Stradi is also developing their own 45 in case you’re interested… No details yet
Actually just ordered a 5u4g from them… First purchase in a while!!
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They don’t look like globe types, but new production 45s are always cool. I’ll probably want to give these a try once they release, thanks for the heads up on these!
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I’m new to 45 tubes… Why are globe types more sought after?
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Thomas Mayer wrote a really good article on 45 tubes:
Short answer on why people likes globe is people like their midrange tonality more on the globe vs the ST. I am not too sure on why and I don’t think I seen a definitive answer on why is that, but I seen some people got some speculation on why.
To me, globe 45s been pretty consistent on the midrange sounding very natural on my Supratek preamp. I only tried RCA 45s, UX-245, and now the EML Globe 45s, so I’m not a really good source with only hearing 2 brands. The EML globe 45s midrange tonality sounds much more closer to the globe RCA 45s variants vs when I had the EML 45 mesh when I compare it to the RCA globe 45. But people also say that the EML 45 mesh is a much different sounding 45s, so I can’t tell you from experience if globes are better. It just so happen on all the 45s tubes I really like are globe 45s.
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Many speculate that glass shape and size is a good indication of the sound. Bigger tubes with more space between the insides and outer glass tend to be the tubes with a bigger more open sound. There is also metallurgy, construction types, etc. Globe 45s next to ST 45s tend to be a bigger tube all around.
We also see that original or early construction types for each tube are the most sought after for 90% of the tubes out there. Either brands wanted to debut with the best of the best to hook customers, or the production lines had higher scrutiny as a new product is rolled out. But over time changes are made for cost or reliability or both. The globes are pretty fragile and storing them on their side can cause the internals to tilt in one direction, the ST coke bottle shape is more stable than a globe with no support
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The general rule on tubes as I understand it is bigger envelopes like globes involve less compromises in construction.
A lot of tube packaging was a compromise between best design and usable packaging. If you ever saw the insides of a tube based TV, you’d understand just how many tubes it used to take to make anything complex, and as a result how important compact packaging was.
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Bought a Schiit Freya S preamp that I’ll be using to attach my Denafrips Pontus II to my TV. The Freya will go balanced out into a pair of powered Dynaudio monitors I’ve had for a few year now. Really looking forward to kick my 2.1 TV setup into a new level.
There are some mashugana tier deals out there currently with shit not selling, poaching things that have been on offer for three or four months and people looking for cash.
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Would love to hear your impressions.
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My audio buying has been curtailed over the last year because I’ve been paying off various house repairs, like when a car crashed into my front porch, also damaging my foundation, and my furnace also died. And I’m still paying off the replacement of a collapsed sewer. But I do feel like I have a brand new house now LOL.
Anyway, I was at Axpona last week and decided to treat myself to some new XLR cables for my headphone setup (Mojo Mystique X SE → Burson Voyager), if I could get a show discount. I was using Pangea cables, which I’d also thought of as one of the better budget brands, and was curious if I could do better.
I’ve been trying to use Snake River for all my cables, but they were out of my budget, given all my house-related bills.
I considered Iconoclast, after a very interesting discussion with their designer, Galen, but although their TPC and OFE copper cables were within my budget, I had a FOMO feeling when I saw that the same cables also came in OCC copper, at a huge increase in cost, and well above what I could afford.
Next to the Iconoclast table was a Canadian cable company called Audio Sensibility, which I’d read about before, and their prices were within my reach. In fact I could even afford their flagship XLR cable, the Signature Silver, made with OCC silver. it helped that they’re priced in Canadian dollars, and they had an Axpona discount.
Funny story: just as I was handing over my credit card to pay for the Audio Sensibility cables, Jonny from Snake River walked over to say hello. I felt like I’d been caught in an act of infidelity. 
It’s a thick cable, made with 20/22/24AWG OCC silver conductor bundles for positive, negative & return but still flexible.
After plugging in the Audio Sensibility cables, I had the same experience as when I first tried ultra-thick OCC silver cables from Arctic, where the sound was very detailed, but not bright, and there was a lot of weight in the mids and bass, but at the same time, they didn’t sound warm.
A few months ago, I’d switched one pair of V7 Vivid opamps in the Voyager to V7 Classics, because I’d found the amp to be a little too analytical for me. The Classics warmed up the sound perfectly, where it was still detailed, but now with some warmth and body.
With the Audio Sensibility cables in place, I can definitely hear some (but not all) of the warmth being removed, but as I said, the mids and bass also have a lot of weight, so I’m very happy with how they sound so far. It’s like I’ve landed somewhere between the original sound of the V7 Vivid opamps and the Classics.
Being Easter weekend, I’m not going to have a lot of time to be by myself, so I’m hoping to do some comparisons next weekend.
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I can imagine the feeling. lol
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Have to hate when that happens.
From speaking to Jonny i dont think he us the jealous type, plus maybe next time he will give you a good discount to reel you back.
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