Will a tube buffer improve audio quality in my setup?..

[heliumflight]

Once your hooked to tubes, they are few who return to SS.

 

[amit11]

Once your hooked to tubes, they are few who return to SS.

Agree. Initially i too was apprehensive of tube buffers. I wanted to taste the tube sound and someone on the forum suggested a tube buffer. Before that i was not aware of that terminology.

How i got convinced? Well i used to listen to youtube videos on my system. Those videos used to provide comparison of audio via tube and without tube. I could definitely hear that difference on my system. Tube was definitely more romantic sounding.

Once i was convinced i took the leap and ordered the yaqin tube cd3 tube buffer. It was absolutely worth it. Whether tubes distort , change the sound, etc is one thing but for sure tube sound was the next leap for me. I now never go back to listen to SS sound in my system.

 

[amit11]

looks like it will be an expensive affair if you need a good tube buffer..

You had mentioned that you listen to youtube aswell via your system.
Hence i would suggest that you can listen to some videos which provide audio by comparing music played via tube buffer and without it. Some videos compare with tube buffer and some with tube amp.
In any case, when you listen to them and feel the difference in sound, then yes ofcourse your system and speakers are capable of producing the difference. If they can produce the difference via YouTube then yes when you actually put a buffer we can assume some difference should be there. Youtube listening was the way even i had tried and finally landed purchasing a tube buffer. ☺

 

[madhanmss]

You had mentioned that you listen to youtube aswell via your system.
Hence i would suggest that you can listen to some videos which provide audio by comparing music played via tube buffer and without it. Some videos compare with tube buffer and some with tube amp.
In any case, when you listen to them and feel the difference in sound, then yes ofcourse your system and speakers are capable of producing the difference. If they can produce the difference via YouTube then yes when you actually put a buffer we can assume some difference should be there. Youtube listening was the way even i had tried and finally landed purchasing a tube buffer. ☺

That's a good idea. Thanks. will try and update here..

 

[sunilj]

In my limited knowledge and experience, there are broadly three versions of every tube, USA, European and Russian. Chinese I don’t trust except Shuguang which am yet to try.

6P1 aka 6AQ5 or EL90
6N1P is a bit similar to 6DJ8

However the tubes with less gain are suitable for no gain buffers. 12AX7 as I mentioned above is NOT but is the most popular tube used in preamps.

Don’t just go for a tube buffer which has cheap replacements. I have experienced 6J1P-ev and 6DJ8 Tube buffers and found latter much better.

For tube preamps, there is no limit of tubes and topology.

Please don't discount the B.E.L (Bharat Electrical) brand. I've had good experience with their rectifiers and 12A*7 types. They sell for good money with the musicians outside India.

 

[sanjivnayak]

Gold grid Voshkod is a good tube.

 

[tnvijay]

Try this. This is a tube buffer I diyed based on various tweaks and diyaudio forum discussions. It offers near unity gain. With almost no noise. It adds pleasant sonics to any source. The difference is subtle,yet very musical. Vocals and midrange is where it shines. It definitely widens and deepens sound stage. Will post a image of the diyed buffer later,when I am at home. Now, a quick diagram of the circuit.
Note 1. PS is based on triple voltage multiplier ( similar to Chinese 6j1 circuit. The current limiter two transistor filter is not mentioned in the circuit,but it's implemented)
Note 2: filament supplied by 12 volt, and two 6J1 are in series. Filament voltage Must be bypassed with minimum 6800 MFD cap for absolutely noise free/ hum free operation..

 

[tnvijay]

Sorry. Should have posted this in diy forum. Moderators please move if it's not relevant

 

[saikatbiswas82]

You might take a look at this:

58.99US $ |X-10d Musical Fidelity 6n11 Tube Buffer Stereo Dual Channel Pre-amplifier Board - Home Theater Amplifiers - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

s.click.aliexpress.com

I had good results with these. So bought few more.

However, before investing on a buffer try to upgrade your speakers, dac and amp first.

 

[Mukul77]

I would suspect that the speakers are the weakest link in your setup. Doubt if a tube buffer will make a discernible difference in fidelity.
In my experience, just adding components in a chain is unlikely to "improve" matters.

I feel the same. you should upgrade your speaker. A pair of active bookshelf atleast.