I’ll just say I’m really not super into the tube rolling thing, I’d probably get other input on that before mine lol
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Hello,
The JJ tubes are unfortunately somewhat frowned upon in their reputation.
Because they are also susceptible in part.
We can only speculate about the cause of the breakage, which is why it is more important that nothing has happened to the amplifier.
If a tube is well burnt out, it starts to become milichig and eventually fails.
Also consider that shipping companies throw the package despite the sticker and do not handle it properly.
Otherwise, take a look at the market to see if there are any worthy replacements for the JJ tube.
There are all kinds, and tastes are different and it also depends a bit on the headphones.
What is the actual designation of the tube?
For the 12Ax there are certainly reports of what works well.
I haven’t looked at the other tube family yet.
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I’ve rolled a lot of tubes in my Quicksilver since I got it. I settled on 1955 Mullard EL84s and early 60’s Hammond-labeled Amperex 12AX7s. Neither of these are very easy to find in matched pairs, but I highly recommend the combo. Some other great options that were a step up from the stock tubes and are more readily available are the Ei EL84s and Gold Lion 12AX7s. I liked quite a few other ones as well, but I’d have to look through my old posts on Head-Fi to remember them all.
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I think there used to be inexpensive JAN Philips 5751 (12AX7 equivalent) that had a little less gain so you could use the volume a bit more. But last i checked i bought them for $20 and they rocketed to $80.
But if you can find them they were linear with a smooth top end. A “+” tube elsewhere compared to JJs.
Edit: i should say they are drop ins, but it would be good to check as hifi can be pickier.
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Just received the replacement tubes, everything is working fine 
Now i just need to buy some backup pairs, i am guessing the smaller valves are just as likely to fail as the big ones on the back, right? The smaller are for input and the bigger for amplification?
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What would the benefit of using more volume be? Sorry, i am new to tubes…
This wouldn’t be a tube thing, it’s more a thing with amps in general. First is sound quality (amps tend to sound better when they’re not at the extremes, so not turned super-low or cranked all the way up), and also there’s an ergonomic thing, where if the amp volume is really low, your ability to adjust the volume is less granular.
Also, glad to hear that the replacement tubes are working out!
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Generally, being able to use more range in the volume pot allows you to get out of the range where there can sometimes be channel imbalance
And what @rgdelato says
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I actually use Equalizer APO in all my sets (i know, heresy!).
Is it a good idea to lower the pre-amp value using EQ so i can use more volume since i have EQ on at all times anyways? I know reducing the volume on windows decreases bitrate so i don’t do that, not sure about the EQ preamp.
My volume is currently around 9:00 / 10:00 o’clock, not super low but not at 12:00.
Big ones have a better chance of failing in shipping FWIW, more mass to not like a Jolt.
TBH you were pretty unlucky, I own a lot of tubes, and I’ve had maybe 4 fail in shipping 2 of those in one shipment.
Generally if they work they really do last 1000’s of hours, unless you actually break them (which I’ve done).
You are losing bits unless you are upsampling to say 32 bits before it’s output to the DAC.
Having said that you can half the volume -3dB’s and only lose 1 bit, and it becomes about whether the harm the digital processing does it worse than the harm the pot does in a none optimal position.
Digital volume gets vilified, but it’s not always bad.
I personally wouldn’t worry about it, make the change where it makes most sense to you
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There was a good youtube video featuring Grover from Audeze giving a rundown how he does EQ. It is a bit more cutting than adding to save on the digital bandwidth. The video explains it better if you can find it.
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Just a tip if you really want to roll tubes.
Try turning off the Eq and filtering out your differences in sound with your ear when you roll the tube.
You will notice with time that you will get much more out of knowing their differences and that on a totally harmonic authentic level.
The sound comes across much differently.
You don’t really need to worry about the position of your pot.
You can also reduce the overall volume on the PC a little, so you avoid clipping if present and can go higher with the potentiometer.
But you really don’t need to worry about that, usually only if clipping is present.
Apo sounded totally inauthentic to my ears even if you only raised certain areas.
It really had more advantages, even though tubes can cost money.
It’s just not the same for me and I can only speak for myself.
I can’t say what it’s like for the others.
For fun I also used the Eq on Roon with the Lcd2C adjustment and found it very terrible on my tube amp.
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Thanks for the tip!
I have not yet experienced any down sides to EQ myself, lots of people dislike it and i really try to find something wrong with the sound when i EQ but i just can’t.
For the Verite i add a +4dB low shelf at 100hz and a +2dB with a large Q in that dip between 3khz and 4khz, that makes it sound perfect to my ears.
I did listen to the Verite without EQ for days before i tried to change its sound and it is super good in stock form, but with EQ it is perfect imo.
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Hijacking this thread a bit.
Might be keeping my VC a little longer then expected and it seems like the Quiksilver is getting high praise for its synergy with it.
Can anyone share their impressions compared maybe to my current amps? (WA33 and Enleum), wondering if it’s worth a spin with the ones available in the classifieds.
It’s not going to be comparable to the WA33, it’s a very good $1000 tube amp, but that’s all it is, so much of the sound of a tube amp is in the quality of the components, and one output transformer in the WA33 probably costs about the same as the entire BOM for the Quicksilver.
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Well the WA33 isn’t very tubey after all… and synergy can’t simply be bought with high priced components but I understand what you’re saying.
Better invest that money in other tubes later I guess
All the quicksilver stuff is on the dryer side, it’s not a very “tubey” amp either, though probably more than the WA33, you’ll find the compromise in loss of technicalities difficult to adjust to.
$1000-$3000 is pretty much no man’s land in tube amps, your better off just saving your pennies.
I still own several <$1000 tube amps, and I’ll be honest haven’t pulled one out in a long time.
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So I’ll figure out the volume control and use the WA33 I guess. It also sounds quite good on the Enleum but haven’t given that too much listening time yet together. Thanks!
Hadn’t really thought about the volume on the WA33, my DAC has analog volume, so it’s not an issue for me. What you could do is run the output from your DAC through a splitter, one half through a passive pre, the other direct into the other input on the WA33.
That gives you way to bypass the passive pre by using the direct input if you are worried about quality loss, though personally I’d probably just run it through a passive into the WA33.