As a guy who is a musician, who uses tube amps, you want matched paired tubes, because you want the same amount coming out of both sides. For example, an 100 watt amp, well there is 50 watts going to each side, if they are not matched you can get uneven biasing, red platting and a bunch of issues, that can mess up your output transformer, or if it's way hotter on one side make you burn out your tubes faster. The reason they charge more is they have to physically make sure each pair is matched, and that has to be done by someone who is paid to do that. You only need matched pairs, so in your case you have 4 of them, only the pairs are matched, and then the two sets are labeled, and normally sold as pairs or quads. So people saying it's marketing bs have obviously never been in a band on the road, or played anything long enough.
Thanks for the video, I too am surprised at the lack of content for Gold Lion tubes. It seems they are spoken of so favorably in forums that videos would exist in abundance.
If you have the option, place your speakers away from wall bounderies. At the very least a couple feet all the way around. Let those MLs breathe. They will reward you with a deep and wide soundstage. There are exceptions, but this goes for most speakers, especially dipoles like yours.
Put 16 into my pair of VTL Deluxe 300 monoblocks. Not quite up to 50 hours, but sounds like a new amp, smoother than the Winged C 6550s I used to use. And yes, there are 4 sets of matched quads!
Just to let you know, the reason you need to buy a matched quad is to make sure you amp operates symmetrically in it's voltage, also you want all of the tubes to be at the exact same voltage so they are more in phase with one another, especially if it only has one bias port. The only time you can get away with not getting matched is if you have an auto biasing amp. Also your amp really isn't powerful enough to drive martin logans. Most martin logans begin at 4ohm and go down from there to like 2 ohm and sometimes lower unless you have one of the lighter impedance martin logans that were made for AV receivers you may want to consider a switch. your amp may not be able to handle that. most tube amps cannot. A speaker that has a less drastic and higher impedance curve like 8-6ohm would be better for almost any tube amp.
The reason for matching the tubes, is for the current draw matching, and their gain. Current Draw: if your amp is push-pull, than there must be 2 currents in each Output Transformer that flows in different directions, and they cancel each other, and your noise floor is low (there is no two same tubes, so they has to be as close as possible)and output transformer does not saturates that easily (no air gap at the core as in single ended topology). Gain: each output tube (2 here) is responsible for amplifying half cycle of alternating current (AC signal = music). If tubes are not matched, that there is a mismatch between positive and negative cycles and the result is cross-over distortion, which is clearly audible. Your "Low End" - BASS doesn't care for this that much, but High Frequency get distorted very much. In SE (Single Ended) designs where 2 or more tubes being used in parallel you get different currents in the tubes because of mismatch in theme, and one conducts more then another and it will fail first, and the second tube wont last long on its own. So - no. TUBES HAS TO BE MATCHED, AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE.
Not sure how far back you're seated but you may want to move the ML's apart further. Looks like your soundstage is probably squished into that area around the fireplace! Tryglojg wider and
A matched quad is a good investment. As others have said, get rid of your equaliser, the less unnecessary circuitry in your signal path, the better off you will be. Have you biased the tubes or is your amp auto biasing? The slightly different bottle height won’t be an issue. A nice set of sensitive speakers will help your amp also. Thanks for the video.
They’re auto biased. I had to order some new tubes on my EL34 amp. I did not realize that tubes only last 3-5 years of daily use. Also, those tubes cost me $300 and I’m starting to see why tube amps have lost popularity...
I think they are still as popular as ever. Some tunes can be pretty pricey, are they worth it, well, to each their own I guess. You should get a couple of thousand hours out of a set, all things being equal. I find JJ Tesla KT88's to be a pretty nice tube, suiting my tastes. A bit cheaper than the GL's and still with a nice overall response. Most suppliers will do a matched quad of them. My current set are about mid life and 1,000 has of use approximately.
Absolutely necessary. I have to have matched tubes or I can't run my amp. Not some trick. I have a single circuit modest bias for my 4 power tubes. Try it with unmatched tubes and watch the issues you have.
Dude, you know we're not hearing your amp, I at least am hearing my crappy tiny laptop speakers. There is practically no way for anyone to do discerning listening over utube. Would have preferred to see how well match the boxes were... you know those mA/V figures on the box ;)
When you've learned your equipment, of which you are listening on (in your case your laptop), you can judge how well some speakers might sound, during a review. If I had a video of my speakers crackling, humming, etc, while playing music, your laptop would still pick those noises up, thus you being able to judge that they sound like shit. So again, once you expect the type of performance your current speakers perform at, you can differentiate between what system sounds good and which doesn't. If I had a hum in my speakers and was playing a video with speakers humming as well, your speakers would still hum but would also pick up the videos [speakers] hum, essentially playing both. Easy to tell. I'm getting repetitive but I think you get the gist.
I have the same opinion about "Matched pair" extra money in new Gold Lion KT88 production...they are only unnecessary extra money. I think their tolerances are minimal.
Listen to tube 300B if you have the chance, the difference is night and day. btw, matched tubes does makes a difference. Music Angel is........... ok, but you should get the YAQIN.
Sorry mate to burst your bubble but those re-issued Gold Lion "genalax" tubes are junk. So are those PSVANE's.. I know because I have a box full of those garbage tubes. Save your money and buy a proper NOS KT88 quad and find a closely MATCHED quad. Matching is absolutely important. If your amp can handle the slight differences, you can also find NOS KT77's or EL34 which have an iconic sound that tube lovers crave. I run two Primaluna amps with NOS Genalax tubes and it cost me about $2400 for just the tubes. I use to think those Gold Lion tubes all over ebay were good but sad to say, they are junk. No reputable tube seller will sell those with a straight face.
Sorry to burst your bubble mate but you have more money than sense. I run Psvane KT88 T2s and they most certainly are not junk. The sound is excellent. You may believe your "golden ears" makes spunking $2400 on NOS worthwhile. You're welcome to your delusions.
