You think wow what a “black silent background” … And then there is even more black background. The improved dynamics also play a part here when things quiet down properly.
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That’s the thing, that quiet background spans the spectrum and allows you to pick up so much more detail and nuance everywhere else in the recording.
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The analogy I give is it’s like contrast visually, things are more clearly delineated.
It’s one of those things when you hear something that does it it’s obvious, if you’ve never heard something with a very black background, you equate it with no audible noise, which is a small part of it.
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Kinda off topic, but my first holy crap moment with a black background was with the mz3. It really does make so many little things stand out. That quietness in a component is so important to me.
Nice to hear the AIC does that so well.
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It’s one of those things that separate the really great amps from the good amps and I think it is noticeable in different price points as @Rhodey points out with MZ3 as well (with AIC being 5x the price) you still get that quality. I’ve come to expect that in the amps I play around with and if it’s not there, I’m likely going to pass on whatever I’m listening to.
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What tubes should I start looking at trying to get a hold of once I have that AIC-10? The seller is listing a stock Brimar tube.
Lots of opinions on this but I settled on the Brimar 12AU7 Welded Plate Square Getter but enjoyed the brimar 13d5 equally (and easier to find).
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The best two tubes i have used in aic (by quite a ways) are the g73r and french made mazda. Im not a fan of rhe brimar tbh. @orrman may have a different opinion using the same tubes but im not positive
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This one, right?
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Correct
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Considering the price of the amp and the relatively low cost of these tubes (at least those I tried and know about) I suggest you try a few and see what you like and where to head to next.
The G73-R is definitely a very different experience from Tungsram, Mazda, Brimar and JJ because of how linear and clean it is - it really changes how you think of AIC and how colored it can or can’t be. I think it’s almost a must as far as understanding the spectrum of the amp sounds.
I don’t like it for instance with Utopia OG, it’s just too much and I prefer to skew things warmer with the Brimar or Mazda.
I’ve heard good things about Bremire CV491 and Amperex 58 K63 LR Foil D as examples. There are many options, enjoy the roll! We are lucky it’s only one tube!
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Once again, can’t thank @Camus enough for taking care of the pick-up. It is now in house and warming up. Now I just have to decide what song I’m going to listen to first. You only get one first impression, after all.
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That little “lunchbox” is keeping some good company.
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Question for @orrman @M0N and others that have or have spent time with the AIC-10, is there supposed to be a clearly audible background hum/high-pitch tone when you plug your headphones in? Or is it a tube issue?
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Don’t own a AIC but I have encountered this in other tube amps because of a dying or faulty tube. Try replacing the tube.
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At the moment I only have the one. It only came with the one tube, and I didn’t want to go buying any until I had an idea how I wanted them to shape the sound of the amp.
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You can buy a cheap new production 12AU7 (or borrow one if you can) just to isolate the problem.
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I’d try reseating the tube first but if the tube is damaged or just failing…
I second this, your going to want to know the problem is the tube before you start spending a lot on tubes. JJ’s or EH are probably the cheapest, neither are bad, and you should be able to get one for ~$30, Amazon will ship me a JJ 12AU7 next day for $36.
If you need one faster than that, they are sometimes used in guitar amps, if you have a local musical instrument store, you can probably buy one over the counter. But I’d call first and it will probably be more like $60 for the priveledge.
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So happy it arrived safely and quickly! It looks right at home sitting anchor to the rest of that wonderful gear spread! Congratulations!
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Absolutely not. Utopia from the front headphone outputs has a silent background. It might have some noise floor when played from the speaker taps and that’s dependent on the tube. With less sensitive headphones no noise ever from either.
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