It’s been a year since I got the Supratek, so let’s finally tube roll 45s!
I bought a pair of RCA Radiotron Type 45 Triode Globe and pair of RCA UX-245 tubes. The seller informed me they are near NOS condition and he only use them for about 3 hours for test and then store them away. I don’t have any gear nor knowledge to know if that’s true, but when I plugged the UX-245 into my Supratek, no blue glow and the light seems very bright. I hope that’s a good sign, but I haven’t listen to them yet as I am letting the tube warm up first.
I hope both these tubes works, I am really excited and scared (because these tubes are almost 100 years old) in trying these highly praise 45 tubes!
The seller package was also compact and multiple wraps and boxing involve. I was very impressed by the seller packaging that I might believe him when he said these tubes are near NOS.
Also, when I bust out the white gloves to install the UX-245 tubes in the Supratek. I was realllllly nervous to the point where I was sweating a little. These tubes being highly praise plus being almost 100 years old adds some stress to me.
Yep, I think I read about that as well. It made me recently change how store tubes now. Instead of laying on its side for the boxes, I make them stand upright just to build a habit of how I store them. These look good when I try looking at them, but what threw me off is the insides look different for both the UX-245. I haven’t look too closely on the regular 45 globe since I was really excited in trying the UX-245 tubes.
Also, I am running a full RCA tube run on the Supratek and it sounds awesome.
Add on:
I added more pictures. I will say the UX-245 RCA logo is pretty sexy on top. It’s not faded or anything, the seller kept it in tip top condition.
The difference in build is that the left tube have a metal plate in front while the right tube doesn’t. Don’t know how much of the metal plate affect sound. I gotta read Thomas blog again on the 45 tubes. One thing to note right now is that I was expecting muffle or muddy since this tube is old, but it’s really clear and natural sounding! I know saying something natural sounding is an overkill word, but wow, ahhhhhhhhh! I don’t know if that’s the nature of the Platimon speakers in making everything sounds clear and the 45 tubes just make things sound even more natural sounding than what it was already was. I also only tested out mostly higher midrange listening to female vocals songs. Gotta really test them out with other tracks. So I gotta really see how it affect my other gear like Sus and the HD580 Jubilee. Also excited to hear what the Mysphere 3.2 and A800 sound on these tubes!
I figured I’ll give it a shot for a lowball price just to see how good room correction can sound in my room and get a sense of what I should try and get to with my system. Then I either keep it for toasty days that I don’t want to turn on any tubes, or I move it to the tv setup or some second setup around the house, or sell it…
Recently bought a Final E5000 and and have a NightOwl that should be here in a week. Late-night, low-volume listening sessions with dark-tilted headphones/IEMs is my form of therapy, lol.
What tips have you found to work? Just curious because I have had a very hard time with iem fit stability. Only exception is foam tips, but there’s some sets that foam tips kinda ruin imo.
Divinus Velvet Tips, Eletech Baroque Tips, and Dunu S&S tips. The Eletech Baroque are great for shorter nozzles and the most comfortable I’ve ever worn. The Divinus Velvet are great all-rounders, but do have the tendency to add some air up top. The Dunu S&S are great for getting an airtight seal and are very neutralish sounding. I also like using the KBear 07 tips when I need firm tips that won’t flex. For a firm type of tip, they are surprisingly comfortable.
Stratus v3 from @MokhaMark ! Need to rearrange my rack so I can get this off the floor . Will be comparing to the Apex Teton amp which you can see a bit of in the background.
I need to figure out which of the tubes that came with the Stratus I like best and then I can work on that comparison. But the teton has been great so far, I really like it with the JAR600 and it was sounding pretty nice as a preamp into the FirstWatt SIT-3
Very nice, I have eyed some on eBay and the shipping charge is what stops me from ordering, You have a really nice one and lays the vintage but well kept look too!
I’ve really been enjoying listening to whole albums via physical media lately. I really like this album and I wanted a high quality version so I went with this SHM-SACD.
Yes, some are listed for very little but the seller has like $100 shipping. I do not understand that. I reached out and they all say it just is what it is. Shipping from pa to ny? No way.
Seems like theyre trying to get the sale on a low price then getcha on shipping.
Nice, use these almost every day for work since my setup requires a wireless mic solution. Great headset though, would also recommend these cooling pads during the warmer months as they get kinda hot with the stock pads ime. Happy listening!
, I want spares and haven’t been searching.
. Will be comparing to the Apex Teton amp which you can see a bit of in the background.
