Can you guys contribute to a "shootout" of DHT drivers? I'm testing some in a 300B amp and I'll try and describe the results. I'd like to compare these with what you guys have found.
The input tube is 10Y, anode choke and teflon cap coupled to the driver. The driver is teflon cap coupled to the 300B and has a 15K resistor load, with 1.8K cathode resistor bypassed with 47uF polypropylene. Here's my listening notes so far:
46 at 10mA - Very subtle, excellent tone and timbre to instruments. Tonally neutral. Strings neutral/glossy, Vocals 3D
10Y at 10mA - Big sound with copious bass. Warm sound. Smooth with good treble. Strings mellow, Vocals round.
183/483 at 15mA - Opposite end of the sound spectrum from 10Y - thinner cooler sound. Strings "stringy", vocals a little flat. Sounds a lot like a 2a3 amp not quite on song.
71A at 16mA - How to describe this! Pretty psychodelic. I ended up last night listening to Fagen's Morph the Cat. Now, where the 46 is probably more subtle in the actual tone of each instrument - grand piano has richer overtones - the 71A is doing something else entirely. The colours of the instruments are like colour blocks, like Matisse, and these build up and superimpose just like a Phil Specter mix - kind of "wall of sound", with instruments jumping up in precise locations in the mix. Like listening from the recording console. Add to that a huge boogie factor - rhythms pound away relentlessly. It's a very effective rock sound, though not bad on classical. I enjoyed it a lot! Strings neutral, vocals 3D.
To come - 2a3
The input tube is 10Y, anode choke and teflon cap coupled to the driver. The driver is teflon cap coupled to the 300B and has a 15K resistor load, with 1.8K cathode resistor bypassed with 47uF polypropylene. Here's my listening notes so far:
46 at 10mA - Very subtle, excellent tone and timbre to instruments. Tonally neutral. Strings neutral/glossy, Vocals 3D
10Y at 10mA - Big sound with copious bass. Warm sound. Smooth with good treble. Strings mellow, Vocals round.
183/483 at 15mA - Opposite end of the sound spectrum from 10Y - thinner cooler sound. Strings "stringy", vocals a little flat. Sounds a lot like a 2a3 amp not quite on song.
71A at 16mA - How to describe this! Pretty psychodelic. I ended up last night listening to Fagen's Morph the Cat. Now, where the 46 is probably more subtle in the actual tone of each instrument - grand piano has richer overtones - the 71A is doing something else entirely. The colours of the instruments are like colour blocks, like Matisse, and these build up and superimpose just like a Phil Specter mix - kind of "wall of sound", with instruments jumping up in precise locations in the mix. Like listening from the recording console. Add to that a huge boogie factor - rhythms pound away relentlessly. It's a very effective rock sound, though not bad on classical. I enjoyed it a lot! Strings neutral, vocals 3D.
To come - 2a3