they are definitely an improvement over the EH tubes it came with, even within the bun-in period. What I’m reading here is that I have more audio glory to come because the tubes are not yet burned in fully (probably 30 hours on them so far). But now also, and this is where the “ugh” comes in. What I’m reading is that the 12AU7 is even better than the 6922s I already dropped some sick coin on? (I picked up a set of Amperex 6922s and Mullard E88CCs). I’ve seen the prices on those NOS Amperex and Mullards. Of course now I’m tempted. Thanks for the detailed overview. Maybe I’ll just keep this in my back pocket for next year or farther down the road. How much better is the Amperex 12AU7 over the Amperex 6922?
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That right there is what I would do, then if you get curious and have the itch to try out 12AU7’s start with something you can find for about $40 a pair.
Definitely give them a hundred hours at least
I can’t really say, honestly, my Amperex 6922s were USA made, the 12AU7s Holland, but both are excellent and top notch.
Hope this helps!
My Monolith Liquid Platinum just suddenly gave up the ghost not too long after unpacking the thing a week ago. Was just listening to music when the thing just gave out and made a pingy crack noise. Light still eventually turns white when powered up to indicate that it is ready but there is no sound output.
I was using a TOPPING D10 og model with it which is single ended out into the MLP so I wonder if I have a similar problem to ShaneD where the single ended input is dead. Do not have a balanced dac with me right now other than the Scarlet Solo and I do not currently have the cables to connect it to the MLP to test. I also do not have other tubes with me to test. The Topping D10 I confirmed is working fine and I been using that thing for years now with no issues. Seems like the absolute garden hose that was supplied with the Monolith M1570c isn’t the only Monoprice item that I am having problems dealing with sadly.
The tubes probably gave out. If you are using the factory tubes, those Russian tubes are notoriously unreliable. If you bought the LP recently, you could reach out to Monoprice and see if they could send extras under warrantee. Or you could upgrade to some NOS American or European tubes, which last longer and more reliably even if they’re fifty years old.
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Is there a solid retailer for tubes?
Im rocking the original ones and don’t have an insane budget for it right now.
I could swing about $200 for a pair. I have my LP paired with a J2, want to get a new dac this year.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed by what to get.
I’ve been going to TubesUnlimited. He has some Sylvania and Phillips for reasonable prices. Bear in mind $10 per tube for a matching pair. I went all the way for the Amperex options, though. Really good pairing. But my guess is those Phillips he has for around $40 per are worthwhile.
What are the boxes for balanced and matching per tube?
The box for matching is when you want to have a matched pair/quad, etc. Not sure what the balanced box is for. I’m relatively new to tubes, myself. But you definitely want a matched pair.
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Which ones did you go with?