Jonesy
New member
Hello, this is my first post in these forums, and I'm hoping some of you can help me. Although I live in the UK, I took a chance and bought a Valve Audio Whisper over a year ago, mainly based on a few comments on this site. I was a bit dismayed when it arrived and I saw how difficult it would be to swap valves. Schalk sent me some instructions but I still haven't done it yet. It looks a bit nerve wracking.
I enjoy the Whisper a lot but I find the gain a tad too much with my integrated so I can't turn the volume knob up too high.
I asked for Voskhod Rocket 6922 to be installed when he was making it but I'm looking for some valves which tame the mids a little. I find some guitars solo's a bit ear piercing at times. I'm sure it's not the Whisper. Could be my cartridge. If I use the lower resistance settings for the cartridge then the gain is even higher and then I can't use the volume knob to an even greater degree. My amp sounds best when the volume is turned up a bit. You can actually hear a big improvement when you get to a certain level.
Also I was wondering what valves I can safely use with the Whisper.
I know I can use 6922, 6DJ8, ee88.
Can I use 7DJ8, PC88 etc.?
Schalk has said using 6n6p sounds good and they have lower gain, but I'd have to remove the cases at the back because they're taller than the 6922.
Could I just buy a matched pair and swap out two of the valves or do I need I need to buy a quad? Which position would the valves go into to if I just buy a a pair?
I've read it's not critical to buy matched pairs in a pre amp but i don't know how true that is.
I've got a selection of cheap valves mainly bought from Ukraine/Russia but they were bought in pairs as my previous phono pre only required 2 valves.
If I only have to buy a pair then I can pay a bit more for them e.g. Tungsram.
many thanks to any help you can provide for me.
regards,
I enjoy the Whisper a lot but I find the gain a tad too much with my integrated so I can't turn the volume knob up too high.
I asked for Voskhod Rocket 6922 to be installed when he was making it but I'm looking for some valves which tame the mids a little. I find some guitars solo's a bit ear piercing at times. I'm sure it's not the Whisper. Could be my cartridge. If I use the lower resistance settings for the cartridge then the gain is even higher and then I can't use the volume knob to an even greater degree. My amp sounds best when the volume is turned up a bit. You can actually hear a big improvement when you get to a certain level.
Also I was wondering what valves I can safely use with the Whisper.
I know I can use 6922, 6DJ8, ee88.
Can I use 7DJ8, PC88 etc.?
Schalk has said using 6n6p sounds good and they have lower gain, but I'd have to remove the cases at the back because they're taller than the 6922.
Could I just buy a matched pair and swap out two of the valves or do I need I need to buy a quad? Which position would the valves go into to if I just buy a a pair?
I've read it's not critical to buy matched pairs in a pre amp but i don't know how true that is.
I've got a selection of cheap valves mainly bought from Ukraine/Russia but they were bought in pairs as my previous phono pre only required 2 valves.
If I only have to buy a pair then I can pay a bit more for them e.g. Tungsram.
many thanks to any help you can provide for me.
regards,
